Today I am working on the eyes of the eagle. I didn’t realize the work in this section, it is going to get me behind due to time consumption. Colored pencils will help in completing the detail. I am undecided on just how detailed I want to go though, like small red veins in the eyes or not. I need to create something like super fine silly string similar to fine threads that is magnetically drawn to the whites of the eyes and easily brushes off everything else! Wishful thinking?
I chose Terra-Cotta for the wings of the eagle, it is a beautiful color, and I will shadow with Burnt Umber. In thinking ahead, the colors should be able to play off one another in the other creatures since they are somehow connected. The “human” face will be female-not male and her wings will be Apricot which matches the highlights of the eagle wings. From there, now I am unsure but do know that the calf will be the one most in the light and closest to God in the painting.
The major dilemma here is the wings distortion due to the light. I will have to place the wings first and keep bringing the light in where some of the wings show through, taking care not to lose the details of the eyes. The best way to approach this would be to make a light rinse of white paint, create the shape of light coming in and work backwards to coat and re-coat the area until the white is strong enough to seem like light yet minimally opaque to let the wings show through.
There is a lot of planning in this section and high risk for error. If the eyes and wings must be painted over, the underlying texture will disrupt the smooth, even flow of the white (6 coats) previously applied. The real feather wingtips will also show through if painted over making the error highly apparent. Regardless, thinking and working it out at a slow and meticulous pace should alleviate the anxiety I am feeling about this section of the painting.
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