I struggle with painting reds too. It's difficult to put dark shadows with soft edges 'cause the paint lifts so easily. Tips I can share with you are: •1st tip: while the main red paint is still wet, put the darkest shadows right away using wet on wet. have as few layers as possible. •2nd tip: put the darkest shadows first. then glaze it with your main red afterwards. the shadows will be seen through the main red (just make sure you're using transparent pigments). also, glazing it will make your shadows softer. you can build up the layers easily because you already established the colors on the early stage of your painting
Stunning work. I’ve just returned to watercolour after a twenty years and watching you has improved my bird paintings so much, especially the negative painting of feathers. Thank you for inspiring me.
I love your cardinal! So beautiful and Christmasy! You always amaze me, Louise! With every stroke of your brush out of nothing emerges this gorgeous red bird with all the tones and shade appearing! You are a very gifted artist and my you are my favorite! Thank you so much for all the beauty you bless me with- year in, year out! Merry Christmas to you and your family. Enjoy that grandson, too. What a fun time Christmas is with little ones around! Have a blessed 2023, too! Here’s to many more masterpieces from my favorite artist! Love.♥️👏🏻🎄
I love the way this came out! Red really is a challenge. It's hard to layer or create shadows. The more I try to darken the shadows the more overworked it looks. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
My friend was working on a very large red poppy about three feet by four feet. I was painting a landscape close by and remember him having a terrible time with the red. He would have the red value just right in the palette and on application but it seemed to disappear upon drying. He finally finished the painting but the red was certainly a challenge. I am going to begin painting my poinsettia piece tomorrow and shall be mindful of applying most of what I want in the first stage of wet on wet. Thank you. I really enjoy your videos.
Dear Louise, just watched this beautiful Cardinal painting of yours - it is stunning! The cardinal on Patreon was lovely, but I think this one is better - thank you for showing your way of working with red paint. Hope you had a happy and blessed Christmas, and my very best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2023. Thank you warmly for your very hard work and your dedication during the entire 2022 - you are my painting lifeline and I appreciate every one of your stunning patreon tutorials. Love and blessings, Vee XXXXX
I follow your classes and enjoy it tremendously. I have joined Skillshare to be able to follow the the more detailed classes. When are you going to add a new class. Would love to see a new one!!!!
Louise, your Cardinal is so perfect and beautiful! We have many male and female cardinals that comes to our feeder regularly. You should be so happy with your painting! We live in Ottawa, Canada. Right now we are having the worst snow storm we have had in a long time. We are all snowed in and no one can come for Christmas this year. Watching this beautiful tutorial really warmed my heart. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family. Helene❤
I’ve painted a cardinal from the same reference photo at the beginning of the month. I want to paint it again and I’m glad I’ve got some pointers now how I can make it look better. Red really is tricky. Hope you had a lovely Christmas. Happy new year to you and your loved ones!
Thank you for detailed videos. I just started in watercolors, last time I painted anything was in high school, and that was a long long time ago. I have been watching your videos and all the great tips you have. I have done a couple of small paintings based on your videos, I will tag you on instagram.. again thank you so much for the tutorials and tips. Aditi
Thankyou so much for your tips on using red pigment. I enjoy all of your videos and always feel that I have learned from them. I ordered a couple of the eradicator brushes from Roemary and Co and I also use mine with pretty well every painting. They are so easy to use! Many thanks for all your videos last year and I look forward to seeing your next tutorial. Merry Christmas and happy New Year Louise
Thanks for your beautiful painting of the Cardinal! Red paint does cause some problems, but you did a masterful job!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Scott
Thank you for sharing your expertise on the red pigments. I am attempting a large single poinsettia and your information has helped me deal with the reds. Thanks again and have a wonderful holiday season and an excellent new year!
Absolutely beautiful cardinal lesson! I’m hoping to try to recreate this later today! Your teaching method is true and makes me feel confident to try to recreate the Cardinal! Happy Holiday and looking foreword to a Healthy New Year. Karen Dirmish
I find that the wet on wet technique doesn't work very well with red. I work from a dry palette, I take the color and mix it with water in a porcelain mixing palette, and then start layering. So light layer, blend out, darker layer, blend out. And so on. This works very well for me but I also take hours and hours - one of my pieces of a human heart took 21 hours because of all the layering and waiting to dry! For me this is worth it because it creates a rich velvety look with intense even color. This cardinal is beautiful! I love this bright red and the way the the tail was painted. Edit: I also usually add a few drops of glycerin to my paint water. I also use a slightly firmer brush which doesn't hold as much water as it gives me more control.
A beautiful painting Louise, I would dearly love to see this bird in the flesh so to speak, they are so stunning. Thank you for sharing with us and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family xx
Looks just like the cardinals at my feeder! Apparently the -20 C temperature does not phase them! Masterful, as usual, and it does not seem as you have a "problem" with any color. Christmas and New Year blessing to you and yours. Questions: 1. What size eradicator brushes do use use? Perhaps that was a small? I am going to order from them shortly. 2. Since you mixed the gray, when do you choose to use the black paint over a mixed dark?
First, thank you so much for a year full of joy and creativity here and in Patreon! The mix of French Ultramarine and Crimson Lake is just perfect for the cardinal. Those tail feathers have peculiar hues in real life. I’ll try this combination with my second try of the other cardinal in Patreon. Best wishes from Canada.
I find that reds (including cadmiums) never have a real gradation. Especially the warm ones have a strong mass-tone and then become light and faint pink and nearly nothing in between. Thank you for the lovely video.
I can't imagine you struggling with anything relating to watercolor! Red is a bit difficult because it is not soft or muted or it would be pinks. True red (warm or cool) is best done in few layers. I'm working on a poppy and only washed where cast shadows and petal ripples are.
I have found violet to lift off the paper when a 2nd layer was applied, the same way you described red. Has this been your experience? @Louise De Masi ?🙂🌹
I am wondering about the comments about red being difficult. I haven’t used red very often. Are there red paints or other manufacturers which are easier to work with?
I was doing one of your tulip tutorial and it was the first time that I ever painted something in red and I did notice it was very messy 😱 Do you think that cooler reds are easier to paint with? 😊
Hi Karla, thank you! I don't use it when I'm filming because it's too big to fit under my magic arm. The magic arm that holds my phone for filming isn't tall enough and you can't see the palette properly.
Louise I'm curious do you stand at a table and paint or sit ? I keep trying both can't decide which is better for steady hand. Merry Christmas to you also!
Hi Barbara, no it's not, I'm sorry. I didn't film all of it. It was just for RUclips. When I painted it I had 7 Patreon tutorials waiting for me to voice over and I didn't want to add an 8th one.
Understandable! Just was wondering because I’m pretty dependent on the sketches (outlines). It’s beautiful. We just moved full-time to Washington State from Missouri. In Missouri we had so many cardinals in our back yard. We have none in Washington. So I’m drawn to cardinals paintings (I miss them so much)!
I struggle with painting reds too. It's difficult to put dark shadows with soft edges 'cause the paint lifts so easily. Tips I can share with you are:
•1st tip: while the main red paint is still wet, put the darkest shadows right away using wet on wet. have as few layers as possible.
•2nd tip: put the darkest shadows first. then glaze it with your main red afterwards. the shadows will be seen through the main red (just make sure you're using transparent pigments). also, glazing it will make your shadows softer. you can build up the layers easily because you already established the colors on the early stage of your painting
Thanks very much for the tips Adrian. ❤️
Stunning work. I’ve just returned to watercolour after a twenty years and watching you has improved my bird paintings so much, especially the negative painting of feathers. Thank you for inspiring me.
I love your cardinal! So beautiful and Christmasy! You always amaze me, Louise! With every stroke of your brush out of nothing emerges this gorgeous red bird with all the tones and shade appearing! You are a very gifted artist and my you are my favorite! Thank you so much for all the beauty you bless me with- year in, year out! Merry Christmas to you and your family. Enjoy that grandson, too. What a fun time Christmas is with little ones around! Have a blessed 2023, too! Here’s to many more masterpieces from my favorite artist! Love.♥️👏🏻🎄
Good idea for separate black palette!
I love the way this came out! Red really is a challenge. It's hard to layer or create shadows. The more I try to darken the shadows the more overworked it looks.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
My friend was working on a very large red poppy about three feet by four feet. I was painting a landscape close by and remember him having a terrible time with the red. He would have the red value just right in the palette and on application but it seemed to disappear upon drying. He finally finished the painting but the red was certainly a challenge. I am going to begin painting my poinsettia piece tomorrow and shall be mindful of applying most of what I want in the first stage of wet on wet.
Thank you. I really enjoy your videos.
Excellent painting ❤
Dear Louise, just watched this beautiful Cardinal painting of yours - it is stunning! The cardinal on Patreon was lovely, but I think this one is better - thank you for showing your way of working with red paint. Hope you had a happy and blessed Christmas, and my very best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2023. Thank you warmly for your very hard work and your dedication during the entire 2022 - you are my painting lifeline and I appreciate every one of your stunning patreon tutorials. Love and blessings, Vee XXXXX
So beautiful. I love how your subjects suddenly come to life with the final strokes.
I follow your classes and enjoy it tremendously. I have joined Skillshare to be able to follow the the more detailed classes. When are you going to add a new class. Would love to see a new one!!!!
Louise, your Cardinal is so perfect and beautiful! We have many male and female cardinals that comes to our feeder regularly. You should be so happy with your painting! We live in Ottawa, Canada. Right now we are having the worst snow storm we have had in a long time. We are all snowed in and no one can come for Christmas this year. Watching this beautiful tutorial really warmed my heart. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family. Helene❤
I'm so sorry Helene! I hope you had a lovely Christmas with Barry just the same. Happy New Year! Stay warm. ❤️
Gorgeous! I would look so lovely next to the first Patreon cardinal we’ve put in our daughter’s room 🥰
I’ve painted a cardinal from the same reference photo at the beginning of the month. I want to paint it again and I’m glad I’ve got some pointers now how I can make it look better. Red really is tricky.
Hope you had a lovely Christmas. Happy new year to you and your loved ones!
Thank you Sonya. You have a wonderful new year too!
You're so right red is so difficult to use,that video was very helpful, thank you.
Thank you for detailed videos. I just started in watercolors, last time I painted anything was in high school, and that was a long long time ago. I have been watching your videos and all the great tips you have. I have done a couple of small paintings based on your videos, I will tag you on instagram.. again thank you so much for the tutorials and tips. Aditi
Merry Christmas Louise. Thank you for your teaching expertise. Happy New Year!
Happy new year Pat. Thank you!
Merry Christmas to you, Louise and your family🎄🤗. All the best for 2023.
Happy new year Linda. Thank you!
such a vibrant painting 😀
Excelente trabajo, muchísimas gracias
Merry Christmas Louise! Fascinating observation about red pigment. Thank you
Thankyou so much for your tips on using red pigment. I enjoy all of your videos and always feel that I have learned from them.
I ordered a couple of the eradicator brushes from Roemary and Co and I also use mine with pretty well every painting. They are so easy to use!
Many thanks for all your videos last year and I look forward to seeing your next tutorial.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year Louise
What a beautiful painting! Red suits you well 😊 Have a wonderful Christmas and and a great start into 2023!! 🎄🥂
Thank you Brigitte. Best wishes to you too.
Thank you Louise. Merry Christmas to you and your family! 🎄🤶
Beautiful!!
Three seconds into this video, and I just needed to say that I love the green light with your red shirt! Lovely!! And merry Christmas!!
You really are amazing!!!
Thanks for your beautiful painting of the Cardinal! Red paint does cause some problems, but you did a masterful job!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Scott
Thank you for sharing your expertise on the red pigments. I am attempting a large single poinsettia and your information has helped me deal with the reds. Thanks again and have a wonderful holiday season and an excellent new year!
Thank you Andrea. Best wishes to you too.
Beautiful piece Louise! Have you tried using Quin red's instead?!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Louise!!
Thank you Alex. Same to you!
I followed along with this turotial. Yours looks so good! Mine came out darker but I like it. :)
Absolutely beautiful cardinal lesson! I’m hoping to try to recreate this later today! Your teaching method is true and makes me feel confident to try to recreate the Cardinal! Happy Holiday and looking foreword to a Healthy New Year. Karen Dirmish
I enjoyed watching you paint the Cardinal. I've enjoyed watching all of your videos. Merry Christmas from Alabama, USA. Dawn
Thank you! You too Glenn.
If you do a pale wash of yellow and let dry and then put the red on top it helps and leaves a glow.
I find that the wet on wet technique doesn't work very well with red. I work from a dry palette, I take the color and mix it with water in a porcelain mixing palette, and then start layering. So light layer, blend out, darker layer, blend out. And so on. This works very well for me but I also take hours and hours - one of my pieces of a human heart took 21 hours because of all the layering and waiting to dry! For me this is worth it because it creates a rich velvety look with intense even color. This cardinal is beautiful! I love this bright red and the way the the tail was painted. Edit: I also usually add a few drops of glycerin to my paint water. I also use a slightly firmer brush which doesn't hold as much water as it gives me more control.
Beautiful 😍 Merry Christmas!
Same to you Ashley. Thank you!
Thank you for video🌺😊
Very pretty! Thanks for explaining everything so well. I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday.
Thank you Patty. You too!
A beautiful painting Louise, I would dearly love to see this bird in the flesh so to speak, they are so stunning. Thank you for sharing with us and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family xx
Me too! Many thanks Amanda. Have a wonderful New Year.
I'm the same with reds😳. Love this, Louise👌💖.
That was lovely... It appears you have much more patience than me. Thank you for another great tutorial. Happy Holidays to you
Thank you! You too Lori.
Merry Christmas - great tutorial Louise!
Thank you! You too K.
Lovely painting! Thank you. Merry Christmas.
Love it. I too find red challenging. But you always make everything looks so effortless. Happy holidays and all the best for 2023 :)
Thank you Monique. The same to you....best wishes. ❤️
Another beautiful video Louise. Merry Christmas to you and your family 🎅🍾🎄💕
Lovely
Happy New Year
Gorgeous, happy Christmas Louise, to you and yours 🎅🌲
Thank you John. Best wishes to you too.
Looks just like the cardinals at my feeder! Apparently the -20 C temperature does not phase them! Masterful, as usual, and it does not seem as you have a "problem" with any color. Christmas and New Year blessing to you and yours.
Questions: 1. What size eradicator brushes do use use? Perhaps that was a small? I am going to order from them shortly.
2. Since you mixed the gray, when do you choose to use the black paint over a mixed dark?
Very beautiful! I’m inspired to paint this tomorrow!
Have fun! Thank you Christine.
Wow, just lovely! Thank you!🥰
I have same issues with red, thank you
First, thank you so much for a year full of joy and creativity here and in Patreon! The mix of French Ultramarine and Crimson Lake is just perfect for the cardinal. Those tail feathers have peculiar hues in real life. I’ll try this combination with my second try of the other cardinal in Patreon. Best wishes from Canada.
Thank you very much Yolanda.
I find that reds (including cadmiums) never have a real gradation. Especially the warm ones have a strong mass-tone and then become light and faint pink and nearly nothing in between. Thank you for the lovely video.
Yes! Very true. Thanks Martina.
I was literally just attempting this earlier. It's not you. It has something to do with basically all true red pigments.
What brands have you tried? Just curious
I can't imagine you struggling with anything relating to watercolor! Red is a bit difficult because it is not soft or muted or it would be pinks. True red (warm or cool) is best done in few layers. I'm working on a poppy and only washed where cast shadows and petal ripples are.
I have found violet to lift off the paper when a 2nd layer was applied, the same way you described red. Has this been your experience? @Louise De Masi ?🙂🌹
I don't remember that happening with violet Leah. Definitely with red though.
I am wondering about the comments about red being difficult. I haven’t used red very often.
Are there red paints or other manufacturers which are easier to work with?
I'm not sure Wendy. I'd need to try a few other brands to find out.
❤
I was doing one of your tulip tutorial and it was the first time that I ever painted something in red and I did notice it was very messy 😱 Do you think that cooler reds are easier to paint with? 😊
Magic in ur hand......it's proven
Hi Louise! Beautiful cardinal. Quick question....why did you stop using your round lazy susan palette?
Hi Karla, thank you! I don't use it when I'm filming because it's too big to fit under my magic arm. The magic arm that holds my phone for filming isn't tall enough and you can't see the palette properly.
@@LouiseDeMasi Hi Louise! Thank you for the explanation! I was wondering if you still liked it and used it. Have a great day!
I sent you a link (via your website) for paper board. I hope it’s what you’re looking for.
Thanks very much Johanna.
what palette do you use? I keep running out of mixing area
Louise I'm curious do you stand at a table and paint or sit ? I keep trying both can't decide which is better for steady hand. Merry Christmas to you also!
I sit usually Pam. Thank you! Happy New Year!
Is this a Patreon tutorial?
Hi Barbara, no it's not, I'm sorry. I didn't film all of it. It was just for RUclips. When I painted it I had 7 Patreon tutorials waiting for me to voice over and I didn't want to add an 8th one.
Understandable! Just was wondering because I’m pretty dependent on the sketches (outlines). It’s beautiful. We just moved full-time to Washington State from Missouri. In Missouri we had so many cardinals in our back yard. We have none in Washington. So I’m drawn to cardinals paintings (I miss them so much)!
They are beautiful. I've never seen one in real life though. I can email you the line drawing if you want to try painting it.