1. Using your pencil, lightly sketch three ovals, as shown.

2. Add a point to the top of the cardinal's head and a tail to its bottom.

3. Erase the inside lines and smooth out the outline.

4. Draw the shapes of the wing, the feet, the beak and the black spot on the face. Add a branch under the cardinal. (This is not what is in the photo reference.)

5. Add four twigs coming off the branch .

6. Carefully fill in the shape of the cardinal with clean water, using your #4 brush. Now paint the shape with red watercolor paints.

7. Mix up a combination of dark brown, black and a lot of water to make a warm gray wash. Fill in the branch with this color.

8. Using the same color as the branch, paint a shadow under the wing and lines for the wing feathers. Using black paint, fill in the black shape on the face.

9. Add a little more brown and black to the branch color and paint a shadow along the left side of the branch and on the underside of each twig.

10. Using a #2 brush, add needles to the twigs. Use both dark and light green paint for this. Be sure to lift up the brush at the end of each stroke to create a tapered pine needle. (You may want to practice creating smooth strokes on scrap paper before doing this steps.)

11. Now add some pine needles coming in from the sides, as shown. These should be thicker than the ones on the twigs since they are in the foreground.

12. Using a fine point, sepia (dark brown) felt tip pen, carefully outline the bird and branch. Try to keep your lines light and sketchy. Add a few lines to the pine needles too.