Loose watercolor for recovery and relaxation

I was sitting listening to the birds singing in our garden yesterday and realised for the millionth time how beautiful their voices are! So here’s a hommage to the birds as we go into the hard season for them, to thank them for the joy they bring us every year, never fail, come what may.

This painting will help you find your Inner Child as you let go of realism and paint birds the way they would look if you designed them! Relax and enjoy the feel of the paint, and embellish them however your fancy leads you!

My Materials

For this painting I used my Kuretaki set of Gansai Tambi watercolors.

These are ideal for beginners and advanced painters alike and the set of 48 has every color in it that you could reasonably use for the everyday watercolor journey. If you don’t have this set, you can use any paints, and I always have my tubes of Winsor and Newton, Schmincke and Daniel Smith on hand should the need arise.

I decided to use a sheet of Etchr 140lb watercolor paper, size A4 or about 9 x 12 inches. Etchr is a relatively inexpensive paper which is ideal for watercolor students and is very well-behaved no matter how you treat it! You can easily get it on Amazon. Alternatives for warmups (not too expensive!) include Bockingford, Clairefontaine Etival and Strathmore for example.

I used a size 13 round nylon brush from Drawell of Japan, but any brush you are comfortable with will do nicely. I always suggest you go bigger rather than smaller!

I also used a white Sigma pen for a few highlights, and a Sakura Pigma Micron pen could be used instead of the dip pen and brown ink.

Watch Find Your Inner Child here:

I have links below to various fantastic materials which would be ideal for a project like this. The Kuretake paints for example are powerfully pigmented and made a dramatic painting if you give them their head! All the papers and other materials are available through my Amazon shop at amazon.com/shop/dianeantonestudio. See you there!

And here are some options for inexpensive paints as a beginner.