I continue to paint realistic watercolors depicting nature. This time I’m introducing a northern bird that looks funny but flies and swims great. Puffins live on the rocky shores of the North Sea. I haven’t seen it live yet, but I hope it happens one day. The puffin fishes so skillfully that it can hold more small fish in its beak.
I painted the watercolor based on a free Pxfuel picture. I modified the background a bit and also painted the orange leg of the bird, although it is obscured in the original picture.
Step-by-step process
I sketched the bird with the rock and the horizon line.
The first layer of the sky was cerulean blue.
Then it turned to dramatic with Payne grey.
Continued with the rock: golden ocher, Payne gray, sepia, burnt sienna
The back feathers were painted with Payne grey and black.
I primed the bird’s belly with a little dilute payne gray, and on top of that I put a little orange-red mixture on her belly as the light from the bird’s foot shines there.
The fluffy feathers were highlighted with white tempera.
