Wildlife Habitat Council painting involving E.I. Dupont Corporation

by Frank Baggett on 3/31/2009 7:47:17 PM3 Comments

E.I. Dupont, New Johnsonville site

Many folks have asked questions as to how long did it take to complete a painting, or have I ever demonstrated how I paint. In this tutorial I hope to show some of my techniques, and step by step photos of the actual painting being done. This painting's theme involves the Wildlife Habitat Council, which is an outstanding Conservation organization, coupled along with Earth Day which is on the 22nd of April this year. The subject matter is the Great Blue Heron which is a very majestic bird found all across America. I have chosen to involve the corporation of E. I. Dupont into the painting also, and the site chosen is the New Johnsonville Plant which has a program named "Wildlife at Work" in New Johnsonville, Tennessee of which I am also an active employee of. The New Johnsonville Plant is home to many species of Wildlife as well as being the world's largest manufacture of Titantium Dioxide.
I prefer to use pre-gessoed canvas or masonite panels of good quality and museum wrapped on the outside edges. To start the painting, I use a mechanical pencil to sketch the basic outline of my primary figures. Why a mechanical pencil? Because the roughness of the canvas will use up the lead of a regular pencil so fast that I would spend more time sharpening the pencil than sketching. If there are only a few basic lines drawn for paintings, I may simply use burnt umber and a paint brush to place my reference strokes for such things as skylines, trees, water, or perhaps a building. Often times a simple landscape involves one line...the horizon. And I begin the painting from there. Shown here is the painting's main subject matter which is the Great Blue Heron along with the New Johnsonville site incorporated into the background.
   It may appear small, but the canvas is placed on my drafting table, which is 48 inches wide. The vertical lines are a few reeds placed to add interest to the painting. As the painting progresses, the reeds may get moved, or omitted completely. Notice the waterline edges, and a few other quickly drawn lines which are solely reference lines. Detail is only drawn in on the main subject matter, and only for future reference. At this point, I am only focusing on establishing the foreground, background, and "anchoring" the main subject matter into the painting. Now I will establish shadows in water, and pay particular attention to the direction of light...which will add drama to the painting. The light source will be from the right side, with emphasis on the breast of the Heron and the beautiful plumage of the bird. As I mentioned earlier, the word anchoring refers to making the Heron appear "in" the water...not floating on top. Placing a few reeds over the bird will also give the illusion of depth. Often times, too much shadowing or reflections will give the illusion of "fake". I am after Realism in this painting, and showing Industry and Wildlife working together...in the same Habitat. Now I will begin painting...I always like to start with the furthermost object which is the sky in this case. I hope to achieve a dramatic lighting with a sunrise from the right hand side of the canvas. Laying in light coats of paint, I start to develop the sky.

     Sunset and sunrises are both the same..you cannot let the reds and oranges mix with blues, or you will have a green sky. I will carry the oranges over into the left side as well, but more muted and subtle to give a hint of 3 dimension. I am also starting on the buildings, adding colors, and imagining how shadows will give the buildings "structure" and appear real.


   The sky is taking shape, and the reflections of sunlight on grasses, stacks, and other objects need to have a lot of attention. I am laying in base coats of paint for the reeds that line the pond of which will be painted over to give depth and dimension with more fine details given to individual blades of the reeds. It is painstaking to lay in each individual blade for the reeds, but it will pay off with good realism and interest. Many Plein Aire painters will only give the suggestion of grasses, and omit much detail. Now I will start blocking in large portions of the canvas to see how the total composition will appear when done. I like to do this to have a sneek preview of the outcomming painting. Only the artist knows how he (or she) expects the painting to look when completed.
   The water is next, using a large paint brush (I often use a household paint brush) I will start adding color to the painting.

It appears as a mess, but the colors are strong tones of reds and yellows for the reflection of the sun into the water, and then the reflections of the reeds and sky are picked up. The layout is intentional, as the placement of the Great Blue Heron in the dark areas of the blues will give me the effect of drama that I am looking for. Notice the paintbrush strokes going downward..light reflects in long rays across the water in a distance. Up close reflections are more defined, as will be noted in the water's edge next to the reeds in the foreground. I keep the paint translucent by adding water. After the downward strokes, when the paint has had enough time to set, I will do a light dry brush across the water. Another popular artist that has demonstrated this technique is Bob Ross.

   This is a closeup of applying paint in downward motions. Again, the blues and oranges, yellows, and reds have to be done in different applications...or you will have green water. I will want green water in the foreground, and using this exact technique with the mixing of the colors on the canvas will give the green tint that I am after. When painting quickly, I will often actually mix colors right on the canvas. This requires practice, and good knowledge of your color chart. Notice that I have lightened the reflection in the water on the left where the reeds stop, and the skyline begins. This also gives more depth to the bird as well. Often times the color scheme is changed so to give more contrast between objects. I will work on the bird next, and get an idea of the color tones I will want.

   Here you can see the greens in the water I mentioned that I wanted which are from the reflection of some of the smaller grasses around the pond. When working on blending of colors on birds, I will often use my fingers to gently mix light coats of paint over each other to give the luster of the fine feathers on the head and sometimes the body of birds. Again, there is a waiting period between coats, and often to speed this process up, I will actually lower the light that is over my pallette to make the paints dry even quicker. This technique works well on stretched canvas, as the flexibility of the canvas with finger pressure works well. When applying paint like this, I rub my finger in circular motions and vary the pressure that I am applying. The heavier the pressure, the more of the top layer of paint is "dissolved" and mixed into the layer below. Dark colors with light overcoats is the usual way I apply the paint. When I am satisfied with the colors, to give the luster of feathers in sunlight I will gently dry brush a light coat of Titantium White over the paint, and again I will very gently rub the edges of the colors to blend the white into the paint.

   Now the painting is coming together. Color values are established, the composition looks good, and now the foreground will be added. This is a crucial moment in the painting. Often a painting can be ruined with the additon of objects that will later be unwanted, and will have to be removed by repainting a section of the painting.

   Here is what I have completed so far, and the array of my studio. I have slept on the idea of adding the reeds in the foreground that will give the bird a more definite "anchor" into the water, and now I will begin to add reeds into the painting.

I have added several reeds, and used one to go across the bird. Often overlapping objects helps with depth as well as interest to the work. It is time now to sit back and study the painting to see what else can be improved upon. I may lighten the back of the bird because the light source is stronger and shows more detail in the reeds, so there must be as much light in the object which is even closer to the viewer. Too much will ruin the effect of the lighting on the feathers on the breast. Another way to check for a good composition is to simply look at the painting...in a mirror. The reflection will be reverse, which gives a different perspective of the same painting, but rearranged. If a painting looks as good in the mirror as it does while being viewed normal..you have done well. Now I will actually place the unfinished painting in a frame. Doing this will cause the viewer's eye view to be more fixed on the main subject matter, and not clutter around it. The frame I am using is not the one that will be on the painting when completed, but will suffice for now.

There are changes to be made such as the white feathers in the tail of the bird..they take away from the image and will be muted to a darker tint. Another reason for framing prior to completion is to decide where to sign the work at. The back of the bird is too dark as mentioned prior, and more detail will be added as well. Here is the completed painting titled: E.I. Dupont, New Johnsonville

The photo of the finished work was taken outdoors, in natural sunlight. There will always be a tremendous differece between natural lighting, and artificial.

Wildlife Habitat Council painting involving E.I. Dupont Corporation

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