Guest Post

Hi everyone,

I'm guest posting today over at Skip to my Lou

I'm keeping up with my shorebird theme.  Head over there to find out how to make papier mache version.

See you there.

Gail

Shorebirds

Summertime for me is spending time by the water. Whether at the cabin by the lake, visiting the coast or even just having time to walk by the river here in the city.


As a bird lover I'm immediately drawn to my feathered friends.  Sketching birds in plein air is challenging, they are always on the move. So it helps to be armed with a fast camera and lots of patience.

Don't rely entirely on photographs though, make little gesture sketches that record common poses. You can then refer back to those sketches and add birds into your  larger compositions.

This painting is a good journal project….

and this seagull is a painted paper collage.

Both projects use a blurry line technique.  In the past I used gel pens but their quality has gone up in recent years and it's getting harder to find ones that will bleed when hit with a water wash.

There are other options.  My favourite is the Stabilo pencil.  It's easy to draw with and works on paper, glass, plastic and metal. I have to buy mine at a fine art supply store and they are about $2.00 a piece.

You can also use a watercolour pencil. You get a similar blurry effect. They are not as soft as a stabilo so I find them a little harder to sketch with.

A charcoal pencil will give you a bit of blurriness, you can smudge them with your finger before adding the water wash to enhance this a bit.

Watercolour markers will also give you a blurry effect.  I use them often at school as they are on every student supply list. My only complaints are they can blur too much and you may lose definition in your sketch. The colour also changes and your black fades into blues and purples.

Materials Required:

- paper, you can use an art journal or a nice quality drawing paper.  At school I use this paper a lot. Although it is called white construction paper it's not a construction paper. It paints up nice. You don't get WC paper effects but it is a good alternative and it's cheap.  It's an amazing drawing paper (better than the so-called drawing paper most suppliers carry) and has enough tooth (rough surface) to take pastels (both oil and chalk) beautifully.
- pencil and eraser
- stabilo or alternative
- disk tempera
- acrylic or liquid tempera
- sponge
- glue
- sandpaper

Procedure:

Let's start with the journal page. Now I made a journal page but you can easily make this into a single page project.

Select a shorebird you would like to draw.

Here I sketched a spotted sandpiper.  I used some reference photos of mine and gesture sketches.  I added a piece of driftwood in the foreground to add interest and included the water in the background, (both of which were not in my photos).

Then I went over my sketch with my stabilo.  Sometimes I go straight in with the stabilo but this was a new composition and you cannot erase a stabilo.

Start adding colour.

I have lots of watercolour paint in my studio but I used disk tempera to show you can easily do this project at school. Disk tempera costs a fraction of what watercolour does and I'm always impressed with how far I can push it.

The secret here is to treat it like watercolour, use more water to fade out your washes. Now I paint around my sandpiper because of the stabilo, I want to control the blurriness as well as conserve my whites.

I add some colour to the bird. The stabilo starts to blur forming the shadows. I use straight brown and watered down brown to get my colour variation.

I also leave some areas with no paint for the white of the feathers.

A nice touch is to go back and add a touch of white on top of the paint, (extra feather detail, some waves in the water).

You can use white disk tempera which acts very much like gouache.
I also use PITT markers which are opaque white ink, acrylic markers, at school I might use white pencil crayon, white oil pastel, or even white chalk.

I add some clouds using white liquid tempera or white acrylic and a sponge.

I want to add some text,  because it's a sand piper I cut a letter "S" from some sandpaper.  Great textural element.

I made a pattern out of some scrap paper and then traced it on the back.

I want it to stand out a bit so I trace around it with a black crayon. This gives the "S" a nice black outline.

I glued it into place and added text with a fine sharpie pen.





Painted paper collage:

I take a piece of that nice paper and tape it down to my art board.

Using liquid tempera or acrylic I take a dark blue, a light blue, and a little white and paint the background.

I use this cross stroke a lot for backgrounds.  Start with the darkest colour and work your way down adding the lighter colours.

While the background is drying I painted the paper for the posts in the pier.



I use brown, black, and a little white acrylic or liquid tempera.

I need a scraper so I take an old gift card and cut it to the size I want.

The paper I'm using is a scrap of brown kraft paper.


 I dip the end of the scraper into a few colours.  I then spread it down the paper getting this nice effect that looks like weathered wood.


Set aside to dry.

Using the same technique as for the journal page paint another bird.

This is a seagull I photographed last year in Cape Breton and you can see I misjudged the size of paper I needed.  Oh well….we'll just add some legs.

Cut out the seagull and the posts.



It started off as being all one piece but I couldn't get it to look right.

So I cut them apart. I also added a little white for a highlight on top edge.


Glue into place.

Sponge on a few clouds and then glue the gull into place.





I hope this inspires you to make a few shorebirds of your own.

Take care everyone.

Gail

Blue Jay Portraits

I had a request from my last residency to do a similar project as my Stellar Jay portrait only in a winter setting.

After watching a pair of Blue Jays hanging out in my backyard I knew exactly what I was going to do.






MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- substrate, can be a primed canvas, primed cardboard, poster board, heavy paper
- photocopied pages from a bird book
- glue
- scissors
- template
- thin recycled cardboard or an old file folder
- tape
- white, black, blue, brown, and red acrylic paint
- pencil with eraser on the end
- black pony bead
- a few red sequins
- black sharpie, white gel pen
- Mod podge for sealing, optional

PROCEDURE:

To add an extra layer to our project I photocopied some pages from a bird book on Blue Jays.  I also made up some text on the computer.

Cut and glue onto your substrate or background.

Roughly mix a drop of black acrylic into some white, I say roughly because I want some variation in that grey.  Add a little water if needed.  Paint over your background.

You want to be able to read some of the text so water down the paint more (like a glaze) for those areas.


Let dry.

I'm using my Stellar jay stencil for this project.  To make a stencil cut out the template or a drawing you have made of the bird.

Place on a piece of cereal or cracker box cardboard. You can even use an old file folder.  Trace around.

I take the easy way out when cutting a stencil.

I cut it in half, cut out the shape and then tape it back together.

Place stencil into position on background.  I have the kids do this in partners.  One holds the stencil while the other pounces on the paint.

Start with the lightest colour and pounce on the paint.  Do not move or shift stencil.  Continue until bird is all stencilled, end with the black paint.

You need to pounce up and down to ensure the paint does not go under the stencil.

Lift stencil.

Paint in a branch for your bird to perch on.

Using the end of a pencil add some red berries to the branch.

With a small brush add some details to the wing, tail and head.

Glue on a black pony bead for the eye and a few red sequins on some of the berries for a little shimmer.

If you want you can add some black sharpie and white gel pen to add a little outlining and detail.

Finally you can add a coat of Mod podge to seal and add that shiny finish.

Here are some of Grade 4's work.

How to make a Steller's Jay Portrait

I spent the Labour Day weekend hiking around Yoho National Park showing my kids the Falls, Emerald Lake and hoping to get a glimpse of this guy....a Steller's Jay.

The Steller's Jay is the provincial bird of BC.  I saw my first one at Emerald Lake 4 years ago.

Didn't see one on this trip so I went home and made one.







MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- thin cardboard (cereal or cracker box)
- reference photo or template
- masking tape
- corrugated cardboard or primed canvas as substrate (base)
- collected collage material (old maps, photocopies)
- glue
- gesso
- acrylic or liquide tempera paint
- pencil crayons
- a black pony bead
- letters
- mod podge for sealing

PROCEDURE:

I start by sketching out the bird to create my stencil.

I use reference photos.  You can borrow my template HERE.

Cut it out.

Put your cut out bird on a piece of thin cardboard and trace around it.

Now cut out your stencil.  I always take the easy way out.  I cut the cardboard in half, cut out the bird and then tape it back together.  If you're careful you'll have both a stencil and a tracer.

I wanted a collaged background. If I can make it relevant to the final piece then that's even better.
I hang on to any maps or brochures from my travels. I scan them, photocopy them, so I can use them over and over.

I take material from reference books. I also use copies of my art work.  I scan most of it so I can easily make copies.

I'm using a thick piece of corrugated cardboard as a substrate.  I could have also used a primed canvas, canvas board,  or piece of wood.


I cut strips, squares, rectangles and start gluing them on my base.

I add a thin coat of gesso.  I don't want to hide everything but I want a nice surface to add colour too.

I used my stencil to trace on the image.

Paint in the background.   I'm using acrylic but you could use water colour or disk tempera.
 Next time I think I'll just skip adding the bird and just paint the entire background first. Easier for young kids as well.

Looks pretty good just like this.

Using masking tape, tape the stencil into place.

Pounce on some black paint (acrylic or liquid tempera).  Hold brush straight up and down and dab, no stroking or the paint will seep under the stencil.

Add the cobalt blue.

Lift the stencil straight up.

You can add some detail with coloured pencil. (black, grey and white).

Add a black pony bead for the eye.

Now taking some colour photocopies of my art work I add some feathers.  You can look for pages in a magazine, use scrapbooking paper,  or create your own painted papers.

To get a nice shimmer on some of my papers I spray on some glimmer mist.

You can buy glimmer mist but it's pretty expensive......or you can make your own for a fraction of the cost.

Glimmer Mist Recipe:

- empty spray bottle, buy at Dollarstore or clean out an old one, travel size
- acrylic paint
- if your acrylic is not metallic you need some pearlizing medium
- a marble
- rubbing alcohol
- water

Add 1-2 tablespoons of paint to the bottle. Depends on how strong you want the colour. If you are using metallic paint you are good to continue.  If you just have regular paint add a squirt of pearlizing medium.
 Add 1 tablespoon or so of rubbing alcohol.  This helps keep the solution from clogging up the sprayer.
Fill the bottle with water until about 2/3rds full.  Add a marble if you have one (Dollar Store), this helps with mixing it.  Shake well before using and spray as needed.

Using this recipe I have made a lot of mists.

With the pearlizing medium you can make any colour if you have the acrylic paint.


When it dries you cannot rub the sparkle off so your work stays shimmery.

Add text to your piece.  I bought these great Martha Stewart punches, expensive, but I caught a sale at Micheal's.

I save all the extra letters for future projects.

I absolutely love using the punched paper as a stencil to use in backgrounds or to make interesting painted papers for next project.

I added a branch for the Jay to sit on (optional), you can paint one, cut one out of paper, or even add a real twig.

Finally add a coat of podge for sealing.

Once you have that stencil you can use it over and over again.




Here I'm using it in my sketchbook.

A stellar Steller's Jay!


That's its for now.