Fred the Rooster

Hello again!
I thought I'd share a portrait I did of an unlikely subject! A rooster! Painting portraits does not have to be limited to humans.  How many fuzzy/feathery faces have you seen that you would like to capture?
A dear friend of mine has chickens.  Among her flock is a hard-headed rooster named Fred.  This cocky rooster (pun intended) has quite the personality. So when my friend got engaged I knew I wanted to give them a painting as an engagement gift.  Who better to paint than the boss of their household, Fred!

Because I wanted to be able to layer the paint to add texture to the feathers and wattle (who knew that dangling thing was called a wattle?!), I started with the dark tones. Once I had the darks down, I started adding lights and layers. The feathers were the hardest part. By alternating shades and using coarse and fine/feathery brushes, the texture began to develop.

Smoothing, blending, and adding highlights.

 Fred the rooster deserves to be the star of the show, so I chose a blended color background.  Once the painting was dry, all he needed was a gaudy frame and a signature!

- M.