Watercolor Bird Calendar with Free Patterns to Paint
I’ve had so much fun over here creating a new calendar to brighten your day and I hope your year! This time, I thought it would be fun to focus on birds. Birds are so fun to paint (and surprisingly easy) to draw. All of the patterns for this watercolor calendar are available in the Resource Library. If you don’t already have a password, you can sign up HERE to get yours and then get started right away!
Paint with Me – Watercolor Calendar
Notice I said paint and not draw? I’m taking the drawing part out of the equation (and I have many more of these types of projects planned for you!). Let’s not get caught up on the drawing part yet (unless of course, you want to). Just enjoy the watercolor painting process. You will learn so much as you just experiment without the pressure to draw the perfect picture. One skill at a time, I say.
Before we get started, I’d like to invite you to join us at Nature’s Art Club! It’s a club designed to get you and your family into art and nature through monthly watercolor projects, coloring pages, original poetry, and more. You can check it out here or just click on the photo below.
Okay, with all of that out of the way, let’s get started!
Supply List
- Winsor Newton 12 pan watercolor set (or whatever you have on hand)
- Paintbrush (you can use the brush included in your watercolor set but I recommend getting at least one or two quality brushes. Look for a round brush size 0-6. This set has some great options and I always use this handy set both in nature journaling and in the studio)
- 140lb Watercolor Paper (this is my favorite for these kinds of projects. I cut one page in half and it’s the perfect size for this calendar
- Printable Patterns (found in the Resource Library)
- Window, iPad or Lightboard (see below)
- Pencil (I prefer to use a blue pencil but any pencil will do)
- Black Pen (I used this one for the writing and this one for outlining my birds)
For this project, I use all of my colors in the 12 half pan palette. Don’t worry if you don’t have Winsor & Newton brand of paints (although if you are in the market for inexpensive but high-quality paints I wholeheartedly recommend this set), most watercolor colors have the same name across brands so just look for the names in whatever you have. If you are using a pan that doesn’t have names, just try to get close to these colors as you paint or be creative and do your own! Just keep your color palette limited and it will turn out great!
1. Print Out Your Pattern
If you are already a member of the Lily and Thistle tribe, you can access the pattern in the Resource Library with your password (found in every email I send to you) HERE. If you aren’t a member of our creative community, you can sign up and grab your password HERE or fill out the form below.
Here are all of the other birds in the watercolor calendar you will find in the Resource Library:
2. Trace Your Calendar
I like to trace everything with my trusty blue pencil first and then come in with a black pen after.
There are so many ways to trace your pattern. You can use graphite paper, a window, an iPad or you can even purchase an inexpensive light board. I did a post all about tracing HERE.
Just remember not to push down too hard when tracing. You want your lines to be visible enough to guide you as you are painting but not so dark that they distract from your watercolor.
3. Paint!
Watercolor is such a forgiving and fun way to get into painting. Pretend you are coloring in a coloring book but with paint instead! Remember more water equals lighter, pastel-like colors, less water equals darker, more vibrant colors. Just have fun and don’t overthink it. You can watch one of the videos below for the month of May to see what it’s like. To get access to videos for all 12 months of this watercolor calendar that I recently updated, you can register for the full FREE course to create the Bird Calendar on Teachable here. All of the patterns and tutorials are in this free mini course.
4. Hang it up and Have a Wonderful New Year
I hope this will be a fun little project and give you a smile each time you look at it throughout the year. Please let me know if you have any questions. I am so happy to help.
Happy New Year!
P.S.
You can PIN any of the pictures below to share!
Do you offer them in printable form?
Hi Suzie,
YES! Just go into the Resource Library and look for Bird Calendar Printables. 🙂
Hi! Thank you for the bird calendar printable! It’s beautiful! I’m excited to use it with my nature school students. Could you please let me know what type of bird is featured each month? Thank you!
OMG, my FIRST TIME EVER water coloring. I bought the paints long ago but never had the courage. You know why? Cause I can’t draw. When I saw that you were allowing us trace, I decided to give it a go. IM SO IMPRESSED with my results! Thank you.
YAY Darla!
So glad you gave it a go and so happy to hear you are using the resources! There are a lot more here so keep going! 🙂 Cheering you on from here! -Hannah
Hi! Love your blog! Love this tutorial! What clip hanging is that in the image? I can’t draw but I’m going to try this with my children. I’m going to go the graphite route. Thank you so much!
So glad you are enjoying this Serenity! The clip is just a large one I found on Amazon. I think they are called push-pin clips. Here’s a link:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GNDZQYV/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07GNDZQYV&pd_rd_w=SYQw4&pf_rd_p=48d372c1-f7e1-4b8b-9d02-4bd86f5158c5&pd_rd_wg=BtF8w&pf_rd_r=GES2TPJRQ6VNWWF954B7&pd_rd_r=da58882a-c4ff-45c3-9dfe-d757cb36d1ad&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE4TDE0TlpIOEdWRVomZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA1MDIzMzIzVFdBTDJDNlNCVlU4JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwMDY4NjMyNEs2WjJBSVk4S0cxJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
What a beautiful resource!!!
Thank you so much 😀