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Bob Lavender

I use a very simple palette when I paint. You will discover this for yourself very quickly in these painting instructions. We all have our own techniques. From time to time I will vary from mine somewhat, but as a rule I seldom mix more than three paints to get a desired color.

For this bird I used Jo Sonja paints and flow medium. My brushes were Loew-Cornell series 7020 #1, 2, and 4 (for applying washes), and also Silver 2522S #0 monogram liner, and the Yarka 20101 #1 kolinsky sable. I use flow medium with all my paint mixtures—generally a mixture of 80% flow medium to 20% paint—to prevent the paint from getting too dark too quickly. Paint as a thin wash, or with an airbrush. For this article I painted a casting of my original carving. I occasionally make castings to use when teaching.