Spring has been in progress when I decided to write about something else that inspires me: birds. A simple but often-times overlooked source of wondrous color combinations. When one considers birds as a source, most people think models that have feathers, such as giant birds, monsters, and angels. Good choices, but I think the idea translates well to many models.

Consider this – when stuck on choosing colors for clothing on a model or wanting to expand your color choices, look at pictures of birds. I personally like to go out and bird watch and it is a constant source of inspiration. I also browse the internet to look at birds from other regions of the world. The variety of colors, color combinations, and patterns can be mind-blowing.

The month of May’s theme for the Reaper Challenge League was Demon/Angel. I knew a lot of people would be painting demons. So I decided to paint an angel. From the very start, I refused to do the classic look. White wings? Boring. The model I chose – Angel of Shadow from Reaper Miniatures. The photo provided was red/black over all. Wings painted dark grey/black like a crow’s and a dark red dress. Interesting.

I threw this out the window as I already decided against any OSL (object source lighting) from the lantern. I planned on an outdoor scene and knew that any OSL would be minimal to start. I wanted a darker color scheme, but with bright aspects to it as well. Then there existed one more aspect on the model that helped push me toward the bird I based the color scheme on – her smirk.

I decided to go with the Eastern Blue Jay. The blues, grays, and whites interested me and I felt their roguish nature lent well to her smirk. Mind you, I was inspired by the bird and not trying to recreate exact patterns or colors. Here is a few pictures of the bird in question.

I set about choosing my colors and how I wanted to paint the model. To start off, I chose a dark blue to be the base color. I chose a mid tone gray for the lighter areas. Since this an inspiration blog, I’m not going to go into details about the painting process.

With the wings, I kept the over all color pattern but left out the darker bars on the blue feathers closer to the body. For the dress, I made the outer portion of the chest blue to captivate the back and side look of the Blue Jay. The slip/inner dress I painted a medium gray working up towards white. The corset started out with a dark gray and went to a lighter gray. The choker went with gray and black to imitate the dark neck band. Lastly with the hair, I wanted the crest coloration and went through a series of blues. Overall, I’m pleased with the results.

Birds provide a great source of inspiration for numerous projects. Not just for winged models, but any model if one so desires. Until next time – keep on painting :).