5 Watercolor Galaxy Paintings for Beginners

1. Introduction: You can create some stunning paintings and effects using a few basic supplies and techniques. That is why my brand new class, watercolor galaxies is perfect for everyone regardless of abilities. Even if you are a complete beginner, you can create paintings to be proud of. Hi, I'm Amy, and in this class, I will show you how to create five simple galaxy paintings. We will start off by running through all of the materials that you need. And then we'll move on to a few simple exercises to help you get used to working with watercolors. We will be learning a few basic techniques you can recreate in your paintings. The techniques range from techniques such as wet on wet technique, wet on dry technique, and the gradient technique. We'll also be learning techniques such as layering and blending and how to create some simple trees. Finally, we will delve into five unique paintings inspired by galaxies. Galaxies are a great place to start with watercolor because they're fun, easy, and expressive. They will really help you practice working with watercolor. By the end of this class, I hope you will have gained trust in your own abilities and have the tools that you need to be able to create paintings to be proud of. So let's grab our paints and get started. 2. Materials: In this lesson, we're going to run through all the materials you'll need for this class. And I've attached a full materials list in the projects and resources section, which you can download. The first thing you'll need is a watercolor set. And it doesn't matter if you use watercolor pans or tubes. The set I'm using is the Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolor set of 45 half pans. If you don't have this set, then I'd recommend using another set of student grade or professional watercolors. You will also need watercolor paper. The paper I'm using is the Arches cold press watercolor paper. But there are plenty of other options and you can use cold pressed or hot pressed paper. Make sure that your paper is suitable for watercolor. And there's a minimum thickness of 140 pound or 300 GSM. Amusing a variety of paint brushes for this class. I have listed the exact brushes I'm using in my materials list in the projects and resources section. The types of brushes you will need for this class is a large mop brush for backgrounds, a fan brush to create trees, a flat brush to create splatters, and a couple of brushes with hard bristles to create dry brush techniques. In addition to using a watercolor set, paper and paint brushes, I'm also using the following materials. Two jars of water to help rinse my brushes more thoroughly. Scotch tape to tape my paper down to the surface as I'm painting on watercolor sheets and not a blog. You can also use washi tape or masking tape. I'm also using some white gouache paint for splatters and some masking fluid. You also want to make sure that you use a cheap brush to apply masking fluid. I had to turn my paper down to and used a paper cutter to do this. But you can always use a ruler and assessors or craft knife to do this. So now that we've run through all of the materials, we will need less. Move on to practicing, working with watercolor and learning some techniques. 3. Exercises: Before we start our paintings, Let's have a little practice with watercolors first and learn some basic techniques that we'll be using in the class. The first technique we will practice is the wet-on-wet technique. This is where you wet down your paper first and why watercolors into a wet surface. The first thing you need to do is wet the surface of your paper down and you'll need a good size brush for this. You want to make sure your paper is wet to the touch, but not so King as this can cause puddles to form and the paper to warp, a couple of layers of water should be enough. Once the paper is wet, start loading your brush with the colors you want to use. Begin dropping in colors onto your paper. You can use different sized brushes if you like. Watercolor travel is where the paper is wet. So as you can see, you'll get a bleeding effect. This is one of the techniques we will be using to create the galaxy paintings. As you can drop different colors in and work in layers. It's really important that you let each layer dry completely before you apply a more watercolor. And this is something we will be doing when we move on to our paintings. The next technique we will be practicing is the wet on dry technique, which is a layering technique. We're going to apply our paint directly onto the paper. And as each layer starts to dry, we will apply a new layer. There'll be less movement of paint than the wet on wet technique. And this means it's easier to create bolder colors and saturation. Galaxies are known for their bright and rich colors. So the wet on dry technique will help to add more saturation into our paintings. We using less water in this technique, meaning that colors won't be as diluted as the wet on wet technique. The next technique we will be practicing is the gradient wash technique. We will start by applying a thin layer of water to the paper, as this helps gradient washes to be smooth. Choose a color from your palette and gently start gliding the brush from the top of the paper down. This will create a subtle gradient, transition from dark to light. Gradient washes allow us to create value in our paintings and is a great technique to use if you want to show value changes in your paintings, e.g. a. Horizon. It's important not to apply more color to the bottom of the gradient as you will lose your lightest values. Instead, if you want to add more color, work more color in from the top and repeat the same process of working your way down. Mixing colors is very important as there are lots of different colors in galaxies and subtle transitions between colors. When mixing colors, you always want to start with your lightest colors and build up to darker values. Rinse your brush in-between colors to prevent colors becoming dough and muddied. You need to work quite quickly as if colors start to dry, It's really hard to create. Soft blending is a good idea to pre-mixed colors before you start painting. So you can work with and blend colors together. Creating solid colors helps increase saturation and paintings and eliminate the paper grain and any brushstrokes you may see. For this demonstration, we're just using one color and gently applying a wash of color on the paper. It's normal for washes of color to look patchy if you've just applied one or two layers. But when you start adding more layers, colors will become bolder and unwanted brushstrokes and paper grain will be eliminated. We're going to create some splatters using a flat brush now. But if you don't have a flat brush, you can use any paint brush or a toothbrush for this technique. We're going to start by painting a simple background because you won't be able to see the splatter on a white background. It's important that when you create a splatter effect, you wait for the paper to dry completely, otherwise, the splatter will bleed. I'm using white gouache paint for this effect as it slightly thicker than watercolor and the white paint is boulder. Apply some water to the garage to make sure it's a milky like texture. Use your finger to start flicking the head of the brush and create a spray. This will create that story effect that you see in galaxies. You can create as little or as much spray as you like. Now that we practice and background techniques, Let's move on to the foreground. In some of our paintings, we'll be adding in some trees. So let's have a little go at painting them. I'm starting off by creating the trunk of the tree and I'm painting a thin line with my brush. I'm just painting two trees there for the demonstration. I'm switching to a fan brush now, and I've picked up some black paint with a small amount of water and gently dab in the brush and using the different angles to create the leaves. A couple of things that helped me create the trees. By having a reference photo to hand and focusing on the different textures I can see, as well as the direction the leaves go in. I'm focusing on the shape of the tree, which is a pyramid or triangular shape. The leaves are thinner and shorter at the top. So I'm being very precise with my tabs. And then the leaves, they can become longer towards the bottom. So my dark strokes become more elongated. I'm not using too much water when I create the trees either. As I want to create a lot of texture and it's best to use a dry brush for this. It may take a little bit of practice, but you will soon get the hang of creating these types of trees. To create trees that appear further in the distance, we're using the same effects just with a bit more water. I've diluted down the black paint so that it appears gray. This will give the illusion that the trees are forever and the distance as they are less defined and softer, as you paint starts to dry, it will dry a lot more translucent than the other trees because there's less pigment. This is one of the techniques we will be using in a painting. If you want to, you can spend some time just practicing using the fan brush before you start painting trees. Just to give you an idea of the different effects you can create. Next, we'll be learning how to create some branches. And we'll be using this technique and the last painting when we paint our tree and a sunset background. To create the branch, I'm using a small precision brush as branches, a very thin, I'm using light brushstrokes and I'm making sure to apply some water as well so the lines flow. If your brush becomes too dry, the lines will become thickened, fuzzy. Whereas if you're using water, the lines will be sharper and more defined. I'm being really gentle with this and tapering of the line to create the jacket point. You see on branches. I use a dry brush technique a lot when I'm creating texture like trees and foliage and paintings. Some great brushes to use for dry brush techniques is cheap and poor quality brushes as their bristles are often very hard. Let's have a little practice at creating dry brush techniques. The trick is to use very little water so that there is less movement in paint and more texture is created. I'm creating short, quick and hard dabbing motion. And this creates a lot of texture. This is the technique we will be using for our last painting. If you find that your brush is too dry, then you can add slightly more water and that will create a looser effect. It may take some practice to get the water to paint ratio how you like, but it's a great technique to use to create a simple oak tree design. We're going to use the dry brush technique with the heart. We motion to push the paint into the crevices. This will help us create leaf texture that you see on trees and will help fill in the crown of the tree. To create the tree trunk, we're using a small precision brush and working down from the leaves of the tree. This creates a realistic trunk attached to the crown of the tree. To create the branches, we're continuing to use the precision brush. And we're creating a thin line stemming from the trunk of the tree to the tree crown. I'm using a light pressure for this and a good flow of water to make sure the lines are sharp and flow. Now that we've had some practice with our paints, Let's start creating our first galaxy painting. 4. Painting 1: Night Sky Galaxy Painting: Now it's time to create our first painting. And to this, I was inspired by this reference photo which I have on the screen. I've attached to it in the projects and resources section, as well as the scammed in copy of my painting. When using a reference photo, you want to identify features in the photo that you can recreate in your paintings, e.g. the colors in the photo and different textures. For this painting, I'll be using a lot of blues, purples and pinks, and primarily using the wet on wet technique and building layers. I started by taping down my painting to the surface to prevent warping. Now I'm just using my mop brush to pick up a generous amount of water to apply to the paper. If you don't have a mop brush, just use a large watercolor brush. Instead. You want to apply a couple of layers of water to create a clear wash, but just make sure you don't over saturate the paper. Your paper should be wet to the touch and the wet surface will help your watercolors to move and flow. Now you want to start mixing up colors that you want to drop into your painting. It's best to start with lighter colors first, so you can build up value and tone in your painting. All I'm doing is gently tapping the brush with the paint on into areas. As the paper is wet, the colors will bleed across the surface of the paper and into each other. So you don't want to work them into each other too much, they will bleed naturally. I've started with some light blue and then I start to add in some purples and other colors. I can see in the reference. Don't worry if at this stage your colors are looking very light, will be working in layers and building up saturation and value as we go. The wet-on-wet technique will also dilute the pigment azure using a heavy water to paint ratio keeps dropping in different colors and really try and identify the colors you see in your reference photo. And also where the light sources and where it's darker. It's typical of galaxies to have a light source in the center. And I'm making sure not to apply too much pigment to this part of the paper. You will also need to work fairly quickly too, because watercolor is a fast drying medium. What you don't want is for some areas to start drying and then add more paint on top because you can get a lot of streaks and your painting. As the paper starts to dry, you'll notice that the colors bleed less. And this is because watercolor only moves where there is water. That dry of the paper is, the less the color will move. That's why you can see here that when I add more blue in, it bleeds less and is more saturated. But I'm still adding in some color as the paper isn't fully dry. Just keep going with dropping in colors and just gently pressing onto the paper in areas I feel needs more saturation. I'm using a dabbing motion to press into the crevices. You'll slowly start to see more saturation in your painting. But don't worry if the colors are still light, as this is only our first layer. Once your first layer has dried, you can go ahead and re-wet the paper and using a clear wash of water. And again, I'm wetting the paper down with a generous amount of water. I normally do a couple of layers and start adding in my paint. Now that we are working on a new layer, you can start to add in more tight and shadows. I'm going to focus on increasing the values and the painting, identifying where those light and dark tones are and creating more contrast in the painting. I'm using the same colors as the first layer, but you'll notice that this time There's definitely a lot more saturation. And that's because you're adding more pigment onto the paper. And there's already a layer underneath. I'm using a soft dabbing motion to help push the colors into the paper and encouraged them to bleed. I'm also using this effect to mimic the feel of clouds and textures in the sky. I'm making sure that motions. I use a software because you can disturb the layers underneath if you're being too harsh with your brushstrokes. As the paper starts to dry, you'll notice the colors will move less. So you can take the opportunity to drop in a few bolder colors if you like to start making the painting pop. One tip I have to lighten areas is to use a clean brush and lift up some color from the paper. This will help create lighter tones. Moving on to our third layer, again, I've waited for the painting to dry and now I'm applying another clay wash. This time I'm using less water as I don't want to delete the colors too much. I want the colors to be a lot bolder now. And to really make this painting pop. I'm repeating the same steps as before, so I'm using the same colors and applying a gentle dabbing motion. I'm looking at increasing contrast now by darkening areas up and intensifying some of those highlights, I'm creating shadows on the outer part of the painting. And I'm dropping in some different hues of purples and blues. This is really increasing the richness of the painting. But you do need to remember that once the paint dries, you will leave some saturation. See how the colors are moving a lot less than the first layer. Thus because I've used less water. So like I said, the paint won't flow as much. You can see that from the first layer to this layer, there is so much more definition in the painting. So really does pay off to work in layers, even though it can be quite time-consuming, waiting for the layers to dry. Earlier on, I mentioned that we will be using gouache paint to create splatters. And for this painting, I'm using it in two different ways. I'm using gouache whilst the painting is still slightly wet, and I'm just using a brush and pressing it into the paper. I'm doing this to create more highlights and lighten up the center of the sky. So as you can see here, I've put there in the center of the painting, and this will start to bleed out and becomes softer, is also going to help create more of that star effect that you'll see in a lot of galaxy photos. I'm also applying this into some of the darker areas. But here the splatters are a lot more translucent, so it's not bringing down that saturation too much. I've now waited for this painting to dry before I create the splatter effect. For this effect, I prefer using a flat brush and I'm using my finger to gently flick the paint onto the paper. I'm using white gouache for this as it's thicker and more opaque than watercolor. And as you can see, you get a very realistic result. You can create as much splatter as you like. Just have fun and don't worry about getting messy. You can also experiment with using different size brushes and different types of brushes to see what variation of splatters you get. I really liked how this one turned out. I'd love to see your version of the painting. But let's move on to the second painting. 5. Painting 2: Full Moon Galaxy Painting : For this painting, we're painting a full moon on a night sky was shooting stars. And I was inspired by this reference photo, which I've attached in the projects and resources section below. I really liked the colors and the reference, but I will be using a lot more blues and purples for my painting. As I want to mimic a night sky with a horizon. I started by taping the paper down to the surface. As like I said, I'm painting on watercolor sheets and it needs to be taped down. For this painting. We're also going to be using some masking fluid to cover the moon. And you want to apply masking fluid with a cheap brush. I'm applying masking fluid as I wanted to cover the moon to prevent watercolor from bleeding. But if you just want to paint around the moon and avoid using masking fluid, you can. I'm using a cheap brush for application as masking fluid can ruin brushes. I'm just applying a generous amount and it's important not to start painting until it has dried. For this painting, I'm using the wet on wet technique. I'm using a clear wash of water and gently coating the paper. I also just want to point out that I have put freshwater into my jars. So I'm not using the same water. Has the last painting. Again, I'm applying a couple of layers of water. Now I'm starting to pick up colors onto my brush. And I'm creating a lot of blue tones in this painting. I'm starting with some lighter blaze using gentle long brush strokes to cover the surface of the paper. I'm using a gradient effect here. So this is the technique we practiced in our warm-up session. I'm dragging the pigment from the top of the paper down and being very soft with my brush strokes. You can keep adding in color as long as the paper is still wet to the touch. If the first paint application starts drying and you add more water on top, start getting unpleasant effects. So work quickly and only add more color if the paper is still wet. Now I'm letting that first layer of paint dry and to speed up the process a bit, I'm using a mini fan. Fans are the best way to promote faster drying. As if you use a hairdryer, the hot air can cause your paper to buckle. Now the paper has dried. I'm applying another layer of clear water. I'm just adding one layer for this as I don't want the paper to be too wet. I'm beginning to work more on that gradient. So I'm dropping in more color at the top and I'm sweeping the brush down across the surface of the paper. I'm starting to use a bit more of a harder pressure now too. So to do this, I'm holding the brush closer to the tip. I'm applying a bit more pressure to my brush strokes because I want to create little breaks in the horizon, almost like little ripples and breaks in the clouds. This will help just create more texture in the sky. Keep going with adding in more color, trying to increase the saturation in your painting. Remember, we are working in layers. So it does take time to build up the saturation and values. As the paper starts to dry, there's less movement of pigment. Now I'm dropping in some dark blues and deep purples and also adding in some shadows into the bottom part of the painting. As my light source is in the middle. Once the layer has dried, you'll notice that you lose saturation. So that's why you need to keep building tone and value. I'm applying a new coat of water and continuing to build on shadows and highlights. I'm adding in some royal blue into the areas I want to intensify and create more shadow. My brushstrokes are soft, but I'm applying a bit more pressure in areas I want to highlight. By adding more pressure, it lift some of that color up and creates more contrast. I always find that by the third layer, I'm really starting to increase all of the tones, values, saturation, highlights and shadows. And it's because you already have two layers of pigment underneath. And I've used less water as a base, so there's less movement of paint. I'm continuing to work a lot of blues and purples into my painting. For the lighter blues, I'm using ultramarine, cobalt blue for my mid tones. I'm using turquoise blue for dark tones. I'm using intense play and Prussian blue for the purple tones. I'm using purple lake move and dioxazine purple. These are all paints from the Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolor set of 45 half pans. You can see the transformation of this painting now and how rich and intense the colors are. This will really help keep saturation once the paper dries. You can also see the little breaks in the sky and highlights. And now adding a bit of gouache paint into the background to create some bold stars. I'm using a precision brush and the tip of the brush to create dots. The paper is still slightly wet so the stars will become more subtle. Now the paper has dried. I'm using my flat brush to create a spray in the background and mimic that story effect. I'm gently flicking the brush with my finger to create the spray. And you can create as much spray as you like to create the shooting stars. All I'm doing is using the tip of my brush to create a dot. And I'm attaching a thin line to the dots and tapering it outwards. Once this is all dried, it's time to remove the masking fluid. And you can just use your fingers for this. Peel away the masking fluid. I'm now going to paint the moon. Firstly, I'm using a medium-size brush and applying a light coat of plain water. This will really help the colors to bleed into each other. Don't worry if some paint from the background has seeped in because it will all blend out when we apply more colors. I'm now going to drop in some colors. And I'm using some different gray tones and creating shadows on the moon and also light sources. I decided to create some shadows on the outer part of the moon and a light source in the center. So this means I'm applying darker grays on the outside and lighter grays in the middle. I'm just dropping the paint in a letting it bleed. And I'm using my brush gently to push colors into each other and create subtle blending. I'm also adding in a couple of brown tones. As you can see, brown hues on the moon. The wet on wet technique also helps create texture like you'd see on the surface of the Moon. When the Moon has nearly dried, I'm using a clean dry brush to lift up pigment. I'm pressing down a lifting with the brush. And what this does is it intensifies contrast and highlights. I'm also lifting up any excess masking fluid and defining the shape of the moon. Before I finish as a last step, I'm also increasing shadows. This is the finished painting. So let's move on to the third painting, where we'll be painting the northern lights. 6. Painting 3: Northern Lights Galaxy Painting: For this painting, I was inspired by the Northern Lights. And I use this reference photo for inspiration. I really like the swirl effect in the sky and the trees in the foreground. For my painting, I wanted to incorporate a lot of blues tails and green, as well as create a simple silhouette of trees similar to the trees we practice painting. In our warm-up session, we're going to start off with a clear wash of water and we'll apply a couple of layers of water to the paper. This will help us to create colors that bleed into each other, similar to the dancing waves of light you see in the northern lights. I'm now going to start dropping in colors into the background. And I'm starting with some light greens and blues because you want to work from light to dark. I'm using soft paint strokes and pushing gently down onto the paper to press the color in. I'm not overworking colors into much as I want them to bleed and blend into other colors that I apply. I'm just mapping out the different color patterns I want. So e.g. some tail light blue and bright green. As I'm trying to recreate a bluey green sky. I also want to get a bit of pigment down onto the paper before I start creating the waves and swells. Once I've got some pigment down, I want to start creating the waves. The first thing I do is I identify a starting point for the wave. So I've chosen the top-left corner to start the wave front using long gentle brushstrokes to pull the color down from the top and start creating the illusion of waves. As the paper is wet, the waves will be soft and that's what you want. Because if the waves are too harsh, they don't look natural. They will start looking like lines. When in reality, all the colors and the Northern Lights blending smoothly. I keep adding more color into the top of the wave and drag the color down. And I'm also working some color into the bottom of the painting to soften the waves. I switch to a flat brush. If I want to create sharper edges. If I want to create a flat wash of color, I'd recommend using a large flat brush as it will cover a larger surface area. I'm continuing to drop in more color. And using the flat side of the brush, I'm pulling the color down into the wave effect. You should now start to see the general shape of the waves and where the darkest and lightest parts are. You'll also notice how I've left some areas free of paint to preserve those highlights. Now this layer has dried. Let's work on a new layer. I'm using a clear wash of water. I'm wetting down the surface of the paper again. For this layer, I'm focusing on increasing saturation. So I really want to darken up some of those blues and make the grains more vibrant. Using a flat brush and dropping and dragging in some of the Prussian blue from my Cotman watercolor set. And this is increasing pigmentation. I'm also adding entail, and this will help to transition the blue and green in together more subtly. I'm continuing to add more saturation, adding a lots of different colors. The colors I'm using here, ultra marine, cobalt blue, turquoise, fallow green, and viridian hue. And these are colors from the Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolor set. The paper is still wet to the touch, but it's starting to dry. So I'm adding in Prussian blue, which is a dark blue to increase the richness of the painting. I'm working this n from the top and following the direction of the wave. I'm avoiding adding this color into our lightest areas. As you lose contrast. You will also see how the wave transitions into the horizon too. So everything is a seamless transition of color. Moving on to our third layer, again, once dry, you can apply more water to the paper. And remember to use soft brush strokes because you don't want to disturb the layers underneath, especially the waves. Watercolor can become reactivated with water. So always be gentle. I'm intensifying the shadows now. So I added in more Prussian blue, which is a dark and rich blue. I added that into the top part of the waves. I'm also making the greens richer and I'm using viridian hue to make the green Boulder. I'm using the mop brush again because I want to apply the colors to a large surface area. And it's easier to do this with a large brush. Now I want to create more highlights. And to do this, I'm using a clean flat brush and pressing down onto the paper and lifting. This will lift some of the pigment backoff the paper and make the highlights stand out more to create some breaks and texture in the sky. I'm using my mop brush and dropping in a couple of drops of water whilst the painting is still wet. I'm adding in some splatters with white gouache whilst the paper is still wet. To create subtle stars in the sky. Once dry, the splatter has become more translucent. So I'm going to create more opaque splatters with goulash. I'm using my finger to flick the brush and spray. Once everything has dried, it's time to add in our trees. I'm taking a small precision brush and creating the trunk of the tree by painting a sharp thin line. Then I'm taking a fan brush with some black paint and using the corner of the fan brush, I'm creating a dabbing motion. If you don't have a fan brush, you can create a similar effect with a pointed brush. Look at the shape of the tree. This tree is tall and thin and has a slight pyramid shape to it. Our leaf texture needs to mimic the shape of the tree and direction the leaves are positioned. For this tree, we're starting with a sharp point at the top of building our leaf texture outwards to fill out the body of the tray. Keep building up texture. Use dabbing motions to help you create the leaves. Now you can see that there is more of a pyramid shape to the tree. Repeat the same steps for the next trees that you create. So start off by creating a thin sharp line for the trunk and then start building up leaf texture with a fan or pointed brush and tapping motion. I also like to create different size trees as well. So I created a shorter tree to create some dimension in the foreground. I really like how this painting turned out. I think it's one of my favorites from this class. But let's move on to our next painting, which was a forest painting in an evening sky. 7. Painting 4: Evening Forest Galaxy Painting: I was inspired by this photograph for our next painting. As I loved the trees in the foreground and the evening sky in the background. I started off by applying a couple of layers of water to my paper. So I'm using the wet on wet technique first to create soft layers of color. For this painting, I'm creating a slightly different look. I'm adding some color into the bottom and top of the painting as my lightest areas will be in the center of the painting. I started off by applying some pink hues. And the colors I'm using for my set. Crimson hue, permanent rose, and rose madder. But if you don't have the specific colors, you can use any light pinks and pinks with a reddish undertone. I apply it the pink tones at the bottom of the painting and created a gradient effect to the center. Then I started adding in some purple hues into the top portion of the painting. And use gentle brushstrokes to marry the two colors in the middle of the painting. The colors I used were purple lake, a move, but you can use lighter purples instead. If you don't have these colors. I have now let that first layer of paint dry because I want to create a new layer and add more saturation in. Now I want to create the fail of an evening sky. And I'm adding some yellow hues into our painting. When you look outside, quite often you will see rich yellows and oranges where the sun is setting. And that is my inspiration for this painting. The color I'm using is the cadmium yellow, which is a mustard color. I'm working this n from the bottom where the sun is setting. And I'm using really soft sweeping motions to work the color in across the surface of the paper. I'm adding in some pink hues and I'm using a bright pink code, permanent rose. I'm adding this into the center of the painting to add a bit more richness and color created from the sun setting. I'm sweeping this upwards to create soft transition of color. I also work this down again for seamless transition. I'm going back in and adding more colors in as the paper starts to dry a bit, I'm adding in more yellows and orange to really saturate the paper. The colors, I'm using a cadmium yellow pale hue, cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, and cadmium red pale. But you can use a light yellow, mustard color, bright orange and orangey red instead. I'm adding in more color because when watercolor dries, you lose a lot of saturation. Especially if you're using pans because the paint isn't as thick, you want each layer to increase saturation and values as it will help the next layer intensify. I'm continuing to use gentle, soft sweeping motions to work the colors in our work, the yellows and oranges and from the bottom up, and the blues and purples in from the top down. I smooth my layers out by gliding over the paper to create a seamless transition. Sometimes you may find using a flat brush will help you create a flat wash better. We're moving on to our third layer now. And as you can see, this is how the paint dries. They lose a lot of saturation. This is why it's always best to work in layers. I'm just adding another wash of water to saturate the paper ready to apply more paint. I'm applying more cadmium orange to the bottom of the horizon. And I'm pulling this color up into the painting. Adding more color will intensify the richness of the painting. And working it up, we'll smooth in and soften it out into the horizon. I'm also slowly increasing my tones. I started off with the cadmium orange, which is a bright orange. And I started with this color because you always want to start off with your brightest and lightest colors first. Then I move on to incorporating more tone and increasing the values. I start moving on to incorporating some reddish orange juice and then move into red hues. So our process is to start with the lightest and brightest tones, which are the oranges, move into radish oranges and then finally reds, because the reds are more intense and can be overpowering if you add them in fast. Now we've intensified that sunset. I want to add more contrast and by darkening up the top part of the sky. To do this, I'm going back in with some deep and rich purples and dark blues. This will add a lot more contrast into our painting. I'm working those colors in from the top and dragging down, stopping and around the first third of the painting. I do this because I don't want to muddy the sunset. Keep intensifying those colors and really trying to increase contrast. Because like I said, when the paint dries, you lose saturation. You want to create the illusion of the sun's setting. So naturally the sky is lighter near the horizon where the sun is setting and darker at the top where there is a lack of light. I decided to go in with one final layers of colors. As I felt, I lost some saturation when the layer dried. Again, this is the same process, wetting down the paper first and then intensifying all the colors for the sunset evening sky. You want to repeat the same steps as before. So looking at where needs more pops of color, creating soft transitions of color, increasing contrast. As the paper starts to dry, the colors will become even more intense. And this will help with color saturation. Now we're moving on to create the trees. I start by painting the trunk using a precision brush and creating a thin line. You can add in as many trees as you like. I'm trying to recreate a forest. Now I'm taking a fan brush and what I like to do is angle this and different ways to help create a leaf texture. I'm also using black paint, but I've mixed it with some water to create a more translucent effect. This will help create the illusion of trees fading into the distance. Once the paint dries. I'm using dab emotions with the fan brush and I'm looking at the direction the leaf texture goes in, as well as the shape of the tree. I'm using a factory as inspiration. And I've attached a few reference photos of trees in the projects and resources section below. I map out the general leaf texture first, and then I will start to fill the texture out. If I feel it looks a bit sparse. To fill out the tree texture, I continue to use stabbing motions and press the brush down into areas to apply more pigment. I repeat the same process for the second tree. I use watered down black paint and I start to build up my leaf texture and shape of the tree. I also want to mention that normally trees forever in the background will appear taller and trees in the foreground shorter because they're closer to you. It may take a little practice to get the hang of using a fan brush. And if you find it easier, you can use a pointed brush instead to create the trees. I continue to repeat the same steps for the next couple of trees I paint. I also like to create a variation of different size trees. Naturally trees come in all different shapes and sizes. And depending on your focal point, like I said, some trees may appear larger and shorter if they're closer to you and taller if they're further away. Now I want to create some trees that appear closer to me. So to create this illusion, I'm using thick black paint and only a small amount of water. I'm starting by creating the trunk of a tree with a thin precision brush and creating a line. And then I began to create the leaf texture. My fan brush. Again, I'm using gentle dabbing motions and I'm looking at a reference photo to help me outline the general shape of the tree. A third tree is a pyramid tree. So you want to think of its shape as big, very triangular. Take your time to build up your leaf texture. If you find it easier to map out the general shape of the tree first with a few lines, and then just want to add in finer details. After that, you can just do what's comfortable and easiest for you. Repeat the same steps for any new trees that you create. So start by painting the trunk and then start filling in all of the leaf texture. Focusing on the direction of the leaves and the general shape of the tree. Sometimes I even like to have a couple of trees poking out of the frame of the painting. As it adds a new position for the trace. I created a few tiny trees as well. And I used really precise details for this. But I like the effect it gave and how it filled in some empty spaces. Once everything has dried, I started to create some splatters. And I use gouache paint for this and created a milky texture for the paint. And a flat brush. I use my finger to flick the end of the brush. And this helps to create a spray. Again, like I said, for the other paintings, you can create as much spray as you like. Just have fun and get creative. This is the finished first painting on a galaxy inspired evening sky. I really hope you enjoyed this painting and let's move on to our fifth and final painting. 8. Painting 5: Sunset Tree Galaxy Painting: For our final painting, I was inspired by this photo which I have attached in the projects and resources section. I wanted to incorporate a tree silhouette in an evening sky, emerge a galaxy style fill to the painting by adding stars. I started off by applying a clear wash of water. And I'm applying a couple of layers of water to saturate the paper. But remember not to over saturate the paper as we don't want puddles to form or the paper to warp. Now the paper is wet. I'm dropping in some light jello, and I'm going to build up the tones from light to dark. I'll be creating a gradual gradient effect to create a sunset. The yellows I'm using are the lemon yellow, pale cadmium yellow, and cadmium yellow. These are from my Cotman watercolor set. But if you don't have these, just pick a few different yellow hues. I'm whacking this coloring across the entire paper. And I'm using gentle brushstrokes. I'm working my way up from the bottom to the top of the paper. Once the paper is dry, I'm going to re-wet the paper. I'm just applying a light wash of water though, as yellows and oranges are quite light compared to some of the colors I have used the painting. So when they dry, they lose a lot of saturation. By using less water, it will help the colors to settle and won't dilute the colors too much. For this layer, I'm focusing on reading in saturation. So I'm reapplying the same colors as the first layer, starting with a yellow tones at the bottom. And working my way up using gentle brushstrokes and sweeping across the paper. You always want to be gentle with your brushstrokes. You don't lift the layers up underneath. If you're finding, you're lifting up too much pigment with a mop brush and you want smoother layers, then you can switch to using a large flat brush. And that'll create smoother layers. I quite like the effect of the mop brush though. As I don't want my sky too smooth. I'm going to be adding in even more colors now. I gradually increase my yellow hues and start to bring in some orange shoes as well. I'm adding in more yellow hues at the bottom of the horizon where the sun and light source would be. An orange shoes at the top where the sky would be getting darker. I'm working whilst the paper is wet to allow colors to naturally bleed into each other. This really helps with transition of color. To make the painting really pop. I'm trying to focus on increasing contrast. So by this, I mean emphasizing the light and dark areas, there's really helps add dimension to your painting. I'm also adding in some orange, the lighter parts of the sky. This is to help transition the lighters and darkest areas into each other. I'm creating leaves, waves and lines with my brush to add more texture to the sky. Sometimes there are clouds or breaks in the sky. This technique helps to create that illusion. I'm also concentrating on adding more colors to increase the saturation of the sunset. I let the painting dry. And when TIM, of another layer of clear water again, to help us build up more layers and allow the watercolor to move. I only applied one layer of water this time because I want the paper wet to the touch, but not too saturated. Otherwise, it will dilute the colors too much. I want this layer to intensify colors and create richness. I'm focusing on emphasizing the breaks in the sky in this layer, I'm using cadmium orange, which is a bright orange. And with my mop brush, I'm creating soft lines in-between the light areas of the sky. The lines will soften due to the layer of water we added before we started painting. I'm gradually increasing my Hughes. I started with a light bright orange than a mid tone orange. And finally, a reddish orange. I'm creating as much contrast as I can between light and dark areas. I'm adding in some color into the lightest areas to transition the colors and create a softer feel to the breaks in the sky. I want to create more highlighted areas now to increase the contrast in the sky. A simple technique I have for this is to rinse your paintbrush so that it's clean and dab off any excess water with a paper towel. Then with your clean brush, you want to gently press and lift areas of the painting to lift pigment off the paper. I'm using this technique and the lightest breaks in the sky, you can see how it is gently lifting some pigment backoff the paper and making those areas lighter. You may need to experiment with pressure to get the desired effect you're looking for. A tip I have for applying more pressure with your paintbrush is to hold your paintbrush closer to the head of the brush. This will give you more control and make it easier to apply pressure. And then we intensifying the darkest areas and shadows with a reddish orange hue. And this is the cadmium red hue. I'm also applying more subtle pink issues too. I'm using a dark pink hue to do this. As a final step before finishing the background, I just tweak areas. I feel needs a little more paint to really make the painting pop. I'm just adding some splatters whilst the paper is still slightly wet. As this helps to create some softer stars. Once the painting has dried, we're going to create the tree. And I'm taking a brush with hard bristles for this, I'm applying black paint that has been slightly diluted with water. I'm using dry brush techniques to create a lot of texture for the tree, for the crown of the tree, I'm using the dabbing technique to create the leaves. I'm dabbing the brush and each time I press down onto the paper, It's filling in some of the paper crevices, but creating a more textured outcome. Using a reference photo, I'm creating the basic shape of the tree first before adding any more details. Now I have the basic shape of the tree and I want to create a harsher silhouette and a few extra details. Do this. I'm using a thicker amount of black paint. I'm using the dabbing motion to press the paint back over there areas of the tree. What this is doing is adding more pigment but also creating even more texture. Really take your time to build up the leaf texture of the tree. If it helps to study a few reference photos whilst you do this, that I have attached a few photos of similar trees in the projects and resources section. Now we're moving on to creating the trunk. For this. I'm taking a precision brush and I'm starting to branch off from the crown of the tree. I'm just creating some simple lines to create the tree trunk. You want to make sure there's enough water on your paintbrush because water will help the lines flow instead of becoming dry and fuzzy. Once you have the tree trunk and start creating some branches by painting thin lines stemming from the trunk to the crown of the tree. You may need to fill in parts of the crown if you can stay line showing through where you place your branches is up to you. But if you do need a bit of extra help, you can use my painting or one of the reference photos. Now I want to create a hill for the tree to set on. Otherwise, it'll look like it's floating. I'm creating a simple hill with black paint and I'm using a flat brush as this helps moved out unwanted lines. I'm now positioning the brush to create a sharper outline of the hill. I'm just creating the shape of the hill I want before I fill it all in, I start filling in the Hill using my flat brush and a sample mix of black paint and some water. I'm creating grass texture by using a precision brush. And I'm very gently creating a small brush strokes. You want your paint to have a 5050 mix of water and paint as if your brush is too dry. It's not easy to create fun lines. And if it's too wet, the grass will be watery and translucent. All I'm doing is creating soft, short brush strokes with my brush. Really take your time to build up all of that grass texture. It may take some time, but it looks very realistic. Now I'm just going back over the hill and filling in any areas that look patchy with black paint. You can use a pointed brush or a flat brush. For this. I added in some splatters using white gouache paint and a flat brush. And I use my finger to flick the end of the brush. This is the finished painting. And I really enjoyed working on all of these paintings for this class. And I'd love to see all of the paintings you create in our class discussion. 9. Class Summary: I really hope that you've enjoyed this class and all of the lessons that I taught, it's amazing what you can create with watercolor, with just a few basic supplies and techniques. I would love to see what you created for this class. And if you're happy to share with us, then you can share your work in the discussion section down below. Thank you so much for following this class, and I really do hope that you learned a lot about how to paint with watercolors. I'll be back soon with a brand new class. But until then, keep creating.