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Hi, it’s Anna Mason and in this tip video I wanted to show you how I went about painting
the bright colored feathers on this hummingbird.
When you zoom in and break down what is going on here in terms of colour, you can see that
we have small areas of very bright colours surrounded by areas of a dark black-brown.
In addition, we have tiny black-brown lines that are surrounded by colour.
This represents a challenge with watercolour because, if we don’t handle these colours
carefully they could bleed into one another creating muddy brown colours.
So here’s how I go about painting them:
I work from a photo reference, and draw an outline to the main areas of colour at the
drawing stage so it’s easier to place the paint in the correct areas.
Even within each area of colour there are variations in tone, so I start by laying down
the lightest version of the colour I can see within each area. I use the paint fairly watery
and roughly stick to the pencil outlines I’ve drawn. However, if my colour does end up in
areas that should be dark brown it doesn’t matter as I’ll be able to paint over the
top of them later.
Once that paint is dry, I then go around these coloured areas with a watery pale version
of the dark brown paint, trying not to go over any areas of colour as I probably won’t
be able to brighten those areas by using another layer of the colour on top.
Next, once that’s dry, I paint the darkest tones in the painting as a whole - the eye
and the darkest feathers around the head and tail. I use a tiny brush for this so I can
paint in plenty of line detail to give the impression of feathers.
I make sure I don’t paint over any of the areas of colour with this paint.
Next I paint some brown midtones on the belly and wing, leaving gaps through to the lighter
colour underneath to create the impression of a feathery texture.
Once these darker tones are in place and completely dry, I can darken up the coloured areas.
I use the same mixes as before but thicker in consistency so that they appear darker.
I apply with the tiny brush and in line markings to reflect the texture of the feathers.
I also leave plenty of gaps through to the lighter tone mix underneath, as this helps to give
the impression of the iridescent, shiny nature of the feathers.
Its not such a problem if this coloured paint accidentally gets placed on top of the dark
brown areas, because we can hide any mistakes with another layer of the dark brown paint
over the top. Always waiting for the layer underneath to be dry first before we do that.
Then finally, once the coloured areas are looking dark enough, and have dried right off,
I can apply some thick dark brown paint around them again, and into them where required
with lots of little line markings to create the feathered effect.
This way we can have lots of areas of bright colour right next to lots of areas of dark
brown whilst maintaining clear boundaries between those colours to create the feathery look.
I hope you enjoyed this tip video and will have a go at some colourful feathers yourself
- the full tutorial is available through my online school!