What kind of bird is this? Not a clue! I just put some body parts together and then got excited when I saw how well the wing feathers came out! Tip: if your strokes are strong and self-confident, you can get away with anything!

Here we have a sophisticated strutter with his nose in the air. I suspect his feet are going in the wrong direction, but does this really matter?

This trio is waiting for the bus. I think if I were going to paint something similar again, I would put less detail in the lotus background. The birdie bus queue is strong enough with just a few lotus leaves sketched in - or perhaps a British bus stop sign on the left. Part of the excitement of Chinese brush painting or sumi-e is that there is no erasing. Once you have touched the paper with the brush, your mark is permanent. You may be able to turn it into something else (see my painting of Old Loudmouth where I 'hid' an unsuccessful bird under branches and foliage). But if you can't fix it, remember it's just a little piece of paper and move on.

This bird's eye is far too big, but clearly we've gone way beyond naturalism here. I liked the way her back feathers turned out and the jolly autumn leaves give her a nice setting.

Sometimes you just have to go for it. This kingfisher has got its eye on the prize - fish lurking below the lotus - and the twist of the body gives it the dynamic movement of sumi-e.

Sometimes it takes an icky disaster (the bird in the middle) to loosen up enough to create the ones that do work. One of the reasons that the bird in the middle didn't work is that I'm right-handed, and painting a beak at that angle is tricky. The eye then had no character, probably because I already knew I was doomed, and the feathers were unspeakably bad. I was by that point sufficiently annoyed to stop controlling the brush and just let it happen, hence the other two birds which look quite good.

Now here's an elegant magpie. In Britain they are attired in fashionable black and white. In China and Africa they may have iridescent blue and green feathers and bright red eyes. And of course you might decide to design a completely different color scheme. This is the secret - you're the artist so you are the one in charge! Chances are, there is a bird somewhere in the world with the plumage you choose! Go for it! You can see more of my bird models here. Happy painting!