Painting a Branch, Pouring Water from Pigment

Today I’ll be painting a branch, the one my hawk is perched upon. But before I do that, there’s one feather I forgot to add. It’s on the tail and it’s making everything look off to not see it there. So I’ll add that first.

Here’s the pigments I’ve put on my palette for today.

Local Ozark Pigments

All but the titanium and indigo is Ozark pigment. However, if my woad manages to grow this year, the blue will be officially an Ozark-grown pigment, at least. I don’t think I’ll find anything here to make a white, so I’ll continue using titanium powder to make that paint. I could make lead white, but I’d rather not. It’s hazardous until it’s bound to the oil. Titanium is nearly non-toxic.

Of course, none of the powders should be inhaled, and so that’s why a respirator or mask is necessary while working with the dry powders.

Today’s Painting Focus

Here’s the branch that needs work. I’ve done nothing at all to it yet except to put a bit of color to block it in when I first set up the outline. That’s all dry now, so it’s ready to begin.

To see the finished painting, head over to the hawk progress page.

Pouring Off Water from Washed Pigments

This morning, the red pigment had settled and I poured off the water. While I was at it, I made a little video to show how I do that. It’s not hard to pour it off at all, once it’s had enough time to settle firmly to the bottom. But you still have to do it very carefully. The pigment is light and can get dispersed back into the water very easily. If that happens, like if you bump the jar too hard, you’ll have to let it set again overnight to settle down and start over the next day.