Bird Exercises in Watercolor from Tom Shepherd's Book

[Joy]

These are from Tom Shepherd's Simply Paint Birds book. He paints in a loose style and has some simple steps for a few dozen different birds. His YT channel features a lot of loose animals and bright hues. In an attempt to simplify my subjects and loosen up a bit, I followed his instructions. The first several are attached, as I am starting from the beginning. I am using up different types of sample papers that I didn't really like that well. Results are varied.

 

[Balaji]

Wow! These are terrific paintings. I love the way you have got the paints to work for you on the paper. And the poses are so good. There is also a wonderful sense of movement in the birds in flight and the swan.

 

[Jo Castillo]

These are just lovely to look at. Applause!!

 

[txomsy]

These look great. I like the colors used, the dynamism and the contrast. Good work!

 

[Donna T]

Wow these are good!

 

[Sanlynn]

Congrats on these excellent birds!

 

[JaneS]

Lovely! I think the style works particularly well with the darker colours. The crow is brilliant!

 

[Joy]

Thanks ever so much to all for the kind words! I basically followed his drawings and limited palette, along with the steps to paint them. Generally I don't do things like that, but I hoped I would learn to simplify. There are still many more birds to do in the book, as I am working my way through slowly.

 

[TK H-H]

These are beautiful! Great poses and textures. And I really like the colors in the penguins.

 

[Artyczar]

Joy, I can't tell you how much I love these! Just what I look for in excellent watercolor painting. They are fantastic!

 

[Enyaw]

Wonderful display. Very enjoyable.

 

[Joy]

You are all so very kind! Really, all I am doing is following instructions and can take no credit for the colors or poses.

 

[PaintBoss]

Looking good. Great exercises.