The Bird of Paradise – Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea has over 30 species of the Bird of Paradise. I am currently painting this study of the male Lesser Bird of Paradise.
Painting the white feathers is simply not painting the watercolour paper with any pigment. It is not easy to add backwash to enhance the white feathers without completely covering the white paper. I didn’t want to tape or mask it out to add extra challenge…
I think my next one would be better. What do you think?
I’m afraid I can’t advise on artistic techniques, Joycelin, and your Bird of Paradise already looks wonderful to me. I’ll be interested to see how you change it next time.
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Very nice. Preserving white is always a challenge. I’ve found adding some shading helps to make it pop more. But I’m always hesitant to add that first brush stroke.
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I know what you mean. Takes practice. Thank you for your kind words.
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