Learn to use vibrant colour to create a cheerful and serene piece of work. Learn to use value and reduction of hue to create depth in your painting. Bring it all together with 'punch' elements like water drops.

In part one we mix our base colours and then block in our board and create a gradated background enhanced with spattering.

In part two we block in our redpoll using the base mixtures we created in part one.

In part three of the tutorial we block in the sumac using our base colours.

In part four we learn to reduce our hues and block in the background sumac leaves, then finish up with some spatter techniques.

With blocking in complete we start to build shape and form then add detail to the redpolls head.

In this part of the tutorial we build up the body of the redpoll and then add lots of detail to the breast down.

In this part we learn to blend base colours of the sumac and then break the shapes up with detail.

In part eight of the tutorial we learn how to add 'punch' with the addition of water droplets to the main leaf.

in this part we finish off the droplets in the main leaf and begin the build up of shape, form, detail and water droplets in secondary leaves.

We now add a shot of yellow into the painting with the lower sumac leaf. First build blends and then breaking up with detail.

We start this part by painting the sumac stock the bird is resting on. As the chapter moves on we build up the right sumac leaf in the background.

In this part we detail the sumac leaves in the background at the bottom of the painting.

We continue to detail the bottom/background sumac leaves and then add the water droplets to them.

Using the same 'reduced hue' techniques learned painting the bottom sumac we now paint the top background sumac leaves.

In this final chapter we add water droplets to background leaves and to the perch stock. We add final detail and use masks to add extra speckling.