How to Paint a Reindeer in Watercolor

Using a photograph or illustration to guide your composition can result in more realistic highlights and shadows.

Unlike oil painting, where you start with darker and work up to lighter colors, with watercolors, work from light to dark. Keeping this principle in mind as you apply color to your image will result in a more convincing reindeer portrait. Use the picture for Christmas cards or as part of a nature scene for a finished piece of art. With their intricate antlers, reindeer can be tricky creatures, but with a little practice and some patience (a nice, velvety brown water color couldn't hurt either), you can create a pleasingly realistic image.

Things You'll Need

• Illustration or photo of a reindeer
• Pencil
• Cup of water
• Blotting towel (paper towel)
• Various paintbrush sizes
• Watercolor palette
• Palette for mixing colors
• Watercolor paper (or blank watercolor paper greeting card)

Instructions

How to Paint a Reindeer in Watercolor

1. Prepare your materials. It is helpful to keep a blotting towel handy (this can be a paper towel) to absorb excess water from the brush as you paint. Have an illustration or photograph of a reindeer to act as a guide to help when drawing the image on the watercolor paper.

2. Lightly draw the image of the reindeer onto the paper. Add any other background details and graphical elements you want to include.

3. Create a wash for the background. Use less paint and more water for a thin effect that varies slightly with more water in some areas. Use this technique to create lighter areas or highlights and darker areas for shadows.

4. 

   If you do not have a brown color available, mix it from red, blue and yellow. In her instructional blog, Mara Mattia provides some advice for mixing what can sometimes be a difficult color: "If you end up with a green, add more red. If you end up with purple, add more yellow. If you end up with orange, add more blue" (see link in Resources). Using the corresponding color on the color wheel will result in the desired effect.

5. Color in the reindeer with a first, light layer. Then add subsequent layers with varying concentrations of paint to create highlights and shadows using the photograph or illustration as a color guide. Pay special attention to the highlights on the head and antlers. Use a smaller brush for areas requiring more detail or precision.

6. Add color to the other elements on the page. For a splotchy effect, try sprinkling table salt onto certain areas of the image; when the painting has dried completely, wipe away excess salt with a sponge. If you find that you need to remove paint at any stage of painting, even when the watercolor has dried, see the tutorials on the Watercolor Painting website (see link in Resources).

Tips & Warnings

• When painting with watercolor, lightly wet the area where you will apply the paint on the paper, then dip your brush into the paint right before applying. Loading paint onto the brush and dipping it into the water before painting can dilute the colors and provides less control over the amount of water that reaches the paper. Take your time when painting. You can keep coming back to a watercolor to add more detail, which results in a more realistic image. Using less water creates darker colors. Using more water creates lighter colors.

• Avoid overwetting the brush or paper, as too much water collecting on the surface of even watercolor paper can cause warping.

Resources

• Mara Mattia Watercolor Art
• Watercolor Painting Tutorials