The second of the six-day blue art challenge, which I narrowed down to blue-feathered birds painted in acrylic, is this male Eastern Bluebird. He sits atop a simple wooden birdhouse, and the yellow-green background complements his rusty red-orange breast as the midmorning sun warms his blue back. The color scheme in this painting may be simple, but it is effective in that the blue and orange are opposite on the color wheel, while green harmonizes with both.
Thoughts on the acrylic paint
I am still getting accustomed to acrylic paint’s characteristics, especially how quickly it dries – not only compared to oils, but it seems to me that it dries even faster than watercolor. There is also more of a color shift as it dries compared to my watercolor paints. For this series, I am using a line of craft paints my husband has used for more than a decade, so I can ask him about any issues I have. (The brand is by Plaid, maker of Mod Podge, and goes under the names Apple Barrel and Folk Art and is available at Wal-Mart here in the US.) I feel like I am doing a bit better with it, which is enough encouragement to continue with this new-to-me medium.
Thoughts on the drawing and painting process
Looking at this painting after some time has passed, I could probably have done a better job on my initial sketch, particularly where the bird’s feet rest on the birdhouse. I also think I made the head a little too small to fit the rest of the bluebird’s body, but it is a subtle thing that I didn’t notice until the painting was completely dry. I do love the natural color scheme of this bird species – especially the more brightly-colored males – and hope to find another good photo reference to do another in the future.
Purchase links for Eastern Bluebird
Prints are at my Pixels store, and assorted accessories at RedBubble for those who want. The original acrylic painting on primed paper is now listed at my gallery at Daily Paintworks, and is still available for $100 USD plus shipping.
Meanwhile, I have started painting blue-feathered bird number three …
