Artistic Watercolor Techniques for Illustrating Birds
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Bring vivid wildlife compositions to life by exploring modern methods of watercolor painting
Artistic watercolor painting is synonymous with freedom and spontaneity. Some of the most interesting results are achieved by simply going with the flow of the paint and seeing where it takes you. Whether you are a complete beginner or a master of watercolor, there is always something new to discover with every illustration.
Sarah Stokes is a self-taught wildlife artist who translates her passions for creating art and being close to nature into expressive watercolor compositions. Her work can be found in UK galleries like Whitewall Galleries and Clarendon Fine Art, as well as others around the world.
Get to know your teacher Sarah Stokes, who tells you how she became a full-time gallery artist and introduces you to the work of some artists and photographers that inspire her work. She also introduces the materials and covers the best paint for watercolor compositions.
Begin with some theory on tonal values and see why it’s so important to get them right. Do your first bird drawing in graphite, ensuring the dark, light, and mid-tones are correctly applied. Then, Sarah goes through some color theory, starting with how to mix and use watercolors effectively. Learn how warm and cold colors play their part in a composition, and create color palettes using both saturated and desaturated hues.
In the next unit, learn to master watercolor properties such as pigment control, timing, wetness, and more, to obtain the results you want. Practice a variety of expressive brushstrokes and mark-making techniques before painting your first watercolor bird using just one color.
Now it’s time to embark on a colorful journey of painting birds in watercolor. See where to get the ideal photo references and work on them digitally to get them “paint-ready”. Use practical aspects like branch shapes, negative space, and color to tell a story through your composition.
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