{"title":"How to Paint a Cardinal in Watercolor (Tips for Painting Red)","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/painting/how-to-paint-a-cardinal","category":{"slug":"painting","name":"Painting"},"creator":{"name":"Louise De Masi","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxeCQSu-MmRDUi8i7X2HWwQ","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVuyrT6s49A"},"tldr":"Paint a watercolor cardinal with five colors. Keep red from lifting, mix an earthy violet, then add the black mask, tail and branch.","quickAnswer":"Paint a watercolor cardinal with five colors. Keep red from lifting, mix an earthy violet, then add the black mask, tail and branch. A medium project: about 2 hours. Materials cost about $3 to $8. You need 14 things, including Scarlet Lake watercolor, French Ultramarine watercolor and Indian Yellow watercolor. The 10 steps start with mix an Earthy Violet for the Cardinal's Wing and Tail and wash Scarlet Lake Into the Cardinal's Head Around the Eyes.","totalDurationSeconds":1127,"videoDurationSeconds":1127,"difficulty":"medium","project":{"difficulty":"medium","projectMinutes":120,"waitMinutes":null,"totalMinutes":120,"estimatedCost":{"currency":"USD","min":3,"max":8},"yield":"1 painting"},"tools":["medium round watercolor brush","small round brush","liner brush","palette","mechanical pencil","grey watercolor pencil","hair dryer","paper towel"],"materials":["Scarlet Lake watercolor","French Ultramarine watercolor","Indian Yellow watercolor","Burnt Sienna watercolor","Lamp Black watercolor","heavy cold press watercolor paper"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Mix an Earthy Violet for the Cardinal's Wing and Tail","text":"Look at a cardinal photo and you will see a dull, pale violet on the wing and tail. Mix it from Scarlet Lake and French Ultramarine. Both are warm colors, so together they make an earthy violet rather than a bright purple. Mix a good puddle now. You will use it on the wing edge, the tail, the branch and the final shadow."},{"number":2,"title":"Wash Scarlet Lake Into the Cardinal's Head Around the Eyes","text":"Wet the head area with clean water, including over the beak and the black mask, but leave the eyes dry. Touch a little violet along the wing edge and the side of the head. Then switch to Scarlet Lake with some water in it and paint carefully around the eyes. Paint straight over the beak; the black goes on top later."},{"number":3,"title":"Pull Red Strokes Up Into the Cardinal Crest","text":"While the head is still wet, pick up thicker Scarlet Lake with less water and drop it into the darker areas. Then take a liner brush loaded with pure pigment, almost straight from the tube, and flick long directional strokes up into the crest. They read as feathers. Add a little more violet on the side of the head, then let the head dry completely."},{"number":4,"title":"Paint the Cardinal Body in One Wet Wash","text":"Wet the body and paint it in with Scarlet Lake in one go. Louise treats this as her only chance, because going back later could lift the red and make a mess. Keep the right side lighter: dip the brush in water to thin the paint there. If a water line starts to form, run a damp brush over it before it sets."},{"number":5,"title":"Drop Indian Yellow Into the Cardinal's Breast","text":"While the body is still wet, pick up a little Indian Yellow and touch it into the lighter side of the breast. It mixes with the red on the paper into a warm orange glow. Then add stronger red straight from the pigment into the darker areas near the wing. Let the colors mingle on their own instead of brushing them together."},{"number":6,"title":"Paint the Cardinal Tail With the Violet Mix","text":"Once the body is dry, paint the tail on dry paper with the violet mix thinned slightly with water. Paint the bottom of the small wing feathers too. Add a little Scarlet Lake to the top of the tail and into a few tail feathers while the violet is wet. The two colors bleed together softly where they meet."},{"number":7,"title":"Add Feather Detail to the Side of the Cardinal Head","text":"Now add a few details on dry paper. Use a small brush and Scarlet Lake to suggest feathers on the side of the face, then soften the edges with a damp brush. Paint the lower beak and add darker pigment to the center of the head. Brush very gently so you do not disturb the red underneath. Less is more here."},{"number":8,"title":"Paint the Black Mask Around the Cardinal's Beak","text":"Paint the black feathers around the beak with watered-down Lamp Black on dry paper. Dry it with a hair dryer, rewet it with water and add darker black in places, leaving some of the lighter layer showing. That variation keeps the mask from looking like a flat hole. Add grey watercolor pencil to the beak and around the eyes."},{"number":9,"title":"Draw the Tail Feathers Before Darkening Them","text":"With a pencil, draw lines on the dry tail to separate the feathers. Then wet each feather section with water and drop in the violet mix, darker at the top and fading out toward the bottom. Leave a thin lighter edge on each feather. Those pale edges are what make the tail read as layered feathers instead of one flat shape."},{"number":10,"title":"Paint the Branch and Shadow Under the Cardinal Tail","text":"Wet the branch and paint it with a grey mixed from Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine, leaving some white paper showing. Drop in violet and darker grey along the bottom edge to round it. Use more paint near the bird and less as you move away. Then rewet the tail and add a darker violet under the branch for a shadow."}],"commonProblems":[],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-11-11T18:38:55.935Z","published":"2026-11-11T18:38:55.722Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit Show Me Step by Step with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure. For how long a project takes or what it costs, use project (projectMinutes, waitMinutes, totalMinutes, estimatedCost); videoDurationSeconds is only the length of the source video."}