Water mixable oils - Macaw

[MaryAnne Long]

Gita,

Your parrot is coming along well.  I can see where cerulean blue would give you a wider range of blue for the feathers.  yet, the blue you are using is lovely.

Good job.  Stick with it.

aloha

mea

[Gita]

  Mea.

[Val]

 

[Gita]

I have almost finished the Macaw. Made the background a bit different. Some more finishing touches maybe. I would appreciate any crits or comments to my first oil ( WAMO)

Details

[Steve Weatherwax]

Wonderful job, Gita!    I wouldn't add any more.

[Gita]

  Steve! Glad I made this class.

[lynn p.]

Hi Toolman--Love what you did.  I have Holbein water mixables and liked them but back using regular oils with spike lavendar as a medium so they have a nice odor.  Loved the clean up of mixables though.


Gita--I like your painting and the darks you added to the blue feathers!

[Gita]

Thank you Steve. Thought the background is not calm...it competes with the bird.... should I change it? 

Thank Lynn. That's nice information- spike lavender... I don't mind it if it smells good. But the brushes do need to be washed in turps?

[Steve Weatherwax]

Yeah, you might want to consider toning it down. Nolan used neat Sap Green from Daler-Rowney It give the painting a nice dark background. That's what I used. I like the bias of the Daler-Rowney. The green is a little more biased to the red, whereas most of the others are are more biased to the yellow. You could mix your own by combining phthalo green and red iron oxide or burnt sienna.

Just to add my two cents....I believe you can use the lavender spike oil to clean your brushes. I've never used it, but I do use odorless mineral spirits (OMS) to remove most of the paint, followed by Murphy's Oil Soap. There is also Turpenoid, which is an odorless turpentine, but the OMS is supposed to be the least toxic. Not sure if you can get Murphy's Oil Soap in Deutschland, but any other mild soap or brush cleaner will do.

[Gita]

Changed the background to its original look. A lot better to have an inconspicuous background. But the Macaw looks a bit angry..
Any opinion to this from anybody? Steve, I would appreciate an opinion from you.

Details

[MaryAnne Long]

Yes, Gita, the background looks very nice now.  As for the angry look, I think it looks real.  Did you ever see a smiling macaw?

aloha

mea

[Steve Weatherwax]

Yes, Gita, much better. Now all the focus is on the bird. Beautiful job! 

[Val]

  uh-oh....somebody stole his nut! 

Beautiful job Gita, well done! 

[EmmaLee]

Beautiful painting, Gita! The background is much better now that it's less distracting. 

[Gita]

  Val, Mea, Steve and Emma-Lee.
Steve special thanks for your detailed answer.