Next I mixed up a nice dark brown using 3 parts 4273 Sepia with 3 drops of 4288 Red Brown (both discon- tinued colors) and 2 parts Reducer. (You could get a similar color using 4218 Dark Brown with a few drops of 4207 Deep Red and 4220 Deep Black.) I layered thin coats to establish my overall light and dark ar- eas. Then I defined the large primary feathers on both wings. Where one feather met its neighbor, I created a fade to a dark shadow instead of a harsh line at the edge of the next feather. After all feathers were shad- ed in, I added a line to establish the shaft down the length of each feather. I took care not to lay the line in too dark, as I would be adding shadows to it later. I then passed over the whole thing with a hairdryer to heat set the dark brown.


I proceeded to fill in all the body feathers of the eagle the same way I did the primaries on the wings... no harsh outlines, just shading to make one feather look like it was on top of another. I was careful to build the dark ar- eas in light layers, without letting any spot get too “wet”, heat setting as I went. (This is the key to success with Auto Air paints.)


Once the body was all filled in, I went back to add more definition to the wing feathers. On an old plate for a palette, I mixed 1 drop of Brite White into 5 or 6 drops of Sepia to create a slightly lighter Sepia color. (If using the new colors, just add a touch of white to your dark brown mixture.) I thinned it with 1 drop of Reducer. Using a 10/0 or similar small, fine-haired paintbrush (I prefer Loew-Cornell’s 7650 Golden Taklon Spotter), I then pulled a line along the top and bottom edges of my airbrushed shaft. The line on the bottom (or underside of the shaft) was done slightly wider than the top to create a shadow effect. For me, it was easiest to start at the outer tip end of the feather with a super skinny point and pull evenly along the entire length, gradu- ally increasing pressure to widen slightly at the base of the feather. I started the line just a smidge in from the end of the feather. When the paint dried, the strokes showed as slightly darker than the airbrushed Sepia line. Using the same Sepia mixture and my paintbrush, I ran very thin lines under the bottom edge of each outer wing feather, defining any splits in the feathers as I went along. This added depth to the layering of the feathers. Then, with only a small amount of paint on the very tip of the brush, I created small amounts of veining and separation by pull- ing the brush from the edge of the feather in towards the shaft, lifting as I finished each stroke. Slightly curved strokes look more realistic than really straight ones. (These mixed paint steps could also have been done free- hand with the airbrush.) Again, I heat set at each step.


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