Easy Watercolor Painting | Watercolor Penguin

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Need a Winter/Christmas Painting Idea?

If you are looking for a winter or Christmas related painting you are in the right place. Today I am going to show you how to paint a watercolor penguin. This watercolor penguin is perfect to put on a homemade DIY card or to hang up in your kid’s room to give it a wintery vibe. Keep reading to see how it’s done!

Complete Video!

What you’ll need!

1. Watercolor paper
2. Round paintbrush
3. Watercolor paint
4. Washi/Painters tape
5. Black ink pen
6. Two cups of water
7. Paper towel

If you would like to see all the art supplies I recommend, check out, “My Supplies” page. Click HERE to check it out!

Mixing Paints

Before we begin painting we need to get our paint ready and into our mixing pallet.

1. Create a thick wash of Ultramarine Blue + Winsor Violet in your pallet. Use less water than paint to create a thick blue paint mixture.
2. Create an even wash of Burnt Sienna in your pallet. Use an even amount of water then paint to create an orange paint mixture.
3. Create a thick wash of Black in your pallet. Use less water than paint to create a thick black paint mixture.
4. Create a light wash of Black in your pallet. Use more water than paint to create a grey paint mixture.

Let’s Draw a Penguin!

Step 1:

To begin this painting we need to do two things. First of all, we need to draw a penguin. I drew my penguin by creating an egg-like shape with three small triangles to make up each foot, and for the penguin’s face, I drew an “m” starting from the left side of the penguin and ending at the right.

The second thing we need to do is cover our sketched out penguin with masking fluid. This is an optional step, but I found it to make the painting easier, and turn out with a cleaner look.

Wait for the masking fluid to completely dry before painting.

Let’s Paint!

Step 2:

Grab your flat brush, and let’s paint in the sky using the dark blue paint mixture we created. Begin painting the entire sky area using the dark blue paint. Because we used masking fluid on the penguin we can paint over him without having to worry about the dark blue paint getting on him.

Let this step completely dry, then repeat this step to give the night sky a richer color.

Step 3:

Once step 2 completely dries, load up your round brush with white paint and splatter it all over the sky area. This will create either stars or snow depending on how you look at it.

Step 4:

Before we take off the masking fluid, let’s add shadows underneath our penguin’s feet. Take your small round brush, dip it into the grey paint mixture, and paint in a small uneven circle right under the penguin’s feet.

Step 5:

Now, carefully peel the masking fluid off your painting. Go slow so the masking fluid doesn’t rip your paper.

Once the masking fluid is off, you can begin painting in the penguin. Dip your round brush into the thick black paint mixture and begin painting in the penguin’s feet, and the top of the “m” we created earlier. Leave a small space in the middle of the penguin’s face for an orange beak.

Wait for this step to completely dry before moving on.

Step 6:

Let’s complete this painting with just two small touches. The first touch is to add the orange paint mixture to the penguin’s beak. The last and final touch is to take a black ink pen and draw in the penguin’s eyes, and to add any lines to the outline of the penguin. And, that’s it! You’re done!

Congrats!

Thanks for painting this watercolor penguin with me today. If you’d like to see more winter styled paintings please leave me a comment below. Before you go, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Pinterest, as well as sign up for our FREE weekly newsletter if you haven’t already! The newsletter will update you on new blog posts as well as new merchandise for sale in my Etsy shop! This penguin is available on my Etsy shop as a greeting card. Go check it out!

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Hope to see you again real soon!