Initial thoughts

I love to paint owl. I have ink drawing, gouache painting and oil painting owls.

This time I want to challenge myself to paint an owl with its wings and body, not just a big face and partial body. I also want to put this owl into a story scene. Therefore I choose the castle background with dusk lighting. In fantasy fictions or movies, owls often take the responsibility of delivering message such as <Harry Potter>. So I give this wise bird a letter scroll and a ribbon and it becomes a messenger.

The ribbon is mainly for decoration because it would make the owl an easy target for bad guys if there were any. The idea is the bird can get rid of the ribbon without any problem.

Digital sketch

I practiced painting from monochrome in the digital drawing step. First of all I filled the layer with yellowish brown color. Then I built up light and dark between background and the owl messenger. Next, colors for every detail are only slightly deviated from the surrounding color. The bushes appear green only with this background. Every element in this piece has the same undertone in it.

The process is fun and highly efficient. I believe a lot digital artists do the same.

Summary

I am planning for another owl painting. 😉 Maybe I can paint enough pieces for a calendar.

Hopefully…..