Paint Animals in Watercolor with Ease and Confidence

Dec 16, 2024

Animals are not a mainstay in my paintings. I don't always gravitate toward them. But this scene grabbed my attention, and I really wanted to take on this subject.

So, I grabbed the opportunity by the horns (pun intended), pushed myself outside of my comfort zone, and painted it.

Let me show you my process!

Paint Animals in Watercolor

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Three Pieces of Advice from the Video 

If you're wanting to try your hand at this scene, the best guide would be to watch the video at the top of the page. However, I wanted to highlight a few of the ideas I share in the video here as a reference.

Best Advice When Embracing New Subjects

Figures - animal or human - can be intimidating new subjects. They're organic, expressive, and dynamic. They have personality.

And often viewers have an emotional connection to them. This is one strong reason to include them in your paintings, in fact. People respond to people, pets, livestock, and wildlife. These subjects can bring a beating heart to your paintings.

But how to do you push past the intimidation? First of all, consider embracing a more impressionistic approach. You don't have to render a hyper-realistic version of your reference. Impressions can be nice and can bring exactly what you need to a scene.

To paint an animal believably, you've got to first observe and study your subject, paying special attention to proportion. And as you draw the animal, constantly compare, compare, compare. 

For example, as I was drawing this steer, I compared the angle of the horn to the angle of his head, making sure it matched my reference photo. I was constantly comparing the distance between the figure's body parts - like the space between his snout and his hoof, the tip of his horn and the top arch of his back.

 A Note on the Middle Value Wash

If you're struggling understanding how to find connection in your middle value wash, you're in good company. This is a difficult concept and it takes a lot of practice and intentionality to start seeing connections instead of distinctions. 

When we paint the middle value wash, the priority is to create unity throughout the scene so that it looks like every part of the painting is grounded in the setting and makes sense with one another. When objects stand out too much, they just look like we've placed them in an already existing template. 

Instead, we want each part of the painting to flow together with logical connections. This is what the middle value wash is all about. 

A Guideline to Avoid Overworking Your Painting

Okay, this one is quick!

Here's a simple tip to avoid overworking your painting. When you're about 90% done with your painting - step back and regroup. Then, work on getting the focal point(s) of your painting to a "finished" version. Then work out from there making sure that your other final touches don't outshine the focal point. 

Three Phases of My Watercolor Painting

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All You Need to Know About Layers in Painting Watercolor

Stop Overworking Your Paintings!

Watch my FREE Video Lesson 7 Secrets of Fresh, Powerful Painting.

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