How to Paint an Owl and Hawk - Watercolour Pencils vs Watercolour Paint 

Absolutely loving your tutorials, have only recently discovered your youtube channel and already learnt so much! Have also bought your book and joined the Facebook group and hoping to join in the fun with the challenges. I'm normally a coloured pencil artist but love the effects that can be achieved with watercolour aswell so thank you for doing these tutorials,I must say I'm a bit addicted to them!

Nice demo Paul. You definitely demonstrated the two disciplines compliment each other very well. Thanks for taking us on a new journey! I really enjoyed watching this one.

Paul, this is by far the best tutorial and evaluation I’ve seen concerning WC pencils vs paint. I learned to use the pencils when I had very little space and had to be ultra mobile. As a result, I have found I can use pencils the color I want from an assortment of 66, while using a water brush and can turn out some nice pieces. Again, thank you for this video!

I could never understand why people would want to do an entire painting with pencils. It’s so much easier to use paint. But I do use pencils for texture in backgrounds mainly using sandpaper to add small amounts of pigment to a wet wash. You did a beautiful job on both paintings. True artist Paul!

I agree with your opinion; I definitely like the paint over the pencils; they don't blend the same. Love the beginning of the video. You always keep me smiling. The chicken leg story was funny, and it was nice to hear the story; it was amusing, but I was a little teary-eyed at the same time. It was nice to know a little more about you as a person, not just a teacher on youtube; thanks.

Good to see Margot released you to do the tutorial 😊 Thanks again, I’ll definitely give the watercolour pencil owl a try.

Paul once again you and Margo has me “hooting” at your antics ( and can relate on attitude) but after your tutorial I will try them myself, though don’t becoming a reg. user of them except as accents. Thank you again for doing these!

Thanks for this! I love watercolor pencils, but I use them primarily for early sketching in my paintings. I don't like having visible graphite in my paintings. I've tried water soluble graphite, and that works, too, but I prefer watercolor pencils.

Both were exquisite, plain and simple. I wish I live in the UK, I would take your classes in a heartbeat. So very grateful for your channel to learn from across the pond.

You are one amazing painter who can bring everything to life! I love it!

Some beautiful and inspiring artwork. Thank you. The gold star goes to the owl with the hat and cane though -- it made me smile and laugh out loud -- and we all need a bit more 'lol' in our lives right now. Thank you :)

I have had a set of the same make water colour pencils for a few years and now and again I try using them but I am never totally pleased with the result. However I preferred the Owl in this tutorial and so I shall try the water colour pencils again and with your expert guidance hopefully produce a good result. I also have wondered about the many T-shirts you wear. Do you buy a new one each time or is it a bit of digital trickery?

I couldn't tell what brand pencil you were using. I don't care for them. I have faber castel. Supposed to be one of the best,, I've had them for years, but I have used them enough and they last a long time. But I also use a blade and file to sharpen them since they were expensive. It's a lot of work but 50 US dollars for a handful of pencils I don't even like and I still baby them. But they are great for boring work meetings. A couple pencils and a water brush keeps me awake through them.

Birds are a favorite subject of mine, thanks for the expertise. I have the pencils sitting unused on my table. It's time.

Thank 😊 you again Sir Paul for this beautiful rendition of two birds of prey in different media! Also enjoyed the FB additions... marvelous!!! The CERULEAN BLUE was the deepest colored paint I've ever seen in CB... beautiful from Jackson's Art!!! Blessings to you & Margot from a grateful California Gramma ❤️...

Great tutorial as always Paul. I do love that you give things a go with an open mind! The beauty of watercolour for me is the flow and "happy accidents" as you like to call them. But I can see a use for watercolour pencils as an addition to traditional watercolours. Thanks again for an informative comparison!

Thank you! Reflection of the sky in hawks eye. Wow! Never would of thought of that. Tutorials ALWAYS very helpful. ❤️

Two tutorials for the price of one! I can’t tell you how much I look forward to Wednesday. I appreciate the wide variety of subject matter. It could watch your tutorials all day.

Wow! Such beautiful birds I loved both. I loved your students paintings too they learned from the best!! Thank you again and again. Oh I am sorry your first wife passed away and I am very happy you have Margot, I love the antics you two create!! 🤣🙃

I’m a newbie watercolor artist. I’m a graphite and colored pencil artist, dabbling in watercolor. I own a full set of Caran d Ache Museum Aquarelle Pencils, which i primarily use as colored pencils (I don’t normally activate them with water). There wonderful. At times I activate them with water only to get light over dark in my colored pencil drawings. As a pencil artist I am more comfortable with pencil control than brush control. With that being said, if I were to do a watercolor only painting, I would stick with watercolor pans or tubes as using watercolor pencils doesn’t make sense to me. It’s all about mastering the tool .. pencil or brush. I’m going to attempt a painting with my museum Aquarelle pencils..who knows maybe my painting will be better than what I produce with water color and brushes. I’ll let you know how it turns out🙂

Thanks Paul for this lovely tutorial.I would be thankful, if you teach us watercolor potrait too 🙌.

Thank you as always Paul! Enjoyed the watercolor pencil portion, as I have never used ! It was fun to watch! I agree the traditional watercolor looks more fun, but will not disregard the possiblilites of the pencil. Will try it out! Thank you to your Facebook group, wonderful paintings! Take care! Janell

Thank Paul, for the two perfect and beautiful demonstrations! It seems that watercolor pencils are pretty convenient to use. But I still love traditional watercolor painting much more. I agree with Paul’s artistic opinion! PAUL is the BEST!

Thank you Paul. I have used the pencils in conjunction with watercolour paint but you have given me encouragement to try them by themselves as well. Beautiful images from the FB page too.

Thanks Paul. I love watercolor pencil with watercolor paint. Also good paint tubes being so costly I find a good watercolor pencil affordable when I don't need a lot of one color. I find that I love even more sharpie pen with watercolor. My condolences on the passing of your late wife. Thanks again.

Having worked in both, I personally find the pencils very tedious and time consuming. I would prefer using them over watercolors.

Thank you so much Paul for this very interesting tutorial. I didn't even dare hope you would make one with watercolor pencils! Always so interesting and exciting to watch how you work and learn from you. Thanks again

I can see where watercolor pencils would be beneficial with certain subjects such as botanicals, but almost always in conjunction with watercolors.

First I want to say what fantastic paintings from the FB group! I myself find when using WC pencil it takes me longer to paint because I feel like it's an extra step. So I was surprised to see that both paintings took you the same amount of time. Perhaps if you did the same subject both ways it would be noticable. Mostly I find them fun to use in coloring books when I'm in the mood for some mindless watercoloring. Both your paintings look amazing btw. Thank you for taking the time to practice a new medium just so you could give it a fair comparison. Love watching your videos!

Lovely! I bought watercolor pencils specifically for sketching out my subject so that I won't have pencil showing through my traditional watercolors.

Dear Paul! Thank you for your sacrifice! 😁😎(and I hope Margot didn't leave you in the dungeons for too long!) I bought a set of 12 watercolour pencils 15 years ago, and they are mostly still unused. 😅Seeing you compare them with watercolour so closely (and both with fabulous results!!!) has been very educational. I have to agree totally with you - for me traditional paint is best! But ... you reminded me that pencils could be integrated for certain elements in a painting. Thank you!

Mr Paul Clark you have given me an entire new love for Wednesdays! I so look forward to your brilliant painting class and my humble attempt to follow along. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your talent with us lesser beings.

I absolutely loved this! I agree though while it is fun to watch the pencils smooth out with water I find them messy and more time consuming than paint itself. It’s as if I am doing everything twice! Maybe 🤔 it’s because I like to be more free with my brush. Which is why I like your style of painting.

Watercolour pencils are great for sketching outdoors and take up no room whatsoever. I'm also quite a tight painter so am quite happy using pencils. I love mine but only use for work up to A4. Great video

Thanks Paul. Pencils are kinda a forgotten media I think. I use the to add a bit of finishing touches to my struggling work. 😊

I love that you show paintings from all skill levels from the Facebook group! I haven't had much luck with watercolor pencils, but I might give them another try after watching this. I'm with you - I prefer paints.

Thank you Paul for demystifying (at least for me) the watercolor pencil. I have watercolor pencils but have never attempted to use them. If I ever do use them, I think it would be in conjunction with brushwork. Both paintings were gorgeous!

Well, that's another medium mastered. You said a few weeks ago, in response to my query, that that you'd tried oils and that you were rubbish at it. I think we could do with a demonstration - purely for reference - just so we can see what your idea of rubbish looks like...

Im curious. You prefer the ability to blend watercolours. Have you tried layering the pencils with several colours before adding water? This looks like fun to try. Thanks for a great video!

I am a beginner to watercolor. I would rather paint in watercolor instead of watercolor pencils. I always watching your videos as I always learn a lot from you.

Good afternoon dear Paul! Hope you're doing well. Thank you for sharing this with us 🙏🏻 ❤️

Have to dig out my watercolour pencils, as painting the owl looks a hoot ….!

Thank you for showing how to use watercolour pencils. I own some for many years and never had an idea what to do with them. The pencil part I have already tried...great fun to see what can be done. I'm glad you haven't shown that earlier. Maybe I would have stuck to the pencils and never tried the paints I now do prefer by far. Btw, hilarious intro - made my day 🤣

They are both beautiful as always Paul! I'm so sorry to hear about your wife's passing. My condolances. 😥 I have WC pencils, but I don't think I'd use them for a painting even though you did an amazing job with the owl. When I bible journal, I have used them for small paintings on bible paper, but I really love the flow of watercolor on the paper and prefer it. There's just something about watercolor like nothing else. It must be the flow of the brush doing its wonders with the guidance of the hand. I don't know if you saw my post on FB, but I did one of your recent beach scenes and it didn't come out half bad. 😊 It was so encouraging because I almost scrunched it up like so many. But I stopped myself and carried on fixing this and that as best I could. It was a great experience and I learned so much by persevering through it! I appreciate all the help you've given me and always appreciate the realtime moments in the videos. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Paul!!!

Wow.. Thank you for another great tutorial..I really love your paintings ❤ . They're absolutely beautiful 😍😍

I REALLY NEED A SHEEP OR SOME SHEEP IN A PASTURE OR A FEW SHEEP GRAZING. Dear British friend, please don’t hold our independence against me. This American needs watercolor sheep!

creating depths within seconds for always first coming drawings excellent 👌👌👌👌👌 skills thankyou so much sir

Ok now you’re just showing off! 😁 but seriously…amazingly done Paul! I love the eyes👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Use whatever you feel is best for you! It is called "art" and comes from your soul. Thank you, Paul.

Thank you so much for this tutorial, I learnt so much watching you, just got to get round to doing them all, life just sometimes gets in the way!!! I love your channel!

Amazing ! Thank you Thank you ! A South Indian temples carved from solid single giant rocks “ Mahabalipuram Temples “ would be a great subject and totally different. You can google up !

Interesting & enjoyable comparison. Thank you. I think I can see why you prefer traditional paint & brush.... The pencils look hard to do splattering with!! 😂

Love both the subjects Paul and birds in general to paint. I’m with you 100% and much prefer a brush in hand, some tubes or pans, and water to do my work. I’ve used colored pencils and they’re kinda fun, but I just can’t get the feel of fluidity with them. Question: were all the submissions from the FB group colored pencils? They flashed by so quick I wasn’t sure. If so, there are some amazingly talented artists on your group that know how to wield a watercolor pencil. Loved the beginning of this one also and had me 😂 . Blessings to you and to the whole world.

Enjoyed both paintings; I find I like watercolors. I have used watercolor pencils a few times. I like how you use pastels with your paintings. Cheers!

Hey cutie! You made watercolor pencils look great!!! Very surprised 😯 Cool story about the owl and the chicken on a string!!!😆

My birthday was this month and I used a gift card to buy some watercolor pencils. I got them specifically for your boats & naples yellow video. I LOVE naples yellow, but have only used it for florals. It makes beautiful rose blushes and peachy pinks as well as sage greens. So I was super excited to see your video. But I'm brand new to art and my sketching needs work. I thought if I bought the pencils, I could use them to outline in case my drawings were too rough. (Also I actually cried laughing at your intro and sent it off to a friend. I was talking about how much I love your videos and how your humor makes the tutorials more approachable this week, so I'm glad to have a great example to fire off!)

Thank you Paul for another instructive tutorial and a stunning Harris hawk. May I ask how you choose your paper when starting a painting? I get the difference between hot and cold pressed, the weight and the benefits of cotton but then what? I think I’m a bit of a Luddite - I don’t like Arches. I much prefer Saunders Waterford. And is that just what it boils down to? Personal preference.

OmG you are such a great teacher. During the Corona pand. I tried my first steps in water color. It had been such a great help in this mysterious matter. I am still a beginner with my 75 year. But is great fun and I love it. Thank you so much Sir Mister Clark. I am Duch but live in Germany. You a are a great entertainer too, compliments

I can definitely see value with watercolor pencils, but watercolor markers? How far can marketing go? - watercolor nail polish?

This was great Paul 👏. I think pencils work when you need the lines to show (as in feathers and fur) but your background illustrates they are not good for smooth washes. Beautiful owl though - he was fab in coloured pencils ✏️👍😁

A really nice video! I love painting birds of prey! As much as it's nice to add details with watercolor pencils... I much prefer the traditional paint. For me, watercolor painting is also about the whole experience of wet on wet, flowing of colors, happy accidents... Watercolor pencils just don't give me that joy that traditional paint does.. but that's just my opinion, and maybe I should just use my pencils more.

These were great demonstrations. If you want to see the full potential of watercolour pencils I recommend Faber Castell Albrecht Duerer or Caran D'Ache Museum Aquarelle. They are super pigmented and just 'melt' when water is added.

Good comparison. Perhaps the you could have used the Owl for both for a really true comparison. Both great paintings by the way.

Great comparison. I have water colored pencils have had trouble with them but after watching you . I'll give them another try. Thank you for sharing this

Watercolor pencils seem so tedious to me... scribbling over and over to move color around when you can just use a brush! I could see it useful for some added interest after the painting is about finished. If you have to resort to using a brush to get the final painting, I don't get the point of even bothering with the pencils. However, you have made it look beautiful as a finished painting. Beautiful Hawk! Also, some mighty fine FB additions!

Your skills amaze me! Beautiful! 😎🎉🥰

Paul - I totally agree with Jim. I have tried watercolour pencils & watercolour crayons - but I still find regular watercolour the easiest to use. I do bring my pencils when doing Plein Air as it is very dry where I live. But this was by far the best tutorial & comparison I have seen. Thank you for sharing.

Absolutely love your tutorials and your channel. Thank you for sharing the artwork at the end of your videos as well. from Phoenix Arizona

Thanks so much Paul-this was the best watercolour pencil tutorial I have ever watched.I usually do animals in coloured pencil but will certainly try watercolour pencils after seeing your tutorial.

Thanks for the comparison Paul. I just cant get on with wc pencils. Can I ask, do you sell the paintings you do in your tutorials? If not, what do you do with them?

I'm not a fan of loose watercolour, so I use pencils often to add details or paint little areas that is easier with pencil than brush, at least for me. I definitely wouldn't use them in large paintings, but I never make those anyways 😅 I don't know, I just combine them. I don't see the problem with good watercolour pencils.

Fanastic development in the owl painting. Would have stopped after the muddy underpainting. But is good to know that it is important to use the pencils in all possible ways. Not just scribbel and water atop.

I can't wait to try my hand at a hawk in watercolor. I am a falconer and I have a red-tail, not a harris hawk, but hopefully I can figure out how to do my colors. I had to laugh when you told the story about your wife trying to call down the harris hawk with a chicken leg for bait. ( I think we'd get along quite well she and I :) ) Anyhow it reminded me of my first year or two as a falconer. I was out with another falconer that flew a cast/pair of harris hawks together. When it was time to call them in, one of them decided she wasn't ready to come to the glove. for about 45 minutes I watched this other falconer go through every trick to try and lure in his reluctant bird, but she was not one to be fooled by any of his attempts, always dancing just out of reach. Haha when she was good and ready she finally came in. I'll never forget that day. It always makes me laugh and smile to recall it. Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift with us all :)

Good morning, dear Paul! Again you are on the channel as always on Wednesdays and I greet you! You are doing a good and good deed Paul, you leave love for nature in the souls of people, educate a sense of beauty and aesthetics, right now in a difficult and difficult time, when this is so lacking. You are smart, well done, you are trying to instill in people a good attitude towards art and heroically resist all difficulties, sacrifice your time, your personal material and financial resources to bring us the beauty of the world around us! I bow low to you for your daily many years of work, in which you imperceptibly, step by step, introduce us to the beautiful and holy art! I often do a lot and. I am frankly writing to you alone and I know that you will always understand and support me!!! All the best to you, creative success and health, Paul Nicholas Clark!!! Bye... bye... until next Wednesday dear Paul!!! 🤗🖼️🎨❤️💋🙏

You made me laugh, thank you, and I loved the waterpencil owl in particular.

The Hawk painting looks great.

this is the first attempt to fairly compare watercolor vs. colored pencils. Thank you for the wonderful video that I enjoyed very much. I personally also like to use cold pressed paper for the colored pencils so that the texture is supported even more.

Being colour blind I have found the watercolour pencils by far the best medium for me as with enough different coloured pencils i can actually get a decent picture out at then end I found using watercolours and mixing colours almost impossible. But the pencils given me the ability to use pressure and see the amount of ink on the paper rather than trying to guess how the colours will mix.

Beautiful tutorial as always, thanks! May I just ask why you never use black? not even for tiny details? thanks

Fantastic tutorial, thank you somuch. I to have used some white acrylic too highlight my watercolors.

I like to use watercolor pencils for details. My health problems cause my hands to shake and I find it easier to do the details with pencils and the rest in "normal" watercolor. Back to the video haha.

There seems to be quite a variation in watercolour pencils from soft and intense to harder and more difficult to apply without leaving marks on the paper.

Really thanks a lot, Nice owl, what a great happiness being in your group 🙏

Thanks for inspiring me to use my neglected watercolor pencils. I also noticed that my black one is shorter than the rest.

Great demonstration Paul very informative and easy to follow 👍👍🍺🍺

Sorry Paul but your opening scene was in really bad taste. With all the awful things going on in the world I didn’t need to see that.

I found a set of watercolour pens great as well😊

Joy to watch Paul, thanks. Tips really helpful!!

Another great tutorial Paul, thank you, and two beautiful paintings 😍

Love your amazing art, wondering how you know where to put your highlights? Is it intuitive, knowledge of your subject or exactly what your subject shows? You are my #1 teacher since Covid. Please help me with highlights.. thank you 🙏

Thank you. Several persons told me I should try watercolor pencils. I don't like it. Watercolor is so much more beautiful ! I won't... how do you say ? "Give it a go" ?

Pedro, rio grande do sul...brasil...good morning, professor Clark...this comparison between the two techniques was crucial for me, because I have a slower control over the progress of the painting, in this case the pencil makes me more relaxed..working with wet paper still makes me a little insecure . I would be honored if you would accept to receive 3 or 4 pdfs of birds that I was very satisfied with. A small evaluation from you would be worth the same for me as a classification for the Luxembourg Art Prize...

my pencils do not get that dark, so i had to add WC

Fantastic tutorial Paul. I am just a beginner and since watching you work with watercolour pencils, I have fallen in love with the media. I wonder if you could do another tutorial with watercolour pencils? 😊😊

Drawing lots of lines and scribbles without knowing for sure how much pigment is being put down is frustrating for me and also hard on my old hand. I much prefer a palette and good brushes -- a much more pleasurable experience IMO. I like to use WC pencils for details and small touch-ups. That being said, you did a wonderful job on the owl painting. You can do it all ~ even play Houdini💁🏼‍♀️🌸👍🏼

Paul all I've run out of Paynes Grey Is it ok to use Neutral instead for the hawk?

Very nice tutorial, it's great you gave them a go. I personally use them for underpaintings in my colored pencil drawings. When it comes to watercolor paintings I as well prefer the traditional way, because I love the flow of the paint and I don't find the pencils as vibrant/glowy as liquid paint when it comes to work with the shine of the white paper. As a new RU-vidr I would really like to know how you film your tutorials from a technical standpoint. I struggle with my timelapses a bit when it comes to the lightfluctuations when speeding up the video and haven't found anything helpfull.

I enjoy watching your video I just wish when I do my watercolors they would turn out like yours

Really enjoyed that Paul. Bought W/C Pencils recently and have mainly acrylic paints but my drawing is still far better than my painting. Use your drawing downloads quite a bit so thanks for them. Keep it going by far the best tutorials on You Tube. Cheers.

I am so sorry to hear of your wifes passing.