4/25/2020
Pigeon Politics
On Yupo, with watercolor and wettable graphite as well as some gesso.
12x20”
Love this new process! 

BARCELONA PIGEONS

A statue of a Spanish dignitary seems very attentive to these two Catalonian pigeons.  This is a TAPE BATIK done on YUPO with Fluid Acrylics.  I had to paint it because it made me laugh when I saw them having their discussion with the robed figure in Barcelona.  This was one of the demos from our YUPO workshop a couple of weeks ago here in my studio, and lots of adjustments were made once the tape was removed.

"A Little Birdie Told Me"  Fluid Acrylics and Watercolor on YUPO  12 x 18"

YUPO AND FLUID ACRYLICS

These pigeons were stunningly beautiful on this ancient fence just outside Notre Dame in Paris.  The bright blue sky that Sunday made their feathers appear even bluer than they were.  Their attitudes were fun to capture, too. 

This photo of the painting was taken through the non glare plexi, so the colors are a bit off and the values not quite as dark as the painting in some areas.   


"SITTING ON THE FENCE" Transparent Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 40 x 26"

CELEBRATE

Months ago several friends advised me to enter my Italian pigeon picture in the Watercolor Society of Indiana's annual juried show. Since, at most, I enter only two shows a year, it didn't seem right to submit a painting that seemed to me so boring or too simple. But these giant sized pigeons did make it into the juried show - which was a pleasant surprise, for sure.

Today awards were presented in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, where the WSI show will hang through the first weekend of December. The pigeons received the third place ribbon, along with a generous gift certificate from Cheap Joe's in North Carolina:-) and a very nice junk of change! THANK you for being so encouraging and having the eye to see what to enter. Your advice is so appreciated, and your friendships are such a blessing. Now let's celebrate!!!

BEFORE & AFTER

Some paintings don't work out at all, and some fall just short enough that they torment me. One of those was a painting of two huge pigeons, a big painting, 27" by 43", cut from a roll of hot pressed Arches paper. The original was posted last fall, but now it's posted again so you can see what a difference one wash of color can make to a painting.

First, the pure whites on the birds were misketed to protect them from any more paint. Some of the blues were also miskited for the same reason. Then, the entire surface of the paper was sprayed, which didn't harm the fluid acrylics in any way. Using a large brush to glaze over the whole painting, I washed on Transparent Pyrrol Orange, a beautiful fluid acrylic color from Golden. DaVinci may carry it too.

Popcorn salt was sprinkled over the damp, glistening glaze in a few areas to allow the colors underneath to surface. After the orange glaze dried, some more darks were also added in the background to help settle it down.

I'm much happier with it now, and it'll be one to take this weekend to Indianapolis for my demo at the Watercolor Society of Indiana meeting. If you have time, let me know if you like the change. The newly glazed one is the first one posted. Thanks.

MORE FUN WITH FLUID ACRYLICS

For some reason, I thought painting a big picture of pigeons would be fun to do. Here's what happened, in progression. Let me know what you think...... a super dumb idea or ???

Here are the background steps, shown above, but the miskit's been removed from the leaves. The leaves as well as the giant pigeons were miskited so I could wet the entire paper and let the paint flow without it getting on the pigeons or leaves. I worked the foreground in two pourings, covering most of it the second time with Phthalo Blue.

The upper portion of the painting was poured with a shadow-like edge created on the bottom of the horizontal shape. I added excess water to create blossoms in various areas, then as soon as it was almost dry, washed off the loose paint. Since the painting's 42 x 27," it was easiest to work on sections.

The post above shows the next step. On wet paper, I added more color to the leaf areas, made more blossoms and back runs, then after letting it dry a bit, blasted off whatever paint hadn't set up yet, creating the textures seen below. Check out Nick Simmons' blog - see side bar - to see more of his watercolor batik effect on his blog and web site.
The leaves shown above are just a close up of the leaves after layering of paint twice and spraying off twice to create the batik look. Initially, the background behind them was also treated with the same process.Above, the miskit is off the pigeons but new areas on their backs have been miskited that will remain white. Time to paint those pigeons.
Paint was added to both pigeons, but only the one on the left had back runs created and paint washed off of it. Click on the image to see the difference in textures of the two birds. The miskit's been removed from both birds.

At this point in the painting, I really began to question what in the world I was thinking --- painting PIGEONS??? Giant pigeons? These two birds each measure about 18 inches long.

Then I remembered. The very first memory I have of ever being afraid was when I was maybe three years old and playing in our backyard. Suddenly these HUGE birds landed near me. They had shiny, iridescent feathers and bobbed their heads in a goofy way. I flew up the back porch steps to the safety of my mom's arms. I do think those particular pigeons WERE at least 18 inches long, maybe even longer. I can certainly remember being very terrified.

Above is the nearly finished piece. Although I'd used some warm colors near the birds, the painting had no contrast of temperature other than the red orange eyeball of the 'lady' pigeon. Contrast can usually add some interest, and since this painting needed more pizazz, I popped some orange in the feathers. See below.

I'd guess I've faced my fears of those pigeons, just in time to visit St. Mark's square in a couple of weeks. Can't wait. Bring on those pigeons!

"PIGEON TOED?" Fluid Acrylics on 140#HP Arches 42 x 27"