If you didn’t already know - I have a feather obsession! Many of my feathers have been collected over years of treasure hunting and some have even been gifted to me. Much to the amusement of my family, I still get a thrill when I spy a feather on the ground especially if it is a really special one like my beautiful Barn Owl feather.
In this new mini tutorial we will add a second feather to our study page. Working from real life, we will first draw our feather thinking about placement on the page, size and scale. As this is quite a short tutorial, taking a little time to draw the feather (rather than using the outline drawing) will be really beneficial as it will allow you the time to really get to know your subject before you paint it.
Drawing from real life improves both observation and drawing skills as you need to look very closely at your subject. Even when looking at a simple shape such as a feather there will be many things to consider when adding your initial drawing to the page. You will need to consider the scale of your feather (the size compared to other feathers on the page). The proportions of the feather; how tall is it compared to the width? How wide are the sections either side of the central spine? How much of the spine has barbs? You will also consider the shape of the feather (how it curves) and the different internal shapes that make up the two sides.
Once the feather is drawn we will look closely at the colours. One side is muted with earthy hues and the other has a range of amazing iridescent hues. We will also look at the textures. Working onto wet will achieve lovely soft edges and dropping in colour will create soft blends.
We will work onto dry to achieve crisp, hard edges and strong colour. We will mix colour on the surface of the paper to recreate the colourful blends of rich blues and greens. We will also glaze colour over the top to achieve more depth and different colour transitions.
We will also use a range of different brushes like the rake (left) to add soft, stippled colour and delicate edges.
To find out more about this tutorial, take a look at the short video.
I hope you enjoy painting this little feather study. Remember, there is also a Pheasant feather tutorial available (if you’ve not yet discovered it) and there are more in the pipeline!
Once you start painting these lovely little studies you might even be inspired to start a collection of your own feathery finds to add to your page!
Happy Painting!
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