Bananaquit On Yupo

03 10, 13 Filed in: Watercolor

I started this painting by visualizing where the bird, a Bananaquit, should appear on the paper. I did not want him in the middle, but close enough so the bird and the flower would catch the viewers attention. As is often the case with Yupo, I used Dr. Martin liquid watercolors.
I poured various greens onto wet Yupo paper, trying to keep the darker colors away from the center. Some shades of red were dropped in the areas where I wanted the Heliconia flowers to go. I allowed the paint to flow around the paper by raising and lowering corners of the support while the paint was still wet. I also sprayed water, and occasionally used a brush to nudge the paint as needed. As you can see from the photo, there are no distinct forms at this time, and there was not an underdrawing.
After the paint had dried, color was removed from the area where the bird's body would be placed. The wings were left with the light green paint intact, since in life the colors of foliage show through the splayed wing feathers. I layered different colors of green to form the heliconia leaves, and added shape and colors to the flowers.
The next step was to paint the Bananaquit. The bird was painted with a brush and not by pouring. Some green was removed from the left wing feathers to give the feeling of movement. Adjustments to the leaves and flowers were also done at this step. Veins in the leaves were added, and stems in the background were placed by removing paint with a brush.