Proud Eagle
Artists Palette|No 171
Few artists choose to combine natural materials like bark with oil colours … but this lady has found the way to produce amazing results with an innovative artistic style.
Beverley Doak
Proud Eagle

MATERIALS

• Prepared canvas.

• Oil paints.

• Bark specimens: Australian Melaleuca Tree (paperbark); Leptospermum (Tea Tree).

• Agapanthus.

• PVA glue.

• Tweezers.

• Scissors.

• Small rolling pin.

• Fly spray to rid the bark of any insects.

• Matt spray.

STEP ONE

I drew the bird on a grid to help with the dimensions and then painted the background to give colour to see what I was working with. Following that, I used black (Tea Tree) bark around the outline of the bird.

STEP TWO

A paperbark was then used (which would work well for the tree trunk). The texture of the bark, as well as the colour, had to be considered. I chose a reddish tinge. I also started to build the tail using a more ‘papery’ bark, combined with harder pieces; keeping in mind that it had to end up looking like a tail.

STEP THREE

This story is from the No 171 edition of Artists Palette.

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This story is from the No 171 edition of Artists Palette.

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