Paint a Swan
on a Lake 🦢

Using your pencil, draw a horizontal waterline about halfway down the canvas. Above the waterline, draw the swan: start with a large oval body sitting on the waterline. From the left side of the body, draw an elegant S-shaped curve for the neck, ending with a small oval head. On the right side of the head, add a small triangle for the beak. Keep all lines light and flowing.

Mix Cobalt Blue with a generous amount of Titanium White to create a soft, pale sky blue. Using your large flat brush, paint the sky area above the waterline with smooth horizontal strokes. Let dry for 1–2 minutes.

Using Cobalt Blue directly (without adding white), paint the lake area below the waterline with smooth horizontal strokes. The deeper, richer blue of the lake creates a beautiful contrast with the lighter sky above.

Load your brush generously with Titanium White and fill in the swan's body, neck, and head. Use circular strokes for the body, and smooth flowing strokes that follow the S-curve for the neck. Apply the paint thickly — the texture of the white paint adds a beautiful feathery quality to the swan. Make sure the white is fully opaque over the blue background.

Using a fine brush and Orange, paint the small triangle beak on the right side of the head. Then use Lamp Black to paint a small rectangular patch at the base of the beak — this is the distinctive black knob that swans have. Finally, paint a small round eye on the head with Lamp Black.

Using a fine brush and Titanium White, paint a soft reflection of the swan directly below it in the lake. The reflection should be looser and more blurry than the swan itself — use light horizontal strokes to suggest the shimmering water surface. Add 2–3 additional loose white horizontal strokes across the lake to suggest light reflecting on the water. Your swan painting is complete! 🦢