Showing posts with label Hawaiian birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hawaiian birds. Show all posts

Monday, September 16, 2013

Best White Oil Paint, Natural Pigments, Hawaiian Moorhen, And My Studio Assistant

"The best way to finish a painting is to start a new one." - Sylvio Gagnon

"Making Ripples" (Hawaiian Moorhen)
24" x 24" Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas
Available

The above acrylic painting of the Hawaiian Moorhen was from a reference photo of mine taken at Hamakua Marsh in Kailua on Oahu, Hawaii.   It is not what I have been working on lately; I had hoped to finish a landscape this past Saturday but, alas, it was not to be.   Sundays I do not paint at all, and today life interfered beginning with needing maintenance help in my kitchen.   I spent some time improving my website and see below for my studio assistant who needed me to make a trip today to go buy her some food.


See her licking her chops !  This is Lika on my patio.  We are great buddies!  But I digress.

I recently discovered that Gamblin Artist Oil Colors has a new white called "Flake White Replacement".  It is true to the properties of the old flake white but does not contain the lead. This replacement white is also more permanent than the old lead laden flake white, which I used many many years ago.  Nowadays, for the most part, I use Weber's Permalba White which is a mixture of Titanium and Zinc whites; that combination of Zinc and Titanium is, or has been, the best white.  But I intend to purchase Gamblin's Flake White Replacement soon as well as another new white they have called Warm White which is a mixture of Benaimidazolone Orange, Hansa Yellow, Titanium White, and Zinc White.   I realize I can make my own mixture of warm white with paint already on hand, but I like to try new things and I like to save time.   

I made a post here some time back about Natural Pigments (click here) to view.   I will not repeat the old information given there, other than to say some artists (despite it being dangerous and toxic) might still want to purchase lead white paints.   Natural Pigments paints website carries more than one kind of lead white; their paints are called Rublev Colours and they come in watercolors as well as oils.   They are made of natural and historical pigments used by the old masters and there are no additives to the paint like fillers, driers, or stabilizers; simply single pigment colors and binders.  I intend to purchase some of their paints as well.  

Back to finishing my landscape tomorrow !  It is really coming along great; just need to adjust some of the greens and add the foreground cattails.  I tend to paint slow lately and, although I love impressionistic work, I work in a more realistic, time-consuming manner.  I am sure he must have been referring to the French Impressionists when Richard Boyle said, "To the impressionist, the work was finished, no matter how casual the execution, when the idea was completely realized on the canvas."   And that is okay, but it is not my way of working.  I will admit, though, to the truth of what Harley Brown has said, "The painting is always finished before the artist thinks it is."
Lika is sound asleep now beside me, and I need to be a copycat and do the same.  



Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Slim Pickin's (Brazilian Cardinal On The Beach)


"Slim Pickin's"
11" x 14" oil on panel 
$1525

This oil painting of the Brazilian or Red-crested Cardinal is pretty true to my reference photo I took at Bellows Beach on Oahu.   There was sand inside the broken coconut shell, but evidently this fellow found something to nibble on in it as well.   On the tip of  the bird's beak are some sand particles.  The wind was blowing, which made its crest more flat against its head instead of standing up straight as in my reference photo of another cardinal shown below.  




Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Work In Progress - Red-Crested Cardinal and Video


Red-Crested Cardinal 
Work In Progress - Stage 4
oil on 11" x 14" panel

There have been obligations to take care of, so I finally got back to working today on this oil painting of the Red-crested or Brazilian Cardinal.  Reality check: there is more to life than painting everyday     :-)     There is much refining work to be done on his feathers, as well as other areas of the painting.   In an earlier post I explained how I photographed this fellow at Bellows Beach on Oahu, as he was busy nibbling on something inside this fallen coconut.  

Below is a video (not mine) of these cardinals on the island of Kauai.   Beautiful and relaxing to watch !



Friday, February 22, 2013

Brazilian Cardinal (Work In Progress- Oil Painting)


Brazilian or Red-Crested Cardinal
Photo by Carol Reynolds

Isn't this a charming fellow !   I just wanted to share another photo of the striking Brazilian Cardinal. They were introduced to Hawaii around 1930.  They are abundant on Oahu and I believe I like them better than the mainland's common red cardinal, which is also found in Hawaii and was introduced here in 1929.   Below is my oil painting of the red-crested cardinal in stage 3 of development .... still have a long way to go.


Stage 3  Work In Progress 
Brazilian Cardinal 
oil on panel 

I need to make more adjustments to his body shape and feathers and add a lot more detail everywhere.  Having a blast with this painting!


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Red-Crested Cardinal (Work In Progress)


Reference Photo of Red-Crested Cardinal
by Carol Reynolds

I took this reference photograph of the Brazilian or Red-Crested Cardinal some time ago at Bellows Beach on Oahu, Hawaii.   He was finding something to nibble on in this fallen, broken open coconut.  I am thinking about the title "Slim Pickings" for the finished painting     :-)      Below are stages of the work in progress.


First Stage WIP   

I almost always begin with a rough color "sketch" in oil on canvas or panel.   


Stage 2 WIP
Red-Crested Cardinal 
11" x 14" oil on gessobord panel

The painting is still in a very rough beginning, and it needs to dry before I go on to the next stage with more detail.   Please return soon to view the completed painting.



Sunday, February 3, 2013

Wildlife Artists And National Museum of Wildlife Art (Video)


"Alert"   (reworked)
(Black-Crowned Night Heron)
12" x 12" oil on canvas
$1200

I reworked the lower right hand corner of this painting adding the tall grasses and now I am much happier with it.   I will continue to paint more wildlife as well as other subject matter as I enjoy lots of variety in my work.    There are several wildlife artists whose work I admire and two of them are Ralph Oberg and Tucker Smith .   For a visual treat, please click the links to visit their websites.

Below is a video about the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.   


I have been to Jackson Hole, but unfortunately did not visit this museum at that time.   I must go back someday !






Thursday, January 24, 2013

Alert (Black-Crowned Night Heron or 'Auku'u)


"Alert"
12" x 12" oil on canvas
$1200

This oil painting of a Black-crowned Night Heron, or 'Auku'u in Hawaiian, was finished late last night.  I had a grand time with it, working from one of my photographs I had taken at Hamakua Marsh in Kailua on Oahu.  It was a perfect shot of a quick turn of the heron's head as he caught sight of something nearby.   I was so focused on the heron that I have no idea what he saw.  


Thought you might like to see a close-up of the heron in the image above.  Below is the rough layout of the painting at the very beginning stage.


I had previously posted the above photo on this blog a few days ago.   I had originally intended to paint waterlilies in the water, but decided against it as the painting progressed.

If you would like to purchase this or any other painting on this blog, please contact me at reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com



Saturday, September 15, 2012

By The Light Of The Moon - Black-Crowned Night Heron


"By The Light Of The Moon"
8" x 10" oil on gessobord panel
$525

I took the reference photo of this Black-Crowned night heron at Barking Sands Beach on the island of Kauai.   It was broad daylight and there was no moon out.   While painting this, I considered adding more branches to the tree with some in front of the moon; then I decided I liked the simplicity of it without the extra tree branches.  



Thursday, August 30, 2012

Double Trouble - Red Jungle Fowl Oil Painting



"Double Trouble"
16" x 20" Oil on gessobord panel

I completed this painting this morning after working on it for two weeks straight.   Please email me if interested in purchasing .    
    


Saturday, August 18, 2012

Wake-Up Songs (House Finch Reworked)

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." - Lou Holtz


"Wake-Up Songs"
9" x 12" Acrylic on canvas (re-worked)
$625


This is an older painting that I worked on this morning to correct the bird's anatomy and color.   I am much happier with this little house finch now.    There are several palm trees outside my studio and several house finches sing away in the early morning; especially when the palms bear their "fruit", which they like to eat.
These birds were introduced to Hawaii from California sometime before 1870.

Below is one of my reference photos for another painting in progress right now.


These are wild Hawaiian Red Jungle fowl found throughout the islands.   Please return soon to see the completed painting.  


Sunday, June 24, 2012

More Recommended Art Books


This photo of mine is of a Hawaiian Black-crowned Night Heron, or 'Auku'u, and has nothing to do with art books other than he seems to be saying "Take a look at that!"   That is what I hope you do by visiting James Gurney's blog about art books he recommends for art students.   Click here to view  As most of you know, James Gurney is widely known for his "Dinotopia" books.

One of the books he recommends is one I highly regard and recommended in a previous post on this blog, and that book is Carlson's Guide To Landscape Painting , by John F. Carlson who was an American Impressionist.   I ran across that book when I was about 15 years old and it was my primary source for learning about perspective, light, and color and so much more.   It is available on Amazon.  

Gurney has also written an excellent book Color And Light: A Guide For The Realist Painter which has received excellent reviews.   It is available through Amazon or you may obtain a signed copy from his blog   http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com   

I took the day off from painting and, as you can tell, been on the Internet some today.   I will begin work tonight on completing the seascape of Lanikai Beach so please return soon.    




  

Monday, March 5, 2012

Hamakua Marsh - Kailua, Oahu (photos)

A few minutes ago I made a new post on my photography blog with photos of Hamakua Marsh and some of the birds found there.  For you bird lovers, go here to check it out.  Below are a couple of photos I did not post at that site.




The top photograph is of the Black-Necked Stilt or Ae'o and the bottom shot is of the Common Moorhen or 'Alae'ula which are both endemic to the Hawaiian islands.   I recently made another trip to Hamakua Marsh and got some great reference photos for future paintings.   All this makes me want to paint wildlife right now(!!), but I need to finish some other work I have started first.  

Hope to have completed some new work to post by tonight so check back soon.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

"Just The Two Of Us"
















16" x 20" Acrylic  

This painting is of Nene,  Hawaii's State Bird. They are also known as the Hawaiian Goose.  They are found only in Hawaii and are on the Federal List of Endangered Species.  Most of the photos I have taken of them have been on the island of Kauai.   To my knowledge, the only ones on Oahu are at the Honolulu Zoo.   They remind you a little of the Canadian Goose, to which they are related.