In this blog post, I’m sharing the process behind my raven oil painting, Harbinger. If you love moody autumn vibes, symbolism in art, and learning new oil painting techniques, you’re in the right place.
In this post, I’ll walk you through my process, from blocking in the background, to mixing colors without using black paint, to creating realistic feathers with depth and luminosity.
This is the writeup for my full YouTube painting tutorial, so if you'd like to check it out, you check watch it below:
Starting the Background
I began by layering in my background using titanium white, ultramarine blue, burnt umber, and quinacridone red (for a hint of warmth, just a smidgen). My goal was to create a blurred depth-of-field effect, much like a photograph, which helps the raven stand out as the focal point of the painting.
If you’re looking for oil painting tips for beginners, this stage is all about blending as much as possible to avoid harsh edges and to mimic soft photographic backgrounds.
Blend, blend, blend, my friends.
Sketching and Blocking In
Next, I lightly sketched in the raven using thin, transparent layers, paying special attention to lighting and undertones. Raven feathers are glossy and reflective, which means their colors shift depending on the light.
In nature, this is an effect called iridescence, and it's where you get those gorgeous green, purple and blue highlights on bird feathers.
I use a process called blocking in, where you quickly sketch the entire painting in chunks of color to establish values and hues. Many beginners worry their blocked-in painting looks unfinished, but this is just the foundation. My approach usually follows three steps: block, model, and detail.
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Blocking: establishing basic shapes and color values.
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Modeling: sculpting light, shadow and form to create dimension.
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Detailing: refining edges, highlights, and textures.
Mixing Black Without Black Paint
Even when painting a raven, I avoid using pure black paint. Instead, I mix ultramarine blue and burnt umber to create a rich black that can lean warm or cool depending on the ratio. For highlights, I added quinacridone red for purple tones, and burnt sienna with yellow ochre for warm underbelly reflections.
This is one of my favorite oil painting techniques for realism: building luminous, layered colors instead of relying on flat blacks and whites.
Tools That Make a Difference
If you noticed a long wooden stick during my painting process in the YouTube video, that’s my mahl stick. It helps me rest my hand while painting in oils, preventing smudges and shaking when working on detailed areas. I’ll be sharing a future tutorial on how to make your own mahl stick, but you can also buy them pre-made at most art stores.
Blending Shadows for Realism
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that shadows almost never have harsh lines. They’re fast transitions, but still transitions. For this raven, I used an old, splayed flat brush to soften my shadows, which helps achieve a smoother, more realistic effect.
When in doubt: blend first, detail later.
The Symbolism of Ravens
I titled this painting Harbinger because of the strong symbolism attached to ravens. In Europe, they’re often seen as omens of death, while in many Indigenous North American traditions, ravens are tricksters, creators, and symbols of transformation. For me, this raven represented a transition into a new creative chapter in my new studio space.
Want to Learn More?
If you enjoyed this raven painting tutorial and want to deepen your skills, I’d love to give you two free resources:
🎨 Download my free Acrylic Painting Guide
🎨 Download my free Oil Painting Guide
These ebooks are designed to help beginner and intermediate artists gain confidence with color mixing, layering, and technique, whether you love working in oils or acrylics.
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