Feather further refined ~

Black feather study 2

I've worked a little more on this feather and tried to add in some of the colorful undertones that appear in the black color of the feather. This work started with watercolor - and now I've added in acrylic (also used as water media). The "black" is actually a combination of colors including some ivory black, but not much - quite a bit of alizeron crimson, some ultramarine blue, even a little golden yellow. Though it is a little hard to tell from this photo, it is a warmish black with an almost velvety appearance. Under the feather, I used a little white mixed in with my colors and a little more blue for the shadow. The end of the feather that becomes fuzzy, used a little more yellow to create a browner tone. Finally there are some very thin highlights along the edge of the ruffled part of the feather, which are not white (they appear to be so against the black) but are actually very pale blue.

The technique I used was a glazing technique - of light wash over light wash, building up layers of color. It can't be shown in the photo, but it does acquire a type of sheen. I think I've gone about as far as I can go with this ... it is done on illustration board, which can be used for this type of paint, but it is certainly not designed for it. I'd like to try the feather again using water color paper and see the outcomes using a different surface.