3 of my best realistic watercolour wildlife tips

MORE DETAIL ≠ REALISTIC

You don’t need to paint every stroke of fur or every feather to create a realistic watercolour animal portrait.

Not only does that take a buttload of time, but it can also make the painting look like an overly processed photograph with too many noisy details.

Instead: suggest the detail. Flick a few strokes out to the side. Use salt or blooms to make texture over large areas with minimal effort.

FOCUS ON FOCAL POINTS

Before you start a painting, have a think about where you want the attention of the viewer to go. Usually it’s the face - eyes, snoot, mouth, ears. But if you were painting a peacock maybe you’d like the beautiful tail feathers to be the main focus.

Whatever it is - focus on THAT! You can soften the other areas, even paint them loosely, and as long as those focal points are crispy it’ll still look realistic. Some people would even say the contrast between the detailed areas and the loose areas is magical! (It’s me, I’m some people).

REMEMBER THE MEDIUM

Watercolour is a transparent medium... unless you paint 1,000 layers.

When you’re a newbie to realistic watercolour, it can feel like there’s NEVER enough detail! Especially if you have a reference photo by your side that you’re comparing to.

Try to achieve what you need to in as few layers as you can. You might need to pre-plan this, but it’ll help you keep your paintings airy and still looking like a watercolour painting.

THE VALUE OF VALUES

Omg you’re still here? Hi. Bonus tip.

Stress less about mixing the perfect colour up, or creating the right amount of detail in the right areas, and make sure you nail the values above all else.

Value refers to the lightness and the darkness - highlights and shadows. Get those correct and you can still end up with a realistic looking portrait, even if you mess around with everything else.

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