When White Is Not White

Lately, I have been painting unique bird images. The black crowned night heron chick for instance. A funny little guy that made me smile, so had to paint him. This week I finished a mother egret. At first I thought she was sitting on her nest of eggs. On closer inspection of my photos I saw there were two babies tucked under her. I did not put the babies in the picture because it was more about how she spread her feathers to create a soft, save, space for her babies.

Painting this white egret in early morning sun it became all about what makes white when there is so much color reflected, in the shadows and cast shadows. White, like reflective objects, silver, copper, glass, is about what you see, not what you think is there. One of the things I tell my students is; whites or lights are only as bright as the darkest dark beside the white in the composition. The other is look at your reference and paint what you see...with that being said, as an artist it is your interpretation that creates your art. Kind of falls under the learn the rules so you can break the rules.

The more I worked on the egret, I did not use pure white, well, was close to pure white at the very end. Most of the white was toned down with shades of blues, mixed with some reds, even yellows, browns and a touch of grays.

The piece started with a wood panel that had previously been painted with blues left over from my palette. I put it away and literally forgot about it, as I was cleaning up my studio I found it and several other panels. Some are prepared with different colored backgrounds. The others I primed this week with white gesso. Will just have to wait and see what they become...I have ideas brewing.

Here is the finished egret and a little step by step from beginning, middle and end. Any questions about this technique you can always email me at: lharrisonparsons@gmail.com

"Soft Spot" mother egret oil on wood panel

"Where's Mom" Black Crowned Night Heron chick, oil with sealed charcoal & graphite on panel