This is a how to paint cardinal bird tutorial from someone who is not an artist but rather a homeschool mom who knows a few simple tricks. Also, look at my page Beautiful Winter Bird: Northern Cardinal Lapbook & Fun Unit Study.
You don’t have to be an artist to create and teach your child to create simple beautiful and easily identifiable art projects.
The best technique I have found is to start with simple shapes and then build on that to get details that make it your own style of art.
Cardinals do not follow a migratory pattern like many other birds do.
Rather they stay close to home all winter long so you have a great chance of spotting them throughout the entire year.
While there are 9 subspecies of cardinal bird we are focusing on the bright red Northern Cardinal for our painting.
There is a reason that the bright brilliant red cardinal is so popular, what other backyard bird catches your eye the way that flash of red does?
Let’s create a version of this bird that will never fly away and makes a pretty decor piece anywhere in your home while we learn about this winged beauty.
Books about the Cardinal Bird
12 Northern Cardinal Bird Books and Resources For Children
Add a book or two to your unit study or to your learning day. Cardinals are fun to study anytime of the year.
Packed with information, the writing is clear and direct and accessible to bird watchers at every level.
With bird facts, an identification guide, and how-to instructions, this is a perfect children’s introduction to bird-watching.
The morning begins like any other. Albert reaches out the window to check the weather. But from the moment a twig lands in the palm of his hand, life is never the same
One of my go tos for nature study.
Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more.
Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the
Because children's thinking is more visualized, the intuitive demonstration of the model can better help children construct in the brain. This birds playset can help children get a more direct understanding of real birds world and stimulate their interest in exploring nature.
One autumn evening, Little Redbird settled down for one last sleep before flying south for winter. As he slept, a strong gust of wind shook him from his cozy nest . . .
. . . Little Redbird hurts his wing and misses his chance to fly south for the winter. As he searches for a new home amongst the trees, he begins to realize that not all trees are fit for the winter cold. As more and more trees refuse him shelter, too preoccupied with their preparations for the frost, Little Redbird fears the worst. That is, until he comes across a friendly bunch of evergreens.
In the spirit of Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince, Why Evergreens Keep Their Leaves is a timeless story of kindness and why the fir, spruce, and juniper trees are evergreen all winter long.
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds is now transformed into 100 easy-to-reference cards housed in one handsome pull-drawer gift box. Divided into one stack of 50 common Western and Eastern North American birds, and one stack of 50 common birds found across North America, each card features precise illustrations and text concerning habitat, behavior, and voice description necessary for easy identification.
The vibrant red of the male Northern Cardinal is stunning any time of year—and nothing is more beautiful than the early spring duets of cardinals singing their hearts out. You love these beloved birds, and you want to see them visiting your backyard or garden. Professional naturalist and award-winning author Stan Tekiela teaches you all that you need to know about cardinals.
The vibrant red of the male Northern Cardinal is stunning any time of year. And nothing is more beautiful than the early spring duets of cardinals singing their hearts out.
Kids and adults of all ages love these birds, and are captivated by their sounds. They also make great baby toys, and sensory toys for kids any age.
Includes 3 Realistically designed bird toys that produce authentic bird calls from the Cornell lab of ornithology archives of bird recordings.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children (1919) is a classic nature book by Thornton Burgess, who introduces young listeners to the subject of bird life by means of a series of interviews within a story. Peter Rabbit and Jenny Wren interview Slaty the Junco, Redwing the Blackbird, Melody the Wood Thrush, Spooky the Screech Owl, and many other common birds to learn about their appearance, their eating, mating and nesting habits, and their songs and calls. The text remains popular as an exceptional combination of information and entertainment.
Whos that singing in the backyard? Its a cardinal! Find out where cardinals live, what they eat, and how to identify the birds and their eggs.
Learning More About The Colorful Cardinal Bird
Northern Cardinals are known for their bright red feathers and the little crest at the top of their head, they are easily one of the easiest to spot and identify of all the backyard birds.
While most abundant in the southeast they can be spotted in most parts of the US east of the Rocky Mountains.
One thing you may not have known is that whenever you see this bright red color it is a male, females are a duller brown with a bit of red flush on the crest, wings, and tail.
Like some other birds- flamingos, Blue Footed Boobies, Cedar Waxwings, and a few others, Northern Cardinals get their eye-catching red plumage from the foods they eat.
While they are typically granivorous (grain and seed-eating) cardinals also eat insects and a wide variety of wild fruits like grapes, dogwood berries, and mulberries.
Fruits like these are full of carotenoids that create red, orange, yellow, and pink in bird feathers.
These beautiful birds are so popular that they are the state bird for 7 US States- Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.
They are an inspiration for a lot of artwork, have come to stand as a symbol for many things and of course, they inspire unit studies.
Northern Cardinal Resources
You may just want to learn a simple how-to paint a cardinal bird technique, and I have that for you.
But if you are looking to add a little more to it to create a mini study here are some fantastic resources to add to your art project.
- Do not miss out on this Beautiful Winter Bird: Northern Cardinal Lapbook & Fun Unit Study to create a fun and full unit.
- If you need a reference book for PreK-Kindergarten pick up a copy of Cardinals Backyard Birds.
- I use these Safari Ltd. Toob Birds often in dioramas, to introduce a new unit, with playdough and slime, tucked with blocks to inspire play, and as an art inspiration.
- If you are looking for more art ideas you will also enjoy this Cardinal Birds in Winter and Birch Trees Easy Watercolor Kids Activity.
- Watch All About Cardinals Backyard Bird Series on Youtube.
How to Paint a Cardinal Bird
You will need:
- Watercolor, linen textured paper, or a canvas
- Acrylic craft paint-red, black, orange, blue, white, brown
- Paintbrushes in several sizes
Paper plate or paint palette
First, determine how large you would like your cardinal to be on your surface.
Mix a tiny bit of light blue paint into white so that it has just a touch of color. I like to use a paper plate as a paint palette because they are inexpensive and always in my craft stash as well as easy to clean up.
Paint an oval on the page slightly larger than you intend for your cardinal to be.
You can lighten your light blue a bit or leave it as is and paint the remaining surface around your “white” circle to create a sky background.
Use a flat brush to paint a big fat teardrop shape in red for the body of the cardinal.
While the paint is still wet, wipe the excess paint off the brush and starting at the top of the head create a little crest by flicking the brush upward.
Add a little red paint to your brush and paint a little spikey tail with the same technique but going downward.
Paint on a little branch nestled up against the bottom of the bird from one side of the page not quite across to the other side.
Easy Cardinal Bird Painting Tutorial for Kids
Create wings by making a curve from the shoulder to about where the tear-drop body of the bird begins to narrow off again on the sides, repeat to thicken paint if needed.
Pick up a little black paint with a small brush after it is dry or while the red is still wet and make a few strokes down the wings and on the tail to add some dimension and detail.
Paint small feet wrapping around the branch.
If you add too much just remove a bit with a dry brush and work some red back in.
Let the body of the bird dry.
Once dry paint on an upside-down triangle for the beak and carefully surround it with black to create the distinctive cardinal mask.
You can let this dry naturally or use a hair dryer on low to speed it along.
Add white dots for eyes with large black pupils inside.
Use a clean paintbrush to add dots for falling snow, you can also flick it to get more natural shapes as well.
