WALKTHROUGH: Painting a Tiny Crow
EDITING ARIA FROM 2025: I apologize for how small the images in this walkthrough are. When it was first created on my old Patreon, you could right-click to view them larger but that was no longer the case when I retrieved them for this re-upload. I hope it’s still helpful for some despite the issue! <3
Hello Moonbeams,
When working on my recent painting home but not home, I took some shots of the painting process for this little crow and decided to make a technique post with them. The crow is Aestas, one of my Noirs Animaux which are recurring black animal spirits within my work. Aestas largely represents the difficult or painful end of one thing opening the door to something new.
Surface: MDF panel with 2 coats Daniel Smith watercolor ground in Titanium White and 1 topcoat of QoR watercolor ground (their regular one)
Brushes: Fuzzy old 000 Sceptre Gold Synthetic Sable brush, 20/0 Princeton Spotter synthetic bristle.
Paint: Winsor and Newton Thalo Blue, Daniel Smith Opera Pink, Daniel Smith Carbazole Violet and Daniel Smith Titanium White for highlights.
The super simple sketch of the crow was transferred to my bumpy painting surface via graphite paper. Because of the texture of my surface, fine details tend not to transfer well so I chose to keep her simple, and sketch in the details with paint. To begin painting her, I first put down a wash of my "shadow shade" which is a mix of Daniel Smith Burgundy Yellow Ochre, Daniel Smith Carbazole Violet and Daniel Smith Prussian Blue.
I then added a few drops of Winsor and Newton Thalo Blue, some Daniel Smith Carbazole Violet, and Opera Pink to her wings to give them that rainbow, reflective feel crow feather's tend to have. These colours were already present in her surroundings, so it made sense to put them into her wings. Once she had fully dried, I began lightly sketching in the basic structure of her wings. While she will be tiny and a bit stylized, I wanted to keep the underlying anatomy somewhat accurate.
After I had sketched in the basic structures of the wings, I went ahead and loosely sketched in the rest of the feathers. Feathers frequently overlap, and stick together so that they never have a perfect, neat and tidy structure. Keeping the basic anatomy in mind, and doing quick, loose swoops to paint the actual feathers, them keeps them from feeling super stiff and unrealistic. I also slightly modified her head position to give her a bit more personality.
By this phase, I was adding in some shadows across portions of her wings and body. I love how dark birds, with their almost mirror-like feathers, can have portions of their form appear totally black, and other areas are a silvery, rainbow reflection of their surroundings. In the picture on the right, I had used my fuzzy old 000 brush to blend the shadows into the wings and help soften them.
Once I had added shadows to the areas I felt were appropriate, and used my old brush to blend things together, I used a bit of titanium white watercolour, technically gouache, to add some little white highlights to the feathers and bring out the glow at the center of her eye. I then added some of the same glitchy type of effects the other animals in this piece share.
I love painting little creatures and I find that when painting small details, there is a balance between adding as many details as you can fit, and finding something that still reads well and retains its aesthetic. If I had painted the crow two or three times the size she is, I would likely have added some small details to the individual feathers but at the size she is, it might not have read very well and may even have had a negative impact on the overall visual. It will be up to you to decide what reads best for your own personal style.
Be well~
~Aria
