Long Eared-Owl in Pen and Wash

Earlier this year I started to focus more on drawing and painting birds – owls in particular! There is just something about them. Having said that, I’ve also tried drawing and painting different birds with varying success. My favourites being a more stylised raven and a blue tit – both very different in style – from Skillshare tutorials. But the Long-Eared Owl I drew and painted using a reference photo from Unsplash, using the skills I’d learnt from previous tutorials and self study.

My main issue with the final painting is that I decided to do a background, but feel like I should have left it more abstract than it actually is. But we learn, right? I still like the colours and my attempt to do a more faded background. I’m still learning to not be so hung up on the reference image, and to use a few different references to create my own art, angles, and postures, but reference photos can help beginners to practice.

And the one with the background:

I used Pigma Micron pens for the drawing (after doing some sketching with pencil for shapes and outlines), then painted with Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolours. I used black in this and often nature artists prefer to use brown ink and I can see why.

I still like using black ink, and also used some black paint in this which watercolour artists don’t use very often because black can overpower other colours and sometimes comes across as lacking in depth (instead they usually create black and dark shadows from a mix of colours or use colours like Payne’s Grey). But I think it’s effective here because I’ve also used browns and sepia tones for most of it. I had a lot of fun using different brush strokes to suggest feathers and layering colours.

‘To be honest, owls aren’t the brightest of birds, amazing as they are; parrots and crows are much smarter. It’s all in the eyes: those magnificent piercing optics are what make all owls look like they are deep in concentrated scrutiny and steeped in long-lost knowledge.’

— Matt Sewell

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