Capturing the Essence: Techniques for Bird ArtistsCapturing the Essence is a step-by-step personal guide – by one of Australia's greatest living bird artists – to observing, retaining the essential information and then painting birds from field notes and sketches, photographs and other field observations. The author takes the reader through the processes involved in oil painting, watercolour and acrylic techniques, and a piece of art is built up in stages to demonstrate the skills required in each of these media. While the book covers some of the general basics relevant to various kinds of painting of natural history subjects, the concentration is very much on birds. Painting or drawing any subject well, gives great satisfaction. In this book the author hopes to help the reader become competent at drawing and painting birds, or at least to enjoy trying! |
Contents
Acknowledgements | |
Introduction | |
Part A the basics | |
Materials | |
Aids | |
Some principles of painting | |
Anatomy of birds for the artist | |
Sketching from life | |
Ideas | |
Part B the paintings | |
A painting in watercolours | |
A painting in acrylics | |
A painting in oils | |
Conclusion | |
Glossary | |
Recommended reading | |
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Common terms and phrases
980 Taklon Long Acrylic paints added allows applied Australian Bar-shouldered Dove become bill binoculars bird artist bird’s black and white Blue Green Shade Burnt Sienna captive bird coat composition conté chalk correct dark darker detail draw and paint drawing or painting edge example feather groups feet female foreshortening gape gesso give Gouache grass stems head Hog Bristle jizz Kingfisher know your subject Kolinsky Sable lichen light and shade live bird look male Measured drawings medium mixed Neef 980 Taklon Pacific Black Duck painting birds palettes passerines photographs picture plumes Porphyrio position postures Purple Swamphen quick sketch Red-capped Robins Sepia shadow shape species Stork-billed Kingfisher surface tail Taklon Long flat Taklon Script brush tape toes tonal values Toning Grey tracing paper varnish viewer watercolour paper Wedge-tailed Eagle white spirit wing Winsor & Newton Winsor Blue Green Winsor Red Wompoo Fruit-Dove