I've been so busy with leatherwork lately that I've barely had time to paint! Thankfully I've made time to work on things between projects, and here is one 'just for me' painting I'm starting.
For this, I'm incorporating two techniques I'm aiming for in my work - larger paper size, and experimenting with different paper proportions. I tend to work around 8X10 or smaller, but this piece is 12 inches long. I also find that working in a more 'slender' paper size helps me pay closer attention to composition.
I also aimed to experiment with different angles. The viewer is looking up at the falcon, but down at the hawk. The hawk is also mostly facing away from the viewer, while the falcon is looking at the viewer. I wanted to have a push-and-pull interaction: looking up and down, being looked at and looking away.
I experimented with different colors before settling on this color sketch. The previous sketches were too 'rainbow', but I want to have a balance between saturation and dull color - that's what truly makes color pop. The painting itself will be a bit brighter - I find I work too dark digitally most of the time!
Here, I'm aiming for compliments - the orange and green of the hawk and leaves, with blue and purple next to the yellow and orange of the hawk's plumage. I'm also working on carrying color around the composition - the brilliant green of the leaves on the falcon carry to the background, and to the hawk's eye, and finally there's a hint of it in the hawk's secondary feathers.
The real test here will be if I can stick mostly to the color sketch...or if my watercolors take me in a whole new direction!
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