Grrrrr , @#$%?&*()@#$%?&, try to find the mallard hen color base

[Stef]

First time have so much trouble to make my color .. , just curius, what color do you mix to make the base body color ( beige to orange a little bit ) ...

for the mallard hen for sure ..

 

[joseph van wie]

Raw siena, a little white & burnt umber. Joe

 

[Stef]

Thanks Joe, i will try it but think need little more ( i tell you when i find it .. )

 

[uncle mike pierce]

for the lighter feather edgings (to start): mix of raw sienna, with a touch of burnt umber, a touch of raw umber, and a touch (careful!) of orange. Add a touch of white as needed to get correct shade............

this was passed to me by another carver/painter, I certainly didn't come up with it on my own, but it works nicely.

Orange is a powerful color, so be careful adding very judiciously. And, while some hen mallards really tend toward the orange and others don't so much........ If you want the "typical" look most associate with hen mallards, it does need a little (very little) orange.......

 

[uncle mike pierce]

forgot to mention that when I add a color like orange to a hen mallard feather edging, I prefer to add the white to the other colors in the base to get the shade I want before I add any orange, then add the orange last, a very little at a time.

My color sense/vision is not good enough to see the orange's full impact on the darker base color, so I can end up with too much orange when I lighten it with white. By adding in the orange after I add the white, the orange component seems to "pop" out more visibly to me and I can keep from adding too much.............

 

[Stef]

Thanks All, lots of good idea ..

I probably go on the way with secur work ... lot of burnt + raw unber ... + white mixture and value.. and built my color when all will be dry .. with a mix raw sienna + orange ... wash technic..

Come back soon for showing it .. but look like very good, just take a lot of time, 4 hours to do one side of the scapular ..

 

[uncle mike pierce]

Stef, are you using acrylics or oils? I switched to oils about two years ago, and the mixes I offered are for oils and wet-in-wet blending techniques. I would have done it a little differently with acrylics, including using washes with some orange on lighter feather edges to get the tones I wanted.

Hope to share more ideas with you in the future, and also get some back when I get jammed up......

Mike

 

[Stef]

I have several technic.. wet on wet, wet on dry , wash ... long time no used oil... more acrylic now, lot of air brush too with mask..