In many areas of the US, northern red cardinals stay around throughout the winter, adding a nice burst of color and the sweet sound of music to your back yard all year long.

When it comes to finding shelter and making their nests, northern red cardinals are very private birds. They look for areas that are dense with growth, like evergreen trees or thick shrubs. Perhaps because of their bright colors, cardinals make their homes inside dense greenery. So for this painting I decided to indicate the kind of evergreen that the cardinals might choose to perch in, but to make it minimal so that they could be clearly seen.

Only a few colors are needed for this painting to succeed. I chose the following palette, and used a mixture of Winsor and Newton, Schmincke and Old Holland paints. I used OH Bright Red, Paynes Grey and Raw Umber, W&N Winsor Violet,Olive Green and Sepia, and Schmincke Potters Pink, Naples Yellow and Black.

I used a size 7 round by Drawell and a size 6 filbert from Pro Arte.

Before drawing my design I studied various photos of northern red cardinals in books and online until I felt familiar with the bird again. When I lived in Bermuda we saw them occasionally, but it is not a bird found where I live now, in northern France. I then carefully drew the birds, and then played around with different arrangements of the birds on twigs, using my lightbox to help me with this. I show this process in the video below, before beginning How to paint a pair of Northern Red Cardinals in Watercolor.

How to paint a pair of Northern Red Cardinals in Watercolor

The important thing with this painting is to keep a light touch and not to go back too often to make adjustments. I was using a sheet of 140lb cold pressed Arches watercolor paper, taped to a wooden board. Watch the video below to see how I painted this picture.