Monday, December 19, 2011

Coloring a Swallow

I finally got the time to write up the tutorial for the picture I colored last week. Tomorrow, you can see the color spotlight I made this tutorial for. I'm please with this picture because it only took 10 colors to make it look so neat.

Barn Swallow
I drew this barn swallow after being inspired by seeing a beautiful Victorian cut-out of one last week. I draw my pictures with pretty simple lines, because I like to rely on the markes for giving depth, however, I like my line work to stand alone sometimes, so added a lot of little lines that I knew would get covered up by coloring. I drew it with a 0.03 mm Multiliner SP, then photocopied it a couple times before I colored it. For coloring reference, I found this amazing website by photographer Rick Cameron.

I started with a simple base of grays to define my shadows. I don't have strong shadows in this illustration, because I wanted the top of the bird well lit, but I also wanted to showcase the vibrant belly plumage. I started with C3 and BV23. BV23 is my favorite alternate for C5...it is more purple and adds a little more richness to my cool grays.


Next, I feathered in a light base blue of B91 and B63. I layered B66 over that, (B66 is the color spotlight color that I'll feature tomorrow). I deepened the blue with the BV23 and C7. I did not blend much, rather, I kept my strokes in the direction the feathers grow so it looks more like natural color variation.

I darkened around the eye with C7, and darkened the wings with BV23 and C7. Again, I did not blend, instead I simply layered and feathered colors together . The top of the head is the only area where I blended the colors, as that is a very smooth area of feathers.


Next, I added my YR's. In looking at the photos of barn swallows, I noted that their chests are pale orange to brighter orange, depending on gender. I wanted a base that was not too vibrant, so I went with YR31. Then, I blended in YR12 and YR18. The YR18 was a perfect match for the photos I found online.

At this point, I held my image at arm's length and squinted...was it dark enough in the shadows? Did it look right overall? This is the point of self-critiquing that we discuss in the Intermediate Certification classes. This is also the point when I would clean up any spots where I went outside the lines (look at the gray tail feathers and how I fixed the mistake).

Last I needed to add a background of some sort. Usually I would just add a simple blue fade to suggest sky, but I didn't want to overwhelm someone with that much blue, so I decided to go more stylistic on my sky.

I made a mask from one of my photocopies of the bird and attached it firmly with some weak double-sided tape. Using the chisel end of the B63 I added a faint blue around the bird, getting darker closer to the bird. Then, I added larger speckles with the brush end of the B63 and a G12 marker. By airbrushing very lightly from a brush end, you can get larger speckles than if you airbrush directly with the chisel. After I was content, I added a final touch of Opaque white to the eye and beak.

Here is the final swallow. As I mentioned earlier, be sure to check out the color spotlight later this week on the Copic blog for other color combination suggestions for B66.

10 comments:

  1. This is beautiful... I hope I can be as talented using my Copics as you are with yours one day.

    Love how vibrant the Swallow is.
    Michelle
    mpetrovich23 at yahoo dot com
    http://peanutbutterandjellydesigns.blogspot.com

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  2. Stunning Marianne.... I do love your techniques & talent...

    thank you for the tutorials...

    Sandy S
    (copic certified going for the intermediate soon!)

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  3. Thanks for this tutorial, Marianne, always an inspiration! And thanks for the link to the photographer, in Germany swallows are brown, black and white!
    I prefer to colour animals in her natural colours, too.
    Merry Christmas and a happy New Year for you and your dear ones!

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  4. Thank you for sharing your expertise. That sounds so spammy, I know, but it's true. I have so much to learn about copics and you are the copic godmother!

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  5. This is so gorgeous. I'm so impressed with your talent and so happy that you share it with us.

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  6. Beautiful! Your tutorials are always wonderful. I always enjoy them. Have a Merry Christmas and A Wonderful New Year.
    Hugs, Patricia

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  7. Gorgeous Marianne! I love the contrast and the gorgeous color! Fabulous and thanks for sharing!
    Melissa

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  8. Hi,
    I am new to coloring with copic markers but I love how they look. I was wondering if you could post a "before any type of coloring or shading" copy of the Swallow so I could practice with your tutorial. I cannot draw :(
    Thank you for all your great ideas and tips...
    Mary

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  9. Mary,

    Unfortunately, I sometimes use my tutorial images for other clients, so I cannot provide a blank for you to color on this one. Sorry!

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