Some of you might not like me very much after you try this watercolor practice exercise… I can see people pulling their hair out in frustration already.

This tutorial will allow you to practice all of the different watercolor wash techniques, plus your brush control. It means combining a number of painting methods in one go, as well as using a wide range of brush methods, from very detailed to broad brush strokes.

And just to make things more fun, the objective is to paint one continuous and complicated shape using all of these techniques in succession.

But don’t worry…

There are a few tricks you can use to make the process easier. Read on to find out more.

Watercolor Practice Exercise for Beginners

Here’s the composition for this painting. It shows the silhouette and shadow of someone riding a bike. You can download the template for this project below so you can print the outline sketch and transfer it to a sheet of watercolor paper.

I’m going to show you how to paint a flat, graduated, variegated wash. “What the heck is that ?” I hear you say…

Well… You’ve probably heard of the different watercolor wash techniques.

The term “wash” is regularly used in watercolor to refer to a colored shape applied to paper. A wash can be any shape or size. But strictly speaking, the appearance of a wash should be smooth. The result should be seamless without any visible brush marks.

This is what makes washes technically difficult. The watery nature of the paint and the fact that it dries relatively quickly means that to execute a perfect wash, you need to be fast ! Otherwise you can end up with blotches and a streaky wash…

Washes can be applied in a number of ways to achieve different effects.

• A flat wash is a shape of uniform color. There is no obvious variation in hue or tonal values.
• A graduated wash (also known as a gradient wash) changes in tone from dark to light in a smooth, even way.
• And a variegated wash changes in color also in a soft diffused manner.

The challenge with this exercise is to combine all three washes in a single painting !

On top of that, the shape to be painted is intricate and quite complex.

Normally when learning to master the wash techniques you start with something like a simple rectangular shape. This makes it easier to work quickly with your brush. In this case the shape is relatively complex which implies some tricky brush work that can slow you down.

I’m going to show you the step by step approach that I used to achieve this combination of techniques and at the same time handling a complicated shape.

Watercolor Practice Techniques – Step by Step

Because this shape is quite elaborate I used an LED lightbox (like this one – links to Amazon) to help trace a sketch outline onto a sheet of watercolor paper. Then I taped the paper down onto a flat board.

Next, before starting to paint I used this masking fluid to mask the shadow shape in the lower half of the painting.

Latex based masking fluid like this protects the surface of the paper so that the paint can’t touch it. The masking can be easily removed when you’ve finished painting.

I’m applying masking only to the shadow shape, and not the silhouette above. This is because the upper silhouette will be painted using a flat wash. There’s no variation in color or tonal value to worry about. And the silhouette shapes are quite small which makes them fairly easy to paint in a uniform flat wash. Also this part of the exercise will get you to practice handling your brush and how to paint fine brush marks ! (I’m using this fairly large round brush by Rosemary & co)

Use the masking fluid to apply a border of about half an inch around the outline, and fill in any smaller shapes inside the shadow. Then, when the fluid is dry I used some masking tape to finish protecting the rest of the paper outside the shadow shape. This is low-tack artists tape, the kind that’s not very sticky so you can lift it off without damaging the surface of the paper.

I’m using just two paint colors for this exercise. You can choose any two you like, but I started with a warm orange color and progressed towards a cooler blue.

To begin I mixed up a puddle of fairly strong paint for the silhouette shape. In order to paint a good looking flat wash, pick up a generous amount of paint with your brush and start painting the small shapes.

Keep your brush marks fairly wet so they won’t have time to dry. By keeping the colored wash moving with the tip of your brush there’s less chance for the paint to adhere to the surface of the paper. If your brush isn’t moist enough you’ll get a dry edge where the paint has begun to dry. This will ruin the effect of the flat uniform wash.

I said earlier that this is one continuous shape. At first glance that seems true, but in fact I broke down the silhouette into several smaller shapes.

This means I can paint one shape at a time and get a nice flat looking color, without actually keeping the paint wet and flowing from beginning to end.

You can see the series of smaller shapes here…

Before you paint each small shape identify the beginning and the end of the shape so that you know where to begin and when to stop. Like this you won’t get carried away trying to paint the whole thing in one go !

Things start to get more difficult when you paint the last two shapes of the silhouette, which continue down to join the shadow shape. This is where you begin to make the transition from a flat wash, to painting using a variegated wash technique.

From now on the rest of the shape needs to be painted in one continuous process from top to bottom !

This one big shape starts as a flat wash at the top, transforms into a variegated wash, then ends up as a graduated wash at the base.

Make sure you have two big puddles of paint for each color ready to go in your mixing palette before you begin. Then fill in the remaining part of the silhouette with a flat wash of orange.

Be sure to leave a nice wet mark at the end of each brush stroke. This excess of paint will help to keep the colored pigments flowing as you begin the next stage.

Now add a small amount of blue paint to your orange mixture. Use this new color to pick up the bead of wet paint, and continue painting the wash downwards. If the previous wash is still damp, the two colored paints should blend together smoothly.

Keep adding a small amount of blue to the orange mixture which will become more and more like a neutral brown-gray color. Also, keep the brush moving from side to side to get a good even covering of paint. And don’t hesitate to go back into the wet wash to re-distribute the pigments so that the overall wash looks evenly blended.

You should progressively add more and more blue paint until blue becomes the dominant color. Then switch to using only blue paint.

Your brush should be well loaded with lots of paint, and you can use big broad brush strokes from side to side to achieve a soft blend of colors.

As you progress towards the bottom of the shape, start adding clear water to your blue paint mix. This dilutes the color so that wash becomes lighter in tone as you move downwards. This is the method for painting a graduated wash.

Add more and more water to the mixture until eventually you just use your brush dipped in water to finish off the graduated wash.

When you’re happy with the results, leave the paint to dry completely, then remove the masking tape and the dried masking fluid.

There’s something very satisfying about the moment when you remove all the messy looking masking to reveal the final result underneath !

You can use a kneaded rubber to help you lift off the masking fluid.

As a final touch I added the last fine details to the silhouette shape

Practicing Watercolor can be Difficult

In the beginning of this lesson I warned you that this is going to be tricky. It’s true, some techniques in watercolor can be difficult. So if the result isn’t quite what you hoped for, don’t be disappointed !

But that’s the point of practicing. The goal is not to create a wonderful painting, but just to fill the page. Each new painting is a step towards success because we learn from our mistakes.

As a beginner, I think you need to accept the fact that at first you will paint badly !

Once you’re happy with that idea, learning becomes easier.

And remember, failure is good ! Do not fear failure.

Why do I say that ? Well… The formula for successful painting is to “Double your rate of failure”!

You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all…

So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, that’s where you’ll find success.

The post Watercolor Practice Exercise (Do you Think YOU Can do This?) first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

One of the amazing characteristics of watercolor is its transparency. When you paint transparent washes of color on top of each other the underlying brush marks remain visible. This produces beautiful multi-layered effects that are unique to watercolors. 

Painting in this way is a technique known as glazing.

Koi fish are incredibly decorative Japanese fish and are well known for their variety of colors and markings. The delicate patterns on these fish are perfect for painting in watercolor using a glazing technique.

How to Paint Koi Fish in Watercolor

For the purposes of this painting I put together several different photos of koi fish and positioned them to create an interesting composition. You can download a sketch template for this painting below if you want to try this watercolor project for yourself.

Start by transferring the outlines of the fish to a sheet of watercolor paper then tape it down onto a board. This helps to keep the paper flat during the painting process.

I began by painting the shadow shapes using a diluted mix of gray paint. I’m imagining the light coming from above, so I add shading to the underside of the fish to begin establishing the three-dimensional forms. 

From time to time you can see me blending edges, but mostly I’m painting wet on dry and leaving the sharp edges to my brush strokes. 

This might look like a very diluted layer of paint, but remember the objective with a glazing technique is to build up transparent layers of color a bit at a time. This will gradually increase the intensity and values of your painting. 

Next I made a diluted mixture of orange to fill in the pattern shapes on the fish. Remember to let the first layer of paint dry completely before adding this new color. The method when applying a glazing technique is that you paint subsequent layers of color, each time leaving the previous layer to dry.

This doesn’t mean that each new layer has to be a flat uniform color. For example you can see me dropping in some stronger paint while the shape is still damp to create a variety of color intensity to the patterns.

Continue painting the orange markings on the top three fish in the composition. Use the reference photo as a guide for the pattern shapes. The advantage with organic forms like this is that you don’t have to be very accurate.

Vary the color intensity of the orange shapes by charging in some stronger paint here and there to create a bit of variety.

When you’ve finished painting the last fish at the bottom, leave the paint to dry again before moving on to the next stage.

I decided to make the two underlying fish a different color. I think these blue fish help the composition in a couple of ways. 

For a start the blue color is in contrast with the orange fish on top. This helps the viewer distinguish between the top level of fish and the ones that are swimming at a lower level. This trick helps give an impression of depth as if the koi fish are at different heights.

Secondly the two colors, orange and blue, set up a complementary color harmony. Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel and they tend to create a lively, dynamic appearance.

Paint the whole of the koi fish in blue, but leave the upper sides slightly lighter toned where they’re turned towards the light. I used a lifting technique to blot up some of the wet paint and lighten the upper half of the fish shape.

Next I turned my attention back to the orange fish. I used a very diluted mixture of neutral orange to add more shadow shapes to the undersides, to give more definition to the fins and add a few details.

You can begin to see how the multiple layers of transparent paint produce complex and  interesting textures.

Now I want to start adding more texture, as a way to imitate the blotchy patterns on the skin of the koi fish, and to give an impression of scales. 

To do this paint smaller random shapes with a medium strength mixture of paint. And don’t worry about overlapping the edges of the underlying brush marks. This will help produce a more interesting multi-layered appearance.

For the scales use the tip of your brush to add small diamond shapes in a few areas. And add some quick linear brush marks to create texture on the fins.

Again you can refer to the reference photo for this stage to help you figure out the shapes you need to paint.

Now do a similar operation for the blue fish underneath. Using a fairly diluted puddle of paint, add a few blotchy patterns here and there. You’re just trying to add some texture and detail so don’t worry too much where you paint.

Don’t forget to add some detail to the eyes by painting a gray contour around the outside, then fill the pupils with a darker valued gray color. To make them look a bit more three-dimensional, add a curved brush stroke to the underside as if this part of the eye is in shadow.

Now I’m going to apply the last layer of paint to finalize the patterns on the surface of the skin. This is similar to the step before only I’m adding smaller shapes to just a few places to intensify the color and add an extra layer of texture. This includes adding some more diamond shaped scales in a couple of areas. Don’t over-do this step. It’s easy to get carried away and put down too many brush marks which risk hiding the base layers and you’ll wind up with something that looks over-worked.

Notice that I’m applying this final layer mostly on the shaded side of the fish so that the upper side which is turned towards the light remains light toned. By intensifying the colors on the underside I’m also increasing the sense of light and dark and trying to give a better illusion of three-dimensions.

I’m going to apply a similar method to the blue fish underneath by adding a few brush marks of additional texture. Some closely spaced dots are enough to suggest the idea of a scaly skin.

Now I’m going to start painting the final gray and black patterns on the skin of the orange fish. You can see in the reference photo this is another typical characteristic of the markings found on koi fish. I’m going to do these dark marks with two glazes, or if you prefer in two layers. So using the reference as a guide I started laying down some fairly diluted gray shapes on each of the three orange fish. Once these are dry I can go back and add some brush marks with a stronger mix of gray paint. The combination of the two washes of gray, one on top of the other, produces a more interesting graphic appearance.

The painting is almost finished so we can start adding some final touches. Using a brush loaded with paint I splashed a few drops of color randomly over the paper. This is a nice way to add a little graphic interest to the painting. The splashes and dots of paint could suggest the idea of bubbles in the surrounding water.

Next I wanted to add some more depth by adding some cast shadows. Adding shadows like this helps improve the perception of distance making it look as if the higher level fish are casting shadows on the koi that are swimming underneath. 

At this point I decided that the blue koi fish looked a bit flat. So to make them look slightly more three-dimensional I included some shading to the underside of their bodies making them lighter toned on the side which is turned towards the light.

The post Easy Watercolor Koi Fish (Step by Step Tutorial) first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

And just about every artist I know is painting these things at the moment. So I thought I’d add my own contribution and show you the step by step process I used to paint these watercolor daffodils.

In this tutorial I used a variety of techniques which I’ll describe as I build up the painting layer by layer. And if you’d like to try this painting for yourself then you can download the reference photo, and sketch template by following the link below.

Now… Daffodils are not the easiest flowers to paint. I’ve lost count of how many attempts I threw away trying to get this floral composition to look any good. They have a complex structure and a uniform color which makes it tricky to create depth and realism.

As a result I used a fair bit of “artistic license” to interpret this subject in an attempt to get a convincing sense of three-dimensional form and an interesting composition.

You’ll find out what I mean below, so hang on to your brushes and let’s get going !

Watercolor Daffodils Composition

Here’s the reference photo I chose for this painting. I liked the grouping and positions of the flowers, but the subject looks quite flat. I think this is probably because the monochrome yellow flowers make it difficult to read the forms, and the white background means it’s difficult to read the distance from front to back. 

Adding a dark background improves the composition dramatically. The contrast between the dark green background and the bright yellow daffodils helps them stand out and makes the flowers the focal point of the composition. Also, having a blurred background like this and a sharp foreground helps increase the sense of depth.

As you can see in the final painting I deliberately broadened the range of colors and the tonal values of the flowers. This helps distinguish the different parts by adding bright orange to the centers and emphasizing the shading on the petals. 

Together, these tricks help create an illusion of three dimensional form, improve the composition and add more depth.

How to Paint Watercolor Daffodils

After transferring the sketch to watercolor paper, tape down the sheet around all the edges. This is especially useful when painting big background washes like in this example to help keep the paper flat when wet.

I begin by painting the flower shapes with a light mixture of lemon yellow. Notice however that I’m being careful to leave a few areas untouched so that I get some white highlights. 

Even though these don’t appear to exist in the reference photo I’m adding white because I want to create a larger range of values so that the daffodils appear to “pop” in the finished painting (Remember the term value simply refers to the lightness and darkness of a color).

Next I start charging in some warm yellow paint into the places where I can see that the values are stronger on the reference photo. For example, the shaded parts of the petals and the interiors of the trumpet forms at the center of the daffodils.

I’m doing this while the first wash is moderately damp. As a result the edges become slightly blurred as the paint diffuses into the damp surface.

Once this second layer of paint is applied, I leave the paint to dry completely. Then I apply a warm orange color to the center of the flowers. I’m using a wet-on-dry technique to paint these shapes. This gives me a nice crisp edge to my brush marks. Before these orange shapes have time to dry, I blend the bottom edge so that the color fades out. This blending technique produces a nice graduated color.

Next I dabbed in a stronger orange color to the damp centers of the flowers. Then I continue to use this color to apply more brush strokes and build up the values in different places. Painting layers of paint onto a dry wash like this is a watercolor technique known asglazing. The flowers start to develop a more three-dimensional look as I continue to glaze.  Working this way allows me to paint shapes that have both sharp edges if I leave the edge dry and soft edges if I need to blend. 

Keep adding this orange color to the darker shaded parts of the flowers then leave the surface to dry all over.

Before moving on to paint the stems I added a final glaze of bright orange in the flower centers, leaving a sharp edge on one side and blending out the other.

Next I painted the stems and the leaves. For each shape I took advantage while the paint was still moist to paint in different colors so that the pigments would fuse together and create a more interesting varied appearance. This is a version of what’s known as a variegated wash.

After painting the basic shapes of the leaves I turned my attention back to the shading on the flowers. I want to give the forms of the daffodils more depth by adding some cast shadows and shading on the petals. Notice that to do this I’m using not a gray color. Shadows are rarely pure black or gray. In this case I’m using a diluted mix of dark neutral blue-green. This will give the shadows a green hue which results in a more harmonious final appearance (yellow and green together create an analogous color harmony).

Then I started painting the green background. To do this I’m using a mop brush which is ideal for laying down big washes of color. I’m also trying to work quickly because I want the underlying wash of paint to remain damp so I can do some more wet-in-wet work. And to avoid the paint from drying before I’ve finished I stopped painting the background wash halfway up the page.

Like this I have time to add some additional brush strokes of various colors. The paints blend together smoothly so I end up with a burred looking backdrop. I’m also using vertical brushstrokes to try and give the impression of leaves and stems.

Because the paint is still damp I can also do some lifting to create a few lighter toned shapes in the background. Lifting is a watercolor technique where you blot up some of the colored pigments from the surface. The objective is to create some variety in color and value and to try to give the background a more convincing blurred appearance.

Now I can move on to the top half of the background. Painting around objects like this is a great way to practice your brush work. You can see that I have to twist my hand to get the tip of the brush in the right direction. However keep in mind one of the advantages of fixing your painting on to a board is that you can turn the board around to make access easier and avoid difficult brush positions. 

When painting big areas like this make sure you use plenty of paint. You want your brush to be fully loaded with and very wet. Otherwise your previous washes might dry between brush loads, and you’ll end up with streaks and hard edged marks, instead of a more uniform appearance.

If you’ve worked quickly enough then the whole of your background shape should still be moist. You can now charge in some brush loads of various colors and build up a variegated wash. 

I’m aiming for a darker color on the right hand side and a lighter toned color on the left, so you can see me applying darker and darker paint on this side.

Because I’ve already painted the first layer of color for the background I feel more confident about continuing to paint the second layer in one go. So you can see me continuing the wash down into the lower half of the painting.

The left hand side gets treated with a lighter colored paint. After laying down each shape I come back into the damp wash with a few quick vertical brush strokes, the intention is to give an impression of stalks or leaves. And I do the same thing on the right hand side with a darker mixture of paint.

Leave the background to dry completely before adding a new layer. You can see the colors fade slightly as they dry. This is why glazing is such a useful technique for building up the color intensities a bit at a time.

I’m now concentrating on the stems of the daffodils adding darker lines to the gaps between stems and some cast shadows. 

Continue applying this new layer of paint up into the top half of the painting. You need to work quickly but at the same time be careful not to paint over the yellow daffodils.

When you reach the right hand side make your paint mixture progressively darker. For example, to do this I added more French ultramarine to my green mix, which neutralizes the color appearance and makes a nice leafy green. 

This new dark mixture continues down into the bottom right of the background. At one point you can even see that I painted directly into the green wash with blue french ultramarine. Then I push the color around with my brush so that it blends into the underlying layer of damp paint.

I’m slowly working my way around the daffodils in a clockwise direction. Here I’m darkening the color of the background between the flower stems, and on the lower left.

Next I wanted to add some cast shadows on the stems underneath the flower heads. This is important because it will improve the overall impression depth of the finished painting.

I continue adding cast shadows and shading on the flower petals themselves. Again I’m using a diluted mixture of neutral green to add the shading. When I say “neutral” I mean a color which has been dulled down to reduce its color saturation. I added shadows as if the light was coming from the upper right hand side, to the undersides of the flowers but not too much on the higher petals.

At this stage I felt that the color of the center of the flowers needed intensifying. I think this is an important focal point in the composition so I added a fairly strong mix of orange, being careful to paint around the white thread-like “stigma” in the middle. The contrast between these white parts and strong orange color will help attract the eye. After painting the first brush strokes I blended out the edges using a damp brush.

And as a final touch I added a few extra brush marks to boost the cast shadows on the leaves and stems.

I hope you enjoyed following along with this spring time painting ! And since I’m in a Spring-like mood… here’s one of my favorite spring-time poems :

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz.I wonder where the birdies is. They say the birdies on the wing, but that’s absurd.I always thought the wing was on the bird.

The post Watercolor Daffodils (A Step by Step Tutorial) first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

Below you’ll find some watercolor painting ideas which use very simple wet techniques.

What do I mean by “wet techniques” ?

In watercolors, the colored pigments are held in suspension by the water you use to dilute the paint. While the surface of the paper is damp, or your brush marks are wet, the pigments flow and disperse in ways which sometimes seem unpredictable until the water evaporates and the pigments settle onto the sheet.

This is one of the characteristics of watercolor that make it so unique.

The following easy step by step watercolor ideas will teach you a few things about the way the wetness of the paint and the paper affects the way colored pigments flow.

Easy Watercolor Ideas for Beginners

It’s not easy coming up with new ideas for painting but one of the best ways to find inspiration is simply to find time to play with colors and enjoy the beautiful characteristics of watercolor. And one of the most interesting things about watercolor paint is the way different colors blend and diffuse in “wet” situations.

Most of you have probably heard of the watercolor technique known as “wet-on-wet”, but there are various ways to exploit this method of painting and the way colors combine when they’re still damp. All produce amazing and fun results…

Each of the ​watercolor ideas below make use of “wet” paint in different and playful ways.

You can download the template and reference images for painting these subjects below, or simply use them as inspiration for your own interpretations.

Fuzzy Birds Wet on Wet Painting Idea

One of the best known wet-on-wet techniques involves dampening the surface of your watercolor paper before you apply a layer of paint. Hence the name “wet-on-wet” because you’re applying wet paint to a wet surface.

This technique is ideal for painting these fuzzy watercolor birds.

And you can pretty much just paint any shape you like and see what kind of results turn up !

Start by taping down your sheet of paper onto a flat board. This will help the paper to stay flatter when you apply water.

The first step is to brush the whole surface of the sheet using clear water. For this I use a large hake brush. A big brush like this is ideal for adding large amounts of water or paint quickly.

Keep brushing the surface with vertical and horizontal brush strokes to make sure the whole sheet is evenly dampened.

Mix up a bright color from your palette and start painting an oval shape. Notice how quickly the paint spreads outwards when the paper is very wet. Add some more paint to the center of your shape to strengthen the color.

One of the attributes of wet-on-wet painting is that the paint tends to appear lighter than wet-on-dry techniques after drying because the surface water dilutes the paint slightly.

Mix another bright color and paint a second shape. Work quickly so that the surface of the paper is still damp and the pigments disperse on the surface.

Mix up a darker color to paint the underbelly of your imaginary birds. Here I’m using a dark purple color which is the result of mixing the blue and red paints together. Like this the dark color is in harmony with the original brighter hues.

Next I used a lifting technique to lighten a small part of the shape. I do this using a blotted brush so that it picks up some of the color from the paper. Lifting can also be done when the paint is dry, but this technique works better when the paint is still wet. It’s a very useful method for varying the color intensity and values in watercolor painting.

Notice also that the surface of the paper is starting to dry. The pigments spread less quickly into the light toned shape that I just created. To add some more texture to my fuzzy shape I continue to add some dabs of strong red. Again, this color spreads out much less than when the paper surface was completely wet.

Leave the paint to dry completely before moving on. To add the details of the beak and the eyes I used some white gouache. (Gouache is water soluble like watercolors but it’s much more opaque).

For the color of the beak I just mixed some yellow watercolor to the white gouache.

Then using pure white gouache I painted the eyes and a few white dots on the body to add some more texture.

Do the same for the second bird, then mix up a dark gray color. I just used a fairly strong mixture of Paynes gray to add some feet to each bird.

I think this is a really fun painting idea which exploits the wet-on-wet characteristics of watercolor beautifully. Try to play around using different colors… You can have fun making all kinds of different fuzzy creatures

Easy Watercolor Lines and Dribbles

This next idea involves quickly painting a series of horizontal lines then joining the wet lines together with dribbles of paint and water. Because the process happens while the paint is still wet, the different colors merge creating interesting blends of color and texture.

Again, start by fixing down your sheet of paper onto a board. Then choose six colors to paint your lines. I used pure colors from my palette which I knew would create brightly saturated results. The colors I picked were:

• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255
• Phthalo Green BS – Pigment number: PG7
• Phthalo blue GS – Pigment number: PB15:3
• Quinacridone rose – Pigment number: PV19
• French Ultramarine – Pigment number: PB29

Think about where you’re going to apply the lines before you start to paint, and if needed use a pencil to draw a few evenly spaced guidelines. Note that I left a bigger gap at the bottom of the sheet so that there is room for the dribbles of paint to flow down the page.

Also I used a flat ¾ inch brush so I could paint thick lines of color quickly. The whole idea is for the paint to remain wet so you can get the colors to mingle together.

Load your brush with a strong mixture of yellow paint and apply a nice wet line across the top of the page.

Rinse your brush well then move down to paint the red and the green lines underneath. Reload your brush with paint to make sure the lines are very wet.

Next, take a small round brush, dip it in water, and use this to paint a few random vertical brush marks downwards through the colored lines.

The different colors will begin to blend together across the thin vertical lines. To boost this process, tilt your board upwards and use gravity to encourage the drips of paint to flow down the sheet. Pick up some more water with your small brush and dab the top of the vertical dribbles so you get even more drips running down the paper.

Paint the next three horizontal lines using nice wet brush marks, then tilt the paper upwards again to repeat the process of making vertical dribbles.

Use plenty of clear water on your brush so you get all the colors to drip down the sheet and mix together.

Now you can leave the paint to dry. As the colored pigments settle they create an attractive random blend of diffused colors, typical of the way watercolors flow when they’re wet.

This idea can be applied to all kinds of different patterns and color combinations.

Simple Watercolor Idea for Painting Bugs

This next painting idea makes use of the way brush loads of wet watercolors and water blend together within a defined shape.

This is actually an easy way to experiment with a number of watercolor techniques and effects, including:

• Variegated washes
• Graduated washes
• Watercolor Blooms and back-runs
• Charging-in

I’ll explain each process a bit at a time.

Begin by sketching a series of imaginary bugs on a large sheet of watercolor paper. Then tape down your paper onto a board.

Start painting the first bug shape with a strong mix of bright paint (by the way you can get the list of all the color combinations I used for this painting by following the link below and downloading the worksheet). Before you completely finish the shape, pick up a new color from your palette and start painting the other side of the bug. The two colors diffuse and merge together.

Combining colors in this way is a technique for producing a variegated wash(in other words a colored shape with a variation in color appearance).

Continue painting your bugs using the same method, starting with one color, then switching to another color before you finish filling in the shape. Because both paints are in a state of wetness they will merge together to produce a smooth change in color appearance.

If you need to blend the two colors more smoothly, blot your brush to remove some of the moisture and use the damp brush to move the pigments around and get a more even distribution.

Some of the insects that I drew include wings. I painted the body of these flying bugs in the same way as before, but for the wings I wanted a lighter toned appearance. To do this I simply rinsed my brush, and painted the wing shapes using clear water.

Because the paint of the body is still damp, the color spreads into the damp shape of the wings and produces a gradual progression of color from darker to lighter. This is in effect the watercolor technique known as a graduated wash.

This creates some beautiful results, but in some places you can see another effect occurring. For example, on the last wing shape for this blue bug I used too much water on my brush. This excess of water floods back into the colored wash, creating a feathered texture which in watercolor painting is known as a back-run.

This is sometimes considered a mistake because the watercolor isn’t completely controlled, but as you can see, it’s also a nice way of creating interesting textures.

In other places I painted the whole shape using one color, then I came back and dabbed the wet paint after picking up a second color on the tip of my brush. As a result the two colors merge with each other. This is another wet-on-wet technique called charging-in.

Continue painting the rest of your bugs using a combination of different methods. Play around adding brush loads of paint or water at different stages and see what results you get. Don’t worry if the paint does weird things. Just try to observe when things happen. For example is the surface of paper too dry for pigments to fuse together smoothly, or is your brush too full of water or over loaded with paint, causing blooms or backruns to occur. Noticing under which circumstances these things happen will help you to learn more about the way to control watercolors.

The only rule to remember is that moisture will always travel from a wet area, towards a less wet area. The outcome of this creates all kinds of interesting results.

As a final touch, when the paint was dry I added the legs, antenna, and a few other details using permanent ink Pigma micron pen(link to Amazon).

Watercolor Fun using Wet Paint

Each of these painting ideas makes use of the unique and beautiful characteristics of wet watercolor.

When your brush marks are really wet, and when the colored washes flow into each other, mixing on paper – for me, this is one of the most fun things about watercolors.

Above all, the idea is to have fun playing around with your paints !

The post Watercolor Painting Ideas (Super Easy Things to Paint) first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

(For those of you who’ve forgotten, I’m talking about Valentines day!)

And I know what a bunch of romantic folks you are, so in this step by step tutorial I’m going to show you how to paint a rose in watercolor. I’ll go over all the details so you can understand the process from beginning to end.

What better way to paint this weekend ?!

Flowers are a favorite subject for a lot of artists but the forms of roses are particularly complicated, which can sometimes make painting these flowers a challenge.

If you want you can follow along and paint your own version of this composition. All the reference material and the sketch template can be downloaded below.

And who knows, you could end up with the perfect valentines gift (psst… if you forgot to order flowers, all is not lost!)

How to Paint Roses in Watercolor

Roses are fairly complex looking flowers which can make them seem difficult to paint.

The sketches below simplify the anatomy of a rose into basic geometric shapes. Understanding the structure like this will help us to figure out how it interacts with light and shadow.

The overall form of a rose can be compared to a cup.

The center of this cup contains a series of smaller closely packed petals that make up the inside of the rose.

The outside of the cup is surrounded by bigger petals which progressively curve outwards and unfold.

When you draw these three basic elements you start to get something which resembles a rose.

As a general rule when a rose is lit from above, the upper part of the rose will appear lighter than the bottom part.

Also, because of the way the petals converge towards the center of the rose, each petal will look lighter at the tip and get progressively darker as it reaches the heart of the flower.

The combined effect is that the tonal values of a rose get progressively darker from top to bottom (light at the top and dark at the base), and from the tips of the petals towards the center as they gradually become hidden from the light.

Simply keeping these ideas in mind about how the light and shading changes across the surface of the flower is enough to be able to paint a reasonable interpretation of a watercolor rose without even trying to copy the subject exactly.

Watercolor Rose Sketch

Before tackling the final painting I did a quick watercolor rendering, following the “tonal value rules” we just described.

First I sketched a freehand version of a rose which approximates the geometry of the flower, with tightly spaced petals in the center and larger unfolding petals on the outside.

The idea is to do a loose painting as a warm up for the final watercolor, so I’m not trying to be very accurate with my brush strokes and at the same time I can test out my paint mixtures.

I begin with a very light and diluted pink color, charged with some yellow for a bit of variety.

I paint the petal shapes, keeping in mind the overall rules for shading. You can see that I try to leave some white highlights for the tips of the petals where they would be the most exposed to light. And I make the inner folds of the petals darker because these are the parts which are the most shaded.

I use a glazing technique to add more layers of paint to strengthen the values of the underside of the rose which would logically be more shaded. And I leave the petals at the top and on the outer edges light in color. A single layer of diluted paint is enough for these shapes.

As a final touch I add a few brush marks of darker paint to the most shaded parts of the flower, such as the folds on the lowest petals, and the core of the rose which is generally quite dark because of the concentration of closely spaced petals in the center.

I’m not really worried about blending edges at this stage. I just want the overall tonal values to look approximately right.

I added a quick background using a contrasting green color to help the flower stand out on the page.

I find it can be useful to do a loose watercolor sketch like this before you commit to the final painting. It’s a good way to familiarize yourself with a subject.

Watercolor Rose Step by Step

Here are the paint colors I used for this project (links to Amazon):

• Quinacridone rose – Pigment number: PV19
• Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255
• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• Phthalo Green BS – Pigment number: PG7
• French Ultramarine – Pigment number: PB29

This is the reference photo I chose for my final rose painting.

Begin by transferring the outline of the rose onto a sheet of watercolor paper and tape it down to a flat board using masking tape.

I begin painting the flower from the center outwards using a medium strength mixture of quinacridone rose. (You’ll find a list of all the colors I used for this painting below).

I applied my first brush marks to the inner folds of the petals where they are darkest in tone, then using a rinsed and blotted brush, I blended the color outwards to become lighter at the tips. You can use the reference photo as a guide to help you with this.

Keep working from the middle outwards using the same method. You can also charge in some different colors such as warmer reds or yellows to add some color variation.

When you reach the outer petals towards the bottom you should adjust your paint mixture so the petals appear shaded. To do this added a small amount of french ultramarine to make a purple-violet color.

In the real world, outdoor lighting tends to be warm, which produces shadows with a cool blue-violet appearance. The result will be much more colorful and realistic than if you try to use a dark colored paint such as gray or brown. Brown is too warm and will produce the wrong color for shading and shadows in this situation.

Continue painting the outer petals at the top of the flower, but of course this time you need to use a diluted light-toned pink color. As you can see in the reference photo the very top of the rose is brightly lit.

As you progress downwards, you can use stronger colored paint. I’m working using mostly a wet-on-dry technique. I apply brush marks directly onto the dry paper, then I rinse my brush and blend out the edges to get a smooth gradient of color from dark to light. Just make sure your brush isn’t too wet when you start blending, or you might flood the existing wash and cause unwanted stains known as “blooms”.

I use stronger colors as I reach the bottom of the flower, and I also drop in some additional color in places where the paper is still wet. This is a wet-on-wet technique known as “charging-in”.

Let the paint dry then go back over the parts that need stronger values such as the center of the flower and the petals on the underside which are in shadow.

Leave the paint to dry again. You’ll find that watercolors appear lighter when they dry, so repeat the layering process once again to increase the tonal values for the darkest folds of the petals.

Repeat this process as many times as needed until you’re happy with the overall result.

Now that the flower is complete you can move on to the leaves and the stem.

I painted these in a very loose style. I didn’t want to add too much detail to the leaves because these are not the main focus of the painting.

I paint these using quick brush strokes without trying to be too accurate. While the shapes are still wet I take advantage to either drop in different colored greens or use a dried brush to blot up the paint. The objective is to create loose leaf shapes with variation in tone and color.

When the first layer of paint is dry I added a few quick brush strokes to add some texture to the leaves. Nothing too precise, just a suggestion of the kind of patterns you find on leaves.

And here’s the finished painting…

If you give this project a try for yourself then let me know what you think in the comments below !

The post How to Paint Watercolor Roses (From Sketch to Finished Painting) first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

In this tutorial I’ll show you the process behind the creation of this watercolor apple. I’ll also show you what you need to focus on to be able to paint more realistically, and how this can be achieved when you use watercolors.

What Makes a Painting Realistic?

I believe the key to making a painting look realistic is values.

Values are the way artists describe differences in tone ranging from the lightest value (white) all the way to the darkest tone (black).

Of course, there are many other aspects to painting such as edge control or correctly representing the proportions of the subject, but what really gives a painting “realism” is the correct interpretation of values.

Take this apple painting for example. Even though the edges are slightly rough does this really make the result look less convincing? And if the proportions are slightly wrong, would you really notice?

However, if it was painted in a way which ignores the differences in tonal value, it immediately starts to look flat and unconvincing…

Values are what allow an artist to interpret the lighting of an object, and as a result create the illusion of depth and three-dimensions on a two-dimensional surface.

How to Paint Realistically with Watercolor

You can build up a range of values in watercolor progressively, one layer at a time. Because watercolors are transparent, each layer of color contributes to the final appearance of the painting.

Each subsequent layer of paint, becomes progressively darker in tone.

This allows us to use a technique known as glazing to increase the tonal values of a painting from light to dark, and thus create a range of values which give the illusion of depth and realism.

This is the subject I chose for my painting. This photo of an apple has strong lighting which results in a high level of contrast. This is good for practicing how to judge values.

Recognizing values is a skill you can develop. Just making the effort to discern the range of values in a subject when you paint can significantly improve the realism of your work.

Value Study

Before painting this apple I started with a quick monochrome value study in pencil. This exercise helps me identify the main shapes of different values on the apple. When I’m observing the subject I try to find the shapes with significant differences in tone. Doing this in black and white is easier than starting in color.

It’s easy to see the bright white highlights and the dark black shadow shapes within the cast shadow and the form shadows. The side of the apple turned towards the light is made up of lighter tones, and as the form of the apple begins to block the light the values become gradually darker. But because the skin of the apple is very shiny you can also see a lot of reflected light on the shaded side of the apple, where the values become much lighter. (notice however that even though this reflected area looks very light compared to the shaded area, it is still relatively dark toned.

Color Mixing

Next I make a series of test mixtures to try and match the colors of the apple.

For this painting I used the following (links go to Amazon):

• Lemon Yellow – Pigment number: PY175
• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• French Ultramarine – Pigment number: PB29
• Phthalo blue GS – Pigment number: PB15:3
• Phthalo Green BS – Pigment number: PG7
• Burnt umber – Pigment number: PBr7
• Payne’s gray – Pigment number: PB29 / PBk9

Realistic Watercolor Painting Tutorial

step 1

We’re going to use a wet-in-wet technique for the first part of this painting. This basically means painting onto an already damp surface.

After sketching the outline of the apple onto the sheet of watercolor paper I begin by wetting the apple shape with clear water. When doing this make sure to leave the two areas of bright white highlights untouched. Remember that in watercolor painting the color white comes from the paper.

Start adding some light green to the lightest side of the apple. Then use a brighter more saturated green to add color to the areas of mid-value. I then used an olive green color on the shaded part of the apple and the side which has reflected light.

As you paint don’t hesitate to blot up some of the color if it spreads too far on the damp surface. To do this, blot your brush on a cloth and use the semi-dry brush to mop up some of the pigments.

While the surface is still damp add a more saturated color to the areas of mid-value, then use a darker neutral green to add the shadow shape on the left. Don’t forget to use your reference photo as a guide as you build up the values.

When you’ve filled in the whole of the apple leave the paint to dry. Painting the base layers using a wet-on-wet technique like this helps begin to establish the values and colors, while keeping everything soft and blended.

step 2

Before adding the next layer of color, use a clean wet brush to dampen the apple shape, again making sure not to paint over the white highlights.

Start by dropping in a bright green color into the areas of mid and dark values. Don’t paint over the brightest side of the apple on the right and the areas around the highlights and the reflected light. You want these to remain very light in value.

Use a blotted brush to lift colored pigments if needed.

Next add a dark green color to the shaded parts of the apple on the left and around the stem. The color spreads and diffuses across the surface nicely. Take advantage while the paint is still damp to charge in an even darker color to build up the darkest values of shading. Make sure your paint mixture is not too watery, or you risk diluting the underlying wash of color and causing blotches or stains.

step 3

Keep working while the paint is still damp. Blot your brush (but don’t rinse it) so that the tip is almost dry. Use the tip of the brush to tease the dark paint outward to create some texture on the surface of the apple. Try to make your brush strokes follow the spherical form of the apple.

Move on to paint the cast shadow while you leave the apple shape to dry again. Start with a warm gray color for the outer edges of the shadow, then use a darker color the closer you get to the apple (in real life this is how shadows tend to appear, they get lighter and lighter the further they are from the object casting the shadow). So to make the shadow look more convincing, charge darker colors into the right hand side and near the base of the apple.

step 4

When the paint dries I start building up the values for the shaded parts of the apple. This is painted “wet-on-dry”. In other words I added some darker brush marks and then I blended out the edges using a blotted brush.

I also added some shadow to the stalk, and increased the value of the cast shadow near the base of the apple only.

step 5

After adding some detail to the stalk I let the paint dry before repeating the process again. I added some dark valued paint to the shaded part of the core, then blended out the edges using a rinsed and blotted brush. While the surface is still damp you can see me using a similar method as before to add some lines of texture, by applying quick brush strokes to push some of the dark paint outwards.

Use the same method for the shaded side of the apple. Apply some brush marks of dark paint, blur out the edges using a blending technique, then use the tip of a dry brush to push the colored pigments around on the surface. Because the paper is damp this produces some nice soft lines of texture.

You’ll notice that your painting appears lighter each time the paint dries. This is a typical characteristic of watercolor paints. Just keep building up layers of paint until you’re happy with the values. For example, here you can see me deepening the tonal value of the shadow with another layer of warm gray.

Don’t forget to intensify the cast shadow of the stalk if needed.

step 6

At this point I decided that the overall color was slightly dull, so to brighten up the green hue of the apple I added a few brush strokes of cool yellow. The combined effect of the underlying color plus the new glaze of yellow helps to brighten up the final color appearance.

step 7

The apple is almost complete apart from a couple of finishing touches. In the original reference photo you can see the apple is covered in light colored freckles.

To achieve this I used a lifting technique to remove some of the paint. Using a small stiff brush dampened with water I’m scrubbing the surface and blotting up the loosened pigments using a clean paper tissue.

step 8

Similarly, there are a few areas around the edges of the apple which need lightening in tone. For this I used a damp cotton swab to rub the surface and remove some of the color. Don’t overdo this or you can damage the surface of the paper.

And here’s the finished result…

Next time you try a watercolor painting, try to push yourself to find the correct range of values. You should find this will help create a more realistic representation of your subject.

The post The Secret to Realistic Watercolor Painting first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

The coldest season of the year stirs up different emotions for all of us. There are lots of things that I associate with winter, all of which make great subjects for painting.

So in this tutorial I’m going to share a few winter watercolor painting ideas which you can also try yourself. You can download the worksheets for painting these ideas below.

Winter Watercolor Painting Ideas

If you’re looking for inspiration for things to paint during the cold season, just think of all the things that remind you of winter.

I’m going to show you how to paint three subjects in this tutorial – a winter mountain scene, some wintertime red robins, and a composition of winter leaves and berries. 

For me, wintertime conjures up images of snowy mountain tops, and memories of time spent vacationing in the mountains, the arrival of red breasted robins, and the plants and trees that flourish at this time of the year offering some welcome color to the wintry season !

These are the ideas that I’ve chosen for following watercolor painting exercises…

Tips & Tricks

Winter Mountain Watercolor Scene

The paint colors used in this painting were as follows (links go to Amazon):

• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• Phthalo Green BS – Pigment number: PG7
• Prussian Blue – Pigment number: PB27
• Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255
• Burnt umber – Pigment number: PBr7
• Payne’s gray – Pigment number: PB29 / PBk9

After sketching the outline of the mountain scene onto watercolor paper, fix the sheet down onto a flat board using masking tape.

Begin by painting the mountain range in the far background. To do this make sure you use a highly diluted mixture of paint. By making the far mountains light in color and the closest part of the mountains darker, this will help to add a sense of depth, as if the mountains were fading away into the background.

I’m using Payne’s gray as the basic color for the mountains, but to make the painting more interesting, I also added some Pyrrol scarlet, Burnt Umber, and Prussian blue to make warmer and cooler versions of gray.

Try to paint the backdrop of mountains in one go, and vary the color of your paint mixture while the surface of the paper is still damp. Painting with a wet-on-wet technique like this will produce a nice smooth blend of colors.

When the first layer of paint has dried continue with the middle distance mountains, using a slightly stronger mixture of gray. Leave the white paper untouched to represent the snow. Vary the color on your brush between cool, warm and neutral gray, and try to make the color darker, and stronger in value as you move downwards.

Leave the paint to dry again then begin painting the foreground mountains using darker valued paint. Once again, vary the color on your brush slightly as you work to produce a variegated wash

This time, when you reach the bottom edge of the mountains, start to add clear water to your brush and blend the gray color so it becomes lighter towards the bottom of the sheet. The aim is to give an impression of mist or fog around the base of the mountains by making the color lighter

Let the surface of the paper dry completely before starting to paint the trees in the foreground.

The trees will be painted in three stages in a similar way to the mountains, progressing in value from light to dark. The first layer of paint will be light, the second layer should be mid-toned, and the final layer will be dark.

Each layer needs to be left to dry before painting the next. Painting successive layers of watercolor like this is a technique known as glazing.

Prepare a fairly diluted mixture of green paint and start painting the distant row of trees. Do this in a similar way to how you painted the mountain, in other words, vary the color on your brush slightly to achieve a variegated wash, and paint the row or trees in one go while the paint is still damp.

Paint the trees as one big shape. Try not to think of them as individual trees or you’ll find yourself fussing over separate trees rather than painting the whole shape.

Let the first layer paint dry then begin painting the next row of trees using a slightly stronger valued green paint mixture.

Again, try not to think of these as individual trees. I’m using the tip of my brush to dab paint onto the paper to help create an outline to represent the crown of the trees.

You want to paint the whole shape as one continuous wash, with a bit of variation in color.

When you’ve finished, leave the paint to dry again and mix up some dark green paint for the trees in the foreground.

Use the same brush technique as before, dabbing color onto the paper until you’ve completed the shape of the nearest trees. Add some darker trees to both sides of the sheet to help balance the composition.

Wintertime Red Robins Paintings

The paint colors used in this painting were as follows (links go to Amazon):

• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255
• Burnt umber – Pigment number: PBr7
• Payne’s Gray – Pigment number: PB29 / PBk9

Now let’s have a look at how to paint the Red Robins.

Sketch the outline of the birds onto watercolor paper then fix the sheet onto a board so that it doesn’t move around while you work.

Remember the idea is to paint in a quick and loose style so that you don’t become absorbed with the details. To do this I painted the whole of the bird as if it were one continuous shape, moving quickly from one color to another.

Paint around the eye and the beak, and leave the white underbelly untouched, using the side of your brush to create a rough edge where the red breast feathers finish.

I used a mixture of Hansa yellow and Pyrrol scarlet for the orange color. And to add a textured effect, I dropped a few grains of salt onto the colored wash while the paint was still damp

While the surface is still wet, dab in some stronger paint to the underside and the edge, as a way to represent the shaded side of the bird, then start painting the rest of the bird shape with various browns and grays.

Add new brush strokes of color while the paint is still wet so that the colors blend and diffuse together nicely.

Paint the upper edge, and the left hand side with light toned paint, and add darker colors to the right hand side and underneath the bird. This helps give a sense of the direction of the light.

Paint the other birds using the same method. Vary the color and the tonal strength of the paint so that you get a variation in hue and value. Aim to paint the bottom and the right hand side of the bird shapes with darker colors as if the light were coming from the upper left.

Leave the paint to dry on all three birds then carefully remove the salt from the surface.

All that remains is to add a few details. Paint the eye’s and the beaks using a strong mix of Payne’s gray. Don’t forget to leave some white highlights for the eye and the beak.

As a final touch add some dark brown brush marks underneath and around the wings so that the wing shapes look separate from the body.

Winter Leaves & Berries Watercolor

The paint colors used in this painting were as follows (links go to Amazon):

• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• Phthalo Green BS – Pigment number: PG7
• Phthalo blue GS – Pigment number: PB15:3
• Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255

Finally I’m going to show you how I painted the winter leaves and berries composition.

Tape down a sheet of watercolor paper onto a board, making sure the tape is firmly fixed down. When you remove the tape this will leave a nice white frame around the painting.

I didn’t draw any pencil guidelines for this watercolor, but if you feel more comfortable you can sketch some shapes onto the sheet before you begin.

I started by painting some big round leaves using a diluted mixture of blue-green paint. I painted these as groups of threes, because odd numbers like this tend to produce a more harmonious result. Notice also that I left a white gap through the middle of each leaf to represent the rib down the center.

Try to distribute the leaf shapes evenly across the sheet and paint as if the edges of the paper don’t exist so that the leaves overlap at the sides.

Let this layer of paint dry then start painting a new series of different leaf shapes. This time I used a mix of yellow-green paint and I’m painting small branches of pine leaves.

To do this I first painted a line for the stem, then I used an outward flicking motion with the brush to paint the individual pine needles.

Again, distribute these pine leaves evenly around the sheet and don’t hesitate to overlap the underlying leaf shapes. The aim is to build up layers of leaf shapes on top of each other so that the transparent paint lets the underlying pattern show through.

You can even paint new darker pine leaves on top of the first layer of dried leaf shapes.

Leave the paint to dry again and prepare a mixture of stronger bright green paint for the next set of leaves.

This time I’m painting a series of longer pointed leaves. Again the idea is to paint over the existing leaf pattern and at the same time continue to fill in the blank white spaces on the paper.

Don’t forget to leave a white highlight down the center of each leaf.

Continue painting the same type of pointed leaf shapes. You can modify the color on your brush as you progress, for example by adding more yellow to the mixture as i did here.

When you’re happy with the distribution of leaf shapes across the surface, leave the paint to dry again and make a mixture of bright red in preparation for painting the berries.

Leave a small white highlight for each berry, and paint them in small groups or as individual berries.

The berries are the final touch to this composition. You can alter the strength of your red paint if you want to add some variation in tonal value. Red is a complimentary color compared to green. These two colors look good together because they produce a high level of color contrast.

Winter Watercolor Inspiration

I hope you enjoyed these easy, winter inspired watercolor paintings. If you’re looking for inspiration while you’re warm and cosy during the winter months, pick any of your favorite wintery things and try to paint them in a quick, loose, and colorful composition, a bit like the paintings above !

The post Easy Winter Watercolor Painting Ideas first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

Are you ready to mail out those cards ?

I think sending hand-painted watercolor cards for Christmas is perhaps one of the best ways to show people your affection for them. It adds a personal touch that’s always appreciated.

Especially this year, because we probably won’t get to see as many folks as we would like.

So I wanted to show you some quick and simple ways to make your own cards with watercolors. All of these designs are easy to reproduce and quick to paint. And if you want to copy my designs, you can download the sketch templates for all these paintings below.

In this tutorial I’ll explain the process and techniques I used to make these easy watercolor Christmas cards.

Making cards like this is a lot of fun so put on some “Bing Crosby” tunes and grab your paints ! After all… Who doesn’t like “White Christmas” !? It’ll help get you in the mood …

Easy Watercolor Christmas Card Ideas

If you’re looking for ideas for painting watercolor cards this Christmas then I think you’ll like this easy to apply painting process.

I’ve chosen four typical Christmas symbols for my own paintings, but there’s nothing to stop you adapting this painting method to any kind of Christmas design you like. 

I’m going to demonstrate how to paint both a “negative” and “positive” version of each design. 

Negative painting refers to the idea of “negative space”. Every subject you paint includes negative and positive space. 

In general, a positive shape is the subject itself, whereas a negative shape is everything that surrounds the subject. 

For example, if the tree is the subject of the painting you can either choose to paint the tree itself (the positive shape), or alternatively paint around the subject (the negative shapes).

Each of my cards were painted using watercolor postcards. These are ready-made postcards that are fabricated using  watercolor paper so you can paint directly onto the surface. I think these are a great idea for this kind of use ! And I’ve seen more and more products like this available, so they’re quite easy to find (For example, these ones on Amazon use artist grade 100% cotton paper). 

But if you don’t have pre-made ones like this you can simply cut up a sheet of watercolor paper (just make sure they fit in your envelopes!).

The only other equipment you’ll need for these paintings is a roll of masking tape and some watercolor masking fluid(this is cheap and easy to find and it’s the kind of thing I use regularly for watercolors).

Watercolor Christmas Cards Tutorial Step by Step

You can download the template for painting these designs using the button above. All of the colors I used were Daniel Smith paints as in the list below (links go to Amazon). I’ve provided the pigment numbers in case you need to find an equivalent in another paint brand.

• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• Phthalo Green BS – Pigment number: PG7
• Phthalo blue GS – Pigment number: PB15:3
• Prussian Blue – Pigment number: PB27
• Quinacridone rose – Pigment number: PV19
• Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255

Start by sketching the Christmas tree design onto a card, then tape it down onto a board using masking tape to create a margin around all four edges.

Use the edge of a flat object to fix the masking tape down firmly onto the paper. Doing this helps avoid paint from running under the edge of the tape and ruining the white margin.

Before you start painting, apply a few lines of masking fluid in a pattern that fans out from the center. To make this process easier, begin with vertical and horizontal lines going through the middle of the page and use these as a guide for the other lines.

At the same time draw a frame of lines around the edges close to the masking tape. Leave the masking fluid to dry completely before moving on to the next stage.

Mix up some green paint and start painting around the Christmas tree shape. This first painting is the “negative” version, so we start by leaving the tree untouched and apply paint to the negative background shape. 

When you’ve finished, and while the first layer of paint is still wet, add some darker color  to the outer edges of the card. Adding wet brush marks to a wet surface helps the colored pigments to fuse and blend together. (This is a painting technique known as wet-in-wet).

The overall effect is to create a gradient of color from dark to light, which adds some variation and interest rather than simply painting a uniform color.

The final step is to use the pointed tip of your brush to add some detail to the interior of the tree.

Leave the paint to dry completely, then use a kneaded rubber to remove the masking fluid. Then carefully remove the masking tape from around the edges.

Now that the negative version is complete, let’s have a look at the method for painting a “positive” version of the same design…

Start in exactly the same way as before, taping down the card onto a board and making sure the edges are well fixed down onto the paper.

This time, use the masking fluid to draw the detailed lines inside the tree shape, then leave the fluid to dry completely. 

By the way, I’m using a bamboo quill pen to apply the liquid masking, but whatever you choose, use something which you don’t mind getting messed up ! Dried masking liquid will ruin your brushes.

Begin by painting a frame around the edges. To do this, drag the brush so that it overlaps the masking tape to help you paint a thin straight line. 

Since this is the “positive” version of the card, the next step is to paint the tree shape itself. 

Finally, paint the radiating pattern of lines using the same method as before. Start with horizontal and vertical lines running through the middle of the page, then you can add the diagonals going into the corners, and use the first lines as a guide for the other brush marks fanning out from the center.

Leave the paint to dry before you remove the masking liquid. Then slowly peel off the tape around the edges.

This gives us the positive and negative variations of the Christmas tree design. But the method for the other Christmas cards is pretty much the same thing.

Here’s the process for the “gift box” design, starting with the negative version.

After you fix down the watercolor card with masking tape, use the masking fluid to create the same kind of pattern as before, with lines spreading out from the center of the card, and a line around the border. 

No need to apply any masking fluid to the gift box shape itself. 

When the liquid is completely dry, add some details to represent the ribbons. Then paint the negative shape around the gift box. 

Once again, to add a bit of variety to the colored wash, use a wet-in-wet technique to add a darker toned color around the edges of the card. Don’t forget to fill in the gap between the ribbons.

Leave it to dry, then remove the masking fluid and the tape… And that’s all there is to it !

Et voila !

Moving on to the positive variant of this design… This time use the masking liquid to cover the ribbons in the middle of the gift box.

Add a colored frame to the card using the masking tape as a guide and letting your brush strokes overlap slightly onto the paper.

When this is done you can paint the positive shape of the gift box itself. 

All that’s left is to add the lines extending out from the center towards the edges.

Let everything dry before you try to remove the masking fluid and the tape. If you try to do this too early you risk smudging the damp paint.

And now you have exactly the same design as before but this time as a positive painting.

By now I think you’re probably getting the idea of how to apply this method. I went on to paint two different versions of a star design, using a blue color to represent the idea of a night sky. 

Don’t forget that with the negative versions you use the tip of your brush to add colored details to the interior of the shape, but with the positive version you need to apply the masking fluid first, so that these details appear white when the painting is complete.

The final design was a Christmas stocking which I chose to paint in yellow, (with a hint of orange).

Again, if you want to get a copy of these designs to use for your own watercolor Christmas cards then just follow the link below this video to download the worksheet on my website.

All that’s left for me to do is wish you a very merry Christmas wherever you are in the world !

The post Hand Painted Watercolor Christmas Cards (Easy Peasy) first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

In this article I’ll show you how to simplify the process of painting pine cones in watercolor.

These prickly little things are a great subject for practicing your painting skills. And where I am at this time of the year there’s an abundance of pine cones. They’re easy to find… My garden is cluttered with them ! 

So next time you’re out and about try collecting a few to set up your own still life composition. Or if you prefer you can download the worksheet and outline sketch for this exercise and paint your own version using the step by step example below.

Related: 10 easy watercolor ideas

Painting Pine Cones in Watercolor

Pine cones can be a daunting subject because they look so complicated. 

Here’s an example of what I mean. The overall form of the cone is somewhat similar to an egg. But the whole thing is broken down into a multitude of uneven scales (yep… that’s what they’re called apparently).

The best way to simplify complex organic forms like this is to break the subject down into simple big shapes using the main differences in value as a guide.   

(As a quick reminder: value in art simply refers to the lightness or darkness of a given hue).

In the case of this pine cone, it’s easy to see that the outer tips of the scales represent the lightest part of the object. These can be grouped into a single set of light valued shapes, which can be isolated and painted first using a light range of colors.

On the other hand, the inside of the scales is in the shade (darkest values). This part of the cone painting can be considered as one large dark shape. So to complete the painting of the cone you can just fill in the shape in between the tips of the scales using a dark toned mix of paint.

And if you want you can then add more depth to the painting by adding some brush strokes of darker paint to the underside of a few scales. 

The whole thing can be done in a few layers of watercolor.

Splitting darks and lights into simple groups of shapes like this is an excellent way to organize your painting process and make your watercolor paintings easier to handle.

In art, this is known as defining the “value structure”.

The hard part is training yourself to recognize differences in values. One trick you can try is squinting at the subject to blur the details, and help you to see the big shapes more easily.

Watercolor Pine Cones – Step by Step

The colors I used for this painting were as follows (links to Amazon) :

• Burnt umber – Pigment number: PBr7
• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• French ultramarine – Pigment number: PB29
• Paynes Gray – Pigment number: Pb29 PBk9

Start by painting the tips of the cone’s scales using a diluted brown color. As you can see I’m leaving a small part of each shape untouched to represent the highlights. This is a watercolor technique known as “reserving whites“.

When the first layer of paint has dried, you can add some more brush marks to the underside of each tip. Painting successive layers of paint onto a dry surface like this is a method called “glazing“.

This helps give a 3-dimensional feeling to the shapes , with the white highlights suggesting the faces turned up towards the light, and the darker glazed brush marks suggesting the shaded faces turned downwards.

Leave the paint to dry again before moving on to the next stage.

Now you can start filling in the rest of the pine cone shape by painting around the tips with a darker toned brown mixture. Treat the whole of the shaded parts as one big shape and paint everything in one go.

I used a medium reddish brown for this layer of color. Then, before the shape has time to dry, I dropped in some brush marks of darker neutral brown to intensify the shaded centre of the cone.

To make a neutral color like this you can start with a brown paint such as Burnt umber and add some of it’s complementary color – in this case I used French Ultramarine (complementary hues are colors that are opposite each other on a color wheel).

Leave the painting to dry completely before adding the final touches. 

To intensify the shadows underneath some of the scales I used a mix of French ultramarine with a small amount of burnt umber. This produces a neutral blue mixture, but because this is applied as a glaze over the top of a red hue, the transparency of watercolors allows the two layers to combine to produce a gray appearance. This is one of the characteristics of glazing in watercolors.

In essence, the successive layers of paint merge to produce a new color appearance.

Finally, if you want to add more depth to your cone painting you can add some cast shadows underneath the pine cone using a diluted mixture of gray. To do this, dampen the surface of the paper first so that the gray paint spreads out to produce a nice diffused edge to the shadows.

Now go grab some pine cones !!

The post How to Paint Watercolor Pine Cones (The Easy Way) first appeared on Watercolor Affair.

Good artists use a wide variety of edges in their paintings, ranging from sharp well defined edges to blurred and soft. Lost edges, like the ones in this painting, force the viewer to use their imagination to “fill in the blanks” of missing information.

In this article I’ll explain all about edges in art, and the various watercolor techniques for painting and controlling edges. Edge control in watercolors can be a useful way to improve your artwork. 

The paints I used for this watercolor were the following Daniel Smith colors:

• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255
• Burnt umber – Pigment number: PBr7
• Payne’s Gray – Pigment number:PB29/PBK9

What are lost, found, hard, and soft edges in watercolor?

What is an edge?

An edge marks the boundary between one object or another, or from one surface to another.

Sometimes this boundary is clearly defined and you can see an obvious outline. This results in a hard edge (otherwise referred to in art as a found edge).

At other times the boundary between two things is less well defined. The transition between one surface and another is blurred, resulting in a soft edge.

If you take soft edges to the extreme, you get what artists call a lost edge. This is where shapes appear to merge together and you can’t really see where one shape ends and the other begins. The edge becomes so soft that it gets “lost”. You have to engage your imagination to understand where the real boundaries lie.

How to Paint Lost and Found Edges in Watercolor

The first thing to note is that edges appear more pronounced when the difference in value is larger.

(Remember that in art, value is a term used to describe differences in lightness or darkness – light colors are referred to as “light toned” and dark colors are said to be “dark toned”).

In watercolors or any other art medium, edges occur when you create a difference in color and value.

Let’s use this painting as an example. The shading on the side of the cup fades out to a very light toned color. My paint was very diluted with a large amount of water, but you can still see a distinct edge where the brush stroke ends and the white paper begins. But because the white surface and the light colored paint are very close in value, this edge is not very noticeable.

Now look at the difference in value between the coffee colored oval which was painted with a strong mix of paint, and the white paper. These highly contrasting values make this edge stand out much more.

So in general, neighboring shapes of similar value tend to have less obvious edges.

But adjacent shapes with big differences in values have well defined edges.

Watercolor Techniques for Painting Edges

In watercolors  you need different techniques to produce hard edges compared to soft or lost edges.

Dry techniques are good for creating hard, “found edges”. 

You can paint sharp, crisp edges in watercolor using wet-on-dry brush techniques. This means painting with a damp brush directly onto a dry surface.

You can see this clearly when I paint the coffee inside the cup. Because the surface of the paper is dry, the edge of my brush marks are precise and sharp. This is typical of painting in wet-on-dry.

On the other hand, wet techniques are good for smooth or lost edges. 

I painted the lost edge between the shaded part of the cup and the cast shadow by using a wet-on-wet technique. I pre-wet the paper using clear water before dropping in a light gray colored paint. 

And to make soft edges like the ones at the edge of the cookie’s shadow, I used a blotted brush to progressively blend out the wet paint.

Painting Edges in Watercolor – Step by Step.

Let’s have a look at how I painted this watercolor step by step. 

Start by sketching  a pencil outline onto watercolor paper then tape down the sheet onto a board.

Then pre-wet one side of the cup and the whole of the shadow side of the subjects with clear water.

Next, drop in a mixture of light gray paint to the shaded side of the cup and the cast shadow. Treat both areas as if they were one big shape. Because we’re painting on a wet surface, the colored pigments diffuse nicely and create a soft blended edge. 

If you need to, blot your brush in rinse water and use this to blend out the sides of the shadow shape so that the gradient of color is evenly distributed and fades into the white of the paper.

Continue painting while the surface is still wet and drop in some brown color just above the cookies. This will help produce the impression that the cookies are reflected in the side of the cup. 

Do the same thing using a stronger valued gray paint above and below the cookies. Shadows and shading tend to be stronger at the point where two surfaces meet.

Add some more brown to the side of the cup. Vary your colors slightly to produce a more interesting end result. The way colors merge and diffuse during a wet-on-wet technique is one of the unique characteristics of watercolor.  

Add a gradient of gray to the inside wall of the cup. To do this, start with a stronger valued mixture, then rinse and blot your brush repeatedly to blend out the gray paint.

Now paint the oval coffee shape using a strong mix of brown. As you progress from left to right, dilute the paint mixture slightly so the color becomes lighter.

Before the coffee color dries, add some more brown brush strokes to the left hand side, where the coffee and shadow meet up. Try to blend together the coffee and shadow shapes to produce a lost edge.

Now you can add some details to the handle. Paint using a wet-on-dry technique, using damp brush marks directly onto dry paper. This will give the handle a more detailed appearance.

Next you can turn your attention to the cookies. Paint both cookie shapes as if they were one single form. Start with a light valued brown color, and drop in some darker brown to the shaded parts of the cookies. Let the color diffuse into the damp surface.

When the underlying wash has dried, add some hard edges detail to the surface of the cookies. leave the paint to dry before moving on to the next stage.

Add a new layer of gray paint to build up the values of the shadows above and below the cookies and the inside corner of the cup. Then start adding some more textured details to the surface of the cookies with a warm brown color. Building up layers of paint like this is a watercolor technique known as glazing.

Let this layer of paint dry, and as a final touch mix up a very dark brown color and add some detailed shapes to represent the chocolate chips in the cookies and a few very dark texture lines.

To create the soft edge underneath the cookies, add a couple of brush strokes of warm brown paint to the bottom of the cookies themselves, and blend this color downwards towards the shadow.

Using Lost and Found Edges in Art

I think the important thing to keep in mind is that you don’t always have to paint only hard well defined edges to represent your subjects.

Lost edges can also become a useful compositional tool.

Hard edges encourage the eye to focus. The hard edges of the oval coffee shape capture the eye and draw a person’s attention. I would argue that this becomes the main focal point of the composition.

The cup itself exploits the idea of lost edges. You don’t actually need to see the edges of the cup to understand where the real boundaries should be. 

These soft, lost edges demand less attention and are the opposite of the well defined edges. By keeping the edges of the cup vague, lost edges help support the focus of your artwork.

A piece of art that uses lost edges can be more interesting than a well defined illustration. This is the beauty of using lost edges. Your artwork becomes a bit of a brain teaser. 

And our brains are extremely good at filling in this missing information.

I’ve started posting some of my tutorials on Youtube. If you’d like to watch this video, click here !

The post Why you Need Lost and Found (or Hard and Soft) Edges in Watercolor first appeared on Watercolor Affair.