I’ve painted kingfishers before, but this painting<\/span> was going to be a little different and an exciting challenge. I’d decided to use a panoramic canvas, have a very simple empty background, and try and paint that background in a soft, slightly out-of-focus way, to help the kingfisher stand out. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n See how it went below, as the stages progressed from start to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n After sketching out the basic design, using a palette knife I blocked in the background with a thick mixture of raw sienna, ultra marine blue, lemon yellow and burnt sienna. I painted this very loosely and left darker areas here and there for variety, at this stage it was just a matter of getting plenty of paint on the canvas in roughly the right colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the next stage of this kingfisher painting, whilst the thick background paint was still wet, I used a fan brush and worked over the whole background with crisscross brushstrokes softening and blending all the hard edges, go give it that slightly out of focus ( bokeh<\/a> ) look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next was the fun part, I started to map out the kingfisher over the top of that background, just trying to get the main colours in roughly the right place, so that I could use these as a gauge to correct the tones and colours later as the painting progresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n I then started to add more detail to the kingfisher and the branch, using smaller brushes and to get more control and detail. I also started putting paint on the branch with a palette knife, using a palette knife allowed me to create texture as well as add colour, which helps give the illusion of wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I used smallish brushes, size 4 and 6 flats, to add paint to the Kingfisher, painting over what I already had and gradually building up the depth and detail, whilst all the time correcting and adjusting what was already there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n I used a small synthetic bristle brush to add lots of detail, it has a sharp edge perfect for this purpose. You can turn the brush 45 degrees to use the corner of the bristles for very fine work too, meaning there’s no need for a rigger brush to achieve very fine work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The finished Kingfisher painting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After letting the painting sit for a few weeks I added a coat of retouching varnish, this helps brighten up the colours and get rid of any uneven sheen a finished oil painting can sometimes have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This original Kingfisher painting<\/a> has now sold, but you can visit my prints page and buy Kingfisher prints here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"kingfisher](\"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/kingfisher-panoramic-1-1024x669.jpg\")
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