I am so glad I found this tutorial! My great-niece (10) asked me to paint her a cardinal for her friend who recently lost her grandmother. I ended up painting 3. Cardinals are hard!  I intentionally made the eye a bit big to make it looks a little more friendly. Of all the tutorials I did to get an "acceptable" bird to gift, I learned the most and had the most fun painting.

 

Incidentally, she picked this one to gift!