Australian MAGPIE Illustration In Watercolour
(Original Artwork SOLD)
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My Australian animal illustration series in watercolour continues, turning our attention to a well know and loved feathered friend of ours here… unless its breeding season of course… of the Australian Magpie. Its intense stare and contrasting black and white features make a beautiful and distinctive presence here, their wonderful song familiar to us all.
As painting subjects go, they are just the best! Dynamic and character filled, there is so much to play with, capturing their wonderful personalities, expressions and antics in a painting, so I was excited about this illustration from the start. Magpies are a perfect painting challenge to explore, their bright red, intense eyes and powerful beaks being challenging enough, but bringing their bold blacks to life and the true beauty they hold, takes great skill.
I wanted to capture a really cocky attitude in this painting and pose in this study, but also a softness. For this, I decided to amplify the use of those gorgeous blues in amongst the blacks, along with touch of warm, plum brown to really bring him to life, and it worked very well. My magpie illustration has attitude, intensity and beauty all at once, which can be a hard mix to achieve.
The styling of this series is already well established, with the wombat illustration the Echidna Illustration, the Quokka illustration the platypus illustration before it paving the way. However now were shifting from animals to birds, bringing a significant change to the balance with this ingredient. Here again, my considered use of colour helps to maintain cohesion to the larger collection of paintings, coupled with the consistency of the subject styling overall. My magpie has now become part of the gang, taking his place with confidence amongst the critter crew. He is unique, a total spunk, and we love him!
Again, I started this magpie illustration, by putting ideas together based on my clients ideas and hopes, altering and refining the direction until we were happy. From there I created the drawing to work from, giving me a clear, consistent plan forwards. Here I took extra care capturing the eye, making him loveable, but not to be messed with either. Its incredible to see his personality, mood and expression shift with every tiny change, and this would be mirrored again in the rendering. Pushing and shoving my colours and balance around this tiny space to capture and convey just the right story. What an incredible eye it is too.
With the eye in, my focus turned to the black feathering of the head, and the powerful beak along with it. My textures are smooth, sleek and glossy with hints of so many colours and tones to slowly bring it to life. Shifting to the belly, the story changes, creating more ruffled textures and brighter hints of colours that flush over the shoulder to the wing.
Below, his belly turns to rich black bringing form and gravity to my bird beautifully, tucking in and under the remarkably beautiful wing. Parallel line upon parallel line were perfect practice for a steady hand, creating consistence and variation in each feather to completion… and there you have him! After much love, thought and attention, my beautiful Australian magpie illustration in watercolour is complete! Another great Aussie critter joins this fun filled illustration series ✨
If youd like to see more on this, or on many of my commercial illustration projects, come and join me on Patreon for lots of exclusive insights, content and even a range of in depth realistic watercolour painting lessons to enjoy. Theres also a brief time lapse clip of this painting emerging on my YouTube Channel