Watercolour Bird Painting Lesson, Paint a Realistic Kestrel!

I simply love painting birds and the Kestrel has to be one of my favourites (mind I say that for nearly every bird I paint!)  I will guide you through the entire process from start to finish on how to paint this stunning bird of prey. My aim is to show you how to paint a realistic eye, a strong looking beak and detailed feathers, using a variety of techniques as we go through the process.
Don't forget to download the reference photo and the outline drawing in Part 1to help you along.

So let me show you how to paint the Kestrel and let's get those brushes wet!

Paul :-)

Let's start off with the eye and achieve the detail needed for the feeling of 'life'. We can then add a light wash in preparation for the detail work we will move on to later.

Time to get painting more watercolour details!

In this video we will work on the beak and create a feeling of both form and shape using wet in wet washes, later layering with finer lines. We will also make a start on the head colour washes.

In Part 3 we move on to the feathers!

We will start with the head working in layers of washes and detail, then completing with the highlights.

In this final part of the lovely Kestrel watercolour, we will get to grips with the finer of details for the feathers, working in darker layers creating a feeling of depth and shape. Let's get this one completed!