Galah Cockatoos in Watercolor
For the first Galah, the reference photo was provided by LDM in her class. Here is a 1 minute video that is similar to this painting:
Watercolors used on both of my paintings included French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Winsor Violet, Paynes Grey, Quinacridone Red, Permanent Magenta, Van Dyke Brown (Sepia can be substituted) and Lamp Black. I painted the first one on 140 lb hot pressed paper. Here it is finished:
The second painting I created using a photo taken by photographer Andrew Ingledow which I purchased from Wildlife Reference photos. It is available for download for a small fee via this link for your creative use if you would like: https://wildlifereferencephotos.com/media.details.php?mediaID=26495
I painted the second Galah using the same paint colors but on different paper. I used 140 lb cold pressed paper for this one. You can see the difference in the paper. I like the rough texture of cold pressed paper, but it is just a personal preference of mine. Both hot and cold pressed paper work fine for watercolor. Here is my finished painting from the second reference photo:
Galah cockatoos are native to Australia. I have learned that they can live up to 80 years in captivity!
One day my husband and I are going to visit Australia. While there, I will take in all the beauty of these grey and pink birds while my husband ( https://photos-as-art.com/ ) takes reference photos for me to paint later.
Sounds like a solid plan to me! I do have a birthday coming up, maybe he will read this and start planning...Hey honey?!!!!
Happy Monday everyone,
Helen