Creating Contrast with Feathers

Gabriele has sent me this picture of an Eagle that she is doing using Pastel Pencils and has asked me for help. She is having a problem making the area under the head darker and also the feather ends do not stand out.Let’s deal with the dark area first, Gabriele has use the lighter colours in this area then tried to add the stronger tones on top of them, as you can see this has not produced the desired effect. What is needed here is to go straight in with the medium tones in the very darkest areas then added the stronger tones into that. The colours I mention below are from the Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencil range.[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"]I would suggest that she use the same colour that was used to darken the feathers on the neck area (I would have used 187 for this). I would then introduce 233 into the 187 then proceed with other colours such as 283 and 177. There are some lighter feathers mixed in to the shaded areas and here 230 could be used as a base then 187 added to this tone. These are only guidelines as the colours used would depend on what has been already used in the neck. The feathers could be defined by using a sharp 187 and 283 although the best way to do this is to define these feathers with the 187 (or similar) before starting the lighter colours in the build up. This is certainly not going to be easy but it would create a great blueprint to work with. Gabriele has asked if I would consider doing a project like this and I have added it to my list but don’t hold your breath it won’t appear until 2016, but I am sure it would be a popular subject.If you would like to receive advice on your artwork, sign up to Colin Bradley Art and this is one of the many advantages to being a member.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]