Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Are you getting closer to being ready for Christmas? I’m not, not really. Well, I’ve bought/ordered more gifts for family, and have been working on orders for Christmas. But we don’t have our tree up yet – I had hoped to get that done yesterday! Instead, I spent an enjoyable afternoon painting these wonderful watercolour Robins. I watched a tutorial by the very talented Kaz Bell of KB Artshop, and then got to work.
WATERCOLOUR ROBINS
I found the robin picture on Pixabay, which is a royalty free site for photos. I’m pretty sure it’s the same one that Kaz used for her painting. I enjoyed painting two Christmas lanterns last time (you can see that post HERE if you missed it), so I did the same with the robins. I scaled down the photo, and then traced the outline twice onto my Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress pad. It measures 7″x10″, perfect for making 2 card sized paintings.
Here they are, in the photo above. Oh, did I forget to mention that they are Santa Robins?! I’m quite chuffed with myself for hand drawing the hats onto the birds!
PAINTING DETAILS
I used a combination of Brusho Crystal Colours and Daniel Smith paints for my painting. Some of my colours are different from what Kaz used in her video – it’s important to use what you have, and know what colours you can substitute. The Brusho colours I used are Orange, Brilliant Red, Prussian Blue, Grey and Light Brown. The Daniel Smith paints are Moonglow, Buff Titanium and Burnt Umber. The white snowflakes are created by adding water to Dr. Ph. Martin’s bleed proof white, and lightly spattering the paper. To create the texture in the snow and background, sprinkle coarse Sea Salt into the wet paint. Once it’s dry, simple brush it off.
I decided to turn my two little robins into Christmas cards! Since I’ve already sent all of my cards out (yay me!), these won’t be mailed until next year. Here’s a look at how I finished them off, as cards.
WATERCOLOUR ROBIN CARD 1
The watercolour panel is trimmed down to 4 3/4″ x 6 3/4″, and attached to a 5″ x 7″ white card base.
WATERCOLOUR ROBIN CARD 2
They’re not identical – but close! You can also see a bit of gold shimmer on the robin’s little hats – I added a bit of Midas Touch Wink of Stella to each hat & pompom.
I know I should’ve put up the tree yesterday, but at least I’m ahead on my Christmas cards for next year! LOL!
Thanks for spending some time with me today! If you’d like to see Kaz Bell’s video tutorial, it’s on her YouTube channel, HERE. She’s a fabulous artist, and I learn so much from her style.
Affiliate links are provided, at no cost to you. When you choose to use my links, I receive a small commission, which helps me maintain my blog & keep creating. Thanks in advance!
