Sometimes the simplest things can seem to be the hardest to paint.Feathers are so dainty and soft that you want that portrayed when you paint them.Learn four different ways of doing so from this watercolor feather tutorial.
When I first tried to paint a feather, it was an absolute disaster.I couldn’t get myself to do another one for a long time after that.But then as I got to understand watercolors and how it worked, it seemed just so silly that I would not attempt to do something as beautiful as a feather.I realized I was a bit too stiff with my painting.I treated it like how I would treat my colored pencils.If you’re like me and you’ve had a horrible experience at painting feathers, then you’ve come to the right post.I’m going to break it down in simple steps with detailed photos.
Looking to learn the basics of watercolors? Click the links below to know how
Watercolor fun techniques part 1
Watercolor fun techniques part 2
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Materials you will need for attempting the watercolor feather tutorial are
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolors
- Paint brushes
- White gouache
- Pencil
- Palette
Feather-Type A
Step 1:Draw a light outline in the shape of a feather in pencil on watercolor paper.Make sure you don’t apply a heavy hand while doing so.Next we need to do a wash of color.Apply a thin layer of clear water inside the feather shape.Wait for a few seconds and when the surface is still wet,drop in a few drops of paint randomly.Let the paint do the work of flowing and forming a light wash.
Go over it by using a very light hue of the same color while still wet.The light hue can be achieved by adding more water than color.Wait for it to dry.
Step 2:Darken the centre line.This feather is a fairly stiff one.You’ll see that I’ve painted a few lines that go outward from the center.Here,the top part will have darken lines than the rest.
The bottom end of this feather is a bit frayed.Paint soft random scribble lines.This gives a realistic look to the feather.You’ll see that the bottom part looks softer than the rest.This can be achieved by thinning down the paint.By randomly overlapping scribble paint lines,you’ll be able to achieve that look.
Darken a few lines more lines and connect the bottom end of the feather to the rest in a way that it seems cohesive.You can do this by starting soft line from whenever the scribble lines stop.And you’ve just created your first feather.
Feather-Type B
Step 1:As previously explained,draw a rough outline in pencil.Paint a light wash inside the feather shape.The shape here is shorter and rounder than Type A feather.
Step 2:While the paint is still wet,paint by moving your brush using an up and down motion.This needs to be done alternatively by leaving a gap.So you’ll see four parts of the darker shade and the rest is left as it is.
Keep painting over the dark areas until you get the desired shade.Wait for it to to dry.Once dry,paint the centre part called shaft.
Step 3: From the centre line, paint lines at an angle of approximately 45 degree on either side.Start with a darker center making it lighter as you move up.Paint a few lines darker than the rest.The bottom is frayed but to as much as the previous feather.You don’t need to paint scribbles here.Paint a few lines over lapping each other that moves out from the centre.And that’s it.
Feather-Type C
Step 1:This feather is fairly simple.Paint a wash that is extremely light.You can see from this photo that there is hardly any color as the base.First,paint the centre line.Paint random strokes at an angle of 45 degree from the bottom to the top.The lines need to follow the shape of the feather.It starts narrow from the bottom and widens in the middle and again narrows at the top.
Finish painting till the end.Darken the strokes.The inner part from where the strokes start need to be darker.The bottom part has a few feathers that change angle and move slightly downwards.
Step 2: Repeat the same on the other side as well. Now, wasn’t that easy?You’ve completed another feather as well.
Feather-Type D
Step 1:This feather has a slightly oval shape.It’s shorter the all the others.After drawing the outline as shown, add a few circles on the top part of the feather.Fill in with a light wash of paint.
Step 2:Start painting strokes outwards from the centre as explained in the previous feather.Try to leave out the spots or circles you’ve drawn.It’s okay if the paint overlaps because it can be fixed once the paint is dry.
Finish the strokes.The bottom half is darker than the top as you can see below.The bottom part has a few frayed feathers too.Here, the centre line is left as it is and not painted over as previously done.
Step 3:Once the paint is completely dry,paint over the centre line and the spots using white gouache.You may need to go over it a few times to get that opaque white color.And feather number four is done!
What do you think?
Did you think this tutorial was easy to follow?Which one is your favorite feather among the lot?Mine would be the brown one.I hope you try one of these out and if you do,don’t forget to share them with me.Hashtag with #makeinkstruck on Instagram and I’ll be sure to have a peek and repost.Thank you for reading and helping this blog grown.I’m so glad you’re here.Have a nice day!
I love feathers. Pinning to try this. I want to do some and hang in our house.
How kind of you.Yes,I think feathers would lovely as part of home decor.Maybe a set of three in a row.Thank you so much for stopping by and for taking time to pin 🙂 Have a nice day! x
Thank you for the tutorial. The feathers are so wonderful. I would like to try mhy hand at it too.
You’ll love it! And it’s super fun too. Thank you for stopping by and taking time to comment. Have a lovely day ! x
These are beautiful! Thank you for the tutorial! I’m having some problems finding watercolor paper but as soon as I get some, I’ll try it. 🙂
That would be brilliant! Thank you so much for having a look at the tutorial.Please do share,I would love to see it 🙂
Thanks a lot for all your tutorial, i really love this one especially because i love feathers but cannot do them well with watercolor. ^^’
Gratitude for all of your sharings. <3
Thank you so much Aline.I’m so glad you like the tutorial and I hope you get to learn a great deal from it too.I would love to see it if your try 🙂
Your art is always so gorgeous! I have a special spot in my heart for feathers. I’m saving all these links for someday when my kids are a little bigger and I have a little more time for fun things!
Thank you so much Elizabeth. Love that you find my tutorials useful.Oh I’m waiting for the day my LO becomes a little bit older so that I can do all my artsy stuff with him.Have a splendid day!
This looks really cool, I’ve been looking for some DIYs I could do during the summer and this looked great for my art wall. Thanks for the great tutorial!
That would be brilliant! This will definitely look great as wall decor and the perfect DIY for summer.It’s easy and will hardly take any time plus sipping on some cool lemonade will help isn’t it ? Thanks for stopping by! x
These tutorials are amazing! I’ve always been a it of a spastic when it comes to paint, so these have made life so. much. better.
That is brilliant! I’m so glad these tutorials are helping you.Painting is intimidating but trust me it’s a lot of fun and easier than it looks.Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
LOVE this! What an excellent tutorial – I love feathers, but have always been too frightened to try painting them. You’ve now given me the confidence to try. Thank you.
I am so glad that you’re confident in painting feathers now. I made this tutorial specifically for the beginner artist. I had a couple of readers tell me how they had difficulty breaking it down into simple steps which led me to thinking I should make a tutorial on feathers. I will be doing another detailed , slightly advanced tutorial soon . Thanks for stopping by! Please show me your lovely feathers. I would love to see !
I can’t wait to try this. What size brush did you use?
Hi Karra. The brush I used here is a No.2 Winsor and Newton round brush. It’s very basic but what I’ve learnt in the course of painting with watercolors is that any brush will work as long as you can control the way it works. For example you can use a silver black velvet brush in size no.8 to create a similar feather because it forms a sharp tip. Don’t go splurge on brushes if you have any of these numbers – 2,4,6,8 round 🙂 . I hope that helps!
Thanks so much for this tutorial. It was very clear. I loved being shown every step. I am just new at playing with watercolors and having so much fun. I think feathers would work well for a masculine card. (I had to look up gouache!)
Thanks Joan. I’m so glad my step by step tutorial has helped you. My aim is for beginners to understand watercolor and I believe that the best way to do that is to break it down well. I would love to see the card if you try it out. Thanks again!
Beautiful! I love to practice it. Thank you for sharing Zakkiya! ^_^
Thank you for the tutorial…it really seems doable and I’m excited to try it! I never really excelled in watercolour back in school and I guess you could say I have a slight phobia of them. I just recently reacquainted myself with watercolour and have been dabbling with ombre lettering using watercolour…it is a challenge but practice makes perfect. Looking forward to more tutorials from you 🙂
Thank you for stopping by.It is definitely doable. Trust me when I say that I used to feel really intimidated by them. But once you start, you’ll not stop.It’s a wonderful medium.:)
I love these! I’m practicing. Wondering, though, if you would ever do a video tutorial? I love to learn by watching. 🙂
Thanks Rachel. I am considering doing a few video tutorials but not at the moment. I don’t have the right equipment to take high quality videos.But I’ll be doing them soon probably at the later part of the year. x
I’m new to painting so look forward to trying these out.
Thanks so much Lindis. Have fun trying them out 🙂
Thank you so much for this amazing feathers tutorial! Your feather watercolorings are fantastic. I just recently found your blog & love your tutorials! Your watercoloring is so beautiful! I look forward to your new tutorials! Thank you again!!
It’s a couple of years since you wrote this post, but there are still people learning to paint feathers from it. Thank you!
Aw thank you so much ! That makes me so happy. So glad I’m able to reach thousands of people who love learning watercolors.
Love it ,tried it but it’s not as good as yours
??
Thank you! Oh I bet it looks amazing?
I want to make a motivational watercolor calendar and I found one about feathers but have no idea how to paint them. Hope I can do this. Tutorials are great! Thanks so much!
I’m positive you’ll be able to pull it off. Good luck ! ?