In this tutorial, I will show you the steps to take to paint a Blue Grosbeak with watercolors. The procedure will be very similar to that of the Baltimore Oriole painting tutorial, but applied to a different bird and using different colors of course. Using typical watercolor supplies (I’m using cold press watercolor paper), we…
Continue reading How to Paint a Blue Grosbeak with Watercolors
In this tutorial, I’ll explain how to draw realistic bark and apply the same principles to drawing branches or other textured surfaces. Since birds are often perched on bark or other textured surfaces, this will help you better create bird drawings. The main idea is to simplify the object by breaking it up into shapes…
When drawing or painting birds realistically, it is almost always necessary to work from a reference photo. Birds do not sit still; nor do they typically come close enough to observe their details. But with a camera, you can zoom in, freeze time, and save the results. There are plenty of reference images of birds…
The following is a tutorial for how to draw a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher with Colored Pencils. This is the approach I take for most of my bird drawings and I hope you will find it helpful as well. It is a long process (5+ hours), so I have broken it down into shorter sections, and this…
Continue reading How to Draw a Bird with Colored Pencils – The Colored Pencil Bird Series
This is the fourth article in The Colored Pencil Bird series. As an example, I will show the step-by-step drawing of a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, but the tips and techniques included in these articles can be applied to any bird drawing. After this, check out how to draw the feet. The subject for this drawing series…
Continue reading How to Draw a Bird’s Wings and Tail with Colored Pencils
This is the fifth (and final) article in The Colored Pencil Bird series. As an example, I will show the step-by-step drawing of a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, but the tips and techniques included in these articles can be applied to any bird drawing. The subject for this drawing series Drawing feet is always intimidating, but it…
Continue reading How to Draw Bird’s Feet with Colored Pencils
This is the third article in The Colored Pencil Bird series. As an example, I will show the step-by-step drawing on a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, but the tips and techniques included in these articles can be applied to any bird drawing. After this, check out how to draw the wings & tail and the feet. The…
Continue reading How to Draw the Head and Body of a Gnatcatcher with Colored Pencils
This is the first article in The Colored Pencil Bird series. As an example, I will show the step-by-step drawing of a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, but the tips and techniques included in these articles can be applied to any bird drawing. After the eye, check out how to draw the beak, head & body, wings &…
Continue reading How to Draw a Bird’s Eye with Colored Pencils
This is the second article in The Colored Pencil Bird series. As an example, I will show the step-by-step drawing of a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, but the tips and techniques included in these articles can be applied to any bird drawing. After the beak, check out how to draw the head & body, wings & tail,…
Continue reading How to Draw a Realistic Beak with Colored Pencils
In this tutorial, I will share one of my favorite watercolor techniques: edge-softening. This is useful for most detailed paintings and is especially helpful in creating realistic shadows. I will demonstrate the technique on a flower, but it can be used for any subject. Try this on a practice sheet of paper until you feel…
Continue reading Edge-Softening Watercolor Technique for Realistic Shadows