Naturalist Bird Illustration with Watercolors
A course by Antonia Reyes Montealegre , Naturalist Illustrator
Joined May 2017
Observe and interpret the beauty of birds and learn to paint their feathers, shapes, and vivid colors
Joined May 2017
Illustrating nature is a field where art and science come together, urging us to consider the conservation of the environment. Illustrator Antonia Reyes, also known as Antonia Pajarito (little bird in Spanish), creates naturalist watercolors of infinite beauty. Her artistic process starts with an in-depth observation, analysis, and comparison, to include every detail, proportions, and relation of the individual elements it comprises.
In this course, Antonia invites you to a creative journey that involves opening your eyes, mind, and heart to detect the wonderful details in birds. She teaches you how to observe and interpret nature like a naturalist from the twenty-first century. Learn how to draw, use watercolors, understanding the basic anatomy of birds, and the representation of feathers, their colors, as well as other details.
What will you learn in this online course?
13 lessons & 22 downloads
- 98% positive reviews (827)
- 17,219 students
- 13 lessons (2h 4m)
- 22 additional resources (6 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish, English
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
You will create a complete illustration of a bird of your choice.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
To all those that want to connect with nature, open their eyes to details, shapes, and colors, and learn how to express them on paper.
Requirements and materials
To take this course, it will be useful to have basic notions in watercolor technique.
As for materials, you’ll need sketching paper, tracing paper, and different types of watercolor paper, some graphite pencils to draw, paintbrushes, watercolors, and some colored pencils, and a gel ink pen for the final details.
Reviews
Antonia Reyes Montealegre
A course by Antonia Reyes Montealegre
Antonia Reyes, or as some know her, Antonia Pajarito, defines herself as a naturalist illustrator. She has become an expert in depicting the native flora and fauna of Chile. Her relationship with nature always begins with exploration, then moves on to artistic interpretation from her studio. Her goal is to create illustrations that move viewers and show the beauty of the earth. Her method is entirely analog, using pencils and watercolors on paper.
Most of her projects are independent, as she is passionate about combining illustrations with experiences, workshops, excursions, etc. She shares her work and discoveries on social media and on her website, both of which have become her logbooks.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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Influences
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What will we do in this course?
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U2
Materials and search for references
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The materials
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Inspiration and documentation
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The importance of observation
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U3
From drawing to color
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From sketch to final watercolor paper
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Color palette
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Base washes and first layers
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The texture of the plumage
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U4
Final thoughts
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Details and touches
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Details and touches (part 2)
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Displaying the options
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FP
Final project
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Naturalistic watercolor bird illustration
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
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FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
msalasv
Excellent course, with lots of interesting support materials. It even has a playlist to listen while you paint. Detailed explanations and a gorgeous teacher.
imontesinos
Excelente curso.
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violette_mayer22
Bonjour, le cours est très bien expliqué, agréable à suivre.
Des indications importantes pour corriger les erreurs que j'ai pu faire dans mes aquarelles.
C'est très instructif, j'espère qu'Antonia nous feras le plaisir de faire d'autres vidéos sur l'aquarelle
pour approfondir nos connaissances, Exemple: comment peindre des petits oiseaux sur une feuille aquarelle plus petite pour rendre les détails.
Très bien , très contente de la transparence des couches.
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ivanreinapareja
Me ha gustado mucho el curso. Voy hacer el de las ballenas también. Está muy bien explicado y utiliza muchos recursos. No me gusta que explique algo y aparezca como por arte de magia, pero se nota que lo hacen por el tiempo de los videos. Yo lo recomiendo.
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monicamalia
La profesora es muy buena y explica muy bien todos los pasos a seguir, pero uno de los recursos adicionales no está disponible, porque el enlace ha caducado.
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