Bird with Acrylics
Lessons
About This Lesson Series...
This lesson series is a complete start-to-finish demonstration focused on painting a bird with acrylic paints on a gessoed panel. Over the course of five in-depth video lessons, you’ll learn essential acrylic techniques as you follow along with the instructor to develop a vibrant, richly layered bird painting from an initial sketch to a finished artwork. This series is ideal for artists who want to strengthen their painting skills while gaining confidence working with acrylics and understanding how to build up color, texture, and form.
The lessons begin with transferring a basic contour drawing of the bird onto a gessoed board. Once the drawing is established, the series progresses into applying acrylic paint in controlled layers. Through each step of the process, you’ll see how the instructor mixes color, applies paint, and adjusts values to create depth and dimension in the bird’s form. By observing the complete process in real time, you’ll learn not just what to paint, but why certain techniques are used and how acrylics behave differently from other mediums.
As the series unfolds, you’ll explore techniques such as color mixing, layering opaque and translucent paints, and using varied brushwork to suggest texture and detail in feathers and background elements. The instructor emphasizes the importance of planning and observation, helping you see how to reduce complex shapes into manageable values and forms before committing paint to the panel. You also learn how to strengthen contrasts through careful adjustments to highlights and shadows, ensuring a dynamic final result that feels both believable and engaging.
This lesson series also discusses materials and tools you’ll need to be successful. Acrylic paints, gessoed panels or boards, and a selection of nylon or bristle brushes are recommended, along with basic drawing tools like a graphite pencil and water for blending. By understanding how each element in your toolkit contributes to the final effect, you’ll be better equipped to make decisions about materials in your future projects.
Each video lesson runs over an hour and walks you through a different phase of the painting’s development, from initial blocking-in of color through to refining details and unifying the composition. The pacing allows you to absorb the instructor’s commentary on both technique and artistic decision-making, making it easy to follow along, pause, and practice each step on your own. The reference photo and finished result provided with the series give additional support so you can compare your progress and better understand how to approach each segment of the lesson.
Whether you’re new to acrylic painting or looking to improve your realism and layering techniques, the Acrylic Painting of a Bird lesson series offers a thorough and engaging way to build your skills. By the end of the series, you’ll have a completed bird painting and a stronger foundation in the thoughtful use of acrylics for subjects that demand both color harmony and precise rendering.
Here's what you'll need...
- Acrylic Paints
- Nylon or Bristle Brushes
- Gessoed Panel or Board
- Graphite Pencil
- Water
Founder of The Virtual Instructor, artist and teacher. Matt makes learning art easy to understand and enjoyable.
Great video, I learn so much watching you paint. I’d like to try it with gouache, any suggestions?
yes more gouache
Matt, where can we buy the surface you are painting on . Thank you
Hi Christine,
I got this gessoed panel at Hobby Lobby.
I watched the recorded live lesson Pt. 2 today (Feb. 2nd). Video is fine. I googled the streaming problems yesterday and found several entries. Apparently there were streaming problems with NETFLIX as well. I did not examine it in greater detail but I do suspect selective streaming following the end of internet neutrality. We were asked to turn in our modem for a new one to handle the faster speeds but I find myself suspicious, although it is probably just what it says. But it is concerning.
Anyway, Thank you for this lesson and your input on struggling with detail, etc. I speaks to me. A somewhat recovering “obsessive with detail” individual 🙂
Hi Margaret,
Yes, the live feed kept resetting and wouldn’t even play for some users. I reached out to our streaming provider and low and behold, they changed their player format on January 30. This is what was causing the issues during the live broadcast. Clearly, there are some bugs in the new player. I am working with them to revert back to the old player, but I’m also looking into other player options. I also don’t like the net neutrality roll back. Time will tell, but I don’t think it will be good for the internet.
Matt, please tell me the brand and sizes of brushes. Where you purchase .thanks!
The name of the movie you mentioned is “Loving Vincent”. Great movie!
Hi Matt, enjoying this series and learning so much. It’s really helpful when you have the photo reference and your palate on the screen to follow the process more easily and see how you mix the colours. Love all your commentary and encouragement, keeps me persevering! Thanks 🙂
Love how you keep telling us to not get too hung up on perfectionism. That’s helping me and as you say the finished article is unique. I love your pic! I have to keep trying to hear your voice of reason when I get so wound up about accuracy. It would be so easy to get discouraged. I’m finding that if I keep going, even when I think it’s not looking right, it seems to turn out ok in the end:). Btw can’t get those brushes in uk. All my brushes are too soft. Any recommendations? Thanks, Matt
Hello Chris, when following a lesson I usually compare my results with the results of the teacher. Of course my own result looks different and of course most often I am a bit disappointed about many own result. Most often if I leave the painting over night and the next day I look at it with a fresh approach I find it much better than when I left it the day before. Because the day before I did compare it with the teachers work. But the next day I do not compare it with the teachers result but look at it with “my own view”.
About the brushes: in the UK there is an excellent company where you could mail order or buy brushes online. They offer an amazing variety and outstanding quality at reasonable prices. The name of the company is “Rosemary”. Sometimes I do order from them when I cannot get the right brushes for me here in Germany. In my personal opinion most often their brushes are better quality even than the German high-end “Da Vinci” brand at a more reasonable price.
This is just my personal opinion and perhaps it was a bit helpful I hope. Greetings from Germany Hamida
How long is acrylic paint good to use after squeezing on palet
I DOWN LOADED PART 1 OF ACRYLIC PAINTING OF A BIRD IT DOWN LOADED THE FIRST PART BUT I CANNOT FIND IT?
Hi Gary,
Look in your downloads folder.
Wait…any color you want?
Cannot get video to work after introduction
I’m only half way through this lesson but have learned so much already, particularly listening to your dilemmas with tight and loose, thought that was just me. It’s great to hear what you are actually thinking as well as doing. Thank you.