Step by Step Watercolor Cardinal

I just finished posting the video for this cute cardinal on my YouTube channel. Here is the process I took to create this painting.

I started off with a well-detailed sketch and masked out the bird and fence area.

I then used the wet-in-wet technique to paint the background. It dried lighter as watercolor always does :) so I repeated the background colors wet in wet.

Then it was all about building up layers of my bird. I used pyrrole red as well as scarlet lake colors with neutral tint for the dark areas.

The fence was painted in many layers as well with earth tone glazes and dry-brush techniques.

Lastly, I added soft shadows for the snow on the fence and splattered on my no bleed white for the snowflakes!

Supplies List for this project:

Arches 140 lb cold pressed paper 9 x 12: https://amzn.to/3z0dhP3

Watercolors: Indigo: https://amzn.to/3z6q1nCSepia: https://amzn.to/3FwzcjmVandyke brown: https://amzn.to/30Yb8XP Lampblack: https://amzn.to/3sRnahg Neutral tint: https://amzn.to/3H9puE6 Scarlet lake: https://amzn.to/3mA5XES Quinacridone red: https://amzn.to/3Fu9kos and Burnt umber:https://amzn.to/3eq37Ow

Brushes: 1 inch flat:https://amzn.to/3HywoTH 8 round: https://amzn.to/3Jfijw3 Script brush: https://amzn.to/3ekvnlA Mini mop brush: https://amzn.to/3JxJvpP2 detail brush: https://amzn.to/3EmQvCl

Masking fluid: https://amzn.to/3pxBzgz

White opaque watercolor paint: https://amzn.to/3ppuIW7

old toothbrush for spattering