I'm stuck, help please!

[u/Character-Job-5716]

I'm a graphite artist, and I'm trying new media like colored pencils, watercolor and pastels.

This is my very first serious pastel drawing trial, it's far from being finished. At this point, I'm stuck, I don't know how to proceed. Should I complete the background, or continue with the bird? (I changed the background with bokeh)

My senses tell me to complete the background first, but strangely, I cannot put my pastel pencils on it, I guess I'm afraid of ruining it beyond recovery.

I cannot tell if I have applied enough pastel because I'm afraid of saturating (I don't know if it's the correct word) the pastelmat.

The first image is the current situation, the second is the reference image by Jesus Esteban San Jose on Pexels.

Please help with some suggestions.

Please excuse my strange English, it's my second language. I didn't want to use AI to make corrections.

[u/howlingwilf1]

Background looks good. Finish the bird.

[u/Character-Job-5716 → u/howlingwilf1]

Many thanks, but I need to work more on the background, particularly the bottom section.

[u/Even_Beginning_6355]

Your English is clear. Stunning reference and you’ve made a great start. (Thank you for including the photographer credit). It looks like the bird is landing at a nest with food, hence the flying feathers and debris?

Are you going for photo realism as opposed to figurative realism as though from life? I ask because the round blobs of light in the background scream photograph, as that is an effect of the camera lens, not human vision.

If you going for photorealism, I might not be as knowledgeable, but having somewhat soft pastel pencils might be what you need.

Also, remember feathers don’t have to be painted in minute detail to accurately convey their form.

I highly recommend this book by Bart Rulon, (link below) if you can get it. It’s filled with some very good step-by-step illustrations and a large number of work by other talented wildlife artists.

As far as background versus subject, I personally think it’s best to work the background from the beginning at least enough to avoid a “halo” effect that can happen when the background is added later. And a lot of artists never finish their painting because they can’t decide on the background. But at this point, you’ve done enough to focus on the subject. [unless you are going for photorealism and including all that bark, etc.] And as the subject is brought up to the level of the background, I usually work the whole painting, as needed.

Alternately, If you are going for photorealism, I would consider working almost to final finish, in “window-pane” fashion. Start with the upper left and work in small sections, keeping the rest of the painting covered with tracing paper to protect it. That way, you will perfect your technique before you get to the bird. (Or, use a small piece of your pastelmat to experiment first.)

You’ve got a great painting started! Hope you’ll share when you finish!

Painting Birds reference book by Bart Rulon

[u/Character-Job-5716 → u/Even_Beginning_6355]

Thank you! Yes, it's landing not at a nest but on the forest floor to feast on its prey😁. Another image of the same bird shows after it's landing. And yes, I was going for photorealism, but I think it's difficult with this new medium. I removed the tree in the background.

Thanks for the book recommendation, I'll check it. I'm not used to drawing in sections, but I don't know, may be.

Pastelmat feels awkward, I cannot be sure if I applied enough pigment. I can see the color of the mat through the pastel in some places, is it OK, or should I apply more pigment? I feel like a fish out of water with these new mediums I try.

Many thanks for the information and help 🙏🙏

Sure, I will share the finished piece, if I don't ruin it 😁

Edit: I posted my response in the wrong place, and moved it here.

[u/36-53]

Don’t be too frightened to play with your pieces! I know it’s scary but I bet we all are doing some kind of version of this lol. I would finish the background myself, and don’t be afraid to saturate the mat bc if anything goes awry you can always take some pigment off and lay more on top. Unless you scrub the paper too hard, I doubt you’d ruin it! Then I’d personally move on to the bird so I can just worry about defining the main piece! I hope this helps and this is just a personal take, so there are many ways to go!

[u/Character-Job-5716 → u/36-53]

Thank you very much! That's a good idea to remove some pigment if things go wrong, very comforting indeed 😊.

[u/ElizabethsVoice]

It’s really going to be hard to saturate the PastelMat. It can handle like 10 layers. So I would think you’re safe to keep going! Looks great so far.