How To Paint A Simple Dove With A Vintage Vibe

Wondering what to paint in your sketchbook? Wondering if you can use paint in your sketchbook? You have come to the right place! First of all the sketchbook that you see here is not heavy weight watercolor or even mixed media paper, it is a sketchbook for drawing, yet I do paint in it, all the time! The main thing is to realize that the pages will first of all buckle (I was thinking of trying to iron them) and that you will want to use paint that is not runny or watery. Basically, acrylic paint is plastic, so as long as you avoid too much water moisture you can paint on any kind of paper with acrylic paint, whereas painting with water colors or even using markers on the same paper will lead to bleading through to the other side in a major way. Also, once you have one layer of paint covering the page, that acts as a protectant/barrier, so you can keep on adding more layers of paint. It is true, the sketchbook pages will not lie flat, but hey, this is a book filled with a creative journey and not a printed manefesto, so a little bit of sloppiness adds charm. Okay, now that we’ve covered that, the second question namely what to paint in your sketchbook is simple as can be: doves! Doves are a wonderful symbol of hope, perfect for the end of 2020, so lets get started!

How To Paint A Simple Dove:

1. On a blank sheet of paper, and using a black permanent marker, doodle a dove with an olive branch, and some flowers, the looser the better! If you must, draw your dove in pencil and get the proportions right before going over in the black marker, but again, keep it really simple and loose.
2. Paint your dove black (yes really), or paint it yellow first as I did, and then go over most of it in black. Paint your olives black.
3. Paint your flowers with yellow paint, and the leaves with green paint, set aside to dry.
4. Once dry, paint the peach background, leaving some spots of white poking through.
5. Paint over most of the black dove with a thick layer of aqua blue paint, and before it dries use the end of your paintbrush to scratch all kinds of details on the bird (they will be black!)
6. Paint your flowers, adding some dimension by painting petals in the back of a cupped flower. With some of the orange on your brush, make some little dots of color on the ends of the dove’s wings and tail, and around the flowers. Set aside to dry.
7. Once everything is 100% dry, add details with a white paint pen and tiny splatters using black ink or black acrylic ink. I loaded a watercolor brush with the ink, held the brush about 40cm over the sketchbook, and then tapped the stem of the brush with another brush. Do this in a protected area or on a huge cloth to avoid splatters everywhere.
8. Okay, that is it, hope you enjoyed this simple yet artful lesson in how to paint a dove!

Ah yes, and just for fun, here is the opposite page, simple sketches of mittens, hats and umbrellas!