Materials List

Canvas: 6x6 inch canvas or paper.

Acrylics: White, Black, Phthalocyanine Blue (or any Blue), Orange (mix Red with Yellow), Cadmium Red, and Cadmium Yellow.

Brushes: Small round detail brush, Small flat brush, Micro or liner detail brush.

Reference: Photo of parrot directly above.

Start by painting your canvas with just White.

No need to let it dry because we can easily paint over White with Dark Green. Mix a Dark Green using Phthalocyanine Blue and Cadmium Yellow. Draw the parrot using this Dark Green.

Before you apply Orange to the background, make sure the White paint is dry! Mix a vibrant Orange using Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow. Add more Yellow to the top of your canvas and more Red to the bottom.

Artist Tip: Give life to your paintings by adding color contrast. Contrast can be created by having a wide range of dark tones and light tones. Instead of having a few simple, flat colors, mix in more darks and lights to create contrast in the background or foreground.

Combine White and a little Black to create Grey. Apply Grey to the beak and fill in the circle around the eye. Wash out your brush and paint in the nostril, mouth, and eye with just Black.

Wash out your brush and re-mix the same Green used for the sketch. Phthalocyanine Blue with Cadmium Yellow were the colors used.

Artist Tip: Blending and mixing colors can be done directly on your canvas! As you move down towards the belly of the bird, add in more Yellow to your Green mixture. Pull in more Yellow directly onto your canvas to mix into the dark Green.

Fill in the side bird wings with the darker Green mixture, keeping the belly of the bird Light Green.

Artist Tip: Do you feel like your proportions are off? I certainly do! No worries at all, it’s an easy fix. Simply paint over it even if it’s still wet. We can let it sit and dry while we work on another area. This fix is demonstrated in the next image.

The colors may mix together, but just let it be. Let it dry so you can remix the background color to paint right overtop later.

While that dries, let us work on the feathers! Mix up a variety of different shades of Green on your paint pallet using Blue and Yellow. Mix up at least 3-4 different Greens.

Use a small flat brush or a detail round brush to apply dabs of paint for the feathers.

Artist Tip: For birds, keep feathers smaller around the eyes, beak, and jaw line. As you move towards the chest and wings, feathers will get larger in length and width. Add more pressure and paint to your brush when painting the larger feathers.

Try to layer feathers closely together, almost overtop one another. Still keep that Green base showing through from the bottom.

Now it’s time to mix up some Red tones. With a brush or palette knife, mix up all different shades of Pink and Red. Use White, Red, and Yellow for this.

Apply your Reds and Pinks to the chest of the bird.

Wash out your brush to create a Grey using White and Black. Outline the outside of the black eye. Keep that outline very thin.

Wash out your brush and go back to your Dark Green (used for base coat). Cut into the smaller, darker feathers using this Dark Green. Use a thin, detail round brush to cut in around each small feather just around the face.

Wash out your brush and mix up a light Green using White, Phthalocyanine Blue, and Cadmium Yellow. Create a thin border around the larger feathers on the chest.

Let’s move to the eyes and beak. Wash out your brush and mix up a Dark Grey using White and Black. Apply Dark Grey to the bottom of the top beak (near the mouth opening) and below the bottom of the beak.

Mix up a light Grey. Apply highlights to the top of the beak. Apply a thin line around the opening of the mouth, on the top and bottom parts of the beak.

Use that same light Grey to add a highlight to the eye.

Mix up more colors - Reds, Pinks, Orange Pinks. Add all kinds of colors to the feathers. Use a small round detail brush to add texture using tiny, thin lines. Cluster the lines closely together on each small feather.

Apply this texture to all the light toned feathers, especially around the chest and belly of the bird. Have fun with color and texture!