Bird Friends by DIane Mason

  Hello, and welcome back for Watercolor Weekend!

Hello, AI Watercolor Friends! Today, I'm sharing two cards that celebrate birds and friendship. For my first card, I used songbird images from the newly released 5980 – KH Songbirds and Feeders Set by the talented Kim Hein. My second card showcases hummingbirds from another newly released set, 5981 – My Joy Set, part of the Bible Journaling Series.

Let’s get started!

For this card, I wanted to find a yellow and grayish-brown songbird for reference. After a quick Google image search, I came across a bird that resembled the one depicted here—the Western Yellow Robin. 

Growing up in the Midwest, I often saw the American Robin with its orange belly and gray-brown wings and tail. So when I discovered the Western Yellow Robin, I got excited, thinking I might spot this bird here in California on the West Coast. However, after further research, I realized that wouldn’t be the case—unless I moved to Australia! Still, this bird was the perfect inspiration for my painting.

I inked the birdbath and bird stamp from set 5980 with N79 and stamped it onto my Canson XL watercolor paper. Wanting to give the birdbath a weathered patina look, I applied a light wash of 403 to the stand and bowl, adding depth with shadows and contours.

To add to the patina, using a #1 brush, I dabbed in small brown splotches with 947, carefully preserving the highlighted areas. To enhance the shadows, I deepened certain areas with 565.

For the bird, I started by brushing in the sides, wings, head, beak, and tail with N79, then darkened the shadowed areas with a touch of N57. For the belly and throat, I began with a light wash of 062, deepening the edges with 025. To blend the yellow into the gray, I mixed a touch of N79 with 025.

For the water in the birdbath, I painted a watery mix of 403, leaving a few highlights to create the effect of water glints. To add depth to the shadowed areas, I incorporated a touch of 565.

For the floral vines, I inked the branch stamp with 177 and stamped it a couple of times. Since the stamp is clear, I didn’t need to use a positioner. I then added leaves using the leaf stamp from the set, also inked in 177, leaving some blank areas for the flowers. With a damp brush, I lightly dabbed the leaves to soften the edges.

Once the vines were complete, I added flowers using the tiny dots stamp from 5009 – WC Mini Flower Set, inked in 676. After stamping, I gently dabbed them with a damp brush to create a watercolor effect. Once the flowers were painted, I filled in a few more leaves where needed.

For the ground, I applied a light wash of green at the base to represent grass, then deepened the shadows around the base with a mix of 177 and 565. For the sky, I brushed in a watery mix of 403, intentionally pulling some color from the flowers and leaves in certain areas to create a soft, blended effect. 

When I was satisfied with the painting, I used a brown TwinTone pen to define the bird’s beak, eyes, tail, and feet, as well as to add details to the birdbath. I matted and popped up the painting on the cover with foam tape. The yellow patterned paper is from the new 6012 – Basic Yellow Paper Pack.

If you've followed my paintings here on the blog, you know I love adding a little something to the interiors of my cards. The process for painting these birds and floral vines was the same as on the cover. The "birds of a feather best friends forever" sentiment, also from set 5980, was the perfect finishing touch. I was very pleased with how the interior turned out—it could easily make a beautiful card front on another design too!

Continuing with the bird and friendship theme, I used stamps from 5981 – My Joy Set, for my second card.

Using a stamp platform I inked the vines and leaves with 177, the flower petals with 676, and the flower centers with 025. The hummingbirds were inked with N52.

With a damp brush, I pulled color from the lines of the vines and leaves, the flower centers, and the petals. Additional color was added from my palette to each of those areas to add shadows and contours. I added a little 133 to highlight the leaves. I shaded the flower centers with a little 991.

For the hummingbirds, I used N79 for the underbelly and wing edges. I then added more N79 to add shadows on the underbelly and details on the wing. For the green areas of the bird, I started with 133, then added a touch of 173, and finally 177 to deepen the shadows and details. The throat area was painted with a watery mix of 676, and then I added a touch of 725 to brighten the area. The bird's feet were painted with N79.

I inked the “life is better with friends” sentiment from set 5980 in Versafine Onyx Black Ink. The 2025 stamp is from 5981 and was inked in N52. A violet and gray TwinTone marker was used to add back details where to needed.

The blue patterned paper is from the new 6011 – Basic Teal Paper Pack. I die-cut a frame to place over the painting and popped it up with foam tape.

For that extra touch on the card interior, I inked the floral stamp the same as I did on the front of the card.

I hope these bird friend cards have inspired you and brought a little reminder that spring is on its way!

Thank you again for stopping by for Watercolor Weekend. Until next time—happy painting!