How to Paint an Owl with Acrylics

Start by gathering your supplies, then begin drawing out your owl. Draw the biggest shapes first before adding in any detail using a HB or 2H pencil.

Tip: Always make sure the features of the owl in particular are in the correct position before painting – double check your reference picture!

Start to paint the darkest sections of the feathers using Burnt Umber or a mixture of primary colours to make a deep brown. This helps to establish the shapes on your owl and allows you to create a strong contrast.

Tip: Make sure to paint in the direction the feathers are going in and think about how long the feathers are. Use short paint brush strokes using a flat brush to achieve fluffy effects.

Paint the mid-tones in using a flat brush; a mid-tone is the middle shade – neither a shadow nor a highlight.

Paint in the warmer tones on the feathers using a combination of Raw Sienna and a brown to tone.

Paint in the lighter tones using a flat brush and fill in the rest of the base of the owl so there are no blank spots. We want to make sure we have a good base layer before we start layering and adding detail.

Keep referring to your reference image and layer light over the dark and mid-tones if needed. When we break up bigger shapes using other colours it creates a more realistic outcome.

Using a small round brush, paint in the base colours for the eyes and the beak. Make sure the pupils are always matching. Take your time to carefully paint the dark outlines around the eyes.

When painting the beak, make sure it looks three-dimensional by adding your shadows first down each side, before layering in mid-tones and a highlight down the center.

Add details into the eyes. Mix a dark brown colour and place this at the top of the iris and around the edges to blend the dark outline and to represent shadows.

Next, mix a warmer, lighter brown and paint a thin line in the bottom part of the iris to create a subtle warm highlight.

Tip: For the actual highlight, never use pure white, as this looks too harsh. Add a tiny bit of ultramarine into white for an off-white highlight that pops!

Paint more details and colours onto the feathers. Use a deep brown colour to add details that may have been lost. Use smaller brush strokes and a round brush to capture this detail, still painting in the direction the feathers are going in.

Use a warm grey, mixed with raw sienna, black and white to break up the large areas of light feathers and add more texture.

Use a fan, a palette knife or different brushes and continue to build up the texture and add even more dimension to the feathers. Experiment with different tools to find the textured effect you like. The more layers you build, the fluffier the owl will look!

Tip: Make sure to let the previous layers come through, so be careful not to over-work or cover up your previous hard work.

Add in glazes to areas that need more depth such as the lighter areas underneath the owl's face; a glaze is a very thin application of colour – for acrylics this means heavily thinning down the paint with water. Glazes are almost like a filter over the top, so they add colour but you can still see the tones underneath.

Paint in finishing touches of feathers and fluff! Using an off white colour, add in final highlights of the feathers using a variety of marks such as short and dot-like near the beak. Use a small round brush to add in streaky details to the body of feathers and a palette knife for extra texture!

Once dry, you can frame your owl if you wish and have him watch over your house.