Toco Toucan in watercolor - Xpost From A & W

[Joy]

This is a watercolor, size 8 x 11 done on Baohong 140 cold press. This toco toucan was done as part of a challenge for another forum. Initially, I was going to make background sky a pale, transparent, cobalt teal, but the color looked very streaky on another type of cheaper paper and I also didn't like the way it looked on this. Since I had plenty of cerulean blue I applied it in a few layers to get a smooth look. It is a rather opaque color, so that is usually not advisable. I also “broke” another rule of watercolor by using ivory black. It was mixed with other colors for the bird’s feathers. Rather than limit my palette as I normally do, I used quite a variety of colors to get the branch and the shadows on the bird and its bill.

Since my first attempt was so unsuccessful, and it seemed as if I was “ruining” the painting I just did whatever I felt like doing because I had nothing to lose. It does have a wee bit of a graphic look, rather than traditional watercolor, but overall I'm relatively happy with the way that it came out. The colors are more vivid in person.

 

[Balaji]

Wonderful! I particularly like the subtle changes in the colours.

 

[Jo Castillo]

Wow, Joy! Beautiful!

 

[Artyczar]

Big WOW! I'm glad you chose this background blue. It is simply the perfect compliment for the beak and eye. This is VERY good, in my opinion, especially because it looks effortless. Beautiful piece!

 

[Joy]

Ayin, I let out a chuckle when I read your comment, as nothing is ever "effortless" for me! The background was a chance I decided to take before I painted the bird. Normally I wouldn't do something so dark or opaque.

 

[PaintBoss]

I like it Joy! You saved it beautifully following your instincts, not the “rules”. Often I will use gouache for the sky because I also find that a lot of colours just looks streaky or granular even some of the paints that are not supposed to be granular. Anyways, I just don’t always like that effect. Your sky looks wonderfully even. The bird looks good too. I like the little side eye he’s giving, he looks like he’s ready to chuckle or tell me a little mischievous story..