About Barbara

Barbara A. King is a self-taught artist. Born in Irvington, New Jersey. Barbara took to art as soon as she was able to hold a crayon. Throughout her childhood, Barbara developed an appreciation for her majestic surroundings. She would often sit in tress for hours with pencil and pad, or sit in a meadow with a canvas. Years of artistic expression made it clear that Barbara’s life would be centered upon her passion for art.

To learn more about Barbara and to view her work, please visit her website by clicking here.

Oil Painting Demonstration – Peacock Feathers

Materials Used for this Painting

My Palette of Colors

Acrylic Yellow Lemon

Dioxazine Purple

Cobalt Blue

Indigo

Cobalt Turquoise

Raw sienna

Perlene Red

Thalo Yellow Green

Viridian

Ultramarine Violet

Raw Umber

Sap Green

Van Dyke Brown

Warm White

Metallic Gold

(One Coat Glazing Medium)

(Two Coats damar Varnish)

My Brushes

# 6 Bright

# 4 Bright

# 2 Bright

# 0 Bright

# 2 red Sable flat

Small soft mop brush

10 X 30 Canvas or what ever you have.

STEP 1

Cover the canvas with lemon Yellow acrylic paint. You can draw your peacock feathers on the canvas. Your lines will not show. I do not draw in the lines when I paint. I did this so you all can see the shape of how to start a peacock feather. The main part of the feather is shaped like an egg.

Start with what I call the eye.

Work your way out to the outside of the feather.

Oil colors for the eye: Cobalt Blue, Indigo, Dioxazine purple.

Make a mix of these colors for the eye.

Brush in the mixed colors for the eye.

First ring around the eye. Cobalt Turquoise, using a sharp chiseled edge of the brush. Go in the direction that the feathers grow,around the eye with short strokes. Now blend and soften the edge, with a clean dry soft mop.

Second Ring: Mix Raw Sienna and a small amount of Perlene red # 6 Bright brush. The brush should always have a very chiseled edge. Soften edge with soft mop brush.

Third Ring: Mix Tholo Yellow Green and Viridian With # 4 or 6 Bright what ever brush works better for you. Always use short strokes at the top of the feathers. I can never say this enough “CHISELED EDGE”.

Next Ring: repeat second ring.

The last ring , mix Ultramarine Violet and Raw Umber with a # 2 Red Sable flat Brush.

Lightly pull lines though all the rings in the direction the feather grows. (to the top of the feather)

Used your mop brush very softly go over all the rings to smooth out any hard brush lines.

Feather Quills is a mix of your greens, purple, raw umber and warm white.

The top of your quill is your green mix. Middle quill is your purple and raw Umber mix. Bottom of the quill is warm white.

Blend the colors together were the colors meet.

When all your feathers are done and quills are done, move to the outer edge of the feathers.

Now the fun begins!!

Mix Sap green and Van Dyke Brown more to the green side. Use a # 6 Bright. Your brush should have a very very chiseled edge.

Keep your feather lines very close together. If you have a maulstick , this would be the time to use it to steady your hand.

This part of the painting takes a lot of time and patience. The feathers must be from the top to the bottom of the quill. You can fill in as you go. You will be going back and forth to your palette many times to reload your brush. You will also have to see what feathers are going to be in the background and what feathers are in the foreground.

When your painting is dry you may use a light coat of metallic gold on your painting. Use the Metallic gold only on your eye and feather rings. This is optional.

When your painting is dry, put a thin coat of glazing medium on your painting. When the medium is dry use one coat damar varnish on your painting. Six months later put your second coat of damar varnish on your painting.

When I painted Proud Peacock I did things a little different with the background. I did not use an acrylic paint. I used a mix of gel, cadmium yellow and titanium white. This is for you people who don’t mind waiting for a background to dry.

I hope you all enjoy painting peacock feathers. Just a little note to all the people who are new oil painters. Never give up and don’t let any one tell you, you will never be a good painter. If you would like to see more of my work, please go to www.barbaraaking.com

If you have any questions, please let me know.

About Lacey

Working mainly in oil, Lacey Lewis is an award winning contemporary realist figurative artist who paints in a classical style. Whether or not one is versed in the elusive language of visual design, Lacey’s paintings communicate to the viewer as she purposefully chooses recognizable aspects of reality to recreate on the canvas. It is vital to Lacey that her art at a minimum expresses the beauty that she observes in her subject. Often that expression of beauty is an end in and of itself. Other times, it is used as a lure to entice the viewer to look a little longer so that a deeper meaning or narrative may be revealed to them.

“I take it as an opportunity to learn about a person; their essence, where they’ve been, the image they project. I want to create a record of someone’s whole being, not just their physical likeness, through a beautiful and well composed work of art.”

Lacey offers Classes, Workshops & Private Lessons. Please click here to visit the instruction section of her website for more information.

Lacey’s artwork is available for purchase. You can buy her original paintings and drawings, or you can also purchase fine art Giclée prints of her work. Lacey also accepts commissions for figurative and portrait paintings.

Please click here to visit the purchase or commission section of her website for more information.

Figurative Oil Painting Demonstration By Lacey Lewis

“Amy Pinning Her Hair”

	After priming an 11 x 14 inch hardboard panel with acrylic gesso, I painted a mixture of raw sienna, ultramarine blue, titanium white and some medium across the surface and then wiped it with a rag. Next, I roughed in the figure and the shadows, indicating general plane changes especially on the back. Some pink flesh color was added and the dress was roughed in as well.
	During this session I focused on the near arm and face area, defining the forms more clearly. I added less diluted strokes of the burnt sienna/ultramarine blue/white mixture to the background to contrast with the warmth of the flesh.
	Here the face is developed to a greater likeness of the subject and some areas are restated. Slight changes complete the background. The dress is painted in with thicker paint and the purple is used in the downward facing planes of the shadowed areas both to indicate reflected color and also to add to the unity of the work.
	The forms get their final adjustments and definition. Some transitions are smoothed while others get a harder edge. The likeness is completed and the hairpins are added. As the dress color was added into the shadows on the flesh during the last session, skin tones are now added into dress to create a greater sense of form and unity. Finally, the signature is added.
Amy Pinning Her Hair Oil on Panel, 14″ x 11″ Giclée Print of this Painting Available

Here is a lesson in oil painting techniques for waterfalls and moving water. Please toggle to full screen for maximum detail.

For more information, visit:http://www.wilsonbickford.com
produced by obsidiancv -http://www.obsidiancustomvideo.com

Here is a lesson in oil painting techniques for leaf or deciduous trees. Please toggle to full screen for maximum detail.

For more information, visit:http://www.wilsonbickford.com
produced by obsidiancv -http://www.obsidiancustomvideo.com

Varnish is used on an oil painting to protect it from environmental pollution, cigarette smoke and to even out matte and glossy areas. Apply varnish on an oil painting in a well-ventilated area with help from an experienced artist in this free video on oil painting.