Transcripts
1. Introduction : [MUSIC] Traditional
media has its magic. The feeling of the
watercolor paper, the brushes, the paint, and the randomness of
it all helps not to expect that much from yourself
and from your art as well. I think it is incredible. After three years of using digital media,
more specifically, Procreate and the iPad, I decided to grab my
traditional media, again, water colors and to create some artworks and
paintings just for myself. What I realized is
that it helped me so much to expect lastly, for myself and to brace the imperfections that
traditional media has. It is more lifelike and
it just gave so much to my soul that I decided to
share the video with you guys. As I am a digital artist and most of my students
are in the digital media, and maybe they don't
have watercolors or real traditional supplies, I decided to make this
available for them. I created brushes for Procreate from real
watercolor marks. I will just show it to you. I created a video for digital artists to
show them how they can apply everything we learned during the class or every step, how they can implement
it into Procreate. This is a multi artists class. If you are an artist or
a creative person who wants to give an artistic
treat to their soul, just stay this class. Hi, my name is Alexandra, aka the art mother. I'm an artist, illustrator, a mother, a professional
art teacher. I am creating online art
classes for five years now. I have more than 50,000
students around the world. I'm working mostly in
the digital media. But as you can see, I have a great emotional attachments
to traditional media. What we're going to do is a painting technique called
the negative painting, which has three layers. We're going to work
with a floral motifs so that we don't over-complicate
the whole process. We're not going
to draw too much. We're not going to
think too much. I will tell you what you
need to do in each step. You will just need to
trust the process. This kind of an
artwork will come out, which is perfect with
its imperfections. I'll just show you. I will just show
you the final piece I have created in this class. Also check out
that we can create the exact same thing also digitally with the brushes
that I have read it. Yeah, we will have so
much fun together. If you are ready,
let's get started.
2. Supplies: [MUSIC] Welcome to the class. I'm super happy
to have you here. In this class, we're going to explore a negative painting, which is a beautiful
painting technique, mainly used in the
watercolor media. This is what I'm going
to use it with it today. However, we have digital art available and we can replicate the
traditional media there. I am going to include it
in this class as well. I'm going to work with watercolors because
the general idea behind this painting
technique can be followed along and both of them. I'm going to work
in a traditional, but I'm going to include a video in which I will
show you how to apply the knowledge from this
traditional painting into the digital media. I also created
digital brushes from watercolor paint marks so that we have it as
authentic as it can be. What do we need
for this painting? When we're working
with watercolors obviously we will need
a watercolor paint. What I'm going to use as this micador, professional
aniline paint, which is known for this
very vibrant pigments, but you can use any watercolor
paint you have at home. I have this set as well. I love it so much. It is from a premium
marketing. It's a tropicals. It also has some beautiful
pigments in the paints. I love this a vibrant colors
because when they dry, you can create nicer
textures with them. You can use any
watercolor paints you like or you have at home. Then what I'm going
to need is a pencil. It can be a normal
graphite pencil. I'm going to use
colored pencil just to sketch out a little bit the shapes that I'm
going to work with. It can be watercolor pencil as well so that when
you are painting, it just blends into the paint. But nowadays, I'm really into imperfections and I allow if you can see like how something was born like
nothing is perfect. We will need water for the paint and a
watercolor paintbrush. Let me show you I have
this synthetic brush hair. It has a very nice, but I think this
will be a little bit thicker so I will just
choose another one. I have a thinner one
as well for details, then I will need
something round. I am going to use this round bow so that I can draw this
round base for it. I don't want to over-complicate
[LAUGHTER] this also, I will just help myself out. Yes, what I forgot is
what paper to use. I have this Strathmore
watercolor paper block here. That is a free 100 grams thick
paper, which has texture. It is one of my favorite
watercolor paper that I love to use but you can use
any watercolor paper. Make sure it is thick. Lastly, digital artists, grab your iPad and download the brushes I created for you. So see you the next video
we're going to talk about the floral shapes we are going to include
in this painting.
3. The Floral Shapes: [MUSIC] Let's talk
about the shapes, I will now grab a pencil, I will go for a dark blue, I hope you will see it. We are going to work with some general floral
shapes or leaf shapes. I don't want to
over-complicate this again. What we will do is
we'll have a stem, like in this artwork
right here we have stem and these leaves
coming out of it. This is the easiest
type of a subject to paint in negative painting
to learn its logic. Obviously you can
upgrade the idea, so you don't need to
do this, try it out, try the whole painting
technique out with me, with this florals
but then you can go pro and do something
more complicated. Generally, we will have a stem, which goes in a little curve and I will show you
three different ones. I will draw three stems here. One of my favorite
is that I have here already is the pointy leaves. I will add a pointy
leaf at the end, and pointy leaf throughout
the whole stem. Now you can vary the frequency
of these leaves as well, so they could come
from the same spots, like this or they can
come after each other, not from the same spot. Hope that makes sense. Now you can reduce both, again, this is practice and you are
free to do what you want. [LAUGHTER] Now let's
try the second one. In this type of leaf, we have a rounded end, so as if it was an opposite. Again, you can vary if the
spotter coming out is at the same spot or differently and you can
vary these two as well like this, for example. We can combine these two, so as you can see, these both are edgy, but you can create
leaves like this ones, so they are rounded at the
bottom and edgy at the end. Something like this, more rounded and
then more edges, so I it is like a bit of an exaggeration and
combination of these two. Again, you can come
combine these like this. You should choose
which one you want to use in your artwork
and now we'll move into the next video where
we're going to very lightly sketch it out so
see you there. [MUSIC]
4. The Light Sketch : [MUSIC] Let's just continue
with the first layer. I'm just going to grab a clean watercolor
paper and grab a bowl. I'm going to place it to
the middle of the page. This is a time when you
have to grab your pencil, your watercolor pencil, or colored pencil,
or graphite pencil. I will let first choose a color that I'm
going to paint with. As I've done, the first painting in blue, now I'm going to work in green. I will choose a green
colored pencil, and I will sketch very lightly. I will grab a wearing
light green color that will fit in with
the paint itself. I'm just going to draw
a round bowl like this, and now I have a
wonderful perfect circle and we will not need
the bowl anymore. Now, think about which one will you use, which leaf type? I will go with the last one. Like this, the rounded
bottom shape and the edge. We will draw two
stamps at each layer. Now draw two stems randomly and just
draw the leaves. [MUSIC] I have to first sketch, and I will return for
a second to this part to experiment a little with the paint and to see
the paint intensity. I will put this pencil aside, grab my brush, and my paint. I will place my brush
to the water and choose the paint I'm
going to work with. Now, I love this
light green color. I will put it on my palette. As we are going to
work in three layers, will need three
intensities of our pains. The first layer will be needed to be very light
and watered down. I will try it out. This is going to be really
light and water down. Then the second layer must
be a little bit darker. When your layer
is on each other, it will get darker, watercolor is a transparent
paint and media. If this layer dries, and you paint over it, it will get darker but
if you are working with the same pigment and
water combination, you will not see that contrast
in the layers that creates this beautiful art and the sense of the
negative painting. You must paint a darker layer. Now, this is the point
where you can add a little bit of
different pigments into your paint
to get it darker, or you can expand out. What if you put lots of pigments to your paint
or from your paint? To get that layer a
little bit darker, and a third layer, it must be very dark. I will add a little bit
of this darker green, and try to create an even darker version
of this color. You can also combine
different hues. You can start with, for example, the first layer with a very
watery green or yellow, and add blue to it and
to get even darker. I will try to make
this monochrome so work with the same hue. But you can experiment with
it and add different colors, and create different versions. Let us try and see you in
the next video where we're going to paint our
first layer. [MUSIC]
5. The First Layer: [MUSIC] You can
just put this away or place it aside and
just simply paint the first layer with this
very watered down color or paint because the first
layer is fully painted. Now you only need to
paint a circle and not care about the sketch. The reason I created a sketch first is that when it dries, I can start to paint
a second layer right away and I don't need to draw down and the sketch
will be more solid when you don't need to
draw on a painting. [MUSIC] I start. I really love the effect
of this watercolor blooms that you can achieve by
adding drops of water. When it dries, you will
have these wonderful edges. Now we can do that. When you have this circle
filled in with the first layer, you can just drop some
drops of water into it. This is a time you can go
for lunch [LAUGHTER] because you will need this
first layer to dry. You can use a hairdryer
for it but I think naturally dried paint
is that our heat can actually damage pigments but that's probably thing
that you don't need now. See you in the next video where we're going to continue with the second layer after
this one is dry. [MUSIC]
6. The Second Layer: [MUSIC] It is dry, let's just continue
with the second layer. I'm going to grab my brush again and grab more pigmented version. Now we're going to paint the
whole circle again but as if the shape of this
floral will be cut out. We haven't drawn a
stem with two lines. You can do that if
that helps you. But basically, you can
just leave it out as places and don't leave
it out at places. You will see how
that will help you. But basically, you need to start painting and as if you were outlining the
shapes of the leaves. Make sure that you are working with lots of pigment
so that it can be seen. Again, as you can see, I'm not exactly painting on the line that I
have drawn here, I'm leaning out a
little bit like this. You can use a thinner
brush if you need. [MUSIC] You can vary the intensity of the
color as well here. Well, make sure to make it really dark in the
places where you have the outlines of these leaves
so they can be really seen. [MUSIC] I think it's finished and it's absolutely not perfect,
but I love it. We will need to wait
until this layer is dry before we draw our
second sketch. Let's just take some rest again. [LAUGHTER] This
is a fun project. Do laundry, drink,
coffee, have lunch, go to sleep and
continue next time. Again we can make it a bit more interesting with
these drops, again. You can just have these
drops of water again and don't be afraid
when it comes out. There's little drops
around the circle. It will make it even
more interesting. Have fun with it. So sure it's good to have fun. Because sometimes this
very pigmented paint can be very thick and you can just make
it more watery and interesting and textured by adding these drops
of water over. That will make it a whole
little bit more textured. You can just go over
it a second layer. If you don't have it textured, just blend it a bit more. See you in the next
video. [MUSIC]
7. The Third Layer: After the second layer is dry, let's just grab our
pencil again and let's draw another two
stamps with leaves. If you take a look on the
artwork I have already created, you can see that there are
two main stems at the front, and approximately three here, and then I've continued. This is a bit more complex
one that I have done here. You know what, let it be free so that we have
five stems altogether. You can make these stems to cross the ones that you
already have there. You need to think about
this third layer as if it was cut out from
the second layer. We will not be able to
paint all the leaves, but you can put them behind those leaves that
you already have. Don't worry about
perfectionism again, remember, this is practice, and I want you to
embrace imperfections. I will start with
the main stem here. I will need a little
bit darker pencil so that I can see
what I'm doing. I will have this stem
somewhere like here. I will have another one
here and another one, I would say here at the back. I will continue drawing and
adding these little leaves. When I achieve a place where there is another leave
that I already have there, I just imagine that
it is not there and draw behind it by
leaning out its shape. This might be a little
bit more advanced, but trust me, this
will not affect the end results too much. I will try to draw
bigger leaves. [MUSIC] Now I decided to change the type of the painting
or the pigments I use. You can go for the third
layer with the same paint. You can try it out
how dark you can go if you need to mix
another pigment into it. Or as you can see, if I put this very
concentrated pigment from the same paint here, I will not go darker. I need to add either
this one to it, but I thought I will
try another one. I have a very
pigmented animal paint here that I love so much. This is this dark green and this is this bit lighter green, but it can go very dark as
you can see, leaf green. I can call it like
that and actually, I will go around this
with that paint. You have to paint
over the hole again, you are painting
the whole circle, but leave out the ones that you have already left
out in the second layer, and you will leave out the ones that you have
just drawn there. Again, this is a little
bit of play with logic and repainting layers
like making them darker. [MUSIC] I would love to just ask
you to trust the process. Oh my God, I love
how it turned out. Can you see that? You can go even deeper
and create another layer. Now add, for example, other leaves to the back
and paint it again over. But I don't want to
over-complicate this. This free layer is just enough, I have a feeling somehow that I have left this place
a little bit out. It is a negative thing, but I can play with texture. I will drop again
lots of water here. Next, we'll add texture here and it will help me to get rid of that feeling of not
painting there enough. Thanks, another
thing I can do to make this even more
interesting is to add a little bit more water to the bottom parts
that I've painted and drop it like this. Put something down
there so that you don't make your desk that messy. I think this looks incredible, you can do so many more things
to make it interesting. You can place another
layer or the last layer. You can just draw another leaves and what's
left from the whole circle. You can go over with a
darker pencil, for example. I can do some details to
show you what I mean. Where there is, for example. a place where you think that leaves cannot
be seen enough, you can just go
through with a pencil and make it a bit darker
or add some details to it. It adds a little
bit more texture and interest to your piece. You can do that when
it's fully dry. I'll just assign it
my A like smothering. You can add some drops
around it as well. Sprinkle some color here and
there. [LAUGHTER] I love it. It is so good to play
with imperfections. It is not the same as initial. There you have this urge to get everything perfect.
What is this? Really cool. I think that's
all for this technique. I hope you liked it and
that you enjoyed it. See you in the last video where we're going to sum
it all up. [MUSIC]
8. Digital Negative Painting: [MUSIC] This video is
for digital artists. If you are creating this
artwork with watercolors, you can skip this video, but you can just check for a
second that this design or this effect can be achieved
in the digital media as well. The most demanding thing
for me in creating this class was to
create digital brushes that have this randomness
in them that you can create similar effects with them and it is enjoyable
to create with them. I took some watercolor
marks that I have created here and worked a lot to
create watercolor brushes. Also, I didn't want to include 10 different watercolor brushes because the point
of this class is to have it easy and
enjoyable and enjoy the randomness of
the whole media or the whole painting process. You will find four
different brushes in this brush pack
in the resources. There are four different
brushes and I will just show you what you
can do with them. But the first step for you
is to download the brushes and go to gallery and create a new canvas
that is square sized. Let's just start with
creating the paper texture. You have a paper texture brush and the brush set for this. I would love you to choose a little bit of a grayish color. I will just include it
in this color palette, then I will include
in the resources as well so that you can use it. I will just paint one
layer and make sure not to do several brush
strokes because that will increase its darkness. It is a giant circle
and I will do it again. Just one brush stroke to
fill the whole canvas. You can see we have paper
texture on it already. The second thing
that we're going to do is to create a new layer. Choose black and choose
the sketching pencil. I will choose the
6B pencil and just create exact same sketch. The circle and the three
different leaf types that we have created here. This edgy one, this rounded one, and this combined one. I will speed this up. Make sure that you are
working on the new layer. Make circle, hold down, edit shape, create a circle
with a quick shape function. You can place it to the
middle and start drawing. Start with drawing the
two stems and the leaves. [MUSIC] Now I will create a
new layer and choose a color for this painting. I would love to create something similar to what I
have done here. I will go for a little
bit yellowish green color that is very bright. Something like this
but maybe this bright, and then I will have a milk
color and the darker color. What you can do here
to do the same as well that we've done
with the watercolor is, so a light wash, a middle color and
the darker color. Now what you are
going to use from the watercolor brush is the
watercolor shape brush. On a new layer, I will just show
you how it works. Let me choose the
lightest color. It is pressure sensitive. As you can see, there is
this burn at the edges. At this first layer, also fill in the background. This negative painting is
about painting the background, not the object itself. Start by filling
the whole circle. What you have to pay attention to is that if you go
through this layer again, it will overlap and
create this thing. That is not bad. It will create the effect similar to the real watercolors. I will show you where there is an overlap, it creates this. [LAUGHTER] I just tried to
zoom into the real painting. [LAUGHTER] I'm so sorry. I will just fill in the circle. Don't care about
these things because as I already finished it, I will choose the water bleed. I created this brush
to create the effect that you are adding water to these washes and
you're washing away these very edgy
meetings of color. There's a little bit of
color burn as if there was a little bit of different
pigment coming into the scene, which is very typical
for watercolors, mainly if you are
working on a pallet. You can create this
check texture, the fact, a little
bit on this hole, and now create a new layer and create the second layer with this darker version again with the watercolor shape. Now what you need
to pay attention to is to trust the process. Even if you think that this
will not look good, it will. One thing, I don't
want you to erase. If you really need
to erase something, choose the watercolor shape
brush for your eraser as well so as you keep
this original shape. Don't use the eraser if
you don't need very much. Let's keep this as real as possible because in
the real watercolors, you just cannot erase. [MUSIC] We have the second layer. Looks goods. Now this is the
time to add a little bit of this natural feeling
with the watercolors brush. Make it a bit smaller, a little bit bigger than
that, and just add. Don't be afraid to add these dots to the
painting itself as well. Of course, don't overdo it, but it will add so much
to the whole image. Now I will create another layer and choose a little bit
of darker color again in this sketching pencil and draw the other three little stems. I will add one stem to
the middle here and one here and add the leaves. [MUSIC] Create another layer and
choose this darkest color and again the watercolor shape
and paint another layer. [MUSIC] Oh my God guys, this looks incredible,
like what? [LAUGHTER] I love this so much. I will add a little bit of
water bleed here and there to blur these little edges. But actually I love them too. I will just enhance
a little bit of this color burn and adding
a little bit of pigment in and a little bit of
blurring and things like that, so you can play with that. Again, add a little bit of splish-splash here and there, smaller or bigger like this. Grab the watercolor
shape and sign your art. I think this is
incredible. Look at this. I know this is not that vibrant, but we can edit it. But just look at the textures. I don't know how to put
this next to each other, but it looks incredible. Wow. I'm really proud of myself. I created some incredible
brushes for you guys. We can actually play
with the saturation. I can group these
layers and duplicate them and then flatten
and use saturation, brightness and I can
play with the hue. Wow. I love this
blue, this purple. That is purple. Saturation, brightness is good. You can play with the
colors as well if you wish. I will just go back
to the original one because I love this
color palette so much. You will have it
in the resources, but feel free to experiment. I love that we can see
the pencil marks as well. This is how we can
do this digitally. Now let's move on
to the final video just to sum it all up. [MUSIC]
9. Final Thoughts: [MUSIC] Congratulations,
you've finished the class. You have learned another amazing painting
technique that can help you loosen up
a little and to enjoy imperfections and you can follow rules and
that will help during the whole painting
process not to think about how to solve problems
just to enjoy painting. This is why I love this
painting technique that much. I hope that you enjoyed it. I'm so excited to see your artworks in
the project gallery. Make sure to make a
photo of your artwork, put this into the
project gallery, and take a look around and see what other students
created for this class. Make sure to leave me a review. It is very important so that I know what you think
about the class. Others who find a class if
it is a good fit for them. Follow me on social media
on Instagram, Facebook, and also here on Skillshare
to stay up to date. I can't wait to see you
in my other classes too. I wish you all the best and
happy creating. See you.
The Artmother, Professional Art Teacher and Artist
