I spotted these lovely animals having a well earned rest in the shade and was  immediately inspired by the contrast of the light donkey against the darker one,  making this my focal point for a close up portrait study.

Materials used:  

Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolours (tubes) 
Colours:

• Yellow Ochre  
• Cadmium Yellow Light Hue 
• English Red Ochre 
• Permanent Alizarin Crimson 
• Cerulean Blue 
• Ultramarine Blue 
• Cobalt Blue 

Bromleys Blue Masking Fluid 
Watercolour Paper – Arches 140lb / 300gsm Rough  
Brushes – Panart Series – 1181 Synthetic Squirrel Mop size 16 for all large areas  
Panart Series 1101 Synthetic Sable Watercolour Brush Round size 20 for smaller areas and all details  

Click here to download a free printable sketch here and use Transfer Paper to trace it on to your watercolour paper.

Tonal Sketch

The tonal sketch helps me tune in to the subject, confirm my composition, assess the tonal values and how I’m going to paint it. This is so important when working in watercolour as it’s very difficult to make any drastic changes once you start painting. I used a combination of sketchbook studies and photos to create my final design.

Step 1

I first drew the composition onto the watercolour paper with a 2B pencil,  followed by masking the straps and buckles that make up the donkey’s bridal with  Bromleys blue masking fluid. This will protect these finer details when painting the  animals later. 

Step 2

Once the masking fluid was dry, I tinted the background and the darker Donkey  with a pale wash of Yellow Ochre, using the Panart Mop. This foundation wash suggests  the warm sunshine, reveals the shape of the lighter animal and also makes a good base  coat for the darker colours to follow. I then allowed this wash to dry completely.

Step 3

The background and the darker Donkey come next, starting with the overhead  canopy. I used Cerulean Blue with a little touch of Cadmium Yellow Light to make a pale  turquoise. Starting with a very dilute wash, I then used a thicker mix of the same 2  colours, working wet in wet, to suggest the soft shadows on the canopy fabric. 

The distant buildings on the right are treated very simply, to help them recede. The main  point is that they help define the edge of the canopy. I mixed a wash of Yellow Ochre with  a little English Red Ochre, making a warm beige for the overall shape of the buildings.  This was blocked in with a loose wash, carefully leaving some of the underpainting  showing around the donkey’s head.  

While this wash was still wet, I added a suggestion of windows with a thicker mix of  Cobalt Blue and Permanent Alizarin Crimson. This creates a soft focus effect, helping the  background to recede. I continued with this mix to create a darker shape behind the  donkey’s nose. This in turn helps to define the donkey and also enhances the light falling  on its nose and the hay that it is eating. 

I then painted the dark brown donkey. It’s ears were a lighter tone, as was the area around  its eyes. I also noted the transition of these light and dark areas was soft edged, so I  knew it had to be painted wet into wet. I first painted the nose, using a pale mix of the  same colour used for the area behind it.  

I then mixed a warm brown with Yellow Ochre and English Red Ochre. Although this  colour is for the donkey’s ears and the lighter area around its eye, I painted it over  everything that will be dark brown as well. While this first wash is still wet, I then use a  thicker mix of Burnt Umber, darkened with a little Ultramarine Blue to develop the darker areas.  

It’s important to leave a halo of the lighter colour around the eye and also stop at the base  of the ear. I finally added a touch of the dark mix to suggest the inside of the ear and also  where the brown colour fades into the lighter grey of the nose, softening this edge against  the bridal with a damp brush. 

Step 4

I removed the masking fluid on the brown donkey by lightly rubbing it with my  finger, then painted the bridal with the same turquoise mix I had used for the overhead  canopy earlier. I added shadows to the buckles using the purple grey mix used on the nose, careful to leave a few highlights of white paper.  

The eye was first painted with English Red Ochre, adding the darker outline with a thick  mix of Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue while it was still wet to soften the edges. I also  used the dark brown for the nostril on the donkey’s nose. 

Finally, I added the shadows falling across the ground and the hay on the right, using a  pale mix of Cobalt Blue, Permanent Alizarin Crimson and a little English Red and Yellow  Ochre to warm it up. These shadows are very important as they define the light falling on  the hay and on the foreground donkey’s face. I used quick, dry brush strokes across the  ground area to suggest the texture of the sand.

Step 5

The foreground donkey came next. It has a much lighter tone and I blocked in  the main forms with the same mix used for the shadows on the ground, careful to leave a  highlight on the front of its head as untouched paper. Once this was dry, I painted its  mane with a dark mix of Burnt Umber and Ultramarine, lightly flicking the brush to create  the stiff shape of the hair.  

The ear was painted using the same process as for the other donkey. Starting with a pale  wash of Yellow Ochre, I worked wet in wet, modelling the shape of the ear with darker  and thicker mixes of English Red Ochre and Burnt Umber.  

Note – It’s worth practicing this technique on some scrap paper first, to get a feel for how thick a mix needs to be so that it creates a soft edge without travelling too far.

Step 6

Once dry, I modelled the shadows on the donkey’s neck and around it’s jaw  using a darker mix of the purply grey, then adding the darker patches on its face using  Burnt Umber and a little English Red Ochre. Once dry, I removed the masking fluid on  its bridal.  

Finally, I added the legs of the dark brown donkey that can be seen bottom left, starting  with a strong mix of Yellow Ochre and English Red Ochre, then adding deeper shadows  with Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue, keeping the blends soft by working wet into wet. 

Step 7

The bridal was painted with Cobalt Blue, adding the shadows with Ultramarine  and Alizarin Crimson. The buckles were defined with Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber,  leaving a few highlights to suggest the polished brass surfaces.  

Final details included the donkey’s eye, mouth and nostril. The eye was first painted with  English Red Ochre and Yellow Ochre, careful to leave the eyelashes around the top edge,  then adding the darker shading with Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue while wet to  suggest the rounded shape of the eyeball.  

This dark brown mix was then used for the nostril as well, careful to leave a highlight at  the bottom. A dilute mix of Cobalt Blue and a little Alizarin Crimson was used to model  the shadows around the edges of the nostril. 

I defined the mouth with a fine line of dark grey, adding a little pink to the mix around the  edge of the chin using very dilute Alizarin Crimson.

Step 8

The pile of hay was painted with Yellow Ochre, adding darker tones with  Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue while still wet to suggest the texture and shadows.  I also added some dry brushed lines of Burnt Umber for the hay hanging from the  donkey’s mouth. 

I darkened the shadows behind the light donkey’s forehead with a thin wash of Cobalt  Blue and English Red Ochre, carefully splattering a little of the same mix with an old  toothbrush across the ground below to suggest the sandy texture.  

I then added the ropes hanging down from the bridals of both animals, using a thick mix  of Burnt Umber and French Ultramarine. Note how I have used a dry brush technique for  these lines, creating shapes that they have a sense of movement and light falling on them.  While the dark brown mix was still on my brush, I added a few darker accents to the  manes on both donkeys, and the painting was finished.