Teal Gate Party

[BobM]

Heres whats on the tail gate this week .4 teal 3 drakes 1 hen and 1 Gadwall hen .
Been hot here no air conditioning in my shop so I work at night more  when cool.The teal are 120% oversize.1 rester 1 alert swimmer 2 open wing posers .
Bob M

[jamesmichael]

The shine might flare birds other than that nice

[BobM]

Now the fun part begins .Painting a green wing teal hen use to drive me bonkers hens were difficult to do .On this bird I stuck pretty close to Burks paint mix schedule with a few changes to flavor the hen to my liking .
A simple base coat of a 50/50 mix of raw sienna and raw umber is first applied to the sides, breast ,upper and lower tail etc .basically the entire bird body.
Next I dry brush the feather outlines with a mix of white and raw sienna to get the flow and feel for the feather groups .Next ill thin the mix to air brush the feathers in this softens the edges and blurs definition to a soft fluffy effect.Ill use the body base color to tighten up the edges and then shoot burnt umber in the back feather centers at random to loosen the feathers and deepen the back colors.

[BobM]

I will use burnt umber and black to split the feathers and break up the edges I still have alot of that to do yet but you get the idea .On the breast feathers these splits will make the area look ragged edged .The tail is edged and airbrushed next ill split and paint quills.Ill post more progress as I work to the head which is base colored in raw sienna and white with a touch of burnt umber ,.the crown is burnt umber as is the stip though the eye channel.

[Mike F.]

Great looking blocks Bob, i like all the variety of positions

[BobM]

Thanks Mike
Heres the finished hen.
BobM

[BobM]

Heres 3 of the drakes in base color . I like to block this with a broad brush then soften transitions with the air brush.
BobM

[BobM]

Here is the hen open wing with drake.This is one of my favorite poses .
BobM

[Scott Klecka]

Bob, I think you GWT are some of the best I have seen. 

[BobM]

Heres the finished tail gate gang .
Bob M

[dcwise]

Bob,

I am new to this forum and carving in general.  I have been carving for about a year and a half now and I'm very impressed with the look of your decoys. 

Do you sell wing-out decoy patterns by any chance?  I really want to try one, but I cannot seem to get my hands on one. 

Thanks in advance,

Daniel Wise

[BobM]

Pm me your address and ill send you a hard copy copy of my wing out teal pattern .
I don't sell my patterns but I do sell decoys and folks that support my art get my attention.
Thanks
Bob M