Porcelain Birds

This is for June 2010 Rookie Painter challenge. It's oil on 8"x10" canvas board.

The pair of porcelain birds were originally on white background in the reference photo. I thought white birds on white background would be very difficult to see. I didn't what to go to black since it would be too monochromatic. Originally I went with a lilac color, but the value was still too close to the birds, so I darken part of the background with more purple, and adding a touch of Asphaltum (a new color I got from Gamblin, a nice dark brown).

With the porcelain birds, there were so many shades of white. The porcelain itself is a bit yellowish and bluish, reflecting this purplish background I made up. I had also need to make sure the different shades of white were blended and there were no hard edges.