Red-Crested Cardinal

Teacher Painting

"Kalalau Opera 2" 16 x 16" Acrylic on Canvas by Richard Robinson.

Resource

My mockup created in photoshop from several different photos.

Resource

The original photo of the Cardinal kindly supplied by David Leonard. See his nature photography website at www.davidleonardphoto.com

Student Painting

'Displaced Cardinal' 12x16" Oil on Paper by Mairo Piroue - Altered

Student Painting

'The Cardinal' 16x16" Oil on Canvas Paper by Eibhlin Ni Dhrisceoil

Colour-wise this certainly has a lighter, cooler feel to it Eibhlin. I'd be interested to know if that was on purpose of it that's just the way it came out. Painting in mainly lighter values is called 'high-key' and you've achieved that in the background though I feel you could have connected the branch to the bird better if you'd use the same depth of darks in the branch as you did in the bird. There's a wee problem with the drawing of the bird's neck on the left that you'll see if you have a closer look at the original photograph. You've cut away some of the neck with the background. That's probably largely due to my own demo painting where I regret making the value of the neck there the same as the background adjacent to it. Hindsight's a wonderful thing. Your bird has an exceptionally pointy hat! It must be for a special occasion. A few things to think about there. Good work!

Student Painting

'Free and Breezy' 9x12" Pastel on Paper by Pam Walker - Altered

Student Painting

'Free and Breezy' 9x12" Pastel on Paper by Pam Walker

Wow this is really captivating, Pam, with all it's energy and colour. Beautiful work! I love a painting like this that looks like the artist had fund doing it, rather than deliberating over it. Great contrast between the detail in the head and the looseness of the rest of the painting. I like how you've abstracted the background while maintaining the overall idea of light to dark. I wondered if you could make more of that idea so I darkened the bottom of the painting a little in Photoshop. See what you think.

Student Painting

'Red Crested Cardinal' 16x20" Oil on Canvas by Mark Price

There's some really good work in here Mark with great attention to detail, especially in the head and wing. You've nearly got that glowing effect working, though it could do with a subtler light to dark transition through that big yellow area on the left because that looks a bit flat at the moment. The underneath of body seems to be too light - you could have made it a bit darker which would have made the bird seem rounder.

Student Painting

'Cardinal' 40x40cm Acrylic and Oil on Canvas by Elena Sokolova

Great colour work in here Elena! Nice to see that mauve threaded through the painting which is a great counterpoint to all the warms. I see you’ve glazed that in with oils - a much easier approach that painting it alla prima. Good idea. Your drawing (your personal nemesis) is good all round, all except for the foot on the left which needs some attention. Overall, really good.

Student Painting

'Displaced Cardinal' 12x16" Oil on Paper by Mairo Piroue

Good work Mairo. You've drawn the bird very well and it's form is quite rounded and believable due to your subtle handling of values. Nice to see you stretching yourself and placing him in a different background. I think you're right - the bird could have been bigger in the scene, since that's your centre of interest, but perhaps just cropping the top 3 inches would achieve the same result. There's not much happening in the sky so a small slice of it can say the same thing as a big piece of it. I would have made the dark trees on the left slightly lighter so their darkness didn't compete with the bird's. You've gone a bit grey in the rock shadows, losing some of their local colour. The sharp edges in the landscape behind the bird's crest are competing with it. They could be lowered and softened. The trees are too evening balanced between left and right. See what you think of my quick Photoshop makeover. I haven't touched the bird at all, just the background.