Here we go with the third in this series. I wanted a slightly more relaxed effect with this painting so chose to pose the eagle with a little more light on the side of the head and with less in the way of deeper tones. Both of the earlier studies were of a young eagle looking quite intense. Time for something slightly different. Starting in my usual way with a careful drawing, I laid in a background wash all over the paper then some warmer brown tones to the plumage before letting it dry. When I came back to the painting, I worked for some time on the eye aiming for life and accuracy. I have found that if I don't get it right at this stage, I may as well kiss the painting goodbye. If this does happen, I'll just select another piece of watercolor paper then simply start again. Fortunately everything went well with this one so after a few lighter washes of Cadmium Yellow around the eye and beak, I mixed up a weak mixture of Cerulean Blue slightly greyed with Burnt Umber then applied it carefully to the bill. The shadow under the chin was the same mix but greyed even further. Next I'll finish the eye then work on getting some darker tones to the head and nape feathers.
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