First Woodie Paint Experience

The bill not horrible, not the colors I would use but they kind of work, the red and yellow are too vibrant or bright for my liking. Paint that high part at the back of the bill/mouth black. On duck feet with stripes they are on the knuckles

 

For your first ones really good. You can put a black wash on the feet to highlight the scales of the feet. You'll get better just takes time with the colors. For commercial work your there. Good job

 

a wash is thinned paint sprayed at and angle over the surface of something or sprayed directly on and wiped off leaving the color in the crevices and such to add depth to your paint job. I use lacquer based paint and I use white, golden yellow, yellow ochre, black and intense red for woody bills yellow ochre and black on the feet

 

Good first one. The yellow should come together on the top of the bill, and always paint the inside of the nostrils black.

 

Nick, I do not mount birds, but I have carved and painted several Wood Duck drakes. The painting is the same whether a cast head on a mount, or a carved block of wood.
Here are my thoughts.
If you've used acrylic (waterbased) paints, then yes, a wash is just as you said, water with a tiny amount of paint. Almost no paint. Use as many washes as needed, more layers adds more depth.
Load your brush, blot it on a paper towel, then brush on the surface.
If you wash black on the feet as suggested, it will help. I would mix raw Umber into the black, as straight black always looks too harsh.

Same for the bill, add a bit of colour to the black in the nostril.
Always check reference, the exact shape of the markings on the bill can vary quite a bit. Just keep it in the realm of normal and it will be believable. It is not bad. Yes colours are a bit vivid, they can be toned down with washes.
I might wash raw Umber or raw umber/Ultramarine blue over the white and red areas, then maybe yellow ochre mixed with a bit of Raw sienna or even burnt Umber on the yellow areas. (Orangy-brown)
You can also use a dark mix of black /raw Umber, or better yet, Raw umber/Ultramarine blue to detail the creases along the edge of the upper mandible and around nostril.

You can adjust the umber/blue mix to be greyish blue, to brownish charcoal, depending what you need.
That make-up will bring the paint to life.

3bears is right about the markings on the foot being on each joint. Notice there are different number of joints on each toe.
Next time on the webbing, build that "black" in about 4 or 5 thin, transluecent layers, that will soften the edges and achieve depth that you will never see in a single opaque coat.

Personally I would tone down the gloss on the feet, unless you are going for a wet look.

Good first effort.

 

Correct as stated above I use Lacquer paint for bill and feet then water based for the wash. Thin down with water then brush on then wipe off with a paper towel. You can do more than once until you get the look you like then seal with a matte or satin clear coat

 

Yeah , I think its pretty dang good for your first one ... really good cus they're a PITA IMO ... I never tape anything dont want straight lines I do everything all free hand .. As for colors I use the same as most of you'll except for the red were i use Testers model masters insignia red its dead on (model paints are the bomb) you can find about any color you need without making your own ... for Pintail and wigeon bills try French RF Grey its dead on ... I use to do a lot of wooducks and I wasnt to good with the air brush back then , so I have a buddy that has won big awards for airbrushing models ... I let him paint them ...said they took a few min a pc , they were almost to good ... funny cus I use to spend hours trying to get them right , he whips them out in a few min looking perfect , Im far better now with my airbrush now a days but still get spatter once in a while ..