After painting the branch close to where I want it to be I started focusing on the bird. There are three color variations in the Dark Eyed Juncos, but they are all called Dark Eyed Juncos. The one that I decided to paint has a very dark head and a very light breast. I love the contrast of the two.
I usually start with the head and eye of my main subject but I wanted to get the darkest value of this painting down so that I could compare the rest of the painting to it. Then I laid down the lightest value of the painting next. The bird is starting to take shape....it is exciting!