The Hen

I didn't get a chance to work on The Hen at all this week, but between last weekend and this weekend, I've made a bit of progress.

Last weekend:

• After masking the hen and the log with low-tack masking paper, I sprinkled paint on the page with a flat sieve and a toothbrush.
• Then I painted the log wet-in-wet, to keep it fuzzy and out of focus.
• After removing the masking paper, I started painting the detail, with the darkest colour to begin with.

This weekend:

• I've adjusted the sprinkling of background paint, as my hen shape was slightly too big, leaving a bit of a white gap between the background and the hen itself. I had applied masking fluid over the edge of the masking paper, and it had settled a bit more than I anticipated (I should know this by now!)
• I've applied small lines of masking fluid to the bits that I want to keep light, and I've started painting the rusty-coloured feathers.
• The patterns of colours are not as strong as they should be, so I want to figure out how to make those lovely feather shapes before I do anything more. Some of these shapes are like little shells, others like arrows, and then there are the dotted lines. It's all very natural looking, and yet, there are very strong patterns in each area - in the wing, in the thigh, on the neck, ... I think now is a good time to stand back and think about it some more.