Red is a tricky color in watercolor. Louise De Masi admits it gives her trouble: even a staining red lifts off the paper when you rewet it to add layers. Her fix for this winter cardinal is to get almost everything into the first wash of each section, then stop. Head, body, tail, a few touches of detail, a black mask and a soft grey branch. It took her about two hours.
How to paint a cardinal: the short version
- Mix an earthy violet from Scarlet Lake and French Ultramarine.
- Paint the head wet, leaving the eyes white, and drop in stronger red.
- Let it dry, then paint the body in one wash with a touch of Indian Yellow.
- Paint the tail in violet on dry paper.
- Add a little detail, the black mask, then the tail feathers.
- Wash in a grey branch and a shadow under the tail.
The palette: five colors
Louise used Winsor & Newton Scarlet Lake as the main red, with French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Indian Yellow and Lamp Black. Scarlet Lake is a warm red. Mixed with a warm blue like French Ultramarine it gives a muted, earthy violet for the wings and tail. A cool red such as Alizarin with the same blue makes a bright violet, which looks wrong on a bird. If your violet looks like a grape, warm up the red.
Why one wash works better with red
Most watercolor paintings build up in layers: paint light, let it dry, rewet, go darker. Red pigment does not always stay put when you rewet it. So paint each section on wet paper, vary the strength while it is still wet and drop darker pigment into the shadows. Then let it dry and leave it alone. Fresh first washes also stay brighter than overworked ones.
Working in sections
Break the bird into parts that each have a natural edge: head, body, tail, branch. Paint one, dry it fully (a hair dryer helps) and move to the next. Hard edges then land where a real bird has them, like where the wing meets the body. Paint straight over small details such as the toes or the black mask area. It is easier than painting around them, and the darker paint covers the red later.
Paper and brushes
Use a heavy cold press paper, 300 lb or a watercolor board, so it does not buckle under wet washes. Louise works with a medium round for the washes, a small round for details and a liner for the crest feathers. A stiff scrubbing brush lifts small highlights once the paint is dry.
Common problems
- Blooms or water lines. Run a damp brush over the edge while the wash is still wet.
- The red looks flat. Drop stronger pigment into the darker areas before the first wash dries.
- The black looks like a hole. Start with watered-down black, dry it, then add darker black in places so some tone shows.
More painting
New to the medium? Start with how to paint with watercolors. For a pencil version of the same bird, see how to draw a cardinal. To round out a winter set, try birch trees and a poinsettia.
