How Do You Like My Little Black Dress? Iridescent Black Hen
by Conni Schaftenaar
Original - Not For Sale
Price
Not Specified
Dimensions
15.000 x 11.000 inches
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Title
How Do You Like My Little Black Dress? Iridescent Black Hen
Artist
Conni Schaftenaar
Medium
Painting - Watercolor On Paper
Description
Classy Black Hen in her little black dress, watercolor on paper, by Conni Schaftenaar
On our farm in West Michigan, we generally have a flock of laying hens, favoring the heavy breeds that lay large brown eggs. This year, we have a "black and white" flock - Black Giants, which this girl is, with her beautiful iridescent feathers; White Orpingtons; and Barred Rocks, which are "barred" or striped in blacks and whites. I took tons of photos in an attempt to capture a good image of one of the beautiful Black Giant hens for a painting - they move so constantly, it's not easy!
Once I had my photo, I then dithered over how to achieve the subtle iridescence of her feathers. After some experimenting on scrap papers, I settled on Payne's Gray, which can be very dark and will stroke out/lift out to a nearly blue-green shade, and Viridian for the iridescent highlights.
I had to put on my "patience" hat - layering in some wet Payne's Gray, lifting a little out for shadings, and then quickly adding wet-into-wet with some Viridian. In a couple of the areas on her lower wings, I added in a wet-into-wet touch of Alizarin Crimson, which is also used in her comb and wattles. Adding a light touch of Payne's Gray to define the iridescent feathers after those areas were dry completed the work on the bird. I hope you like my pretty girl, strutting in her "little black dress"!
Honorable mention finish in the Book Illustrations contest, April, 2021
Featured in these FAA Groups:
Exclusively Drawings & Paintings, March 2017
Images That Excite You, March, 2017
Midwest America Artists, March, 2017
Painting Cafe, March, 2017
Created By My Hands, March, 2017
Organically Grown, August, 2017
FAA Portraits - Birds, March 2019
Uploaded
March 23rd, 2017
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