A little Birdie Called...

I starting working on a special project for a long time friend and client who wanted to redo her vacation condo in Colorado. We selected many items on line and worked with some interesting craftsmen from web sites to find those special furnishings to complete the desired look for the home.
After finding great bedding sets and accessories, lighting was still an issue.
Older Condos tend to be a bit darker with very little light, so lamps and accent lights were important….but getting them to fit with the our "look" was an issue at times.
So I tried doing something a bit a different….find the right lamp and make the shade work by painting them and with colors to match the bedroom.
I know I wanted include my favorite theme of Birds….so I went to the web for a quick picture search to sketch my choices for the cloth shades.
A bit of tweaking and altering the colors…the birds came to life as I began to sketch the ideas.
      Paper first with added watercolor pencils to work the colors.

Here is the  bedding colors I need to work with for the custom painted shades….here I go, keeping my fingers crossed it works out.

I started by lightly sketching the birds onto the shade, using a watercolor pencil, I didn't want to have carbon smearing onto the new shade.

Next, painting the birds in the same palette of colors as pillow….

Did not use any water with my acrylics since I did not want the paint to run or bleed onto the shade.

So I opted for textile medium to add flow to my paint.

I really liked the way they turned out, it just took me a while to get emotionally ready to add the paint to the shade, but once I started, I just looked at them as just another canvas in an odd shape.

I think I will try it again, after I catch my breath and relax a bit.

They were shipped to Colorado and client will send me pictures for me to post later.