Add People to Watercolor Landscape: Easy Techniques for Amazing Results.

1. Introduction: You Can Paint This!: Hi, Today, I have a new class for you, and it's going to be a very fun class, very easy to follow step by step, but with great results. Guess what? We're going to learn how to sketch people. We're going to sketch together this scene in the sunset with people walking across the desert. It seems difficult, but it isn't if you just break down the process steps. Learning different skills in this class to create a deep background with different layers, background, middle ground, and foreground through layering. We're going to add color variation to give interest. We are going to add people in an easy way that are realistic, proportionate, but also easy and sketchy. We are learning how to paint a sunset sky. We are going how to paint shadows, shadows specifically. We're going to learn plenty of skills that you can use in your daily practice because of course, the best advice that I can give you is daily practice for people. That's what I do. And you can just practice every day and you see that you will soon master people that maybe you find daunting today. Hi, I'm Elizabeth. Maybe you know me already because I have over 20 classes on sketcher. My style is easy. Sketching, painting, drawing up for everyone. They are learn skills and enjoy the process, and just don't look for the result, and the result will automatically come once you practice. I started painting later in life myself, but now for me, it's my true passion, and also I love teaching. This class is maybe more for intermediate students than for beginners. But beginners can have a try because it's not difficult. It just requires some experience, but very, very limited experience with watercolor can be your first class. I have other classes that are easier for introduction with a color. But if you have just a minimum knowledge of watercolor, you will find this class very interesting and suitable for you. So for advanced beginner and intermediate students. Now, grab your brushes, take your supplies and come sketch people with me. You see, it's much easier than you think, and results will amaze you. 2. Project & Supplies: Your project will be to paint a sunset like this, but not identical because first of all, water color is highly unpredictable, especially when you work a lot wet and wet and we are painting wet and wet in these classes. You have just to follow my steps, but you will see that what you will get will be your own painting, your own sunset, your own people. Doesn't have to be like mine, will not be like mine. Your project is to make your own sunset with your choice of people, your choice of composition, your choice of colors, and that's completely possible. Feel completely free to personalize it in this class. Just practice until you achieve a result that makes you happy. Remember to enjoy the process and your sunset that will be amazing. Let's go and have a look to supplies. Let's now talk about supply is the very minimal, but the most important piece of supply is paper because for this painting that requires a lot of wet and wet, it's better to use cotton paper. I'm using this paper by Paul Rubens, which is cotton. Although it is in Chinese. I can read some important things like this symbol means that it is cotton. This is 100% cotton. Here, it says 300. Can you read it? It means it is 300 GSM. This is 300 GSM is the thickness that you need to paint in watercolor. No less than that. For this painting, I'm using 100% cotton. It's not compulsory, but it's better if you do so. Also, to practice to paint people. I'm using this cellulose paper by Cason. It's called Montvale. I buy it in bulk because they use it a lot. This is no cotton, doesn't have any cotton content. It's cellulose, but still it is 300 GSM. It also says cold pressed. I suggest you to use cold press paper, not hot pressed, both for the practice and the main painting because hot press is much more difficult to handle. So stick to cold press. Then of course, We need some colors. I'm using this basic palette with the standard colors that you all are going to have. The colors I'm using are yellow poke, warm yellow, lemon yellow, if you have it, not compulsory, purple, Alizarin crimson, silo blue, paints gray, and sup green or any green that you have. These colors are just indication but use any blue that you have, A red mother permanent or alizarin crimson, cooler red, a yellow, purple, if you don't have it, you just mix the als and crimson with blue. I have used a sello blue, but you can use cerulan. Really, you don't have to stick to my colors and Burcena. I don't know if I said it, Bncena is an important color to have or iron oxide, but yellow ocher and Burena are two colors that is very important to have that we are going to use a lot in this painting. Basic colors. Don't worry. I'm sure you have these colors. Then I'm using some brushes. Brushes are also very important for a good result in watercolor. You will need larger brush. This is a brush that I only use for water. I never used paint on this so we can wait our paper. Then I have a big flat brush to paint the sky and this I'm using with paint. Then I have round brushes of different sizes. Use whatever you prefer, it's very much a matter of personal taste, personal preference. But remember that we're going to use a thinner one, a smaller one, like this one, if you prefer or maybe like this one. And Larger ones, use what you have and what you think it's easier for you. But remember that for ta, we don't have many details, but to paint smaller people, we need a smaller inner Brush. Then we need water. I like to use two jars of water. One, we only rinse my brushes that is becoming d and one that I only used to apply clean water, one for dirty water and one for clean water. I think it's very helpful. Of course, you need a mixing space. I use the one that comes with my palette. If you don't have it, just use any plastic or porcelain ceramic palette, or even a white dish. The important thing is that the background is white. That's it for supplies. Let's start painting. I can't wait. 3. Prep Paper and Paint Background: For this in, the only drawing we need is horizon line, and we Just put two dots at the same height. So I'm sure that it's perfectly horizontal, 3 " from bottom. Do not draw the line exactly in the middle of paper, but at a one third or as I'm doing 40%. And then I will use my shoulder to draw a line. You can draw it lighter, I just maybe slightly heavier so you can see in camera. Then I will take a large brush line and I will wet my paper. And now the trick, you can put of course some tape so you can have some crisp line. But if you don't have some tape or maybe it's hot like today and you want more time for your paper, you can wet it on both sides. Actually, I think this is the right side. If you wet it on side, you want warp and you have more time to paint wet wet. Now, fairly quickly because today it's very hot and we don't want to give time to dry. I will take some colors that you all have. I take a large flat brush I will take yellow. I'm using some basic color. Here it's mixed with some orange that I had on my palette, and some lemon yellow. You can take some Rosana if you have it, and I will start painting towards the horizon line. And then I must remember that here, I will put the sun, so it's going to be light. So yellow or here. Leave it white. I also rewet. I have already rewetted my colors, but I will re wet them even more now. On this side, I will put some yellow. I'll go with some yellow ocher, all the way down my painting. I must be quick before this dries. T. And then we also will grab some seran or silo blue and put some here some blue. But I don't want this to become green. So I will put some as crimson or rose mud and I will just here. Paint a transition with this color. Now, I will take some burn ciena and mix it with this with this yellow ochre, always very quick. And I will darken the areas that are slightly away from the light from the sun. Now, I take the same pale blue and mix it with a burn. So that I get a darker blue. I will add some alizarin crimson a rose mother to counterbalance a possible green so that I get a dark cloud. We make round movements just to indicate some clouds. Same here. Okay. Now, I take the der. Now it. Drop it here and there. The Editor and Crimson or the rose. And let. 4. Add Depth through Layering: Now before it's completely dry, I would love to add some contrast. I take a larger round brush. Then I will add some tax some yellow and some of my aids are in crimson, making orange. Let's imagine that clouds are going slightly towards the center of the sea. Keep your brush strokes round and lose. Some clouds that are going just to the center. I will add I will drop in some Eliza and crimson just to give some color of aviation here and there. Same here. I will create some orange here. Drop in some yellow. Like this. Watercolor is transparent cell. They will create new shades overlapping with the colors that are underneath. Now, some wispy cloud. Take a thin brush because clouds that are far away, they closer to the horizon and they are in like this. Okay. Now, I would like to put a darker cloud. We are creating depth by adding further layers of clouds. I take my bigger brush. I take the sailor blue. And maybe some indigo. And I will also add some of my zering crimson more indigo and alizarin crimson to create a very intense dark and void any green. Always loose round brush strokes. Now you can add some sailor blue to color. A Remember that in clouds, the side facing the sun is lighter and the one on top is darker. Now I will blend the downward side to make it lighter like this. Now there is enough movement and depth in the sky and we can start painting the fields of the desert. For the desert, I take my warm color with my larger flat brush and I start far away with some yellow k mixed with a touch of purple. We will put mountains here when it's and I will go towards the light. We will leave a road in in the central part. Just the hint of the road like this, Bancena. Somers and crimson, just to give some color variation. So green. It takes up green and you mix it with and crimson to mute it down. And you leave the central part lighter below the light so that we make people walk along this road, and you take some yellow ocher if you like. And you can just mark this part with some yellow och. And once again, go here. And here. And you see that you have a lovely color variation with some zing crimson, some green, and you leave the central part lighter. Now I will fix this bottom. I don't like the very much. I also take some paper and near the light, and will lift some color. Okay. So that we have this impression of light. And we let this then we are just row matins and people finally walking. It's going to be a dream like scene. A. 5. Finish Landscape: You can use a hair dryer or a heating tool to speed up the process. Okay. Now, I I don't like this. We add a darker cloud ham, and I will add this row of mantas. You see that watercolor is unpredictable, and you need to adapt your painting along the way. For the row mantas, I take a medium brush. This is a medium brush with a very pointy tip. It's pointy, which I like. And I start with some bons and I will draw I will draw some irregular lines going quite thick, actually, not too that goes up and down, regular, like this, not too high. Here, I switch to a warm yellow, just below the light, and I go back to my bars and I will just feel it. Up to the desert. Now I take some purple and I will darken the what is away from the light. I can use this wet technique to a texture, you see, and here too Okay. Here was slightly wet. But it is far away, Mountain. So very important. Dry your brush and refine this. Now you can use the same purple to splatter. I add some texture to your landscape here and there. And we need to make everything dry before we add people. So as I said, I don't particularly like the shape. So we'll take some blue, some indigo. I can add some purple. I can add some crimson, and I will make a cloud here. Now that clouds are usually more fluffy on top and flatter on the bottom. So give some irregular shape here. Okay. Well drop some at some crimson here. Color valuation is always great idea, not just in clouds. Okay. So look at the depth that it adds these rows of clouds. And. Also, I can take some concentrate purple and refine this head. Must be very concentrated. Same here. And then you go down. Blend it. Just tick some clean water. Before it dries too much. Okay. Here also you can drop some. At cle some give some. Now, don't touch it any longer. And we'll let this because I can't wait to add people. 6. Practice Sketching People: Now, while we wait for this to completely dry, and if it warps at just apply on the opposite side, and I just show you how I draw little people. I take a thin ruh. I can take it even thinner for people that are smaller. I take my darks. For instance, I add some paints gray to this already dark mixture. What I do, I draw a dot for the head. An v irregular v for the body. Then one leg and the other one shorter. So that we give the impression of someone walking. Here you have arms that are usually in pockets, so they fold it. Once more, like this. He's bigger, he's thinner, practice this movement, like this. The important thing is that you put your head all at the height, which is the horizon line. I can put a closer person to us, but the head will always be at the level, and like this. You see that the top of the head is always at the same level. But the feet will be closer to us, the feet would be at a lower level, but the head always at the same level. If you vary the position of the feet, you vary the perspective. Always remember, always place the heads always at the same level. Even closer. You put the head. Shoulders. I need a larger brush here. Okay. Let's pretend it's a woman with longer hair. But you see the head is the same leg. She's just closer to us. Now, once again, just keep practicing. If you think that the body is not proportion like in this case, you can always make a bigger head to make him closer. She's wearing a jacket, maybe a woman. You can always make it slanted like this, like a, talking to her, between them. Even further. But always remember heads are the same level. Once we have learned this, keep practicing. Fill a whole sheet of paper with your small people and then we get a. 7. Add People to Background: Now, to make sure that it is dry, you touch it with the back of your fingers because if you touch it with the other side, you might leave a mark if we don't want to do so. It isn't completely as usual, you can speed up the process with your heating tool or your head. The important thing is this aside because here we're not touching the sky at least not yet. I take this medium sized brush or even a smaller one, and I start adding people. First of all, I will paints. I will place people with some purple. I will place people that are They are bigger, they're closer to us so that I have space, and I put the head just above the horizon line. A dot for a dot for the head, and then like this, a potato, and then one leg and the second leg. One more next to him or her, one more dot. They're touching there maybe a couple, so she will give her a skirt, this. Now you put someone walking here bigger this time. And just draw some line like this. You put hands in your pocket. Give him a jacket. You see the head is at the same level, but the feet are down. Now we can still add many dots, and then we add people. Remember, to make sure that you add dots. As at the same level, you can just put them before. I don't usually do it, but it's a trick to make sure that to these two close together. Just remember to give the idea of people walking, putting one leg shorter than the other. Now, because he behind this person, some white space. It's nice because we'll give the idea of some highlight. Same here. They are together, maybe. I want to see one for these smaller people. This is too big. Many couples. Body, a line for legs. This is small, so maybe just a hand. I go to make this. Mm. Now you can add, for instance, a hat on someone's head. He can add a head. You can go on as much as you want. Remember to leave a small highlight. Between two people if they are overlapping. Here, we need to put it. Otherwise, we don't see them. If two people are working together, of course, you need to put feet at the same level. Now I think this is enough people because light is here, we can shadow and shadow their belet is going to have this direction like perspective lines. So we start with the people that are on the left hand side because I am right handed, so we not the color, and will just draw some purple, some lines in purple. This Here, a way out of the direction is this one. Here is behind him, like this straight, purple always. The are long shadows, slightly slanted, this way. That way. That's it. Absolutely. That's it. Now, I suggest that you don't retouch anything. You just leave it like this. You can darken some people if you like. Here you have some more color. The last trick, if you want people to walk away from you, you can leave like this. But if you want to represent some people maybe walking towards you, you can take some red or cadmium red or maybe some orange, a warm color, that is maybe opaque, so it goes on. I will show you maybe some people that are walking towards us. Let's pretend this couple is working towards us. We put the red and we can also add some red for hands like here. Let they walking towards us. Maybe these twos. But I wouldn't insist on this because being in the sunset, they are just silhouettes. I'm teaching you this trick. But for this purpose, I prefer to have them all darker because they are silhouettes in the darks. But remember that if you have a a situation different from sunset. You can add some red to indicate people walking towards us. You can darken see lights. Okay. That's it. We have easily add people, and I wouldn't touch any longer. And this is our people working in the sunset. 8. Last Touches: Now that I watch this scene, I might add more people on the left hand side. But also what I could do is maybe fill this empty space with a cactus because we are in the desert. I will take the same dark color but I will use bien. And some green, S green with some burn and some purple. So to have a warm, darker. I will make a Of course, this is completely dry. I will make a thick line like this. Then I will add the branches. Feel free to I'm drawing from imagination, feel free to make the make it taller. Like this near the trunk. And then I will add in purple some shadow that goes this way, obviously, obviously and maybe we can. Draw the shapes of the branches. And I might also add bush. So I will add some green to the stack purple. And I will draw some very shallow like this bushes and always remember. The shadow. Okay. Now it's full and now it's really finished. Just watch if there is some detail that you want to fix. But I don't want to touch it any longer sometimes less is better than more, and this is especially true for watercolor. Okay. I like the elongated chandels that stem from the people and decile even longer this one goes outside the sea. Now it's really over, and enjoy. X. 9. Thank You & Congratulations!: This is fantastic. You have finished your people in the sunset with me, and I bet that you found it much easier than you thought. Now what you have to do really is keep practicing, keep practicing and you see that sketching people will become a second nature. Thanks a lot for having watched the class with me. Now what I'm asking you is upload your project. That's really useful for other students, so they can understand what kind of result they can achieve with this class. Also, don't forget to leave a review. It's also very useful for me to understand what I did right, what I can improve next time. So thanks a lot. You can follow me on Instagram, you can follow me on YouTube. You will find all the links in my bio in my profile on YouTube, I speak more about pigments and art supplies on Instagram, you'll see I sketch a lot of people. You'll see many examples of my art, and thank you with all my heart for having taken this class. To, I see you next class. To.