Painting Birds in Watercolour (eBook)

CHAPTER TWO

BASIC TECHNIQUES

The basics of using watercolour are incredibly simple. The joy of watercolour is that these simple techniques can be combined in an infinite number of ways to create magic. However, before we come to that, let’s concentrate on drawing; as I have already argued, it is a fantastic tool for developing your observational skills.

Drawing

Draw what you see, not what you know.

Drawing is like a muscle which needs to be trained and maintained. Anyone can learn to draw. The secret is to persuade the rational part of your brain to relax and then to draw what you truly see, rather than what your brain thinks you ought to be seeing.

There are two main hurdles: hand–eye coordination, and overcoming perception to see reality. We need to learn to ‘forget’ what you are drawing and instead focus on the reality of the subject. If you want further support in developing your drawing skills, I would highly recommend Betty Edward’s classic book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

STUDY

DRAWING EXERCISES

These are good exercises to train your eye to move naturally around the whole subject, to coordinate your hand and eye and to really hone your observation skills. Use them in the comfort of your own home, perhaps with a wildlife documentary on TV, before venturing into the outdoors.

CONTINUOUS LINE DRAWING

Draw without lifting your pen from the paper. You can repeat lines or go over empty space if you need to.

BLIND DRAWING

You are allowed to look at the subject, but not at your paper surface during this exercise. To stop you ‘cheating’, place your pen through a hole in a paper plate. Hold the pen under the plate and now you can’t see your drawing. You can do continuous line or not, but if you take your pen off the paper will you know where to put it back down? This trains your hand and eyes to work together.

UPSIDE-DOWN DRAWING

Obviously this only works when using photographic reference, not the living creature! Turn your reference upside-down and start copying it in a drawing. Instead of thinking ‘I am drawing a bird’ you will concentrate on the shapes, lines, angles and patches of light and dark. When you have finished, turn your drawing the right way up – you may be surprised at how accurate your copy is.

NON-DOMINANT HAND DRAWING

Using your non-dominant hand should loosen up your drawing, as it engages new parts of your brain and increases your levels of concentration. So if you are right-handed, draw with your left and vice versa; you may be pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of the outcome.

MEASURING

Decide on a unit within the subject you are drawing – it could be the width or depth of the bird’s head. With your arm out straight, elbow locked and one eye closed, hold your pen and mark the length of the unit with your thumb. Now, with your arm still locked, compare it to other objects. Keeping your arm locked means the pencil is always the same distance from your eye and will make your measuring accurate. Draw the bird with the same proportions, not necessarily the exact size.

FINDING SHAPES

Birds hatch out of eggs and if you look closely many remain pretty egg shaped all their life. It can be a real help to ‘find the egg’ in your subject. Looking at a typical garden bird, first identify the posture of the bird – upright, at an angle, etc. This is the central axis running through the body.

Place an oval/egg shape over this line to represent the body.

Place another oval to represent the head. Where is it in relation to the body and at what angle? Double-check the proportions.

The beak line is super important. Features such as the eye will be placed in relation to it. Where does the tail start and at what angle is it in relation to the central axis? How about the wing?

Now draw in the outer lines, carving in the angles around the head and tail. Look at the negative shapes you see beyond the bird rather than the bird itself.

Start developing details, but again simplifying and identifying shapes.

If you want, a simple wash of watercolour can be applied and will bring your sketch to life.

Sketching from life

Sketching birds from life is a challenge, but it is one that will bring great reward. The very process of sitting and observing will teach you so much, and however incomplete or imperfect, it will teach you about the behaviour, anatomy and character of the subject.

Where to start

A great place to start is at a park or pond. Ducks and geese are plentiful and tolerant of humans (especially if you are armed with treats).

Start by watching a bird or group, identifying the most common postures. Then get down on paper as much information as possible before the bird moves or your memory fades. Move to the next posture until it returns to the original and you can capture more. You will end up with a study sheet of half-drawn birds, but together these will identify the patterns and the whole.

It immediately becomes obvious that you need to spend more time looking at the subject and less at your paper, so the blind drawing exercise mentioned before really helps.

The joy of a study sheet

Before painting a bird it is beneficial to observe it from as many different angles as possible. Look at its character, its behaviour and the details of the beak, feet, eyes, etc. Consider its plumage and markings in different lights. Pull this together into a study sheet.

TOP TIPS FOR SKETCHING BIRDS

Painting

Watercolour painting is very straightforward. You can work on dry paper or wet paper; your paint can be dry or wet. Your painting can be worked without danger when wet or fully dry; just beware when it is moist or damp.

It is obvious that there are four different combinations which give us the main watercolour techniques: wet on dry (also called a wash), wet on wet, dry brushing (dry paint on dry paper). That only leaves dry paint onto wet paper, which doesn’t really stand on its own.

In reality, there are many subtle variations. Let’s look at each in turn:

Washes

When wet paint is applied to dry paper, we call this a wash and it could be flat (all one tone and colour) or variegated (changing from one colour or tone to another, e.g. light to dark).

The secret to achieving smooth washes is to ensure you have plenty of paint mixed before you start and your paper supported at a slight angle – say 5 degrees. Load your brush with enough paint so that it will drip if shaken, but not if held still.

Now draw your brush across the surface; you will have a line of colour with a bead of paint at the bottom. If no bead is present, load your brush more fully. The bead is important for stopping your wash going stripey. Now reload your brush and slightly overlap your strokes to pick up the bead. Repeat. At the end, clean your brush and dry it. Use this damp (thirsty brush) to pick up the excess liquid. Lay your work flat to dry.

For a variegated wash you will need to add or subtract colour at each stroke. I find going dark to light easiest, so if you need to go light to dark, just turn the paper around. With each overlapping stroke add a little more water.

Should the wash appear streaky, do not be tempted to go back in and fix it. Watercolour is at a dangerous point as it starts to dry. Instead, wait until it is fully dry and you should be able to rectify matters.

IS MY PAINTING DRY?

Wet in wet

One of the great joys of watercolour is the way that the pigment seems to have a life of its own. Mixing on wet paper produces an infinite number of variations, as the tendrils of colour flow through the water. Simply wet the paper and then touch colour or colours into it to let it spread. You can tilt your work to direct the flow of water. How wet or damp the surface is will control the extent to which paints mix. And you will soon realize that controlling the water on your paper or brush is key to mastering watercolour.

Drier, thicker paint will not travel as far in a wet...