Achieving Fur Like Textures with Watercolour: wet-on-wet Beagle | Anna Violet | Skillshare
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Achieving Fur Like Textures with Watercolour: wet-on-wet Beagle

teacher avatar Anna Violet, Freelance Illustrator

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Chapter 1: Intro

      1:16

    • 2.

      Chapter 2: Materials

      8:45

    • 3.

      Chapter 3: Reference and Outlines

      9:08

    • 4.

      Chapter 4: Part A: Tracing (skip if you are drawing your own outline)

      4:41

    • 5.

      Chapter 4: Part B: Outline Preparation

      3:50

    • 6.

      Chapter 5: Exploring Painting Technique

      6:04

    • 7.

      Chapter 6: Painting Our Beagle

      11:02

    • 8.

      Chapter 7: Thoughts

      0:59

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About This Class

A beginners tutorial in creating a watercolour illustration of a dog. This tutorial will take you from drawing your own outline right through to painting a completed image using a sophisticated yet simple watercolour technique. I will give you helpful beginners advice on materials and technique, along with some talk around the science of learning and how you can prime yourself for your best paintings yet.

Meet Your Teacher

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Anna Violet

Freelance Illustrator

Teacher

Hello I’m Anna and I’m a freelance illustrator living in the UK. I have also been a qualified teacher for 6 years now. I’m not your average teacher though. I've always been a little rebellious because I believe that believe the best learning doesn't come without making a bit of mess. I’m the type of teacher who gets lost in the art cupboard, knows 101 uses for a piece of tin foil and isn't afraid of her students making mistakes along the way.

Because everybody learns through play, I’m delivering to you a whole world of playful projects that will make you fall in love with watercolour, but even more importantly- fall in love with your own abilities.

See full profile

Level: Beginner

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Transcripts

1. Chapter 1: Intro: Hello and welcome to my first watercolor tutorial. I'm going to show you how to use a technique today. Cool, wet on wet using watercolor. It's a really good, simple technique for achieving the texture, like so or hair on an animal. We're also going to show you some accurate nine during techniques for drawing a good outline of a dog. He's in a good reference. I've added a little challenge for you there, but don't worry if you're not quite ready for that. Because I also added, some resource is at the bottom for you to use said that you can just get off to a head start. This is the finished piece that you have at the end of this project. It's a handle and hands painted image off a beagle. It's ready to frame or to give to somebody special or even just to keep to yourself. But it's also the perfect start for an animation or a surface pattern, sign or print. I'm looking forward to getting started. My first video is gonna be on the materials that I use with some top tips on the essentials as well as some ways that you can save money. See that 2. Chapter 2: Materials: Okay, so in this video, I'm going to show you the materials that I use. I'll go into some detail about paper brushes and paints and also show an overview at the end, just to recap. So, most importantly, this is paper. I use its window Newton, but there are a few Bruns out there of similarly high quality. This is cold pressed, and most importantly, it's 300 GSM. It needs to be sick because we're using a fair amount of water on anything. Dinner will result in the paper ripping on paint. Pooling on that isn't to say that you can't stretch in gum, a lighter weight paper that's easier than its homes. By the way, I can show you that in another tutorial on that shows that stops the paper from warping. But you still have to be careful with how maney brushstrokes you use. So we're just gonna keep things simple. Antes 300 GSM paper m. I buy an A three pack just because it's cheaper, and then I trim it into a postcard size piece. I also use sketchbooks like this one. This is a see white sketchbook of Brighton on. It's really lovely paper. In fact, it's been whiter than the Windsor and Newton paper, too. So that's great. Carrying around in a course, you can always trim it after the book when you finished your piece on. If you're trimming the paper like me, don't discard any off cuts, because this is gonna be really useful for one of the exercise that we do in this tutorial . This is the brush the IEA's. It's a Windsor and Newton Siri's three Brush. It's around, and it's a number six Windsor, New Tempera. Jeez, materials and free. Siri's going of professional quality is the number increases. I can't say I've ever bean t fussy about which range I choose my paints from, but I think it can matter more with brushes and awards color. The brush really matters. It doesn't matter so much with acrylic or with oil pains. I use the cheapest brushes for my oil pains, but watercolor, you need good brushes and but save you that money, I'm going to show you how I can use just the warm brush to produce a surprisingly wholesome variety of outcomes. So this is a number six round. Being ground is a really good shape for a variety off textures that we're gonna create with paint. It's also got fairly stiff bristles, so you've got quite a bit of control with it on the paper s Oh, I'd say it's particularly good as a beginner's brush. Then there's the paints. This is an old 10 that I was given to you by my dad on. It was given before I knew how to really look after my paints properly so you can see I've created some wells in the pains. And but I think this is just to prove how long you can have a set of painful, and they will still deliver the goods. This is called a set of help half pounds. Good because you can buy less paint, but with more variety. These pants have lasted me for least three years with regular painting, and so they last a long time. These are the colors that I have, but you don't really have to have the exact same pigments. All you really need. A set of light and dark trains, each colors. I actually have three yellows. There's a cab, me and yellow, which is a very intense, bright yellow. There's an Indian yellow, which is more of a new orange tone on and a yellow coco, which is actually my favorite yellow just because it's not too intense, overwhelming. It's more of a neutral, darker he and there's two reds, so there's a scarlet lake red that's a much more yellow red on a darker red, which is Alice airing crimson. Um, there's also T shades of brown as a lighter brown, which is a burnt sienna on a dark brown, which is raw number. This is a really good neutral brown because it's not too yellow and not to read. So when mixtures of the colors it makes a nice, neutral tone. There's also T greens as a more blue green on more yellow green, the more green is a meridian green. On the other green is a stop green and about tea please. As personally, that's like a really deep dark, really like in a deeply on there's cobalt blue, which is like the highest Pickman to blue. So it's a really intense color, and that's a good one to have to on. Then, of course, there's also a white I've got Chinese white, Andi, There's black now I use a cheap black. I used this. It's called Rolando. It's the equivalent T lump black from the Windsor and Newton Range. But it's really good, because this just proves that you can use chewed paints. They're not as high quality as the Windsor, neat and palate, just because they don't really have the same color intensity on. They don't always mix as well when you're using a wet on what technique, but they still produce him really good outcome. So I really wouldn't put off buying those if you're looking to save money for now. But if you are looking to use cheap paints, I'd advise you just to hop in the palate first, make a pea size amount on bled that dry for 10 minutes, and then you'll have a paint that's similar consistency toe I'm gonna be using. You also need something to block with. Um, here. I've got some kitchen towel. It's fairly thick and advised not to use toilet roll just because it crumbles really easily and gets in the Brussels of you. Brush in. It really were in a picture sometimes, um, I also use a Tao instead of a kitchen, tell sometimes just because you can reuse it, so it's more eco friendly. Plus, I can have it on my lap. So all the time that I'm painting effort drip any pain till water, it's that captured on. Don't forget. You also need a small jar of water. You also need a pencil just to stand that HB will do on. Do you need a river? Perfectly a pretty river. He's a great just because you can mold them, um, about more accurately. And also, if you're looking to you, trace some of the resource is that I provided you will need some tracing paper. You don't have to buy artist tracing paper. You can just use baking parchment. It's pretty much the same thing. It comes with a waxed side, which will transfer the image knees, that I'll show you how to use that. So here's an overview just to summarize. That's 300 GSM cold pressed watercolor paper, some scrap paper for working up, and also some baking parchment or tracing paper upset the paints, watercolor paints, sunny six round brush, blotting paper, petit ryba, penso and water. Say that all of the materials that you'll need I'll see you in the next video 3. Chapter 3: Reference and Outlines: in this part of the tutorial, I'm going to show you how to draw an actual outline off a dog using reference. But I'm also going to set you a mini challenge tusk, and that is to fill an a four sheet with outlines. Our monkey, probably one key dogs. This is a brilliant exercise to do you know only for the project that we're about to complete. But we'll say for one very key thing on that is hand muscles. So people often say that drawing is like riding a bike. Once you've learned some fundamental aspects, you can always pick it up again. That's true, but there's something people often forget on. That's that if you want to ride a bike, you do actually have to have muscles to be able to do it on. The stronger your muscles are, the better you're going to bake. And that's actually the same federal ring. So exercising more hands daily with things called fine motor tasks the best way to ensure that you do your best in your drawing and painting. So let's begin by analyzing the skeleton off beagle on doing lots of wonky airlines. So here is my reference image off a beagle. I'm gonna show you how Teoh just pick out the key features off a dog and it's sort of skeletal structure. So I'm just gonna show you using this simple bull online technique. So I'm just finding the main muscle masses from where the joint saw. That's helping me think about the shape, that dog. I'm just having a look at proportions as well. And they'd sing that the tail extends a fair bit taller than the head. It's about half the width of the head again. Okay, SE, the main body mass is here fully by a larger one. Here, there's a joint here that's kind of like the dogs elbow. So I'm told. And this is like the base off where our hand would be. Did you forget? There's a foot Hiten 10 there? I think I put that one in the little price, noticing the height of the belly here and now, Miss So the appointed, which the body of the dog is much thinner, I think a So if we transferred that onto paper, I'll be starting with the largest areas, looking at a distance between them as well. Top tip when you're drawing dogs. Were any animal in fact, with four legs this tohave a ground level where the feet are going to meet because the one kiss dogs usually occur when their feet are not touching the ground. Looking at this hind like And how the back and the ankle at nine extends out. Letta Just like effectively base that would this worm. So that the same level is this going to It's really settle a Suppose if you're in a dog, come home lightly tonight. How talks like spend. I don't own a dog. I ain't cats on the head. I'm looking at a distance cause the neck it's fairly long. So I'm gonna leave a good distance for other head His Yeah, like triangular shape touches the base of this area. The nays like this. Okay, King a little bit like that slinky dog in Toy Story. Well, I'm gonna join these large muscle masses together. Do you remember that spell? It goes in the okay around that we'll be able more of an elbow there. I think that by doing that Sun Xiang G that no artist is perfect. Everything always comes out at the end of a long line from stakes. And this helps you got to make those mistakes first to get better. Or you do. Okay, um, hidden down here. Okay, so that's no the king. Amazing. But I feel like the shape is fairly accurate. So now I'm gonna transfer that It's no. I'm gonna transfer that t my a four sheet. You can use any pencil, pen colored pencil wherever you like to do this. Let's just fill the sheet now the higher he drove the back leg for further away Teoh. Sorry, Hydro. The's T likes the further away they are from the legs of the front feel vision. So that would give the impression that they have a wide gate when they're walking. Whereas if the close together, then they would be drawn lower down. So there we have it, a page filled with since that, you know, okay, badly proportioned. But on the whole good practice docks, I say forget this definitely doesn't need to the perfect look. It's because of what you want. Because the whole point of that is to learn as you go along on to exercise these muscles 4. Chapter 4: Part A: Tracing (skip if you are drawing your own outline): So, if you know, confident with doing grown outlines. Andi just wanting to get started with the paint date than the problem. It'll you go at your own pace. So I've got some outlines that I've created and that you can just print off. I'm just gonna show you how to use tracing paper place. So you crappy tracing paper. Andi Pop Eva, you're chasing dark outline. Then you go over your outline in pencil very carefully. Regular HB is good for this, so you'll be going over the mat side off your baking parchment or tracing paper. But bake baking parchment can actually be a much cheaper alternative, and you can find it in any supermarket, and the other side will be Shinya opus. If Korea that's the surface that when you apply your pencil to it, it will transfer easily onto the paper se. If we wanting a dog facing in the same direction as the one on the printout, we're going over the mutt side first. It's just as accurately as you can press on a bit, too, just to make sure you get enough graphite, Let I can't when you turn over. This will transfer slightly But the idea of this is to go over accurately again, just to have the image on the correct side on the shiny side ready to transfer become the same direction it will transfer. So it's facing the same direction as the original, um, image. So again, you press on because you want to transfer as much graphite as you can and you can move it around this pit because you're no actually meaning to transfer your just creating a Jeep liquor. This is a really quick process on really great hands on way to just Jeep like a any, um, outlines that you want. Of course, this is how we used to create patterns on its away. That money artist's and illustrator's still use, um, to create patterns before they retouch them. Digit Klay. Okay, say them when you're ready. Take transfer. If you use any watercolor papers in your pockets on watercolor paper, the surgery is gonna go on the page. Now you got to remember to hold him in one place the whole time. You can't start pressing and then move that you end up with dog body parts all over your paging. Really? Don't eso just try to keep him in one place. You can use a paper clip and all right, just try to hold exits. No, Begin that she transferring. You want to go away? The the lines? Um, a bit more boldly, because he wants to make sure that what you're basically doing is pressing the graph I into the paper so you could get the same effect by just literally pushing the pencil onto it, Can you see? But it is obviously a lot easier to do with pencil tip because it's ah, it's not too sharp that it's gonna go through the paper on its pointy enough to be accurate . Andi also leaves behind a trace so you can see why you already gone. Of course, you could do with a different color pencil and then you'll know even more accurately what you've already traced. Yeah, todo as you traced outline, ready to paint 5. Chapter 4: Part B: Outline Preparation: we're gonna these days on dog skeletons Teoh be going on. If you're not doing it by hand, that's fine on using be free trace bulls using Do not just you're just one way of eating this central just because the pain take about. Even with something shares effectively, anyone would be covered. Was any blinds something? Get a good people just because I don't want to $10 people. Just something to say that I think you know too obvious. Still see quite helpful to imagine where lithe, making things that's effectively alive, area on the booth lines where this morning to shelter and, of course, most so like corners. Could I do with the shape of touch about the lines between then it will just pay a much more loose finish. 6. Chapter 5: Exploring Painting Technique: So we're going to be using the wet on wet technique Teoh paint affair on this dog. And so the first thing you'll need Teoh is takes a more term to your brush and then just knocks him off. You don't want to have your brush to dump, you're gonna be picking up Cem. Yeah, I care. And then acting bit more water. That way we go enough Pickman lated onto brush. But it's also been watered down. I say, If we create and the area here one still done, we're gonna workshop brush again, knock off a bit of the water. This time we're going to take some raw on birth. So watch what happens when you add that heavily pigmented color Teoh a color that still slightly dumb. Let's see how it runs and athletes into the other color. What's lovely about this effect is how it just creates, um, more of a diffused effect with the paint and and it's more, um, feathered, its last crisp, and it's small, natural looking. It's more like how fair appears on animal. You can also make that run a bit more by late in your brush with a bit more water t much just adding it to the paint, watching as it flows into the other color seem What do you like? The Look off when you've added water to the paint. You can also take away that pigment again by using a dried brush. Say, top it on your town or paper with the new notice How it takes that backup. So just play around, See what he learned from just messing with the paints on. Well, so I can t using a lot of Chinese white safely of that section first. No, because we using That's quite great. That's he stepped for a previous donkey just a little bit. Um so because we're using quite a thick paper, this allows us to make more strikes back and forth. And I wouldn't recommend doing this on a thin paper because before you know, you'll have a whole and you really shouldn't go with the paper more like three times your brush, because but one is what? Because you will end up and making a thorn layers that will start to come off and right, so I'm just gonna keep that we're gonna add more water, which cause if this wasn't white. It would be making the color a lot more transparent on the paper and which would matter depending on what you're painting. But since this is a white background my dad were et much on. I'm gonna laid some yellow acre on my brush. This time I'm gonna mix it a bit before hands in between picking up color and gonna wash off the other double my toe lady with a little bit of water so I can pick up the role on the world. No. Makes really nice. They got a nice deep cover because she can dip in and out of your pilot like this just means your product gets messy and quicker. So then, if we add that Teoh, this patch of Chinese white that's been dampened a bleed really nicely. And of course, it will mix with that white as well, creating more of a Grady in between the colors. And if you want to build more, you could God more color to each section. Look, say to see what happens is you top it on. Look in this area. See, you really start to create something that's a bit tonight. Done here. Okay, It's starting to look like a cow high, doesn't it? Um, se as the first layer of paint dries. When you start to add a heavily pigmented color, you'll see how you have more control labour. It doesn't spread or bleed quite as much. I just painted on this paper. It's not dumped. Or would it? Just sits exactly where you put it. Neighborly Digital, uh, say, just experiment with how much you want your pain to bleed as well. But course, just be open to the effects that happen. Have a play, see what you like. The cough. 7. Chapter 6: Painting Our Beagle: we've had a play. We ready to apply these techniques? Teoh, be gold outline Gonna my brush school toe lots of Chinese white on because we're starting with the lightest color and that she gonna paint the whole dog. If you've done any watercolor lessons or tutorials already, you'll be aware that you should always start with the lightest color on the lightest tone and build a getting darker and darker in stages and then the layers that you develop. But this dog is gonna be dead easy because we're just gonna paint him a white begin with spotted a bit of the line not to worry out. Sleeve it. If you're really not happy with a little bit, they got over the line and always able to just pull it away again. When the slightly damp brush, as long as that brushes fully clean of any other color, do not do this. You just added a highly pigmented Call it your brush social and as you go along anyway, um, I think some more paint just to the legs on the opposite side of his body. You'll notice how the color becomes a lot more opaque than we build up. That just gives the impression of a bit of Shatti. It will say, Do this on his muscle. Words could remain white, perhaps around the base of his feet, just to give the impression of shadow. You don't want to ever do it. Just do it in the areas where they will be the least light hitting his body. Okay, we're gonna wash brush, but leaves a more Theron because we want to ensure. But this main area of his body is still dumped because we're gonna be applying that bleed effect that we practiced in previous video. So you're gonna get that yellow Waco, mix it with some more on bird just because less yellow watered down a bit, but it's still heavily pigmented. And we're going to add that to the sections off this because body it's more of a ton color just really light strikes. There's no need to press your bush down that color seeping straight Oh, onto the dump age. I'm actually going to cover all the areas that are also black as well as Tom. Because then when I applied the black at the top, it will have that same bleed effect throughout so I'm thinking happen. Dampened the ear area here. So absolutely water again before I have a defect. Just gonna take some of the water away. I don't want it to be, too. When it's tetum it come, just run eight lines, Okay? I'm actually gonna paint the shape first and then fill it in the middle. Said the outline will be dark her. And if you really want to make areas lighter again, you can have just a gently blotted brush. Take away Cem of the color, depending on what you want. And, of course, if you want it darker, cannot cover again. I'm just gonna check my reference for where I want that cover. I'm not going. Teoh Dump in his face quite as much because I wanted to be a little sharper. I don't want it. Teoh. 1/3 reading down his muscle. I should just a bit more controlled. Okay, come fairly happy with. Okay, so now we're gonna add, uh, next layer of color. I don't want to dump in this. Tea merchant is gonna add the tiniest water, so I don't want to take away that time color. Now I'm gonna take my love black, and I'm gonna mix that with some rule number as well. I'm gonna Kate, that can painting almost in a dot like fashion just because I want to add as much pigment as possible. Oh, let's make areas darker. And you don't want to be doing in strokes either, because you might start to lift off the paint rather than earned it. I'm really trying to get as much of this cologne to my brush. So twisting it into the paint, I could see that the area of his tail has got a bit dry. Say, if I actually, uh, more war tree black hair on my branch, we went because Crisp. - Okay , I'm not gonna look t much at my reference. Now, I'm gonna look at my painting and thing. What? What balance do we want to achieve her? Where do I want to place the color too? But my beagle look his best. I think when you're demonstrating you, you don't want to be overly concerned. Your reference after a while because got more artistic license, you want to be observing your style and thinking about the image is a hole. Okay, so now I've got Teoh let him drive for a bit before I have features like his eye and nose because I really don't want to smudge it on. I don't want Teoh. Let the areas that I'm doing, the on the nose. I don't want the black that I am to bleed. You can use a hair dryer, but course had dries. Jeez, really strong current American blow your paint about on page. So I just be careful not Teoh. Ruin an effect that you've created with a hair dryer case. And now it's dry it. We're going to paint the nose on the early, so I'm gonna take only a bit of water that then I'm gonna laid at the brush with lots of color, twist and paint. I don't want it to be Tetum wantedto have not so color less water. Course. If you've got water color straight, I have achieved you can just dip your brush in the cheap. Okay, then we're gonna squash the bristles like this, and it creates fine edge on your brush. I'm only using half of the brush that we can. We have our beetle 8. Chapter 7: Thoughts: so that we haven't a would call administration off a beagle. I hope you had fun doing this tutorial on learning how to use your paint. Maybe in a new way I have that you've had fun despite any mishaps is on just because, of course, for Takata never behaves itself, does it? So I don't get the more you practice on more time that you take lawyers start to realize how much war T need or how much paint you need the day. Forget it never goes. There never will on that's beating it. And so please share what you have done because you need to be proud off that learning even and on. Don't be put off if it's one key I love a good So So please share and take the gap that monkey lines have sold