Hummingbird At Feeder -- Oil Painting

Well, I finally finished my project last week at class; but before I discuss it I want to give a very big thank you to    MARK BURNELL
who very graciously gave me permission to use one of his photos for the basis of my painting.  Just click on Marks name to head on over to his site and have a look at his great photos.

This is the photo that I used of Marks.

I also hope that if / when you want to use someones photo or any other material for a painting or any other reason, that you DO ask for permission from the owner of the material, not only is it polite, it is a copyright infringement if you don't, or that is my understanding anyway.

Now about the painting.

This was a new technique for me to try and it went like this.  The base or "canvas" is of wood rather than canvas, it has 3 cm. (approx. 1 inch) deep edges which are also painted and is 50 X 60 cm. ( approx. 20 x 24 inches) in size.  It basically looks like a gallery wrap canvas.  It was then painted with a mixture of white Vinyl Acrylic paint and Resistol 2000 white glue, (a 50 - 50 mix more or less), then Aluminium foil was placed onto it, crinkling it a bit as we applied it.  On top of this I painted the picture in Oils.
It was an interesting technique and one that I will probably use again, as I like the effect.

Here is the finished painting.  As always clicking on the photo will bring it up full size.

The class I am in just barely finished our paintings before the Festival de las Calacas and the paintings went straight from the Casa de la Cultura to the exhibition at the Plaza de las Pistolas.  After the exhibition ended, the staff from the Casa de la Cultura transported them back and I finally brought it home after class on Tuesday.
I estimate that I spent between 30 and 40 hours working on this painting from start to finish.

I am fairly pleased with the result; although I do see all the mistakes that I made when I look at it, I suppose that it is normal to be your own toughest critic.