Red-browed Finch, watercolour on paper, 21 x 27 cm, © Matteo Grilli
I decided to start this portrait of this little gem of the Australian
bush from the brightest of all its colours, red. I mixed a warmish red
from Transparent Yellow and Permanent Carmine adjusting the temperature
using just those two colours and applying them on the beak, lore and
eye-stripe and upper-tail coverts. The darkest parts of the beak and the
eye were painted with a mix of Prussian Blue and Madder Red Deep. The
subtle greys of the head, breast, belly and flanks were achieved with a
mix of Ultramarine and Burnt umber. For the back of the neck, mantle and
wing I started with an under-was of Transparent Yellow and Ultramarine
blue, building up layer upon layer and slightly changing the hues
darkening with Madder Red Deep and the blues. The delicate tints of the
legs are light mixes of Permanent Carmine and Raw Sienna for the pinky
parts and Ultramarine Blue with Burnt Umber for the shadow areas. The
final darkest details are mixes of Prussian Blue with Madder Red Deep.
This Red-browed Finch is available as a greeting card published by Nuovo Group.
