Thursday, 12 March 2015

#19 / White Canary



#19 / White Canary

One of my favourite paintings is this little study of a Goldfinch by the Dutch artist, Carel Fabritius. The economy of brushstroke, the colour and light are so beautifully represented in this little gem of a painting.
Having this image filed in the gallery in my brain, I thought I’d go down to our local Bricomarché in Cavaillon to look at the birds they have there in the Animal section of the shop. None of the birds would pose for me other than this White Canary who was quite reasonable and calm while all the others flapped about from one perch to the other.
I painted over a yellow ochre coloured ground. Some years ago we bought some pigment from a shop in Roussillon and for the first time I have been mixing some of it in with white Acrylic Primer, partly fight off the oil-sucking tendencies of the pre-primed canvas but also to knock back the white and start my paintings with a mid-tone. This is a nice warm tint which I will use again when I go out and about in the many and varied villages around and about us.

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