Painting: The Bird of Paradise, Part II

The beginning of this project is in part I of this article.

Finally, the project that has been going on since last year have been finished: The Bird of Paradise:

The Bird of Paradise, 60 x 80 cm, oil on canvas

We left off with only part of the bird colored. Upon returning to the school, I defined the bird's colors a bit more.

Made the eyes and detailed the wings more. Started to add in the scenery: leaves and branch where the bird rested. Now, it was during this time I was told that my art should be completed in two weeks as it will be displayed in a local mall.

Thus I rushed, and sadly, forgot to take pictures. This is what it looked like some time after:

I added more leaves and painted the bushes and the sky. After that, I did the clouds, and failed as the paint was still wet.

Also went back and added to the bird even more.

This was a day before today. redid the clouds and repainted the sky, and detailed the bushes at the background. Also recolored the beak and foot, and detailed the tail.

And finally, added even more color to the background bushes, and leaf veins.

Oh well, the background was rushed over two (very busy) weeks, and the bird could've been made... a little bit fuller, more volume. But considering it only took around 20 hours, it was enough.

My Sketches of 2015

Several day ago, I've shown my collection of photos. Again, I'll introduce you to several of my sketches that I made last year, so we could be properly on our way to greet 2016.

Back then, I was playing Skyrim. Thus, I figured I should draw something from there; I have little creativity back then, to be honest. I mostly (or actually, wholly) copied (but not traced) from some guy's work. Thank you kindly to the guy, sorry for not being able to remember your name.

And this was when I planned the Fall of an Empire, the Dragons' Court.

I've always loved to draw. Sadly, missed out on drawing for a while due to piling work and getting a new laptop early last year, this one I'm using right now, which I've devoted for gaming for some time. Found new inspiration in several anime I started to watch.

Kousei and Kaori's Performance

My treasured piece, of the show I love most. Took a scene from the opening, then watercolored, as the art class at that time was about watercolor. Used too little water, I think.

Crossing Sabers

This came up on a whim. I wanted to study the pose and.. tried to have a laugh. Kirito from SAO season 2 was amusing, so much so that I had him square off against Vader. Never intended to shade.

Here, I studied poses again. Just finished Shingeki no Kyojin back then, I think, and copied someone's work. My thanks for the idea, and sorry for not being able to remember your name.

Shu and Inori - Guilty Crown

This one, lovely pairing. just took a scene from the opening and detailed it.

Captain Levi - Shingeki no Kyojin

Attack on Titan. My friend, who really really likes Levi, asked me to draw him. As a facial study, I eventually did it.

Persevere

My first original character, and original pose. I won't even try to do the body just yet, so I covered it with the cape. Oh, and also messed up the cape shading, looks like.

Kaneki - Tokyo Ghoul

I'll admit it. This looks nothing like Kaneki. And something's quite off... creepy.

Gazing Duty

Another OC and original pose. A bit rigid, but good enough. Tried for a more futuristic look, but failed. Also shied away from showing the face.

New Master, New Padawan - Star Wars Rebels

Star Wars Rebels, the show I love. Decided to do Ezra and Kanan, with the references from several scenes of the series. Still looks a bit strange. Oh, and it was the first time I used a 4B pencil to sketch... useful.

Trampled Flowers - Shingeki no Kyojin

It's been long since I finished SnK, however for some reason it still is fascinating enough to make me draw one more, this time of Eren. Completely shaded, though butchered the background (or, foreground).

Some more works are in the art label, if you would want to click below. And also, they are in my DeviantArt sketches gallery.

___
Skyrim, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, Shingeki no Kyojin, Guilty Crown, Star Wars Rebels, and Tokyo Ghoul belong to their respective owners.

Painting: The Bird of Paradise, Part I

Was very bored tonight. I guess I'll be sharing this painting of mine, of lack of better stuff to do. Well, painting-in-process, at least: (currently I have moved a little bit further: added the eye, some highlights, and painted the base color for the branch)

And this is the planning sketch. I will be referring to, well, a reference.

The painting is of a lesser bird-of-paradise (cendrawasih kecil, Paradisaea minor). Why lesser? There is the greater bird-of-paradise. But... birds are not what i would usually draw these days. However, the last task of my painting class, about a month ago was to draw something, anything, related to Indonesia. So I would not waste too much time, I just picked the first one on Google Images.

I used oil paint; it's been a while (almost a year and a half) since I last used it, but it is the paint i've used most. Maybe some little (vague-ish and perhaps already widely known) tips from a mediocre such as I, hearing my friends asking a lot about how I made the brushstrokes smoothly:

1. Do not use too much oil medium but not too little, too much will make the paint too runny and the brushstrokes will be more visible, while too little will only waste paint.

2. Don't just stroke your brushes in straight lines; make strokes in circles and straight strokes where you want them to have texture, such as the tail in my painting. 

3. As important a step is to your keep brushes fluffy by cleaning them right after use, so that the brush doesn't turn stiff. I personally submerge them in hot water plus dish soap. Dish soap is made to clean oil, and heat increases the solubility.

Well, the holidays will be filled with writing up essays and stories, reading Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer plus finishing up some manga, and drawing... lots of stuff. So the painting should only be finished next year. Besides, I'll still need to consult to my teacher about the colors, and most importantly, background. Backgrounds baffle me up until now.

Oh wow, it's ten days to go until 2016.

To part II

___

Edit 18/2/16: Changed title.