Two Ducks....

This is my latest painting, a bit of an indulgence after a week of commissions but I wanted something fun and within my comfort zone. I don't think we always have to push boundaries .

So armed with a photo that made me smile and a subject I enjoy off I go...

Firstly a quick sketch to make sure everything is in proportion 

Then I can get stuck into the detail, I know I do this the opposite way round to many artists but because I haven't been taught formally I have no rules to break. I like to think about what makes whatever I am painting, the thing it is. What makes a duck a duck? To me it is the beak and those great feet ....

I am not colouring in when I paint. I want to get as many tones into something as I can to show the lights and the darks, to make it 'real'....

Then I paint the eyes and I look and look, I want to get as many tones and colours into my ducks as I can ,but still make them believable. The further I get into the work the looser my painting becomes. I have always worked this way I think because I have a very short concentration span so I get the detail done with first. I look at the work and decide it needs some background around the heads to secure them in space and some 'ground' too

I am tweaking now, stepping back and adding a splash here and there , or maybe removing a mark carefully with a wet piece of kitchen roll, I am happy ( or as happy as I can be with a piece), time to make some lunch....