Hi Nancy,First off how is your husband doing? Hope he has a quick recovery! I really enjoy reading your post's on here very imformitive ,i to still use the real heads on my ducks just wondering what colors do you use on mallard drakes,and hens bills feet i have down pat ,but the bills seem to give me trouble. Your help is appreciated thanks and God Bless! ED
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Hi Ed. David is doing much better. 'back home and starting to get into mischief again almost like before - just a little slower for now.
I don't know what kind of paints you are using, so I will do what I can to explain by color rather than brand. I don't use paint schedules because I just mix what I see. I usually use a combination of water-based airbrush paints and regular tube acrylics.
The drakes have sort of a khaki yellowish-green bill. It helps to white them out completely before starting. I mix the basic color using yellow ochre (also called yellow oxide) with a very tiny touch of Payne's grey. You can then "tweak" the mixture by changing the proportions a little bit. I usually make a yellower version to highlight the paler areas of the bill. A very light airbrushed mist of black in the center would be appropriate for some birds, but not all of them. The nail is also black, as is a small corner near the corner of the mouth. Check your reference!
The hens are a lot more difficult. I use almost pure yellow ochre for the base coat (adding a TEENY dot of cadmium red to make it slightly more orange.) There is a vague central blotch which is very dark blackish brown. This varies from bird to bird but you should be able to see traces of it even on the dried beak, so follow those if you can. Over the center of this blotch is a sprinkling of small black dots. I usually put those on with a small brush. It is also possible, if you are careful, to paint the black dots first, directly onto the yellow and then airbrush the dark brown over them. The trick is to not completely cover them up.
The nail and corner of the beak are near-black, but not as black as the drake's.
I have sort of invented my own paint schedules, so I usually don't answer painting questions. The NUMBER ONE thing I can say is to get excellent reference photos and go by THOSE, not by what somebody else tells you.
'Hope I haven't confused you even more!
i would like to know how to make paper mishay mix