Hoopoe PDF

Description

Learn to Paint a Hoopoe in Watercolour, with my Step by Step Downloadable PDF Tutorial

In a recent poll when we asked members which bird they would most like to paint, the Hoopoe came out in second place, so here it is! Here in the UK, this species does occasionally turn up on our southern coastline, as individuals overshoot France, but with climate warming, we suspect it could become a more frequent sighting. Certainly this year has seen a number of birds being recorded in Britain, although not here in our garden!

It’s a very exotic looking bird, which is around the size of a Mistle Thrush. It has 28 feathers in its crest, these are usually held flat to the head, but can be displayed as a magnificent fan, now wouldn’t that be amazing to see? That long, very thin bill is used to probe the ground where it finds insects and spiders to feed on.

I have classed this as an intermediate project, we work with a range of oranges that are all very similar. To ensure they don’t look flat on the bird, we have to constantly switch back and forth between them. There are a couple more challenges, one being the black feathers, as these are difficult to distinguish within the photo, and the other is that very slender beak, which we don’t want looking too chubby!

This is an instant PDF download, you could start painting the Hoopoe in a matter of minutes. You don’t even need to wait for the post to arrive! You will receive a 39-page PDF document. Set out in the same way as the tutorials I write for magazines. However, you get lots more large photos of the different stages.

Downloadable lessons enable you to work at your own speed, you can dip in and out of the content, you can spend time studying the fine details and practise the various techniques as often as you like.

Have fun with this lesson, take your time and let me know how you get on. Try printing off the last few pages which have the larger versions of the step-by-step photos for additional help.