Friday 2 May 2014

Trying out new subjects

I've been experimenting with different subject matter - wanting something new for the forthcoming Cambridge Open Studios in the summer. Some worked - some haven't and it is back to the drawing board with them....

However, I am quite pleased with this peacock. Firstly they have such wonderful colours - just right for the acrylic inks I have. I also love the feathers on the head - very quirky.

I have tried a few other birds. Decided that I need ones with interesting head feathers or lovely bright plummage to make it work in this style.

Jury is out on the guinea fowl and the stinky turkey (which I saw in Ecuador this February - amazing plummage on that). I'll see if I can improve them before uploading on to this site.

I had forgotten that I had picked up some peacock feathers from the garden centre. Thought it would be fun to do a close-up of one of them. Just had fun with this one - lots of ink and water. I started off choosing the typical "peacock" colours and thought it needed something vibrant in there. Looking closely at the feather one discovers other complementary colours lurking in there. I accentuated these and it really brings the picture to life.

I've been going through all my African photographs - you never know, I might end up trying this technique with some of the wonderful animals I saw there. Same goes for the ones from the Galapagos - for example, the iguanas had some wonderful colours....

Anyway - back to work in the studio. Really enjoying having everything in the right place in cupboards and having running water up there - what a difference it makes.

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