Wigeon colors

Ron Smith

Active member
I am in the middle of my first 3 wigeon so now is a good time to seek help. GW... since for years now I have been doing a raw umber wash on all my decoys and adding burnt umber in my grays (you give good decoy advice) I figure you can please help me with a receipe for the colors on a drake wigeon. Anyone feel free to jump in.
 
First of all, Ron, drake widgeons are going to have variations in hue & color as you look at different birds. The side pocket / back / breast color is a tough one to come up with a consistent mix for.

Here is a mix that will get you close (I am using Jansen's acrylic paint): Burgandy; Yellow Oxide. Add touches of titanium white and black to this mix to get the final hue. Breast will be lighter still. Now Sutton will have to kill you.

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ron, hope this helps
am winging from head
rump and under tail--mars black]center of upper tail area is grey-white blackduck black and a bit of raw umber, use a dry brush to indicate frather edges in black-either mars or carbon black
flank--titanium white with a bit of raw umber--whited alone is too stark!
tail same color as the upper covert center, only more blackduck black--grey is darker---bd black is 2 parts burnt umber to one part ultramarine blue---that makes a GOOD black color to create greys., edge tail feathers with white,raw umber----helps to have a body handy
primaries, burnt umber, white, reaw umber, a bit of bd black--kinda greyish brown---for edges, use a bit of that color mix with whitetertials,,,
inner edge, same as the tail, only add some white to lighten, NOT MUCH!!! outers black with a bit of thalo green-edge with white
scaps-refer to back, and add titan buff to lighten a bit!
back--burnt umber, titan buff, alizarin crimson, or thalo crimson--if using Golden, do not worry if the crimson is not matte---you will use very little.
sides and chest,,same as back, only a bit more white and add some diox pur[le
hope you are combing the paint--all of that stuff can be vermiculated with black--the chest also gets a LIGHT drag of whit with raw umber to create a LIGHT frost--if you are going to show some of the belly, that is white, raw umber--same as the frost drag
head-base with buff-white, raw umber, bit of burnt umber, bit of raw sienna, or use titan buff with some white and raw umber--crown is white raw umber--go light on the raw, though--mask is black, thalo green, when tacky, stipple some cad yellow into the lower third== all markings for head are black with a bit of burnt umber,
bill--white, payne's grey, a bit of mars black, a bit of ultramaring blue--under bill and the black edging on front are black
wash with raw umber--blot the crown and flank

whoops, forgot the forwwing patch, which is also the same color as the flank! that can be allowed to dry when washed
hope this little tome helps--for heaven's sake, print it out!! again, the best reference for all of this info is a frozen specimen--as you mix paint, match with the body~
bien suerte
 
Thanks Bob and George. The only colored out drake wigeon I ever shot has been standing on a piece of driftwood for the last 15 years in the bookcase of one of my hunting partners. He just moved 25 miles away so specimen in hand is not going to happen easily. The recipies will help. I'll post pictures of the deeks when finished if they do not turn out too nasty.
 
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