Scarlet Lake Cardinal

Everyone loves cardinals! It must be that beautiful flash of red on a winters day that draws everyone to them. I have had several requests lately to paint cardinals. This is the second painting in the series.

From reference photo to finished painting:

I created this regal fellow using Scarlet Lake watercolor for the red tones. I also used Winsor Lemon and Winsor Violet to add depth to the color on the body and the feathers. In the cardinal I painted recently, I used Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Red to paint the bird https://wordpress.com/post/art-for-arts-sake.com/1994

  • Progress Photo 1

  • Progress Photo 2

  • Progress Photo 3

Feather details were painted using the negative painting technique. I learned this particular technique from a tutorial by Louise De Masi and I have provided a link to her YouTube tutorial that explains how it is accomplished. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPN-_Tr5Yv4. You can also find her and her links to her tutorials by visiting www.louisedemasi.com

Other watercolors used were: French Ultramarine, Lamp Black, Paynes Grey, as well as White Ink.

I decided against painting any type of background color onto the finished painting. I preferred the bird be the focal point of the painting, standing out against the white background. I came close to adding a splash of blue behind it, but decided against it at the last minute. I am going to leave it at that and call it finished.

I will make prints available in the store for this one as well.

Happy Birding!

Helen

Previous
Previous

Rooster Cogburn

Next
Next

Let’s Paint a Botanical Style Watercolor Ranunculus!