Copper Weathervanes at Adams Fairacre Farms and more glittery stuff

You can click this image for a larger, clearer view

Stillman & Birn Epsilon 5.5x8.5" Hardbound Sketchbook

Collage, ink, gesso, and acrylic background

Private Reserve Copper Burst ink in a Pilot Petit fountain pen

Noodler's Midnight Blue ink in a Kaweco Sport EF fountain pen

Watercolor

Schmincke Dry Copper Gouache

I have the most challenging time adjusting these iridescent images. The copper is really stunning, but in a photo it looks dull and brown without the shimmer of the light on it. If you can imagine the shimmer that you see in spots, spread throughout areas of the sketch, you'll have a better idea of how this looks in real life. The border and box shadow are copper iridescent acrylic, and there's a light coating on the multi-layered page background too. In fact, that background has eight layers of assorted media on it! If you click the image, you can see through parts of it to various background layers of patterned ink and shapes.

I was sketching at Adams Fairacre Farms in Wappinger, NY this past week. I had prepared several page spreads in advance, including this one with the copper background. When I walked by a display of large copper weather vanes, I knew I'd found the perfect subjects for those pages! Combined with my love of birds, it was irresistible! I sketched them with Private Reserve Copper Burst, added some Noodler's Midnight Blue for contrast, and blended/shaded a bit with a waterbrush.

I loved the Schmincke Reichgold Dry Gouache so much that a couple of weeks ago, I got three more jars of different colors:

This was a perfect opportunity to dip into the copper version, so I mixed up some of that after I got home, and added it to areas of the weathervanes, and painted the page title with it.