Iridescence, dew and the first light, in watercolor.
Three evenings with Madhubanti Mukherjee. You paint a crimson sunbird on a mossy branch of wet berries, from the shimmer at its throat to the last bead of dew, and you learn why each layer goes where it goes.
The Kingfisher
The Crimson Sunbird
To be announced
To be announced
The violet on a sunbird's throat is not pigment. It is light, bent by the structure of the feather.
Turn the bird a little and the colour goes. Watercolor cannot do that. What it can do is place one transparent layer over another so carefully that the eye believes the shimmer is there.
That is what Shishir teaches. Crimson that stays clean when you glaze over it. Violet that glows instead of going grey. A cream breast soft enough to look warm. And dew: a drop of water on a berry, which is really a small lesson in light, shadow and the white of the paper you chose to leave alone.
Shishir is the season of dew. This is a painting about the moment before the sun is fully up, when everything is still wet and every colour is new.
You paint along with me, but every step comes with its reason: why this wash is wet, why that edge is lost, why the throat waits until the crimson is dry. You paint from a reference image I provide, so all three evenings go to watercolor itself, not to drawing.
On the left, the watercolor. On the right, the photograph you will paint from. A photograph records everything. A painting decides.
WatercolorReference
Bright colours turn muddy the moment you add a second layer.
Feathers look stiff, hard-edged, like scales cut from paper.
The background fights the bird for attention.
Water drops come out as white dots instead of glass.
Iridescent colour ends up flat, the same violet everywhere.
You never know when to stop, so you keep going until it is overworked.
Wet-in-wet blooms of rose, blue and gold that melt into soft bokeh, laid in one confident pass.
Glazing violet and teal over dry layers so the throat and crown seem to shift with the light.
Where to keep an edge crisp and where to lose it, so the breast looks warm and the wing looks sharp.
Building a deep red back in layers without it turning brown or chalky.
Highlight, core shadow and cast light: the three marks that turn a dot into a drop of water.
Texture on the branch with dry brush and lifting, and the judgment to stop before it gets busy.
Reading the reference, planning the whites, then the wet-in-wet background: rose, blue and gold flowing into each other. First soft washes on the bird's body while the paper is still alive.
Layering the crimson back and the brown wing. Glazing the violet throat and teal crown, and the feather texture that lets the colour shimmer instead of sitting flat.
The mossy branch, the glassy berries and the hanging drops. Final contrast, a few precise darks, and deciding when the painting is finished.
Paint the bird. Understand the light. Keep the skill.
After payment, please join the Facebook and WhatsApp support groups shown on the next page. That is where the reference, the joining link and the recordings arrive.
You leave with one frame-worthy sunbird, and with the reasons behind every layer of it.
International award-winning watercolor artist, founder of GoldBrush Academy, and mentor to learners who want to move beyond scattered practice into structured artistic growth.
Her teaching joins observation, value control, watercolor technique and artistic judgment, so students learn not only what to paint but how to see it.
Kingfishers, bee-eaters, bluebirds and crows, beside roses, rivers and portraits. Many of these painters had never finished a watercolor before their first GoldBrush workshop. Hover to meet the painter; tap to see it larger.
The middle row is all birds, painted in our workshops
Yes. No prior experience is needed. Every stage is demonstrated step by step, and the reference image is provided, so you spend the time painting rather than drawing.
Yes. After you register you get the reference image and the materials list before Day 1.
Once you purchase, you get access to the group area, where the workshop details and the recordings are shared. Please also join the Facebook and WhatsApp support groups shown on the page after payment.
Watercolor paper, watercolor paints, a few round brushes, a palette, masking tape, two water jars and tissues. The full list is shared before the workshop.
Yes. The workshop is online, so you can join from anywhere, as long as the time zone suits you.
Yes, you can sell your painting or prints of it, and you can show it in exhibitions. Please don't enter it in painting contests, since it is made from my reference and guidance, and do credit the reference and the coach.
If you are buying the workshop for someone else, enter their email at checkout so they get access. A purchase for yourself is for you alone.
Yes. Each session opens with a short Q&A before the live demonstration, and you can share your painting in the community for feedback. For anything else, write to support@goldbrushacademy.com.
Three evenings, 30 October to 1 November. Bring your paper and brushes; I will bring the reference, the method, and the reasons behind each layer.
Tell us where to send your joining details, reminders and the preparation guide.