Congratulations on getting this far. You have already improved your drawing and observation skills, you know how to paint luminous eyes and you understand the importance of controlling water and letting it work for you. You've learnt a lot so far, and in this lesson we will combine these new skills in a painting of a tawny owl.

Given that birds are often recognised by the colour of their plumage, there is less opportunity to play around with unexpected colours in the bird world, but with its distinctive shape and huge eyes this tawny owl does let us play with colours. Colour-value switching is where the artist keeps the tone (or value i.e. light/dark) correct, but alters the colour (hue) to use unexpected combinations.