Stunning owl eye art created in my painting masterclass
I had so much fun at my owl eye painting masterclass last Sunday. There was such a positive feeling in the room. I received really positive helpful feedback from my students. I plan to implement their suggestions in my next painting masterclass happening on the 10th of October. A big thank you to all the people who came along and made the event such a success.
A cosy group
Four students attended my first masterclass last Sunday on the 26th of September at Vault 134. It was a lovely sized group so that I could give plenty of attention to each student. Everyone had varying levels of artistic experience, but they all produced some stunning paintings by the end of the masterclass. Each student bought their own interpretation to the owl eye. I was very proud of the artwork they all created.
Talented twitchers
Several of the attendees were bird enthusiasts and had plenty of wonderful stories to share with the group. One student runs a wonderful animal rescue service Minton Farm. Another participant takes beautiful bird photographs that she submits to bird photography competitions. She does oil paintings based on her photos and was excited to tell me how she was planning on incorporating the lessons I taught her into her own work. This same student is already booked into my second masterclass on feather painting so that she can bring more life and detail to her bird paintings.
One student was a fellow participant of the Vaulting Ambitions program that I have been taking part in this year. It is a joint program run by Expressions Media and the City of Adelaide. It was lovely to have one of my fellow creatives join me to learn in my masterclass.
Owl art
This masterclass covered the techniques needed to create a small portion of one of my larger Australian bird paintings. We worked on the large eye which is the most prominent feature in my barking owl portrait called ‘Observant’. The skills needed to create an owl eye painting can easily be transferred to other wildlife art or more classical portraiture.
Observant
‘Observant’ is an acrylic painting of barking owl called Owlbert Einstein. It was painted in profile. This painting was inspired by a stunning close up reference photo taken by Michelle Birkett. The most prominent feature of this painting is the large close up owl eye. Hence the name ‘Observant’.
Developing new acrylic painting skills
Several of my students told me that the most valuable skill that I taught them in the masterclass was how to apply thin layers of acrylic paint to create depth, texture and the desired colour balance. Prior to this masterclass they had always tried to create their desired effect all in one layer. With acrylic paint you can apply glazes and highlights gradually so that all the layers eventually make up the effect you want.
That is the nice think about learning acrylic painting skills, there is no such things as mistakes. If you add a layer that you don’t like, you can always just add another one.
Come join me at my feather painting masterclass
I would love for you to join in the fun and join me at my upcoming feather painting masterclass. There are tickets available at this link if you are interested. Or if you would like to find out more details you can check out my blog post where I describe what will be covered.