Whimsical Bird Painting

I painted two large canvases this weekend - here's how i did it!

 I started the project on Saturday - and finished on Sunday.  Working outside on my sunny deck (where the acrylic paint dries very fast) i got started working on the background - mostly white paint with a little blue and a hint of green seemed to give me the perfect robin's egg blue, you know i am so fond of!

 I quite literally just slapped it on with a cheap bristle brush.  It is just resting on my round patio table - i guess 36 by 48 inches - with the nice thick "gallery" style edge.  No drop cloth (don't tell my husband - who wasn't here!).

 The second canvas went a bit faster - since i only painted half of it!

 I should at this juncture point out that i was copying a painting diptych i saw in a magazine - i swapped out the pink for blue. The artists name is (to be filled in once i find out her name!)  I saw it in a Chatelaine magazine, back around christmas at my sister's in Calgary, Canada.  I thought it was cute - so whimsical with the large bird and the dots.

 Here is the first canvas done.  I used a foam roller in white gesso - watered down to give some transparency - for the blocks of white.  More watered down paint for the drips.  YES honey - for this i did put down a plastic sheet to protect the deck.  Sadly it did nothing to protect the bottom of my feet - which are now white.

 Here is the other half - with large dots painted with a nice flat wide brush in a deep teal.  I added some pops of bright pink with more drips.  Working outside, the drips would get about halfway down the canvas then dry up!  I used a chopstick to add drops of more paint and to "urge" them to run all the way to the bottom.  Once it was dry i added more drips running the opposite direction.

And here is how they look all done on the deck - with the sun far into the west, creating a deep shadow.

 

I think they will look perfect over our bed - with the new duvet cover and cushions i picked up at T.J. Maxx.  In a twisted turn of fate that almost never happens at one of the discount home stores, they actually had all the cushions to match.  My husband hasn't see this either!  I hope he likes birds as much as i do!