There are several challenges involved in painting a backlit subject, so in this article, I’d like to share with you various ideas and methods for doing so realistically, with a Northern Waterthrush as the subject. First off, what does it mean for the subject to be backlit? The terms front light, side light, and back…
Barn Swallows are quite acrobatic. They fly quickly, turn sharply, and swoop unpredictably. Sometimes when turning they stretch their wings vertically to make the fastest turn possible. When I took the photo below, the swallow was in the middle of one of these turns, revealing the feather details of its wings, and was also watching…
I wanted to paint a Bald Eagle in flight after photographing one that was flying directly towards me. If you want to join me, grab your watercolor paints and let’s begin. I selected a 9 by 12-inch piece of Arches cold-press 140 lb. paper as a base; looking back, a large paper would have been…
In this tutorial, we will be painting a Rufous-capped Warbler, using the reference photo below. We’ll see how the layer emphasis approach is useful for conveying the environment of the bird without posing a distraction for the viewer. Including manzanita leaves and branches around the warbler will be helpful in illustrating its habit of staying…
The other day, I was taking pictures of hummingbirds feeding in a field of colorful wildflowers; when I took the picture below, I immediately knew that the scene would be great for a watercolor painting. The process of painting the hummingbird will be similar to the fun and easy hummingbird painting from before, but this…
The final part in the Watercolor Waterbirds series is a tutorial on how to paint a Tiger Heron. This time, we’ll consider several aspects of color in the painting, as well as simply gain practice using techniques for painting the eye, beak, and feathers. If you have not done so already, I suggest working through…
Continue reading How to Paint a Tiger Heron with Watercolors
In this second tutorial of the Watercolor Waterbirds series, I explain the steps and techniques used to paint a Green Heron with watercolor paints. This time, we’ll consider using negative painting and soft edge painting to depict the details of such an intricate bird. If you have not done so already, I suggest checking out…
Continue reading How to Paint a Green Heron with Watercolors
Welcome to part 1 of the Watercolor Waterbirds tutorial series. In this tutorial, I will show you how to paint a female Mallard duck using watercolor paints. The feather details will require patience, but we’ll see how they can be depicted fairly realistically by a series of simple layers. Our general procedure will be to…
While watercolors can be used to make realistic, or detailed paintings, the medium especially shines for looser techniques that focus more on vibrant colors and the fun of watercolor painting. The latter is exactly what we’ll use in this tutorial. If you want to follow along, gather your paints, brushes, and a small piece of…
In the second half of this tutorial on combining watercolor and colored pencil to create a painting/drawing of a Magpie-Jay, we will focus on the colored pencil aspect, finishing the bird. Check out part 1, if you have not done so already. The Eye As usual in colored pencil drawings, we will begin with the…
Continue reading Magpie-Jay in Watercolor and Colored Pencils (Part 2)