Paint a Grosbeak with Watercolor!
The Blue Grosbeak is a stunning bird with rich colors, a delight to paint. Use this bird as a study to practice using flat washes to build up colors. Download and print the line drawing and paint over it. This way you will not worry about messing up a drawing and can focus on watercolor technique. Adding texture with colored pencils on top of dry watercolor is a fast way to create convincing texture. Try a few lines to suggest detail rather than noodling in every feather.
Click on the first image to start a step-by-step slideshow.
Print out or copy the line drawing.
Paint the shadows and let them dry. Here i used Daniel Smith Shadow Violet. My favorite go to shadow color. Don’t make it too dark or it will look like a blotch on the belly. If it is too light, it will not show through the blue washes.
Paint a flat wash of cyan (Phthalo Blue GS mixed with a little magenta) over the body. Oops, I slopped a little blue onto the beak.
If the first coat is not rich enough, paint a second coat once the first has dried. If you are working at home, you can speed drying time with a hair dryer.
Blue Grosbeaks have orange bars on the greater and median secondary coverts and tertials. Paint these before the dark wing.
Now add the black wing and tail.
Paint the eye, legs and beak. Make the eye nice and dark with a clear highlight so it will look wet.
Once the paint is dry, add a little body texture with a white colored pencil. Add a few feather edges with blue and white on the wings and tail.
Almost done. Add a little bars on the back (diluted paint) and scapulars with a few brown feathers (colored pencil).