quick and easy rooster...

Gooood morning!  It's a rainy morning in balmy NC, but I'm so excited b/c all of the flowers are blooming and I got my veggie and flower gardens cleaned out yesterday!  Yippeee!  

I must not have used any muscles all winter long b/c this morning I am SORE!

So, I wanted to take you through a fun rooster project.  I hope you'll try it!

Grab a rooster photo from your neighbor's henhouse, sketch it out or lightbox it and give it a whirl.

Using a larger round brush (I was using a #12) quickly work in sections, loosely laying on your base blues and purples.  Tilt your board a bit or prop it up so that your colors blend without you having to mess with it.  Let the paint do the work.

Colors:  cerulean blue, paynes gray, viridian green (in the tail), violet

Dry this wash before you start the next one!

Your paper should be completely dry to the touch now before you start on the background bushes.  I wet the whole bush area and worked quickly in sections from the bottom right, up and over the top.  Finish the large section before you do the section under the tail.

Colors:  Hooker's green mixed with bunt umber, new gamboge, lemon yellow, viridian green

Wash your brush well in between colors and change your water if it's getting too muddy.  Dirty water will make your painting look dingy and you want to keep the vibrant colors.

On the stones, I used Burnt Sienna and Burn Umber

Dry again!

Here, you're going to be working in color chunks, not worrying about individual feathers.  The rooster that I am looking at had large patches of gorgeous yellows, blues, and oranges.  

Colors: Payne's Gray, Violet, Burn Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson

Dry again!

Here, I'm deepening the background so that the rooster pops forwards.  Use the same colors and place paint negatively around some interesting branches and such.  I had scratched in branches, but I didn't like how that looked, so after it was dry, I painted negatively around those branches.  At this point, you should be looking at your painting for balance, adding touches of color here and there.

I also deepened some of the colors on the rooster here, still not getting too caught up in the details.

I'm adding my darkest darks, here...The Payne's gray, brightening up the yellows and reds, splattering a bit.  The darkest greens towards the bottom of the bush, getting lighter as you go out.  To get that effect, paint on the dark green right next to the rooster and then with clean water on your brush, touch the edge of the green and draw it out.  Use a tissue to dab up too much water.

The finishing touches on all my painting is the softening of the edges.  Notice in the rooster, above, how harsh some of the edges are.  I like to soften up some lines and created a "glow" on my work.  I find it more appealing.

Your painting MUST be completely dry before doing this.  With clean water, a tissue and a smaller brush, start softening the lines, edges and some of the feather patterns.  Work on one place at a time.  Soften an edge with clean water, gently scrubbing at the line of paint until it comes up and then dab it with a tissue.  This process can be a bit time consuming, but it really makes your artwork look finished.   

I always like to soften up some circles in bushes or trees, soften up the spot on the rooster's back where the sun is shining, wherever you feel that the painting needs some TLC. 

You're done!  Pop it into a mat and you have a lovely gift for someone or for yourself!  

I hope you've enjoyed my little tutorial.  Feel free to share it with others.  

Happy Painting!!!  

Let me know if you have any questions.