Creating vibrant watercolor illustrations with tiny details and patterns shouldn’t be an intimidating task. Let me share with you a beginner friendly watercolor technique that makes adding patterns and details a lot more fun.

With watercolors, knowing when to let go and when to take control is an essential skill for both beginners and experienced artists.

Combining these two techniques will allow you to paint confidently and create stunning illustrations like these colorful fishes. And that’s what we’ll do in this class.

Why take this class?

Adding details with a fine tip watercolor brush is one of the most challenging tasks for beginners.

By using the scratching technique, this daunting task can be a lot more fun!

Not only can you use this with underwater creatures and elements, this technique is perfect if you need clean, thin and defined lines or details in your paintings like animal fur, hair, grasses and textile patterns.

What will we do in this class?

Throughout this online class, we will discuss watercolor techniques needed to create these vibrant fish illustrations. We’ll combine the art of letting go and taking back control.

Specifically, we will learn how to work with wet on wet to establish the big shapes of these underwater creatures, therefore letting go and letting watercolor do its magic, and take back control by adding details using the technique called scratching.

What makes this beginner friendly and easy to work on is the familiarity of using a used pen to add patterns and tiny details.

We will start with a quick demo on how to apply this technique and some common mistakes to avoid including:

Letting the paint dry before scratching
Accidentally leaning on the wet paint
Not using enough paint
Mixing colors that are too dark
Using a pen that is too sharp

We’ll then work on 4 different illustrations with increasing difficulty with each project.

What will you learn from this class?

By the end of this class, you will

Learn how to apply scratching in your illustrations
Experiment with different color combinations
Have the confidence to work with tiny details
Be the proud creator of vibrant watercolor fish paintings
Have ideas on where else to apply this technique.

Who is this class for?

This class is perfect for beginners or those who are new with watercolors but have some familiarity in drawing using pencils or markers.

We will also have lots of opportunities to practice our brushwork by painting fish and coral shapes.

What do we need to get started?

Please prepare your usual watercolor materials and something sharp and pointy such as

a used pen
toothpick or
a watercolor brush with a pointy end.

Download the Class Guide PDF in the Resources tab where you will find the scanned watercolor illustrations that you can use as an inspiration, a summary of key learnings, colors used, recommended materials and additional resources.

If you’re ready, grab your watercolor materials and let’s get started!

Music by Purple Planet.com

Tricia Spafford

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