How to Paint a Peacock
Among the many possible models for a painting, the peacock stands out as a superb choice. Its brilliant colors and interesting form make it a natural for artistic use. In today's art world, tattoo artists experiment with intricate peacock designs over their canvas (the body), and graphic designers use the peacock for an array of conceptual icons (such as the NBC logo). Using a peacock in visual arts design can be a winning idea for a young artist looking for the right visual hook.
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Instructions
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Sketch out your form. The peacock is actually a great icon, and a clever contour drawing can either demonstrate or conceal the bird's unique form. Draw out the overall shape of the bird's plumage to be able to plan colors.
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Get the right hues on your palette. The brilliant green of the peacock's primary coloration might be really hard to imitate. Try your best to get a really vivid green into your toolbox. A bright red doesn't hurt, either.
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Find a technique for "dabbing" colors to paint plumage. The head and eyes of the peacock can be plain grey, but the colorful feathers of the bird beg for strong, extreme use of color. Find a way to fill specific feather portions with your colors to bring a semi-realistic impression to the canvas.
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Use a "layering" technique to add texture. Many classical painting techniques use "undercolors" and layers of paint to provide a more complex representation of an object or landscape. A practiced artist will probably have his/her own established technique; if not, use a little trial and error to see what techniques result in the best-looking paintings.
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Go high concept. Concept-driven painting substitutes visually interesting shapes for realism and makes the field of painting more diverse. Making the feathers of a peacock into triangular slivers or experimenting with "cubism" (abstracting into other polygons) will have interesting and original results.
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