Monday, March 12, 2012

Tutorial: Painting Bird's Egg


Watching little birds build a nest in the wreath
on my front door has me inspired by the arrival
of the Spring. I invite you to create along with me.


1. Cut a piece of 200-thread count bleach muslin
fabric and draw the outline of a bird's egg


2. Take your favorite brand of acrylic paints,
and apply a base color of cream or warm white


3. Once the base coat is dry, paint a top coat
to match the color of the bird's egg.


4. Once the top coat is dry, use white paint for highlighted
areas and raw umber or indigo blue paint for shadowy areas.
Build up each area with thin layers of paint and water, called
a wash, to achieve a sense of depth.


5. Most bird eggs have spotted or streaked markings.
One way to add subtle spotting to the egg is with a technique
call spattering. Using a warm brown color, thin the paint down
with water, dip a small stencil brush into the paint/water mixture
then use a finger to bend the brush bristles toward the body and
release.

*Be careful to cover and protect areas not to be spattered.


6. Add additional marks by using the side of the paint brush,
a skewer, toothpick, and small dowels.

11 comments:

Lori Wostl said...

Oh boy - I love eggs! Poached, boiled, painted and hollowed. Thanks. Lori W at Art Camp for Women

Tracie Lyn Huskamp said...

Thanks Lori for your comment... I hope you have lots of fun painting!

Lisa Chin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cynthia Schelzig said...

what gorgeous eggs you painted...thanks for the little tutorial tooooooo!

Jane LaFazio said...

so beautiful

Jeannie said...

Traci, thank you so much for this tutorial! As I was raking leaves, I found three empty shells and was amazed that they survived the winter. My project for the day is to capture their beauty thanks to your tutorial. Wishing you a beautiful week.

Tamara said...

Awesome! I will get my supplies out for this one!!!

Vanessa Kiki Johanning said...

These are so special and sweet! I love your painting style and will try this for sure! Xxoo

aka: eye-poppers said...

Thanks for the tut. The eggs are nicely painted....think I'll try this. Inspired!

Lee Weber said...

These are so sweet. I am not brave when it comes to this, but I have a wonderful old book from England on bird eggs that is begging to be copied!!

Anonymous said...

Oh for the love of Eggs! These are fabulous!!