Adventures in Brush Painting

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Painting birds in spontaneous style can be quite a challenge. My advice? Study the anatomy of birds carefully and then practice the bird in "bits": I've done sheets and sheets of beaks and eyes, practiced wing patterns, studied feet and how to place them. See this blog post for more bird poses.
A good reference book for artists is Laws Guide to Drawing Birds. It will answer many of your questions and give you plenty of models. Looking at photos of birds can actually be confusing since that snapshot moment in time may not show you clearly what's going on. My teacher I-Hsiung Ju has several bird videos available here. He shows you how to paint them in Chinese brush style.
And when you've done all that practice? Take heart! It takes courage, but bit by bit you will triumph!
Do you have questions? Let me know! I'm happy to help.
4 Comments
Leslie - 9 years ago
This is more of a question than comment. Is the colour you use ink
Or water colour? I love the ease and quiet I get from watching
You.
Virginia Lloyd-Davies - 9 years ago
Hi Leslie, these days I am using watercolors pretty much exclusively (except for the Chinese black ink). I use a mixture of Western watercolors and Miss Marie's Chinese Colors. Some of the Western watercolors run too much, and if you mix Western and Chinese you sometimes get some unfortunate separation of colors. It's all a big experiment! Good luck! - Virginia
Suzanne Laprade - 9 years ago
I hear you have been under the weather, would have sent a card but cannot find your snail-mail address. Thinking of you, hoping you feel better soon.
Suzanne
Virginia M Lloyd-Davies - 9 years ago
Hello Suzanne, thanks for writing. I am in recovery now and doing quite well. I'm not risking long drives away from home yet, but Dennis and I are hoping to go to England in June. I trust you are doing well and are busily playing with your paint brushes, creating marvels as always. xxx

Virginia
Lloyd-Davies

Painting in sumi-e and Chinese brush technique since 1976 in 'splashing ink' style has taught me to appreciate the delights of spontaneity. Just as in life, there is no 'perfection' in painting, but there is much joy. Come join me in this adventure!