PHOTO #6

Next, lighten the entire area with a toning wash of a mixture of titanium white + a tiny amount of raw umber + a tiny amount of ultramarine (PB29). Again, you just want to "kill" the brightness of the straight white in the mix.

You can still see the underlying colors applied earlier as differences in value, but now they are taking on a softer look.

PHOTO #7


Subtly accent each feather edge with straight titanium white.

Pull random lines all the way to the base. Create broken edges to give the illusion of loose, soft feathers. Don't make a continuous hard edge. Vary the lengths of the detail lines pulled from the edges. Again, the #4 L.C. brush is used for this.

PHOTO #8

Apply a couple of thin (inky consistency) toning washes with the mix used in PHOTO 6.

You can see that the underlying values are still visible, but are even softer than before...much more subdued. This doesn't appear too much different from the previous photo, except for the subtle edges and overall lighter color.

You can end here, or make the edges lighter as shown in the next step. You would do this if the feathers are a light color with white edges, or a grey with white edges.

PHOTO #9
The last step is to re-apply the edges with straight titanium white in the same manner as PHOTO 7.

If you feel you need to add additional accents or splits, you can do this with the original base coat mix.

Another thing I do often is "spot wash"...applying the toning wash to selected, random areas. This further breaks up a "solid" area of color. It also represents the natural variation of values as they occur in nature. If, after the toning washes, you feel that some tweaking is in order, you can apply additional detail lines of any or all 3 values.

I do this all the time...detail-wash-detail-wash...sometimes as many as 3 or 4 times...using spot washes especially. Just remember to keep those toning washes thin to maintain some variation of values.
It's a slow process.

You may also feel that it is necessary to apply another toning wash of straight titanium white. All this is fine...keep playing until you get what you like. Just remember not to totally obliterate your values established in the beginning.
An alternative to Titanium White is Zinc White, a transparent white. This white will subtly adjust your value without affecting the underlying detail too much. If your detailing is too coarse, then Titanium White would be a good choice as it will obscure the underlying detiail, depending on ow thin it's diluted. You could also go halfway and make a translucent mix of Titanium White/Zinc White.
Be very careful about using Titanium White as a glaze to adjust values on non-white, light colors. This white will give a chalky appearance to the overall look of the area. Zinc white would be a better choice for value adjusting glazes.

The accents are applied basically the same way as the other detail lines, except they are concentrated near the edges, and are shorter overall.

Don't paint every barb on the edge of each feather or you'll end up with a hard looking edge. Also, vary the length of the accent lines. Pull some further in near the base of the feather, & end a few about halfway into the feather. If you've inadvertently created a "solid" edge, you can easily correct it by pulling a darker/value detail line through it.
I use this exact same technique with every color I paint.

You can see now that even though there is no contouring whatsoever on this study board, it looks like there is dimension and contour...and that is due to the paint alone.

See "A Short Discussion on White Pigments" for a comparison and explanation of the properties of the three main white pigments available to acrylic painters.

PHOTO #4
Make a highlight color from titanium white and cadmium yellow light (PY35) and apply this randomly to a few edges and centers.

Again, the key to softness & interest:
Not darkening (or lightening, as the case may be) every feather base & not lightening (or darkening) /every feather edge.
In real life, light hits the feathers in different areas & in different ways.
Also, some feathers are naturally different values than their neighbors.

What this (an the previous) step is doing is recreating this light play in the initial basing in of color. Establish this randomness & variety early in the painting process. This looks really weird now, but it will all be pulled together in the next steps.

Right now, there is no delineation of individual feathers...aside from that done in the texturing phase...and you don't want color delineation of the feathers right now. This delineation will be done in the last step.

You can see, though, how this randomness is already creating the illusion of softness. Look &, you will see that the lights and darks don't follow any particular feather edge or base.Also, each feather does not have light & dark patches in the same places, nor in the same quantity as the others.

It is difficult at first to resist creating order and pattern, but it's a vital part of this technique to avoid order.

The highlights were applied with an airbrush. You could use a Wet-blending technique to achieve the same effect. This is the only stage I'll use an airbrush.

PHOTO #5


With the base-coat value and the shade value, paint random detail lines throughout the entire area to bring the values closer together.

"Detailing" is pulling accent lines through the feather, following the flow of the barb lines.
Work quickly & use a light touch. You want the detail lines thin.
If you try to make each stroke deliberate, you run the risk of applying too much pressure, which will make a thicker stroke.

Try to use just the tip of the brush, and just "kiss" the surface with it.
Also, don't paint every barb, and vary the lengths of the strokes. In other words...
Some strokes won't go all the way to the base or edge, & some should extend slightly past the edges.

It helps to pick up a little flow medium on your brush prior to loading it with paint.
The paint consistency should be a little thinner than cream.
Remember...random.

The detail lines are not obvious,but still visible...beginning to subtly tie the values together. You can see that the patchiness is still evident, but not as strong.

I'm using a Leow-Cornell Series 7020 Ultra-Round, #4.