The Flight of the Macaw
by Derrick Rathgeber
The Flight of the Macaw was one of my greatest pictures as an artist. I not only completed this piece in a good time-frame but I used over 40+ colored pencils. Composing this image was no easy feat at all either. The reference shot I had was small and blurry, but the pose fit what I was going for. I used other references such as encyclopedias, and zoology books to get the bone structure, and muscle movements down. In this blog I will be giving you a day by day play into the creation of this piece.
Prints are available at http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-flight-of-the-macaw-derrick-rathgeber.html
DAY ONE
And the macaw spreads his wings. There is something releasing about sketching the picture on the paper. It can be difficult to start a new project sometimes, and I know once I start to draw the piece I know it's on. I found a good composition in this image that followed a line of action. It gives the illusion of the birds movement, and flight path which is right off the page. I started to color the head and saw the clock, time for a break.
DAY TWO
I really jumped right into this piece. I felt an immediate connection, and after the success with the Bird in Bloom piece I really wanted to improve more. I used about 4-5 pencils to get a good bone color in the beak. I started to work on the creases and noticed that after I colored in the eye, I felt him staring right at me with almost a grin. Although the camera I used picked up more white than it should have, you can still see the layers of colors I started to put in. I wanted to give this bird a bit of my personality, and you can see that with the yellow to red flame coloring I put in his feathers.
DAY THREE
Something happened today that was a bit unexpected for me. I found detail that was not in the reference picture. My dad in Costa Rica took a far away shot of this bird in flight and it was very blurry. You could say that I winged it...pun. Seriously though I stopped looking at the photo at this point and just colored. I saw the form of this beautiful bird and knew where I wanted the muscles to flex, and even more I wanted to feathers to fluff out as if he had just flapped his wings, and you get that hint of back-draft. I also went right into the shading too. I don't usually do this until I shaded all the base colors, but like I said something just came over me today, and I was on fire looking forward to tomorrow.
DAY FOUR
Back to what I was talking about in day three. The muscle definition. I think that was my primary focus on this piece. Not only did I want to see how many colors I could put in it, but I wanted to see how many feathers I could ruffle, and muscles I could flex. The one small challenge I found was the molted white feathers on the legs and by the wings. With colored pencils you cannot just color white over red and expect white. So I had to color around these areas using negative space, and then using small strokes to add the detail of them being white feathers. I did this with grays and browns. After adding some lights and shadows to this point I think I was done for the day.
DAY FIVE
Today the macaw started to fly. Can I admit one thing, I actually go so nervous before I started the wings that I took a day or two away from this piece. after I put so much detail into the body I couldn't mess up on the wings. That would be the end of it. So I started on the feet. Believe it or not the feet were harder than the wings. I had to get a movement that made sense as well as give them some texture. The color was interesting to, I would say between the blues, grays and tan colors there were about 7-9 colors in the feet alone. That's why I love colored pencils. Just by adding one more color in a different direction or stroke you change the look and feel of what you are coloring. It may take longer, but you have total control. As for the wings I think the most difficult part was the angle of the feathers and showing the wind pushing down on the top feathers, and lifting the bottom. to do that I added a curve at the end of each feather, and moved them as I visualized the bird in motion. You have to do this, create a line of action and engage the audience. You have one image to capture their imagination, by drawing them into yours.
DAY SIX
Ah the right wing. This wing was killer. I almost made the mistake of thinking the macaw's feathers were blue on the top and bottom. After looking it over I found they were just a darker color of red. The feathers are actually layered, and their blue feathers are on top. That being said I really thought I would have more blue in this picture, but If I am going to make it believable you have to do your research, even if you are making it your own. Now if you are drawing directly from your imagination, which I love, then all bets are off. This is the funny part I made sure that I placed the blue on the second wing anyways. I changed to composition to have this wing come off the border. It solved two problems for me, One I needed the wings to match up in color, and Two this was a perfect line of action that made this draw much more interesting. Now I was ready to move forward.
DAY SEVEN
This is the phase where most of artists start to crash. The final lap of the finish line, and you fear finishing. Part of you wants to push harder just to end it, and the other halve just wants to put it away and never finish it because you fear the success or failure of possible messing up. This is where you have to be cautious and take breaks. For me I told myself I would just do the log for the day, and as hard as that was I did it. I added the shadows, and different colors of browns to get the color I wanted. A voice poked in to my head saying just color in the shrubs and be done with it, I know that would have been a big mistake. I was tired, and my wrist was hurting, and I know I would have skipped details, and just rushed it. So I gave it one more day. I originally attempted to draw this 18" x 24" colored pencil piece in 7 days, but I would rather add one more day and be happy with it, than ruin it but trying to hit a deadline that I placed on myself.
DAY EIGHT
And with the large brush in the background with the skyline, this piece is finally completed. I think this piece cemented me into a good spot as an artist. What I accomplished fore myself was just priceless when I finished this macaw piece. I used over forty colored pencils, and I did it in eight days. It was a good feeling to know I did that, and I wanted to do it again. I continued making new portfolio pieces here on out, and rebuilding everything. If you think about it The Flight of the Macaw was me. I was spreading my wings and letting the wind take me. All the way trough I animated him in my head watching him move, and I think that made the picture take form and move with me.
Thank you very much for following me on this piece, and remember prints are available at http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-flight-of-the-macaw-derrick-rathgeber.html
