If you were to ask me about my feather paintings, I’d probably tell you that I always start with the eyes. That was until yesterday, when I was working on my latest painting. I remembered to take some ‘work-in-progress’ pictures (I often forget to do this when I’m absorbed in painting) and when I looked at them, I realised that this time I’d taken a new approach – quite unintentionally as it happens.
I’m not sure where my change in process has come from but looking at these pictures, I can see that I’ve begun by blocking in the larger areas of colour before attempting any detail in those beautiful eyes. Normally, and I can hear myself saying the words – ‘once the eyes are right, the rest of the painting falls into place’.
I guess this is a natural development within my working process influenced by all the other mediums and techniques I like to experiment with. Apart from the planning stages, I try not to over think things when I paint, but I know the next time I pick up a paintbrush, I’ll be vey conscious of my process!
Do you follow ‘planned stages’ when you paint or do you let your paintbrush lead the way???
5 Stages of a feather painting.
