In the previous post, I shared how I start an acrylic bird painting. In this lesson, I will show the next steps.
Next, I start refining my lights and darks, and mid-tones, correcting where needed. I use mainly the palette I mentioned in lesson 1: titanium white, burnt umber, burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, payne’s grey, with a bit of yellow ochre added to the white for highlights. I also put in the eye, refine the beak, and start adding color to the wings and shadowed areas.
The rest of the process is simply continuing adding lights, darks and mid-tones. I add lines to block in the feathers, and continue to darken as needed. Below is the finished painting.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the process; I hope this is helpful for those who love to watch – and paint -birds.
6 responses to “How to paint an Egret in acrylics: Lesson 2”
Absolutely magnificent painting! Thank you so much for sharing your creative process! 😊
Very nice!!
So neat to see the process. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing. Makes me want to pick up my paints again!
You should; it’s really fun!
Enjoyed looking at several of your pieces. Needless to say, I share your love for birds. Wonderful subjects for artists and photographers. And great fun to observe and get to know. Agree with William above. Neat to learn about the palettes and processes. Keep up the good work!