Painting: Verdin in our garden

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Folks;

Continuing on with oil painting first with free fotosketcher for base. Then take it into CS5 for color editing to taste. Then finishing stroke and slight 3D look. When Jules asked me how I did it on the Cactus Wren I don't think the info I gave can cover all bases, so, how about I go over this one in detail :) With painting ready for stroke I cropped off both ends approx 5/8" and saved them for the little 3D look. Now I start the stroke with Select>All. Edit>Stroke>Width 120px>Color>Sorta Bronze taken from branch R120 G60 B32> Location> center>Blending>Mode Screen>Opacity 42% (Will sometimes experiment with %)>OK>Select>Deselect.
The 2 ends I saved I will now drag over stroke on each end of branch, clean edges with BG Eraser. Fine tune the blend with low opacity eraser (about 22%) and the same with low opacity clone for final finishing . . sort of a habit to give a tiny tiny blend with Curves preset Linear Contrast (RGB)>OK

Comments always welcome and appreciated

Gus

[Julie Kenward]

Thank you Uncle Gus! Now I can imagine how you did it...that really helped.

This bird is a beauty - I don't think we have them here in the Midwest. I might tone down the white area on the little nub of a branch below his feet just to keep the eye on the bird. Also, very minor thing as well, the foot on the left doesn't seem to be quite as sharp and detailed as the one on the right. Might just be me that it bothers but I'd give that foot another round of sharpening.

Everything else is super! His gaze and pose really make this come alive.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Gus, very nice painting of a difficult bird to get. They are so tiny... This will make a nice card, don't you think?

[Hazel Grant]

Agree with Kerry. A nice card indeed. Thanks for the working details.

[Indranil Sircar]

Beautiful composition. I too like the painterly effect on the bird. Love the pose and the light. the bg makes this stand out. Thanks for sharing the workflow.

[Mark Fuge]

Very nice image and application, Gus.

Nice BG and like the perch.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Great work Gus........I even like the framing with branch breaching the borders.