Painting birds

When the drawing is completely finished, you can start to add colour. The techniques that have been used in drawing birds are the same as those used for landscapes and still life. There are various birds.

Figure 1 - An outline sketch of a bird before paint is added.

Figure 2 - A complete colour sketch done in watercolour.

The most popular birds in Sri Lanka are the parrot, magpie, kingfisher, mynah and the crow to name a few.

When drawing and painting a bird, take a good look at the overall shape of the bird. Next do the outline drawing before adding the beak, eye and wing details. Watch how a bird behaves. See how a bird can stretch or contract the neck and the way it uses it legs.

When colouring the bird the brush strokes must guide the colour exactly so that the different areas cannot be confused. When the first coating of paint is applied, the wet parts of the paper must not be touched because the colours will get mixed up. At the finishing stage, pay attention to the colour and light areas.

Figure 1 shows a simple outline sketch done before painting and figure 2 is a complete sketch in watercolour.

Observe the tail.

The tail is done with one brush stroke. Thereafter the colours are added. The head of the bird is done with a transparent layer on top.

Before starting to paint, it is necessary to do a drawing as perfect as possible as stated in the previous exercises. Perfect in the sense of lines and forms.

The brush strokes must guide the colour exactly so that the different areas cannot be confused.

The drawing paper to be used is Kent 250 grams or Whatman drawing paper. This paper is thick and absorbs colour quickly. Brush Nos 1, 2 and 6 sable hair could be used. Brush No 1 is usually used for finishing touches and for intricate lines.

The colours could be used according to their body colour. By constant practice you could become a perfect artist in colouring birds.