Doily design using broomstick lace

Golden Warbler in Mixed Media Collage

I had a wonderful time creating this pretty little Australian bird! First I layered some juicy blue-green origami papers in the background, and also pieced together some branches using musical notes. I was going to use some dyed silk webbing but I decided against it, because the silk ended up looking like a sodden wad on the canvas.

After adding more branches to the background, I decided to paste down the tissue I'd used as the backdrop for spraying the abandoned, soggy silk.  I used Dylusion's Spray Ink, which is NOT permanent, but spread around a bit as I pasted it down.  Some of the music notes are stained with walnut ink, which is also not permanent.  The effect of the smeared walnut ink was so wonderful that I reinforced it, dabbing and painting on more ink in selected areas using a large sponge and a round brush.

 

Before moving on to add the subject, I wanted to tone down the background, which felt might appear too vividly and monotone green.  To achieve a muted tone, I decided to apply some light blue with a stiff-bristled brush.  The stiff bristles allow the brush-strokes to be noticable, and I feel it adds to the impressionistic quality of the painting.

Here is a close-up of the nearly finished painting. I will tweak the eye a bit, since he looks startled, and I will go in with pen and ink for some finishing touches along the branches.  I'm very pleased with the painting overall! Sorry I don't have a photo of the in-between stages of adding the subject. I just got carried away with it all!