Beginning a new Duck Drawing

New Drawing: Female Mallard

Working on Colourfix paper.

Sketch on colourfix paper

Working dark to light.

Starting with sage green colourfix paper, I used white to get the sketch onto the very dark surface. When working on a dark background I do find using vivid and light complementary colors helps to give the focal image more impact.

Note: Colourfix is a fine tooth Pastel and multi-media paper by Art Spectrum. This is an Australian company, but most on-line fine art retailers will carry it. I got mine from Cheap Joe's in North Carolina.

 It comes in a wide range of colors, formats and you can now buy the surface in jars to make your own papers. Worth trying for colored pencil.

 

 

http://www.cheapjoes.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=colourfix

Starting with the dark, I spent time studying the colors of the bird. I used shades of purple for the underpainting, purple, lilac and lavender Primsacolor pencils along with some of my studio whites.

Colourfix has such texture that you can use the cheaper, less satisfactory pencils in your stash in your underpainting. You can even use Crayola pencils.

I choose the colourfix sage green to enhance the feeling of dark undergrowth. These ducks were in shallow water in a very weedy stream.

This should give the feeling of deep, dark woods.

Already I can see way the duck will stand out in this image, even after I add the yellows and browns to the background vegetation. The duck will be the focal point. Yes I will have to add the details missing from the reference photo. That is ok. I am the artist and I can do this.



Underpainting and Reference photo

     With the purple underpainting, even when I add the browns for the feather colors, it will not be lost in the dark background color. With a good underpainting the colors will be richer and more saturated.



   I think this will be a good drawing.