Artistic Watercolor Techniques for Illustrating Birds by Sarah Stokes

Bring vivid wildlife compositions to life by exploring modern methods of watercolor painting

Modern watercolor painting is synonymous with freedom and spontaneity. Some of the most interesting results are achieved by simply going with the flow of the paint and seeing where it takes you. Add a step by step methodology and some expertise, and the results become filled with meaning and expression.

Sarah Stokes is a self-taught wildlife artist who translates her passions for creating art and being close to nature into expressive watercolor compositions. Her work can be found in UK galleries like Whitewall Galleries and Clarendon Fine Art, as well as others around the world.

In this course, Sarah guides you through her step-by-step process for creating an expressive wildlife composition using modern watercolor painting methods. Start from the basics, adding artistic techniques to the flow of your paintbrush to create expressive wildlife compositions

wildlife compositions Get to know your teacher Sarah Stokes, who tells you how she became a full-time gallery artist and introduces you to the work of some artists and photographers that inspire her work. She also introduces the materials you’re going to need and how to use them.

Begin with some theory on tonal values and see why it’s so important to get them right. Do your first bird drawing in graphite, ensuring the dark, light, and mid-tones are correctly applied. Then, Sarah goes through some color theory, starting with how to mix and use watercolors effectively. Learn how warm and cold colors play their part in a composition and create color palettes using both saturated and desaturated hues.

In the next unit, learn to master watercolor properties such as pigment control, timing, wetness, and more, to obtain the results you want. Practice a variety of expressive brushstrokes and mark-making techniques before painting your first watercolor bird using just one color.

See where to get the ideal photo references and work on them digitally to get them “paint-ready”. Use practical aspects like branch shapes, negative space, and color to tell a story through your composition.

Finally, use gel pens to finish your composition and add paint splashes and drips to complete your piece. Sarah finishes the course by sharing some ideas for taking your concept further and developing a series.