Creating Depth and Texture: Watercolor Lavender Landscape Tutorial

1. Welcome: Hello and welcome to my watercolor painting class. Today I'll be guiding you through the process of painting a beautiful landscape featuring a lavender field. We'll take a step by step slow approach to tackle this complex painting, focusing on creating various textures along the way. Patience will be key as we work through each stage. The tutorial is carefully divided into short, manageable segments. In each part, we'll concentrate on a specific aspect of the painting, gradually assembling it like a jigsaw puzzle. We'll begin by painting the sky and mountains as they form the furthest plane. Then we'll move on to the middle ground, which includes trees, buildings, and a small lavender field. Finally, we'll finish in the foreground with our main lavender field. The reference photo we'll use isn't an actual photograph to bring the scene to life, I utilized a combination of some photos. I applied some of my Photoshop skills. I also used some help of artificial intelligence. This allowed me to craft the landscape in a way that captures the essence of the scene while infusing my own artistic interpretation. While it may not be perfect, it provides us with enough detail for our reference. Without further ado, let's dive in and get started. 2. Project and resources: Thank you for choosing to be a part of the artistic journey with me. It's an honor to have you here In this class. I've prepared some helpful resources for your project, which you can access in the projects and resources section. There you'll find a PDF file containing a list of the supplies I used for this particular painting, a reference photo, and my finished painting to guide you. Line drawings are available in different sizes that you can print and transfer into your watercolor paper, allowing you to choose the size that suits your preferences. I painted this on a 12 by nine size. Additionally, there are working progress photos that will help you follow the process and focus on specific areas. Feel free to explore these resources and use them to create your unique and beautiful painting. It would be great to see your results. Please don't hesitate to share your progress shots and the final painting with the class in the projects and resources section. I also strongly recommend that you take a look at each other's work in the student project gallery. It's always inspiring to see others work and extremely comforting to get the support of your fellow students. Don't forget to like and comment on each other's work. Lastly, I highly recommend watching each lesson before you start your painting. This will help you get a better understanding of what to expect in each part of the tutorial. If you find this class helpful, I would greatly appreciate it. If you could leave an honest review, Your feedback will help me create better content and assist other students in deciding whether to take this class. Thank you in advance. 3. My Art Supplies: In this video, I'd like to share with you a general overview of my art supplies that I regularly use. I think I should mention first that I'm not the type of person who constantly buys new art supplies and experiments with them. I use the same supplies all the time. They work well for me and I've learned how to make the most out of them, which also helps me save money. Instead of buying five new colors that I might only use once for creating a color swatch, I prefer investing in books, for example. Don't get me wrong, Experimenting with new art supplies and regularly buying new materials can offer many benefits to artists. Let's take a look at some pros and cons of trying out new art materials. It can spark fresh ideas and inspiration. Different mediums, colors and textures may lead to unique artistic expressions and help break through creative blocks. Exploring new art supplies often involves learning new techniques and approaches. This continual learning process contributes to the development of artistic skills and broadens artists tool kit. Having a diverse range of art supplies allows for greater versatility in artistic expression. Artists can switch between different mediums and tools based on the specific requirements of a project, leading to more dynamic and varied artwork. Experimenting with new materials can push an artist out of their comfort zone. The willingness to explore and take risks fosters personal growth and encourages artistic development. The art world is continually evolving with new technologies and new materials. Staying up to date with the latest art supplies ensures that an artist remains relevant in the contemporary art scene. Trying out new art supplies often involves problem solving. Artists may need to figure out how to manipulate a new medium or adapt their techniques, enhancing their problem solving skills and creative thinking. The excitement of using a new art supply or discovering a new technique can reignite motivation and passion for creating art. This enthusiasm is essential for maintaining a consistent and fulfilling artistic practice. As technology advances, so do the quality and capabilities of art supplies. Trying out new products allows artists to explore improved formulations, leading to potentially better results in their work. Different art supplies offer unique ways to convey emotions and messages. And experimenting with a variety of materials allows artists to find the ones that best suit their personal style and enable them to express themselves more authentically. And the least goes on. On the flip side, here are some potential reasons why. Some may argue that it's not always good. Art supplies can be expensive, and constantly buying new materials without a plan or purpose may strain your budget. It's good to be mindful of your spending, especially if you're not using all the supplies you've accumulated. Relying on new and varied art supplies might distract from the development of fundamental artistic skills. A proficient artist can create impressive works with basic tools. The emphasis should be on mastering techniques rather than relying on specific supplies. Accumulating a vast array of art supplies can lead to clatter and storage challenges. Too many supplies can make it difficult to find what you need constantly. Buying new art supplies contributes to waste, especially if the materials are not fully used. It's essential to consider the environmental impact of your artistic practices and try to minimize unnecessary consumption. Some artists argue that working with limitations, such as a restricted set of materials, can actually enhance creativity. Constraints can force you to think outside the box and find innovative solutions within your existing toolkit. Too much emphasis on trying out new supplies may distract from the core of artistic expression. The concept or message you want to convey through your art. Focusing on the meaning behind your work is crucial, regardless of the materials used. Constantly seeking and buying new supplies may foster a consumerist mentality where the joy comes from acquiring new items rather than the creation process itself. This can lead to a cycle of chasing after the next trended material, rather than honing your artistic voice. May also create unrealistic expectations about the transformative power of materials. While quality supplies can enhance your work, the key to artistic success lies in your skills, techniques, and creative vision. Relying too heavily on the belief that new supplies will drastically improve your art may lead to disappointment and frustration. Constantly exploring and adapting new art supplies may lead to an unintentional shift towards popular trends rather than developing a unique personal style. As you can see, there are many elements that I believe are worth considering. And ultimately, it's a personal choice. I used to want to buy every art supplies I could afford. However, upon realizing that I didn't need them all, and having found supplies that I'm genuinely happy with, I stopped buying unnecessary items. Instead, I focused on the ones I have and I actually use. Now let's take a look at what I have. Let's begin with paper. Among brushes, paints, and paper, I consider paper to be the most crucial art supply. The quality of the paper significantly influences your painting experience and results. Use arches. Paper, which is made of 100% cotton cotton paper is often considered the top choice among artists. It has excellent absorbency, strength, and durability, making it suitable for various watercolor techniques. It provides the best results because paint behaves much better on it than on cheaper cellulose papers. The high quality paper is also more forgiving, making it easier to correct mistakes. Moving on to paints, I use Windsor and Newton professional grade paints. Professional grade paints, no matter what brand you use, offer excellent quality. They have more pigment, richer colors, and a longer lifespan than student grade paints. While professional grade paints are more expensive than student grade ones, they are truly worth the investment. It took me some time to collect all the colors I needed. I gradually bought one or two tubes at a time until I had a complete set. Now I rarely need to buy new tubes. They last a long time. I buy one or two colors, maybe once or twice a year. Currently, I have 17 colors on my palette, although some are for testing purposes. In the class materials, you'll find PDF files with additional information about my colors, why I selected them, and how I arranged them on my palette. There's also a helpful conversion chart if you would like similar colors from different brands. Let me very briefly explain how I choose colors to my palette. I do this in four main steps. My starting point in choosing colors is always a split primary palette. A worm and a cool yellow. A worm and a cool red. And a worm and a cool blue. Here I think it's a good time to mention that the ultramarine blue I use is the green shade. It's not French ultramarine. There are four main differences between ultramarine blue, the green shade, and French ultramarine. However, they are really small ultramarine blue. The green shade has a greener undertone. It is cooler in appearance. It creates cooler shades of purple and gray and it's less granulating. Both paints share the same pigment coat B 29. Use ultramarine blue, the green shade mainly out of habit, as it's what I've always used and grown accustomed to. Additionally, I find it less granulating than French ultramarine, a quality that I value. However, again, the differences between the two are really subtle. In the second step, I look for colors from the same color family with specific properties such as being made with a single pigment, having good light fastness, not granulating. With some exceptions, I prefer using non granulating paints and being transparent or semi transparent. I primarily use single pigmented paints with one exception, which is paints gray colors in this group must noticeably differ from the first group. If they are too similar, I eliminate them. I don't see a good reason for keeping, let's say seven very similar yellows on the palette. I choose the ones that are the most unique and I can mix other shades. The third step, I add colors that I just like or I know I will use. Frequently burnt sienna is a must have on my palette because it's a versatile, basic brown. It creates beautiful neutroals with blues, mutes down some greens creates various shades of yellows. It's a very versatile color. Additionally, since green is my favorite color, I like to have two ready made ones that serve as a good base for mixing other shades. Step four is optional. There are three remaining spots on my palette which are reserved for new colors or colors that I'm currently testing, which may change over time. In addition to watercolor paint, I also have a tube of white guash. I often use it for tiny details or highlights. I keep my paints in a porcelain palette with 17 wells and two large mixing areas. Porcelain palettes are excellent because they are easy to clean and don't stain like plastic ones. Before using this palette, I used a plastic one with 33 wells for a long time. I switched when I realized I didn't use half of those colors. I always fill the entire well with paint and I refill it when I run out of the specific color, I usually buy 5 milliliters tubes because I can squeeze the entire tube into the well. Let's move on to brushes. My primary brushes are round silver black velvet in various sizes I found they work exceptionally well for the wet on wet technique, which I often use. They also come to a perfect point. A brush I always have on hand, which I fondly call my secret weapon is Windsor and Newton's Galleria brush size four. It's my scrubber brush and I use it in almost every painting. I also have a smaller Princeton snap shader brush size four, which I use for lifting off very small details such as tiny veins on leaves. I also have spotter brushes from Rosemary and Co, specifically from the 37 series. They are small, they don't hold a lot of water, so they are not good for wet on wet painting. But they are excellent for painting small areas wet on dry, and for adding tiny details. I always use them for creating visual texture. With the stipling technique, occasionally I use designers brushes, rigger brushes or script brushes. They go by different names and are very similar. These brushes have thin, long bristles and are useful for painting long, thin lines or more natural lines like tree branches. Finally, I have a big flat brush for applying water to large areas, or sometimes even for painting big areas. I also have to mention about two additional brushes. One of them is a cheap old brush that I use only for applying masking fluid. Applying masking fluid with a brush can damage your brushes, so avoid using your good brushes for that purpose. The other one is a cheap flat brush, which I use for preparing colors on my palette. If I have to prepare larger amounts of paint. This brush is great for that because it allows for transferring larger amounts of paint from the well to the mixing area. The downside of this particular one is that it is losing bristles. I will have to buy something a bit better Gator board. I always attach my watercolor paper to a gator board using staples and masking tape. This board is lightweight, waterproof, and allows me to move and tilt my painting as needed. Crucial for me, especially when painting smooth backgrounds with the wet on wet technique. I always use an office stapler to attach my paper to the gator board. After stapling, I secured the paper on all four sides with tape to create a clean border around the finished painting. I prefer using lavender scotch tape designed for delicate surfaces. I've noticed that it adheres well during painting, and if it ever comes off, it's likely because of my excessive use of a hair dryer. This tape has not caused any damage to my paper. I like its surface, It's slightly slick, which is very convenient for easily cleaning off paint drops. My only wish is that it came in white. Here are other supplies I use more or less frequently. Light pad, I use it actually for every painting. This one is the cheapest one I found on Amazon. I use it to transfer an image to my watercolor paper masking fluid from Windsor Newton. This is an essential medium for many of my paintings. Tools for applying masking fluid like an old brush, ruling pen, embossing tools, and a deep pen. Those tools may be apart from that. Old brush can also be used to apply paint and create specific effects. A piece of soap and an old cup from an old masking fluid. When using masking fluid, I dip the brushing water, rub it on a bar of soap, creating a protective coat on the bristles. Then I dip it into the masking fluid. This prevents the masking from sticking the bristles together. Always pour a bit of masking into an old cup and quickly close the bottle to avoid dried clumps in the bottle. Rubber masking pick up tool for removing masking fluid, a very handy tool. Hair dryer, useful for speeding up drying time. Spray bottle with clean water, for wetting the paper gently or forcing the paint to flow. I also spray paints in my palette before I start painting regular HB pencil eraser. And needed I use a regular HB pencil for my sketch and I often use a needed erasor to remove the excess graphite and make the pencil lines. Lighter water container must have during painting, I often have 21 for clean water and one for dirty water. Paper towel, always good to have it. Finally, a white towel that it's not so white anymore. Speaking of towels, a large one is spread across my desk, beneath my Gator board. I do this to prevent the Gator board from sliding, moving, or rotating. While I paint, this not only ensures stability but also protects my desk and adds a nice field to my workspace. The second smaller towel is always positioned next to my palette and water container, serving as a dedicated space for cleaning my brushes. I let my brushes rest on this towel. In the past, when I placed my brushes on my desk, magic seemed to happen. They transformed into living beings hiding from me, jumping off the desk and moving around so that I couldn't find them. Now I always place them on the towel and they stay in place, always here with me. So these are my current art supplies. Although there may be changes in the future, this is what I'm using for now. 4. Sky: I already have my sketch ready with the paper securely attached to my gator board using staples and masking tape on all four sides to create a clean border. The paper is dry, I didn't wet it. We'll be painting step by step, starting from the distant planes, through the middle plane with the house, and finally to the foreground with the lavender field. Our first step will be painting the sky. For that, I'll be using a size 12 brush. I'm spraying my paints with clean water just quickly adding a bit to activate them. This will make it easier to move and transfer them to the mixing area. My primary color for the sky will be cobbled blue. I'm also preparing a touch of Windsor Blue Green shade, a very watery light mix. This color is very intense, just a little bit of it is enough. Cobalt blue is a lovely neutral blue, and it's ideal for the sky, except it's a little bit granulating, but still the shade of it is perfect. While Windsor blue has a more greenish tint. I'll use it at the bottom part of the sky and partially on the mountains. I'll start by wetting the entire sky area, including the mountains. The idea is to apply a light sky color over the mountains as well. There won't be a gap between the sky and the edge of the mountains when we paint them later, the mountains will have a darker tone, but they will have the same colors. I'll apply some paint to them as well. I'll be careful around the trees and building, ensuring the entire area is evenly wet. Now I'll pick up cobald blue and start applying it from the top part of the sky. I'll aim to create a smooth transition from a darker tone at the top to a lighter, more greenish tone at the bottom. I'll add more of our greenish blue at the bottom using Windsor blue, while gradually increasing the amount of cobalt blue towards the top until I achieve the desired tonal value. Of course, I'm simplifying the sky area significantly. I won't be painting all the clouds from the reference photos. That would be quite time consuming. That would be actually a separate tutorial, given the smaller size of the painting, we want to simplify things. So for now we are focusing on applying this nice blue color to the sky. Once we've applied enough paint, tilt the painting to allow the paint to move around and spread evenly on the paper. This will ensure a smooth sky without any brush marks. If some paint has flown into the trees or the building, try to remove it with a clean dump brush. Now with a clean brush, lift off some paint to create lighter arc shapes representing clouds. I don't want to exaggerate, but I want to introduce some lighter shapes here. If you prefer, you can leave the sky plain and simple blue. But I want to create some cloudy shapes after each lifting off the paint, rinse and blood the brush so that it's clean for the next use. Otherwise, you will just transfer the paint from one place to another, clean the tape from any paint, and allow everything to dry. After a few minutes of natural drying, you can use a hair dryer to completely dry everything. I'll be using a hair dryer many, many times in this tutorial to quickly dry areas. Painting when drying the sky, wait a few minutes until the paper returns to its natural temperature before moving on to paint the mountains. 5. Mountains: Make sure that the sky is completely dry. Before proceeding now we're going to paint the mountains. I'll switch to a smaller brush. Maybe I'll use a size eight for the mountains. We'll use the same colors as the sky, but in different proportions. We'll start with cobalt blue. Pick up a very watery tone of this color, and begin painting using the wet on dry technique. Let's begin from the left side, where the mountains are behind the trees. We need to paint between the trees, aiming to create the irregular edge of the trees while forming the mountains in the background. Since the mountains are not the main subject of our painting, we can also simplify them. You'll notice that I won't add any intricate details. Instead, I'll paint the silhouettes of the mountains with some tonal variations. In this initial layer, I'll apply the blues to outline the shape of the mountains. It's a light tonal value, but darker than the sky, sharing a clear distinction between the sky and the mountains. When painting the mountains, I'm using blues because of aerial perspective. Objects far away appear bluish due to the effect of air particles. I'm using cobalt blue and Windsor blue, a more greenish shade of blue, to suggest the possibility of trees growing on those mountains. I'll even add a touch of green gold to maintain a greenish tone. Overall, I'm painting simply applying the colors wet and dry, and blending them smoothly on the paper. My paint has a watery consistency, giving me time to apply and blend the paint. On the right hand side, there are fields in the background. I won't replicate them exactly as in the reference, but we'll suggest some green tree areas and more yellowish or brownish field areas. I'll use more green initially and then shift to a very light mix of Windsor yellow, deep, and burnt sienna to fill the gaps between the greens. That's the first initial layer. Now we'll dry it completely. On dry, we'll add another layer. Pick up cobald blue again and apply a light layer. This time. Since we're layering the paint, the color will naturally be one tone, even though we are using the same tone as before. My idea here is to apply the color at the top of each mountain and blend it downward. This way we create the effect of one mountain hidden behind another. On the right side, I'll add a few more green touches at the bottom of each green shape to enhance dimensionality and texture without going into too much detail. We don't want the background to draw too much attention. Finally, I'll add a bit of a darker tone to suggest one side of the mountain and introduce some variety in the blue area. I don't want to overdo it. So I'll stop at this point and our mountains are ready. Not too difficult, right? We're slowly building the painting layer by layer. Now, we'll dry everything completely, and in the next, we'll apply an initial layer to the trees. 6. Trees - Initial Layer: In this part, we're going to apply an initial layer to the trees. For this, we'll need a green mix. Normally, I would create a vibrant green. But this time I'm aiming for a more muted green. I'll start with green gold, then add a touch of burnt sienna and more cobald blue. The main mix is green gold, with cobald blue giving a range of shades from yellowish green to blue. While the touch of burnt sienna shifts it slightly towards olive green. The upper green is more muted, leaning towards a bluish hue, while the bottom has more green gold for a warmer tone. Using a size eight brush, I'll begin with the warmer green. The goal at this stage is to cover the trees with a basic green color, which is the lightest color visible in the reference. Later as we add more layers, this initial color will show through. I'll apply the warmer green mainly in the areas where the trees are in direct light. In shadowed areas, I'll shift more towards the bluish green. With cobled blue, I'll paint around the brown branches to avoid too much mixing with the burnt sienna that I will add later, we can repeat the step on the right hand side covering all the trees with the green as well. Precision isn't crucial at this stage. Just remember that the sun is on the left side, so everything on the left will be warmer, while the right side will have more shadows and cooler colors. We can even use the same warm green everywhere as we'll adjust the right side in the next steps by adding a more bluish green. For now, we are focusing on covering everything with various shades of green. Once the first layer is applied, we'll dry everything with the hair dryer after a few minutes to allow everything to cool down, We'll move on to the next step, which will involve more meticulous work. 7. Trees On The Left - Details: This part will embark on what I consider the most meticulous step. For me, it was quite relaxing. Before we begin, I want to emphasize that you're free to paint in a different style. I've chosen to use the stipling technique to create the texture of the trees because I wanted to show you the stipling technique and I also wanted to see how the trees would look like. I thought that this would be a good way to approach the trees, but feel free to paint them using a method that suits you best, or you can follow along with me if you like. We'll need a few shades of green. So let's prepare them first. Our main cool, neutral green will be a mix of cobald blue with green gold. This creates a very natural looking green that we can adjust towards a bluish, cooler shade or a warmer yellowish hue depending on the proportions. Additionally, I'll add a tiny touch of burnt sienna to further neutralize the green to give it an olive tone if you prefer. In the second mixing space, I'm preparing a dark green. This is a mix of green gold, cobald blue, and paints gray. I'm also keeping more green gold at the bottom for quick access to the shade of green. Now I'll start with the darkest green because it's easier to identify, It's mainly between the brown branches. I quickly realized that the brush I initially chose was too big, so I switched to a size six. Notice how I'm applying the paint. This technique is called stipling. Stipling is a technique used in watercolor painting, but also in other mediums where small, distinct dots or dashes of color are applied to create an image or texture. This technique involves using a brush loaded with paint and then applying it to the paper in a series of small controlled dots or short brush strokes. As you can see, this process takes some time because we are painting lots of tiny dots. However, this meticulous approach allows us to create a texture resembling foliage. I'm starting with the darkest green and will slowly transition to the lighter green. Although this could be done the other way round as well. The brush I initially used, the silver black velvet, has a very sharp point. That brush is not the best for this technique, because the tip of this brush is just too sharp. I decided to switch to a spotter brush size. To a spotter brush has short bristles and a less sharp tip, making it ideal for painting details. And using the wet on dry technique on small areas, it doesn't hold much water. It's not suitable for wet on wet painting or large areas, but for the stipling technique, it's perfect. Instead of a spotter brush, we could also use a regular round brush, which doesn't come to a very sharp tip. Moving forward, I'll be using the spotter brush. As you can see, we already have a base green from the previous layer. Now as we apply lots of these dots, the green from the previous layer becomes visible between them. The painting, this technique dries fairly quickly. Since we're painting wet and dry and not using a lot of paint or water. This allows us to revisit certain areas and reapply the paint to deepen the green and add more dimension. I'm slowly shaping the form of the trees. Keeping in mind that there are branches covered with leaves, each with a roundish form. These branches reflect light, with the light source coming from the left. On the left side, I'm creating lighter spots, while on the right and at the bottom in shadowed areas, I'm using darker green. The idea is to envision the foliage on the branches creating clusters of leaves, with each cluster resembling a textured ball that reflects light on the left and casts a shadow on the right. Another approach would be to cover the entire tree with the light or middle value dots and then gradually add darker dots in the shadow areas. This process is indeed time consuming, but it ultimately creates a pleasing effect. Of course, we could paint it in a different looser or quicker way. This is just one approach. In this painting, we'll explore various textures, and this is one of them, the texture of the foliage. Perhaps at this stage, it is quite challenging to assess without context. But this green color is quite pale, it's not very saturated. My aim is to avoid using overly bright colors. For now, I may add more saturated greens here and there in some places, But overall, I'm striving to use quite natural greens. Once you finish applying the dots, dry everything with a hair dryer, then we'll complete the trees by adding some browns to the branches and trunk. Let's use burn sienna now and apply it to the branches and trunk. If I need a darker color, I'll simply pick up a darker green and mix it with the brown. I'll stick within the same color palette as long as possible, avoiding the introduction of new colors. After painting the brown parts, I thought about applying a unifying glaze over the foliage. I'll pick up a very watery green mixture and apply it to the larger areas of the trees. This unifying glaze helps to harmonize the shapes and also subtly alters the colors. By adding more blue, I can create an illusion of cooler shadows. And that concludes this part. In the next part, we'll move on to the trees on the right hand side, un. 8. Trees On The Right - Details: This part, we'll repeat the process of adding details to the trees, but focusing on the right hand side. Here we have one tree that stands out, it's taller, and has a different structure to paint this tree, we'll use the same technique of applying lots of short brush strokes, but this time they will be more like very short lines instead of dots. These lines will help us create the elongated structure of the tree. Again, I'll start with the darkest green. As it's fairly easy to identify where to place this green, I'll keep in mind that those elongated shapes and the light source on the left side, I'm using a size six brush now I'm also picking up more pains at the darkest tones in a few places. Then I'm picking up the middle tone green. And filling the gaps between the lightest green from the previous layer and the darkest tones I just applied. I don't want to cover all those light areas, especially on the left side where the sunlight hits the tree, Those areas should remain light. The green darkens more towards the right, the shadowed side of the tree. Now, I've switched back to a spatter brush size two. I'll repeat exactly the same process as on the trees from the previous part. These deciduous trees are more roundish. I'm using a brush with a more roundish tip, and applying lots of dots. The tall tree looks like a coniferous tree, it has needles and a more elongated shape. For that one, I'm using a sharper tip and applying many short lines instead of dots. Again, the green isn't very saturated here. You'll see in a moment the green. I'll to paint a small field on the right that will be more saturated, bright green. But for the trees, I want to use less saturated versions of the green behind this tree. I'm using more cobbled blue to suggest some distance. Additionally, because we're painting nature, green comes in many different shades. On the one hand, we don't have to match the colors exactly because any green shade is possible. On the other hand, we can play around with the greens, maybe test some new color mixes, and it will all look good in the end. Anyway, we're getting close to the end of this part. Just a few more dots here and there, and I want to finish by painting the brown trunk and branches of this tree. 9. House - Initial Layer: Now that the trees are finished, we can proceed to paint the building. I'll divide painting the building into very short parts so that we can work on it calmly. Step by step, I'll be using a size six brush. First, I'll split my paint and clean my mixing space because we're going to use different colors and I want to keep them clean. We'll need burned Siena for sure, which will be our basic brown. I'll even add Windsor yellow deep to make it a little bit warmer. In the second mixing space, I'll mix the same burned Siena and Windsor yellow deep. But now I'll neutralize this color by adding cobalt bloom, which we've been using many times so far. This will create a much more neutral brown. Let's start with a very watered down, very pale version of the neutral brown and apply this color to the entire building. Maybe accept the places where we can see some greenery growing on the walls. On the walls, I'll switch to our warmer brown version, but also very, very pale. We really have to keep this color light. We don't want to leave the walls white, but we can't go too dark either. They should just have a hint of brown. The right side of the building is in the shadow, so I'll also pick up a little bit more cobald blue and use the more bluish brown on the right side. I'll continue with this interplay of blue and brown on the shed and also on the wall on the right hand side. That's all for this part. We have the foundation now we can dry everything and when it's a dry, we'll move on to add some details. 10. House - Dark Details: Okay, before we add some details to the building, let's quickly fill in the white area behind the trees. Start by applying cobalt blue on the left and then transition to some green shades on the right. The green is a mix of green, gold and cobbled blue. Once this layer is dry, pick up cobalt blue again. But this time a slightly darker tone mixed with may be a touch of brown and green paint. Some shadows on those rugs apply this darker blue tone and blend it away with a clean dump brush in the green area. Also add some random dots to create the visual texture of the plants in the background. We don't have to be very precise here because it's just a small section in the back. We just want to create some nice texture. Now let's mix burnt sienna with bald blue. We'll use this darker brown color to add some details to the roof. Start with a long horizontal line at the bottom of the roof. We'll leave the roof for now and move on to the windows. Use the same dark brown to paint the dark rectangles in the windows. They are black, so we can add paints gray to our mix. This is the first layer. The color will not be as deep as it should be at this stage, but we will apply one more layer to darken those windows at a later stage. Since we're painting the windows, let's also apply our warm brown mix to the window, shutters, and the doors. This is just the base layer. Later we will add some darker details. Now let's come back to our dark brown, brownish black, and use the color to paint the details of the roof. There are actually two roofs. Let's start by adding the horizontal line under the lower, smaller roof. Similar to what we did with the upper roof, just a horizontal line. It doesn't have to be straight. I think a slightly wobbly line will make it look more natural. Let's also add a lot of irregular dots just above that line. Now, with a dark brown color, let's paint those characteristic lines. I think there are tiles on the roof. And of course, we're not going to paint indivisual tiles. Our task is to think about how we can create an impression of it, how we can create the visual texture that it creates. I hope you marked some dots or lines on the roof that will help you now with the direction. Apply many dots and short lines to create this characteristic pattern. I switched here to a smaller brush size four to make it easier. I repeat the same process on the lower roof. I just realized that I completely forgot about the windows on the right wall, so now I'm using the brown to apply this first layer. And that would be all for this part. Let's dry everything now and we can move on to the next part. 11. House - Shadows: For this part, I'll be using a brush size eight. We need a slightly bigger brush to make sure that we won't get caught up into details too much. Let's pick up a very watery mix of our warm brown. It can also be just pure burnt sienna. If you're using Daniel Smith's burnt sienna, you may want to add a bit more yellow to it. I think my burnt sienna, which is from Windsor Newton brand, is warmer, brighter, and more reddish than Daniel Smith's version. Now let's paint the shadows on the walls. Start under the roof. The shadow has a pretty neutral color, but we can distinguish something brownish and something grayish or bluish. That's why I'm starting with this warm brown and I'll transition in a second to cobald blue. This combination of burnt sienna and cobald blue creates a really nice shadow effect. Notice that I'm not mixing these two colors entirely into 1 gray color in the shadow, we can clearly see brown and gray or blue. Both of those colors are really important. The interplay between them in the shadow areas will create a beautiful effect. If you remember or you know my painting with a statue of an angel in the garden. The entire statue was painted with burnt sienna and cobalt blue. This is a really nice and effective combination for such things. Paint. Also, the shadow under the lower roof. My shadow under the upper roof has a pretty dark edge, which I don't really like. Later when everything is dry, I will soften it with my scrubber. Brush on the wall on the right, I'm applying more cobalt blue at the bottom and more brown at the top. I'm also painting around the plants growing on the wall. We also want to darken the shed. Make sure to leave some lighter area on the roof to indicate that it catches the sunlight. Add a bit more shadow on the small brick wall. As a finishing touch, let's use a watery brownish mix. And apply it on the entire roof, but leaving the top edge unpainted so that it's lighter in tone. Apply a similar light tone to the lower roof. Here I will add a bit more cobalt blue behind the tree. I'll finish this part by adding some green color between the trees, and after that, I will dry everything with a hair dryer. I mentioned earlier that I would like to soften the edge of the shadow here. Now when everything is dry, I'm going to use my damp scrubber. Brush slightly rub the edge of the shadow and remove the activated paint with a paper towel. This will make the edge sharp, which will also enhance the impression of light on the wall. 12. House - Windows, Doors, Cracks: In this part, we will take care of the details. So I'll be using a small brush size for, let's start by adding a neutral brown color to the white parts of the windows. Now with a darker brown tone paint. The details on the window shutters, there are three main boards that form a letter Z. Two horizontal at top and the bottom, and one diagonal connecting them. We can also add our black color to the darkest parts of the window. This color contains mainly paints gray with some burnt sienna. The paint hasn't dried yet and I went too quickly with the dark. So I want to quickly dry this area and then reapply the paint so that it won't spread. Apply the black color in all other windows as well, with a dark brown, a mix of burnt sienna and paints gray. Add the details to the remaining window shutters, Add a few simple brown lines to the doors to create an impression of wood. Add shadows to the front window, and then move on to the right wall of the building. Here, I just want to add cobbled blue to the white areas of the windows. Finally, the last detail I want to add is some cracks on the wall. Let's pick up a light brown tone and with just the tip of the brush, add a few lines near windows. These are just simple indications of cracks in the wall. 13. House - Greenery: In this part, we will take care of the plants around the house. Let's start with a neutral medium tone green. A mix of green gold with cobald blue, and use it to paint the initial layer on the plants. Generally, we will repeat the same process as with painting the trees. We'll start with this initial layer and then we will use the stipling technique to create a visual texture. The wall on the right is in the shadow, the colors there are generally cooler and darker. Here I'm using slightly more cobbled blue. The plant that grows on the wall, perhaps it's an ivy or something similar, has lots of small leaves in some areas. I'm already suggesting the texture by applying lots of small, irregular dots. In some places, the paint has already started to dry out. I'm going over again with the green and adding more spots, But I can see that the paint is spreading a bit, which tells me that it's not dry yet entirely. That's fine. I will have more variety in shapes. Some edges will be more blurred, while others will be sharper to achieve a darker green. I'm adding paints gray to my mix. I'm also adding a touch of Windsor yellow deep to introduce some variety in greens, I use it in a place where the light hits the leaves in the corner of the building. It is a very meticulous process, and it takes time to paint all those dots, but I think in the end it creates a really nice effect. Now, I want to dry everything with a hair dryer. And after drying it well, I will add more dots to create an even more defined texture. There are also some plants on the ground around the house. Here. Again, I will repeat exactly the same process, starting from applying the initial layer first in front of the house, I'm using a warm green just around the corner. I will transition to a cooler, more bluish green with more cobbled blue. The shed wall, I will come back to a warmer green. Now, I noticed we could also paint a subtle shadow under the windows using some browns. I also thought we could add some indications of bricks in the wall. I don't want to paint every single brick, but I just want to create this nice and simple indication that there are bricks. This way, the wall looks even more interesting. The green layer should be dry. Now we can make sure it's completely dry by using a hair dryer. Now let's add more texture with our greens. Nothing new here. Just hundreds of little dots with various shades of green. So when you finish this super exciting and full of unexpected twists, let's move on to the next one, where we will focus on the shed and the small brick wall. 14. Shed And Brick Wall: For the details on the shed, we'll need a very dark color. So let's mix burn sienna with paints gray. This will give us a brownish black. Start by painting the elements that are the most prominent to you. For me, those are the lines between the rocks and the shadow under the roof. There are also darker lines on the roof itself. I'm going to paint them as well. Notice that I'm painting a straight line just below the top of the roof. And then I paint diagonal lines that connect the shadow under the roof with a horizontal line on top. The top edge of the roof is left unpainted. Add more crevices between the rocks. Don't be too precise here and don't paint equal sized rocks. Let it look a bit more natural at some random dots or lines here and there. Make the lines natural. They don't have to be straight with the same color, but this time varying the tonal value. Paint the crevices between the rocks in the brick wall. Again, don't make it look too perfect. There are rocks or bricks in random shapes and sizes. So we want to convey that some parts of this wall are in the shadow, use a darker tone there. In the lighter sunlit areas use a light brown tone. On the right hand side behind the wall, there is that nice vibrant green hill to paint. It uses a mix of green gold with Windsor green yellow shade. Notice how different this green is from the ones that we used for the trees. This one is much more vibrant, much more saturated. It introduces that nice, lively touch to the painting. It's a very small area, so it doesn't dominate the painting, but it's a nice touch that looks very beautiful. Paired with the small lavender field in front of the wall, there are some white areas on that hill. Perhaps some white rocks leave some gaps between green areas to suggest that I thought I would just apply one more light brown layer to the doors. And with that, we have almost finished the mid ground. In the next part, we'll paint the small lavender field in front of the wall. 15. Small Lavender Field: I'll be using a brush size four now. First of all, I want to make some room for purple. I will clean my mixing space for our lavender. I'm going to use a mix of cobalt blue and quinacridone magenta. In this mix there is mainly cobalt blue and magenta. Just shifts this blue to a lavender shade. This is a very nice, pale lavender purple. But we can of course, shift it more towards blue or magenta if we like. We can create a quite dark purple if needed using a stronger mix. Let's start by applying a very pale, very watered down version of this mix to all lavender shrubs in the shadow area. Use a bit more cobald blue. The slight color is the lightest color I can see in the reference he now let's dry this with hair dryer. Now mix green gold with cobalt blue and with this green mix, paint the grass in front of the lavender field. We will also paint it in this part. This way we will finish the entire middle ground and only the big lavender field in front will remain. While applying this green vary the shades, you don't have to follow the reference photo exactly. Just use more or less green gold or cobalt bloom. Let this area have some variety in greens. Again, use a hair dryer to dry this completely. Now we will focus more on the details. I'm going to mix a stronger, darker shade of our lavender color. Still, when it comes to proportions, there is more cobald blue than quad. If you don't have Quinacridone magenta, you can use permanent rows if you like. If you don't have either of those colors, you can use just ready made violet that you have. For example, Windsor Violet. Now we want to paint each lavender row. I'm starting by applying lots of small dots around the highlighted part in front. Then I will apply the color to the entire row in the back. These dots will help us to create the texture of those lavender shrubs. Now to cobol the blue, add a touch of paints gray to make it darker and drop in this dark blue in a few places in the shadow area. The idea here is that we must create an impression that the rows are next to each other and they cast a shadow behind every row, there is a shadow on the next row. I hope this makes sense with a very pale lavender color paint. Also more dots in the sun lit area to add more texture. Okay. Now to be safe, because that first row is still wet, let's keep one row and paint the third one. Repeat the same process. We can use a hair dryer to dry the rows we've just painted and paint the ones in between them. Repeat on all other rows. On the rows on the right. I'm using more stipling technique to already suggest more texture. I feel like the shadow areas are not dark enough with the darker color. I'm going over the shadows again and using the stipling technique, I'm darkening those shadows now with the watery consistency of cobald blue. I'm painting a cast shadow over the four rows on the left. I'm also darkening the shadows on other rows. I'm painting lots of tiny dots and I'm using some brownish greenish colors here. Because lavender is not just flowers, there are also some green elements. We can add some green as well, but this is a very muted green. Now, with our green mix of green, gold, and cobald blue, let's paint the grass. My idea here is that I want to add some darker green patches here and there. But mainly I want to paint lots of short vertical brush strokes with the tip of my brush in order to create a grass texture. This is an indication of grass blades. I'm changing the shade of green from warm to cool, from light to dark to introduce variety, but I'm not following the reference at all. This painting is too small to take care of every detail. Whatever I can, I simplify. I think if we just paint this grass texture here with short brush strokes, it will be totally enough. And with that, this part is finished. In the next part, we will apply an initial layer to the big lavender field. 16. Lavender Field - Initial Layer: Firstly, I need more space for the green color. For this part, we will need our lavender and green. Our lavender color is a mix of cobalt blue and Quinacridone magenta. For the green, we will be using green gold mixed with Windsor green, yellow shade and cobalt blue. We need a bigger brush. Now I'll be using a size ten. I added a tiny touch of Quinacrodon magenta to my green here, and more cobalt blue. Because I noticed I need to start with a different shade of green. This one exactly magenta, mutes down the green and shifts it towards an olive green, just like burnt sienna. Use a light tone of it and start painting from the left side of the field. Notice that the paint is really very watery and I'm using a big brush. This allows me to paint wet and dry on big areas and blend the colors smoothly. When the green meets lavender, I'll shift my color to my purple mix. Painting the lavender field is actually quite tricky. And of course, we need to simplify some things because painting each lavender spike wouldn't be possible. There are many ways how we could paint it. It took me a really long time to decide which one to choose, and eventually, I didn't choose the simplest one. But only because I want to show you how we can use masking fluid at a later stage. We could paint it without masking fluid, and you can if you like. But I thought it's a good opportunity to show you some tools. At this stage, my idea is to apply the lightest colors. I can see light purple and light green. Later we will be darkening these colors, but we need a base. Now, keeping in mind the structures that these plants form, I'm applying purple and green in specific areas. Each lavender flower grows on a long green stem. Together they form long spikes, and many of those spikes together form a shrub. Shrubs are grown one next to another, creating rows. Keeping all this information in mind, I'm trying to create a base for more details for the future. First of all, I keep in mind that I'm painting those rows. Each row consists of many shrubs. I want to indicate that each shrub is more green at the bottom and purple at the top. I'm trying to paint each individual shrub, trying to add a bit of green, but mainly I'm applying the lavender color. I don't want the green to take too much attention. After all, the main focus is the lavender. In this area between the rows. High grass grows here. I'm applying just green at the bottom. There are two places with some rocks. At this point, I thought that I don't want to paint those rocks because it's already too much in this painting. I wanted to go over them with green and add grass here. If you like, you can do this. But eventually I decided to apply a light brown on the right pile of the rocks, cobbled blue on the left one, just in case if I want to paint them at a later stage, which I eventually did. But you don't have to. Of course. On the row on the right, I'm already suggesting the distribution of light. The right side of the row is darker, while the left side is lighter because the light source is on the left. In front, I'm adding some greens. As you can see, I'm painting everything in one go. But if you like, you can, for example, stop after applying the green dry, apply the row of lavender, dry it, then apply another row of grass, and so on. If you are afraid that the green will mix with the lavender color too much on the paper, it's safer to paint one color at a time. If they to blend too much, you may get some muddy colors. Okay, so this is how it looks after applying this first layer. Now let it dry completely. This layer is quite wet. I will leave it to dry naturally for about 15 minutes. And then I will use a dry to dry it really well. 17. Using Masking Fluid: Okay, my first layer is now completely dry. We have the basic colors. In this part, we will use masking fluid to create some really nice effects. I will be using Windsor and Newton masking fluid as always. For applying masking fluid, we can use many different tools. Normally, I use an old brush that I use just for applying masking fluid. But this time we need something different. Actually you can use a brush to. But I want to show you some different tools for applying masking fluid. We can use, among many other tools, a deep pen like this. We'll use it later in the video. We can also use a rolling pen with adjustable distance between the blades. I'll show you how to use that to. We can also use these embossing tools, which I believe in English, are also called dotting tools for nail art. One thing that all those tools have in common is that masking fluid will not damage them, as it may happen very easily with bristles of the brush. They can be cleaned very easily and we don't need soap for them downside or maybe not a downside, But just a difference between them and the brush is that a brush allows us to apply masking in larger areas because it holds more of this fluid, for example, on the edges of the shapes. These tools allow for masking application in a more precise way on smaller areas. I'm pouring a bit of masking fluid into an old cup, and I'm quickly closing the bottle. We don't need a whole bottle of masking. Just a little bit is enough. Now, I'll start with an embossing tool. I'll simply dip it in the masking and apply it in a place where I want to apply it. Very simple, right? What I'm doing here is that I want to preserve this pale lavender color. I'm creating those spike shapes. I'm preserving the color that we have already applied later, after applying more layers of paint here, after removing the masking, we will see the shapes that we're creating now that we'll have the color that we're preserving. Now of course, we will be able to add more color if it turns out it's too pale. But the idea here is that it would be very difficult to paint around each of those spikes. That's why I want to preserve them with masking. An alternative way here to create lighter spikes over darker ones, be to use guash paint at the end. That could be a very effective way as well. I was considering it too, but I know that many of you don't like to use guash. I also thought that I would show you some tools for applying masking fluids. I just took this path, but feel free to make everything your own way. As you can see, an embossing tool allows us to apply masking fluid. This way we can also apply dots or even simple shapes. But this tool doesn't have a reservoir that would hold more masking. After every stroke we have to dip the tool in masking again. At the tip of those tools, there is a small bowl. Each tool has a different size of that bowl, which also allows you to create various marks. Notice that I'm trying to apply masking now on the top of each shrub, and mainly on the purple colors, because that's what I want to preserve. Also, take note of the direction of those marks. I keep in mind the way each lavender shrub looks like. I'm imagining how they grow. At the bottom, I can see some very thin plants. We can also preserve their shapes. The trickiest part of watercolor painting is always painting a light over dark. In oil painting, for example, you simply take light paint and you can paint over dark. Because paints are opaque in water colors, it's much more difficult. We can choose one of the few ways we can paint around a lighter shape. We can mask it off. We can paint it in the end with an opaque paint, for example, with the quash. It all depends on the shape, the size of the painting, the complexity of the shape. There are many factors and it's always best to decide how we are going to tackle light shapes over dark before we even start painting. Now for the grass, let's switch to a ruling pen. A ruling pen has two adjustable blades. To use it, you simply dip it in the masking and masking fluid is kept between those two blades. It's always good to test on a piece of paper whether the width of the line is fine and if the masking is flowing. If the line is too thick or too thin, there is a round screw on a side which allows you to adjust the distance between the blades and hence the width of the line. We can use this tool not only for applying masking fluid, but also watercolor paint. You can load your brush with paint and transfer the paint from the bristles to the tip of the rolling pen. It's also a great tool for painting straight lines because with it you can use a ruler. I'm now creating high grass blades. Another tool that we can use for this is a deep pen. We simply dip the pen in masking, we can test the flow on a piece of paper, and then we can create very thin lines. If it's a flex snap, we can press harder to get a wider line and release to get a thinner line as with the ruling pen. We can also use watercolor paint to paint very precise lines. Here I'm using it to create lots of grass blades. Okay, So masking fluid is applied now, leave it to dry completely. In the next, we will apply the second layer. 18. Lavender Field - Second Layer: The masking fluid has dried completely. Now we don't have to worry about protecting all those small details and painting around them here. We'll also use a larger brush size ten to add another layer of paint that will intensify the colors. Get ready with more paint mixes so they are easily accessible. I'm mixing cobalt blue and quinacrodon magenta. This mix produces a purple hue, but I prefer to have the two colors separately, two, allowing me to shift towards blue or pink as needed. On the left side, I've mixed green, gold, Windsor green, yellow shade, and cobbled blue to create a green mix. Let's begin with a lighter, more diluted version of the green and apply it to the left hand side. At this stage, I aim to introduce more variety in tones and colors. Details aren't my focus yet, we'll address them in the next part. Right now, I'm adjusting tones, darkening some areas, and enriching the colors. With this layer, I'm keeping the land and plant structure in mind. The hill isn't flat, there are ups and downs. Her areas are lighter, while lower parts are darker. This creates the impression of hills and valleys and helps differentiate the lavender rose. As I approach the lavender areas, I'm gradually adding more nuanced brush strokes. We want to depict the spikes. I'm using shorter brush strokes and paying attention to their direction. There are a few things we need to consider making this part a bit tricky to paint. Firstly, we must remember the big shapes and how light and shadow are distributed. Each lavender row has shadow on the right side and is sun lit on the left. Then we need to keep in mind that each row is made up of shrubs. These shrubs are green at the bottom and lavender on top. Lastly, each shrub has lavender spikes growing in a specific direction. We need to convey this by paying attention to the direction of our brush strokes and marks. I'm applying the lavender color, roughly around where I applied the masking fluid, because those spots represent lavender flowers. Now I'm just painting the background for them. Of course, we also need to add some green to suggest the green parts of the shrubs. As we move further away, the rows become less detailed in those areas. I'm simply applying the purple color for now and later I will add details to create texture. Adding a darker tone behind each row gives that nice three dimensional effect and rounds out each row for the largest row. The green in front is very dark, so I'm adding paints gray to my green mix. Now I have a mix of green gold, Windsor green, yellow shade, cobbled blue, and pains gray. I'm painting everything wet and dry, but my paint is quite watered down, allowing me to blend the colors on the paper. However, I need to be careful not to blend the lavender with the green too much. If those two colors mix too closely, they will create muddy colors. It's a bit tricky, but with patience, we can build this up. This part is a bit more creative because we are not sticking strictly to the reference photo. Instead, we're aiming to create an impression that will give us a pleasing result. Painting each lavender spike individually would be too complex, so we're simplifying the process. Continue painting each shrub, paying attention to the direction of your brush strokes and the colors you're using. Notice that as I apply the green to the next shrub, I'm simultaneously defining the shape of the shrub in front of it. It's a bit like negative painting here. The right side of the row is in shadow, so in the shaded areas I'm using a bit more cobbled blue. Finally, I'm covering this section with lavender color and dropping in a darker tone at the bottom. Now I want to dry everything before applying green to the next section. I don't want the green to mix too much with the lavender row. Let's introduce a variety of greens here. While the reference suggests cooler and paler greens, I prefer to use a bit warmer greens here. I like this combination of green and purple. It's also in the foreground. Warmer colors work well against the cooler distant hues. A attach more burnt sienna to the rocks, then use a darker green shade in a few spots under. Since we're already using green, we can also paint the smaller green section on the right. The green is still wet, so I'm adding more dark green under the lavender row to simulate the shadow on the ground. Now let's dry everything. Once the green is dry, we can finish the rose on the right. Again, use a mix of colors between bald blue and quinacrdon magenta in front. Use shorter brush strokes to create spiky texture. Keep the right side of the road darker since sits in the shadow. Don't paint the green part in front. Now we'll add the details in the next part. Use a hair dryer to dry everything, but avoid concentrating too long in one area or keeping it too close as the hot air might affect the masking fluid. 19. Lavender Field - Finishing: For this final part, I'm switching to a smaller brush as I seek to add some details. First, I'll apply bald blue to the rocks on the left, leaving the top edge white to suggest a strong highlight. Next, I'll pick up a darker tone of green and start painting the grass. I'll also drop in the green in the shadow area on the rock. Since it's surrounded by grass, it's reflecting the green color. Using just the tip of my brush, I'll paint individual grass blades here and there, Not every, just enough to indicate there is grass in the distance. This adds texture to the hill, making it less flat and more interesting. While there's already a variety of greens, adding these grass blades bring more interest to this area. Moving down, I'll start adding more details to the Levender shrubs. I'll use short, slightly elongated brush strokes to create the impression of the Levender spikes. First, I'll use lavender, and then I will move on to green. These strokes help build the form of each shrub. The direction is crucial. Also, I'll keep in mind that one side is in the shadow, the colors should be darker on that side to the next row, I need more green. So I'm mixing green, gold, Windsor green, cobbled blue, and adding pray for a darker shade as I add these green lines. Now I will have gaps between them. The lighter green from the previous layer remains visible. This creates a variety of tonal values. I'm building each row and each shrub with these elongated brush strokes. This gives a sense of business and creates the characteristic look of the lavender rose. In the background. I'm only suggesting each by applying the lines in arc shapes. This should give the impression of the round form of the. Here you can clearly see how I build each shrub. It's a rather loose process if you're accustomed to painting very precisely, staying within pencil lines and creating defined shapes. This may be a bit challenging here. We need to let go and embrace a more creative flow. There aren't clearly defined shapes. We must rely on our intuition and creative skills to paint this. Stepping out of your comfort zone can sometimes be a rewarding and enlightening experience. Continue painting. Focusing on each shrub individually. Notice how I use a darker green just behind each shrub in front to create dimension. Also, the right side of each shrub is darker paint as if there was no masking fluid. Imagine you're painting each spike with green at the bottom and lavender flowers on top. In the background. The strokes should be shorter and thinner to indicate distance and perspective. Under moving on to the right side. Start by adding more lavender lines, then switch to the green Here, think about negative painting. We already have light green on the paper. Let's use it to our advantage. The lines I'm applying now are partly individual lavender spikes, but also spaces between the lighter spikes created by the light green already there. This is negative painting. Instead of painting those light green spikes, I'm painting spaces between them which helps bring out their shapes. This particular row was quite pleasant to paint, perhaps because of its simpler perspective. I just imagined it as a rounded form and worked all those tiny brush trucks into it. Here I'm suggesting some darker grass blades by painting irregular, long brush strokes to add more texture for painting the grass. A designer's brush or a rigger brush works well. They are very similar. They have slightly elongated bristles that can create thin, long lines. However, if you don't have them, any round brush will do. I'm just aiming to create a sense of business by applying many of those long brush strokes. Each stroke represents an individual grass blade, and repeating them many times will eventually create a pleasing effect. Now I'm taking a break to add some shadows to the rocks. I'm painting the edges of those rocks and a few shadows here and there. I don't want to spend too much time on this since it's not the main focus of this painting, but I do want to suggest some rocky texture. Continuing with the grass, I come to the left side where there is another pile of rocks here. I'm using a darker blue color because it's all in the shadow and it's quite dark. In fact, I'll apply a lot of the dark blue and brown here to darken this corner using a very dark green. I'm adding dark grass just under the road to suggest a cast shadow using a brush size six. I'm adding the finishing touches here. I'm adding a few more darker green lines and it's almost complete. Now we need to dry everything with a hair dryer, But be careful not to hold the hair dryer in one place for too long because there is a risk that the masking fluid will stick permanently to the paper. Once everything is dry, I will use a rubber masking pick up tool to remove the masking fluid. Of course, you can use your fingers. Removing the masking fluid reveals a light tone from the very first layer we applied. This technique allows us to create light elements over a dark background. Next, I want to blend those lighter shapes with the rest because they look a bit too distinct. I'll apply some color to them using a brush size ten. I will use green gold to apply a thin layer of green over the grass, disconnects everything and makes it look more unified. The light grass blades are no longer as pale but are still lighter than the background. I'll do the same with the lavender. I'll pick up some pink and blue and use the slight tone to paint over some of those lighter spikes to integrate them more with the shrub. Of course, it might look a bit artificial, but we've created an impression. It's not a hyper realistic painting. We can use some creative license here. And with that, the painting is finished. Now we can sign it, remove the masking tape, and later trim the edges with the staples. 20. Summary: Let's summarize what we've covered in this tutorial. We learned how to use color temperature in landscape paintings to convey distance. Placing cooler and paler tones in the background and warmer, more intense colors in the foreground. We explored various techniques for creating visual textures from the smooth texture of the sky, painted wet and wet, to the stipling technique for trees and the wet and dry technique for grass. We discovered the utility of masking fluid and how it can aid in creating light objects over a dark background. If there is one thing I hope you take away from this class, it's the understanding that even complex paintings can be tackled by breaking them down into smaller sections and patiently painting step by step with a plan, patients, and basic painting techniques. Any painting can be accomplished. Thank you for joining me on this creative journey. I appreciate the time you've spent with me. I encourage you to give this painting a try. It was enjoyable to paint and I'm pleased with the result. If you enjoy painting landscapes, I believe you will find this one particularly rewarding if you've already completed your painting. Congratulations. Well done. I hope you are proud with your result. Thank you very much for watching and happy painting by