We had guest instructor Gail Hawkins in to teach how to draw and paint a Cardinal in watercolour.
She had copies of a photograph of a Cardinal that we could use, but I chose to work from one of my own photographs.
Once I had drawn my bird onto the paper, I brushed in a background colour using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and burnt sienna.
While the background was drying, we broke for lunch and when we returned it was time to put the colour onto the bird.
Using new gamboge, I brushed in the sun touched areas of the bird as well as the under paint for the beak.
Next, using a mixture of alizarin crimson with a small amount of burnt sienna I put in the base colour for the cardinal. While that was drying I used a dark of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson to indicate the area of the mask.
I put in another layer of the red in some of the darker areas, by then it was time to leave.
I will post this painting at a later date once more work on the bird has been completed.
