Birds of a feather by Jill Kiln Fired Art

Birds of a feather By Jill Egan.

ÂŠJill Egan 2006

Birds of a feather By Jill Egan. Long tailed tits are probably my favourite birds. They visit my garden regularly and always arrive in flocks. I was inspired to paint this tile after seeing them in a red leafed prunus tree in my back garden. Colours used. American beauty Sepia Cartreuse Violet of iron

copen blue light chestnut brown baby blue

pink pompadour black pearl grey

Medium – open First fire. 1. Sketch or trace the design onto the tile. 2. Paint the leaves and their stalks with combinations of American beauty copen blue, violet of iron and pink pompadour mixed on the brush. Wipe out the highlights with an oiled brush. 3. Paint in the branches using sepia and chestnut brown, the underside of the branch should be darkest. Using a fine liner loaded with black and sepia add some texture to the branches. 4. Paint the bird’s eye with black, keeping the highlight. Outline the beak with a very fine line. 5. Using pearl grey add some shading to the white area around the eye and on top of the head. Create the feathered effect by pulling through with a clean dry fanned out brush in the direction of the feathers. 6. Paint in the black areas on the head using black and copen blue, keeping the colour light. Pull through with a fanned out brush. 7. Paint the pinky area on the backs of the birds with pink pompadour and a little pearl grey mixed on the brush. Pull through with a fanned out brush. 8. Paint the back, wings and tail feathers using the same method and a mixture of black and sepia paint. Wipe out the white areas between the wing feathers, and on the sides of the tail. 9. Shade the breast with a little pearl grey and some pink pompadour towards the tail. Give a fluffy effect with the dry fanned out brush. 10. Using a fine liner and black and sepia mixed on the brush outline the feet adding some fine lines on the legs. 11. Paint the caterpillar with chartreuse. 12. Fire at 750°C.

Birds of a feather By Jill Egan. Second fire. 1. Strengthen the leaves with pink pompadour, violet of iron and sepia, and strengthen stems if necessary. 2. Add a circle of pink pompadour around the bird’s eye and a touch on the beaks. 3. Strengthen the birds as follows; shadows on white areas with pearl grey and sepia mixed on the brush, back and tail with black and pinky area on back with pink pompadour. Pull through feathers with a clean dry fanned brush as before. Lightly wash the feet with sepia. 4. Shade the caterpillar with chartreuse and sepia mixed on the brush. 5. Fire at 750°C. Third fire. 1. Add the sky with baby blue, then starting at the top left add copen blue behind the foliage, blend and soften. Clean off any unwanted paint; don’t forget the white areas at each side of the bird’s tail. 2. Fire at 750°C. Fourth fire. 1. Add some shadow foliage with copen blue, carve some edges with the wipe-out tool to form leaves and take out some windows amongst the foliage then soften. 2. Strengthen leaves in the main centre of interest, leave any copen blue from painting the shadow leaves that might have gone over the secondary foliage, this will add dimension to the painting by pushing these leaves back. 3. Strengthen the plumage on the birds where necessary using colours already used. 4. Fire at 750°C.