Recipe For A Painting. Bird Table With Flags.

In my garden is a pale blue bird table. It just so happens it matches the  studio exterior, but only because there was some paint left over.
Another interesting fact about the bird table is
that I have never, ever seen a bird on it, and that I put down to the fact that several cats inhabit the garden.

Ten minute sketch.
Pen and coloured pencil.

In actuality the bird table is a mere ornament!
It also serves as painting fodder. Let's face it everything does.

This I drew in the spring. I didn't know if I would incorporate it into a painting or not, but I think it's time has come!

Recently I've been painting a lot on the easel, and my shoulders are beginning to ache so for a while I need to work on a flat surface.
Of course that means you can't stand back from your painting so casually, and that is important, so every so often I put it on the easel and sit down and contemplate my masterpiece!

This is my order of work so far.

• Tomato red acrylic ground.
  

• I drew quite carefully my design. Easier to do when you're sitting down.

• I use oil paints for this piece. I try to like acrylics but they don't respond the same way as oil paints. When you're a slow painter acrylics are an unnecessary challenge . So with oil paints I started adding the sky, then lots of smallish green leaves and most important the pale of the big hosta leaves. I had to be careful not to get bogged down with the detail of the little green leaves. I want lots of red to zing through.
  

  

  Pale green and bright red are a classic complementary colour combo.

• Now I'm in a bit of a fix about the flags. I want them red but what red, hot red, cold red, warm red? 

Mary Kemp. Detail. Bird Table With Flags.

There's still an awful lot of work to do on this, but I want to finish it before Christmas. 

I will post the finished version on my Facebook Page.