Craig Williams - Ornithology

Acrylic artist Craig Williams depicts the realistic forms of birds on genuine vintage book pages

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There lies a history and a story on every page of a vintage book that can be felt and seen in the often evident marks and wear.  These pages are the substrate and the inspiration for the avian subjects I paint. There is always a relationship between the page and the bird, inviting questions and investigation.  e page used in this demonstration references the British Museum, and the bird in question, the eastern rosella, is represented in the museum’s specimen collections. While pieces using pages from field guides show a direct relationship between the bird and the page, with the description of the bird evident, these works are additionally an homage to the creators of field guides— both the artists and scientists.

Due to the variable nature of the paper in vintage books, I have found acrylic to be the most versatile medium. Each painting is built with a large number of reasonably transparent layers, allowing blending of colors while building form and feather texture.  e paint is thinned with a combination of satin glazing medium and water.  e use of Golden Open Slow Drying Acrylics with the glazing medium allows for wet-in-wet blending both on the palette and within the painting. In this way I am able to achieve the soft blends and color gradation seen in the birds’ feathers. At times the paint will be applied in a more opaque and thicker approach to indicate feather form and texture.