How I Painted the Cutest Double Yellow Headed Amazon: Arlo

Meet Arlo!

Arlo is my Dad’s Double Yellow Headed Amazon Parrot.

At just over 8 months old, Arlo has already amazed my family with how smart, friendly, and talkative he is for his age!

Since Arlo is so amazing, I am going to share with you my process of how I painted his portrait, with this photo as a reference.

Before we get started, I always like to do some research to understand the species I am painting:

Illustration from The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Animals

What is a Double Yellow Headed Amazon Parrot?

I always like to know as much as possible about the animals that I paint. So, I looked into yellow headed amazons in The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Animals, consultant edited by Dr. Philip Whitfield.

Here is what I learned:

• Ranges they live in include: Mexico, Central America, Peru, Bolivia, N. Brazil, Trinidad, and Tobago.

• Their habitat includes a wide range of wooded habitats, including forests.

• Sizes of these parrots can vary, but they are around 35cm or about 14 inches big.

• Sought after for being good at talking, these parrots are some of the best birds at speaking.

• They live primarily in tree tops in small groups.

• Eating fruits, nuts, seeds, berries, and flower blossoms; they build up strength to fly well above the treetops.

Now that we know more about Arlo…

Let’s Paint!

I started the painting experimenting with tape and using washes of red-oranges, oranges, yellows, and yellow-greens.

I picked these colors for several reasons:

1. Arlo has orange eyes. My Dad’s favorite color is orange, so it just made perfect sense to use this color in the background.

2. Green and Red are complementary colors (opposite sides of the color wheel), the reds mixed in with the oranges will help the green to stand out.

3. The yellow compliments the trademark yellow head.

4. Orange, Yellow, and Green are next to one another on the color wheel. This makes them an analogous color scheme

I was inspired by Lorena Koosterboer’s painting Duet in her book, Painting in Acrylics, to try some experimentation with my background and use similar techniques in my painting.

Using Corel PaintShop Pro, I edited my photo of Arlo onto a photo of my painting to use for a better reference.

After fine tuning details, looking at it forwards and backwards, I was close to finished.

I took a break to let my dogs out and observe the sun setting in my backyard. The sun casted a beautiful orange light on the bare winter trees.

I came back refreshed and inspired to finish my painting.

With the final adjustments to Arlo and the branches, I was satisfied and signed my painting.

Now, for the best part…removing the tape!!

Here is the completed painting!!

I am so happy with how it turned out!