Blue-eyed Juvie | Cooper’s Hawk Painting

Description

A juvenile Cooper’s hawk, painted in handmade oils featuring Ozark pigments by Madison Woods. Nature art from the ground up.

Details about the Original Work

Title: Blue-eyed Juvie
Size: 12 x 16″
Media: handmade oils, Ozark foraged pigments + titanium
Substrate: Arches watercolor paper on cradle board
Pigment source: soot, sandstone, magnetite, indigo, thyme lake, and titanium

Reference by Tammy Block. Tammy will earn a 10% commission on the sale of this original painting, and derivatives, so your purchase of this image in any format helps to support two artists at the same time.

See the Cooper’s hawk painting from start to finish

To see all of the stages in between beginning and end, notes I’ve observed during progress, etc. bookmark this page at my main website: https://www.wildozark.com/painting-of-a-coopers-hawk/

Click to enlarge

A Little About My Process

Since my paints are handmade, I have to make sure I have the colors I need before I begin a project. If I’m close to out of one, then I’ll go look for the rock that gives me the color I need. If it’s a plant pigment, then I’ll need to harvest the plant. The only three plant sources I use at this time are indigo, thyme, and the root bark of Osage trees. The rest comes from rocks, soot, bone, or purchased titanium dioxide powder.

So, if it’s a rock, then I’ll break it to smaller pieces, then crush it as finely as I can. The crushed rock is the raw pigment. After that I put the powder into a jar and fill the jar with water. Depending on the source rock, I’ll either pour off the colored water into another jar to let it settle, or pour the rinse water out and keep the sediment for the paint. After the water clarifies and the pigment has settled, then I pour off the clear water and let the sediment dry. That is what I’ll make the paint from.

When it comes to plants, there’s more chemistry involved. I’ll make what is called a ‘lake’ pigment. Here’s a post that gives more information on that process.