Art #68: Drawing Birds, Part Four

A detailed gouache painting in real time

Let’s paint a meadowlark

If you’re new here, welcome! This is the fourth in a series on birds. You might want to dig into the archive and start with #65.

I know some of you are interested in gouache, so I decided to paint this one in real time using gouache. Gouache is basically a thicker, more opaque version of watercolor used by illustrators. It’s also popular among oil and acrylic painters who want a similar experience to the kind of painting they’re used to, but on a small scale in a sketchbook.

However, if you’re a watercolor painter, you can do everything we do in gouache! Just be sure each layer is totally dry before adding a layer on top, and remember to keep your watercolor mix on the rich, less watery side for adding those details. Also, you might want a white paint pen, white colored pencil, or a tube of white watercolor or white gouache for a few highlights.

OK, here’s the entire painting in real time. We’ve already done a lot of pencil drawings of birds, so I didn’t film that…