Painting a Subject

Contrary to what some might think, most artists do not carry details of objects in their heads, we rely on photographs, drawings, reference books....whatever we can find to help us depict what we want to portray. A good idea when using photographs is to make certain they are not copyright protected. I like to take my own photos and have an incredible friend, Mark, who takes pictures of Florida wildlife. I used one of his photos to create the flying Ibis.

To begin a subject, try to discern the underlying mid-range value of the subject and block the subject in with that (or those) colors. Using the mid-range color(s) allows you to go darker and lighter when filling in the details. For the ibis, I used a mid-grey base in some areas and a taupe in others.

This blog was created by Hollie the Mural Artist. Check out my website at http://holliebrooks.com .