Photo by Danielle Carrico. Painting by yours truly.
Most of my references are from royalty-free sites. Not "Early Bird".
The painting came about thanks to Danielle Carrico, who not only suggested the subject but offered her photos for it.
The reference I chose to work from.
I'm not going to lie, tackling this gosling was intimidating.
There would be no testing and no backtracking. This was for a daily challenge, after all; I didn't have a lot of time to figure everything out.
All I had to back me up was my reference, years of experience, and masking fluid. Not bad, but not enough to guarantee anything.
The biggest problem? Fluffiness. Soft, light, and textured. Not very forgiving.
Applying masking fluid to protect the grass.
Unlike most paintings, which swing from okay to ugly and back, this painting got better with every stroke.
The strokes started out uncertain-- with small amounts of paint, careful and slow or quick and tiny, but always apprehensive.
Gradually, apprehension got replaced with confidence.
Back when I was still deciding what to do with the grass.
Even though it took the least effort, I can't write a post about this gosling without talking about the grass. Not so much what I did with it but more what I didn't, especially in relation to my reference.
I used to struggle with references.
Not with finding them or deciding on one. I struggled with taking a reference and making my own unique piece of art out of it, something that wasn't confined to the reference, only guided by it.
This became my struggle in early 2018, at the tail end of my art supply exploration phase. As new and untried mediums became familiar, excitement faded and all I was left with was my art style, which I was growing increasing dissatisfied with.
I still wanted to do realism but the kind I was creating just wasn't fun anymore. It was too cut and paste.
Too much like my references.
A typical piece from 2018.
I never planned on painting the grass in "Early Bird" the way I did: mostly outline with hints of color, not at all like the vivid green in the reference.
I didn't plan anything at all.
A year ago, planning probably would have been the only way I would've thought to do it. I know because that's what I had to do stop feeling so tied to my references.
The grass in "Early Bird"-- and the rest of it for that matter-- is a reminder of how far I've come.
