The nice thing about creating a painting is you can use your imagination. While I use a 5x7 photo for reference to detail, the original photo is being altered to remove a garage in the background and is being replaced with greenery.
Working right to left detailing background and 1st Oriole on right
Working in background grass area and shading 2nd Oriole's head
Detailing greens with a 00 old school brush
First layer of background green & Peony patch done
Adding branches & contrast to imaginary shrub background
Finishing touches on shrubs and start of beautiful Oriole colours
Detailing post with a Raw Umber and Titanium White wash adding a wash of Sap Green
Detailing upper post but needs more time to dry before moving left
Starting to detail front and back clothes posts along with nuts and bolts
Adding two more Orioles chatting with each other
Adding more reds and yellow shades to the feeder
Completely covered! Detailing feeder and miscellaneous background features
A little celebration after tapping out and declaring this a finish!
Finished project. Time to cure for the next year!