Expressive Watercolor Landscape: Lavender Field in Provence

1. About the Class: If your paintbrush could take you on a journey around the world, capturing the unique essence of each place you visit. In this series, that's exactly what we'll do. We'll travel the world through watercolor, capturing not just beautiful places, but also emotion and mood that makes each place special. We'll focus on painting landscapes in a loose intuitive way using flowing brushwork, bold color, and expressive qualities of watercolor. Welcome to the first class in my new series Expressive Watercolor Landscapes. Hi, everyone. Welcome to my watercolor class. I'm Bianca ella, a watercolor artist, Skillshare top teacher, and workshop instructor. I love painting landscapes, seascapes and sit scapes, and I'm so passionate about sharing easy to follow techniques that help you create expressive and atmospheric paintings. I've had the privilege of partnering with Schminka silver Bush Limited and Arch and Mounts brands that share my passion for inspiring creativity and making painting enjoyable and fulfilling for everyone. I truly believe that painting is for everyone. My purpose is to inspire people to discover and pursue their creative passion, whether you're picking up a brush for the first time or looking to refine your skills, I want to help you build confidence and enjoy the process. In this class, we'll paint a dreamy field of lavender in full bloom with soft purples, warm golden tones, and gentle movement. You'll learn how to sketch a simple but effective composition. Use wet on wet and dry brush techniques to create soft textures. So just distance layers and light with expressive stroks and learn to let go of perfection and enjoy the process. This class is perfect for beginners who want to loosen up, as well as for more experienced artists who want to explore watercolor landscapes with feeling. All you need are your favorite materials, your curiosity, and a little space to create. I can't wait to see what you create, so grab your materials and let's get started. 2. Materials: Before we start painting, let's go through all the materials you'll need for this class and actually for the entire expressive watercolor landscape series. First, you'll need watercolor paper. It's really important to use 100% cotton, 300 GSM, cold press watercolor paper because we'll be working a lot with wet on wet techniques. I'll be using Bao Hong Artist grade paper size ten by 7 ", but feel free to use any brand as long as it's 100% cotton and 300 GSM. Next, we'll need a waterproof board to stretch and hold the paper while it's wet. You can use something like a white board or an acrylic board, anything waterproof and sturdy. For the brushes, here's what I'll be using silver brush alpine white goat hair brush. This is for wetting the paper with water because it's super absorbent. Renaissance sable brush size eight. I'll be using this for painting the main washes for the landscape, silver silk 88 ultra round brush size six, which is perfect for painting smaller details and Renaissance liner brush size two for painting lines, accents and also for signing the painting. You'll also need a pencil and eraser for the initial sketch, and now for the paints, I'm missing ShimkaHredu watercolors, and I've already squeezed the colors from the tubes into my Mijello palette. You can download the full list of colors from the resources section, but here's a quick overview of what's on my palette. Naples yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium orange, burn henna, Indian red. Berlin dark red, Berlin violet, inacridon magenta, cobalt blue, cobalt turquoise, deep sea violet, cobalt violet, paints gray, olive green, indigo, deep sea blue, Prussian blue and ice blue. If you don't have ice blue, you can also use titanium white as an alternative for creating opaque highlights. And finally, we'll need two cups of clean water and some towel or tissue paper for blotting and cleaning brushes. That's everything we'll be using. Now let's get ready to paint. 3. Pencil Sketch: Now let's start with a pencil sketch. I'm using simple lines here just enough to guide us once we start painting. I begin by drawing the horizon line slightly above the middle part of the paper. This helps create the feeling of open space in the field while still leaving enough room for the sky and background elements. Next, I sketch a small house near the center just above the horizon line. I start with the roof keeping the shape simple like a triangle on top of a rectangle. Then I build the basic structure of the house underneath. Nothing too detailed. We just want enough to suggest the shape and placement. Behind the house, I lightly draw some fountains in the distance. These can be soft curved shapes. They'll help frame the composition and add depth to the background. Then I add a few trees behind and beside the house, some bushy ones here on the left, and a couple of tall, slender cypress trees to give that classic provence feel. Now I move to the foreground and add a few more details, a door and a small window on the house and some tiny trees and bushes in front to give it a sense of place. Again, I keep everything very light and loose, just enough structure to support the watercolor later on. Finally, for the lavender field, I draw several soft diagonal lines starting from the rightmost part of the page and converging downward, which helps create an aerial perspective and leads the viewer's eye into the scene. Plus, it gives that lovely organized look of rose in a lavender form, and that's it for the pencil sketch. Keep your lines gentle and minimal, we want them to support the watercolor and not overpower it. 4. Painting Process: Now let's begin with the painting process. First, we need to prepare the paper. I start by wetting the back of the paper with clean water. I make sure to cover it thoroughly. Then I move to the front of the paper and gently apply water there too. The goal is to wet both sides of the paper to stretch it out, preventing any warping or buckling as we paint. After applying the water, I lay the paper flat on my waterproof board to hold it securely while it's wet. I give it a few minutes to let the paper absorb the water. This step is very important. We want the paper to be just the right level of wetness where it has a slight shiny surface but no water puddles. This ensures smooth controlled strokes once we begin painting. Once the paper is properly wet, I take a piece of tissue and gently lay it across the sky area to remove any excess water. This helps prevent the paint from spreading too much and gives us more control as we paint. Now, let's mix the sky color. For a bright blue sky, I take some cobalt blue and a mix of a bit of cobalt violet to create a nice saturated hue. I want the blue to be vibrant but still soften up for blending. Using the full belly of my brush, I paint the sky with horizontal strokes, starting from the top and working my way down. As I get closer to the horizon line, I gradually dilute my paint with more water to create a soft gradient effect. This way, the color transitions from darker at the top to lighter as it approaches the horizon. For the upper portion of the sky, I add a little more cobalt violet to deepen the tone. Then as I move closer to the middle, I lighten the blue by diluting it with water to create a soft and airy feel. Next, I use yellow ochre for the area near the horizon line, carefully applying it with a light hand. I make sure to blend this yellow with the blue as I move closer to the sky. I'm very careful to dilute the yellow ochre gently as it meets the blue to avoid any unwanted green mixing. To ensure a smooth and seamless transition between the colors, I take a clean damp brush and lightly blend the edges where the yellow meets the blue. This softens the lines and creates a nice flow between the colors. Now let's move on to the lavender field. Before we get started, I'll quickly test the moisture of the paper by gently touching it. Since it's still wet, it's the perfect time to continue. I begin by painting the base color just below the horizon line with yellow ochre. I start with soft horizontal strokes using the full belly of my brush to create an even light wash. This sets the tone for the base of the field. Next, I reload my brush with a juicy mix of paint, making sure the bristles are full of creamy pigment. The key here is to make loose and expressive brush strokes that mimic the movement of the cool breeze following through the lavender fuel. Notice how I move quickly with fast and spontaneous strokes. I also add extra water to my brush to help the paint spread and create those fluid organic strokes. The main idea here is to be bold and fearless. Don't overthink, let go and embrace the natural flow of the paint. You'll end up with a unique stroke that's all your own. Let the paint move freely across the page. You're guiding it with your brush, but allowing it to flow and spread in its own way. I like to add a little extra energy to the left side by splattering some paint. This gives the field a more expressive dynamic feeling at the edge as though the breeze is carrying the lavender into the air. Now I'll clean my brush and take some coupled violet. I reload my brush, making sure to get a lot of color on it, and I flatten the bristle so I can control my strokes better. I'd like to dab the purple paint onto the field, being very careful not to press too hard. This is crucial to avoid creating a muddy mix between the yellow ochre and the violet. I focus on dab strokes in a diagonal direction, following the guidelines I made earlier with a pencil sketch. This will give us that sense of rows of lavender stretching across the field. I also add some splattering again, especially on the left side for that loose and expressive effect. The splatter should follow the same direction as the rest of the strokes, helping lead the eye toward the left side of the field. As I paint the middle part of the field, I begin to create upward strokes mimicking the lavender plant standing tall in the breeze. It's important to keep your strokes loose and free, avoiding stiffness. This helps maintain that natural expressive feeling throughout the painting. While I continue to splatter some paint, I make sure the splatters follow the same direction as the rest of the strokes, continuing to lead towards the left as though the breeze is carrying the lavender in that direction. Now I take my liner brush and add some fine tiny strokes across the field. These represent the delicate details of the lavender plants, giving it a more textured feel without overwhelming the loose style. Next, I mix up some sap green, a little yellow ochre, and Prussian blue to create nice green tone for the field. I add these colors in a few spots to suggest some greenery among the lavender plants. Now I begin painting impressions of the greeneries and grasses using my liner brush. With light upward strokes, I dab and dance the brush across the paper making playful organic movements to add a sense of looseness and motion to the field. I try not to fill in too much green just enough to give hints of growth in life. We don't want to overpower the violet tones of the lavender. I also pay attention to perspective. The strokes near the foreground are a little longer, while those closer to the horizon line are kept shorter and smaller, helping create that feeling of depth in the landscape. Next, I grab my heat gun and try the mountain area so we can move on to painting that part without disturbing the earlier layers. I also take this moment to add few more tiny green strokes on the field just to build on the texture. Now, let's mix the color for the mountain. I use Prussian blue with a touch of green to create a cool, muted green, and I tone it down with just a bit of buncena. I load my brush and lay it flat as I paint the shape of the mountain, and this helps me get a nice, clean, soft edge throw. Then I mix a deeper green color with a thicker creamier consistency to paint the middle ground foliage just in front of the mountain. The trick here is to keep this paint more saturated than the mountain color so that the layers visually separate. I also leave a few tiny gaps unpainted. This lets a little light peek through and keeps the scene feeling airy and fresh. To avoid the flat look, I play with different tones in this area, some lighter, some darker, adding a bit of visual variation. I even scratch a paper with my nails in some spots to create a rough organic texture. Now, let's work on the trees. I use my liner brush again and create loose organic strokes. You can rub the brush gently on the paper or use a dabbing motion. Don't be afraid to explore. Each brush creates its own unique marks. On the left side of the paper, I wet the area just a bit and then start layering in some yellow light greens and a dark green tone to build up the dimension. I rub the body of the brush gently to shape the three forms and use the tip for finer strokes on the crowns of the trees. When painting layers of trees, it's important to vary the paint consistency. So thin, some thick, so that the layers don't merge into one flat shape. Now, let's paint the cypress trees. For this, I use a dry brush technique to keep the texture visible, add some shadows and contrast, especially a darker tone on the left side of the tree to give it depth. Finally, we'll complete the colors around the house. This part is really satisfying because we're going to define the house through negative painting. That means painting around it to shape it. As we fill in the surrounding greenery, the structure of the house starts to stand out beautifully. Now, let's paint a house. I start by mixing Brncena and yellow ochre together to create a warm base for the walls. I fill in the house carefully, building the shape by applying the color gently. On some areas, I dab a hint of pure burncenna to make certain spots a little darker and create a bit of variation. H Next, I take cobalt violet and mix it into the brown to create a darker muted shade, which I use for the upper part of the front wall. I'm just slowly filling in the structure, defining the shape of the house while keeping my strokes controlled and delivered. Once I'm happy with the walls, I dry this layer completely using my heat gun or letting it dry naturally. It's important that the surface is dry before we add the next details. Now I mix a very thick, dark brown paint for the roof. It needs to be thick and creamy, not watery, so that when we lay down our strokes, they came out solid and sharp. I carefully paint in the roof, letting the strong dark color really anchor the house visually into the landscape. Et's add some subtle texture to the wall now by lightly stroking on a few lines and details just to suggest the roughness and character of the building. Then I move on to painting the window and the door. For this, I use an even darker brown to make them pop against the lighter wall. Again, careful small strokes will help define these features without overwhelming them. To finish up the house, I adjust and refine its shape by painting more greens around it using the technique of negative painting to carve out the outline even more clearly. I also take a bit of opaque paint, either a white or a very light tint to add small highlights on the window and door areas. This little pop of brightness will make these features feel alive and sun kissed. Now, let's go back to the lavender field. Since the paper has mostly dried by now, is a perfect moment to add finishing strokes and small details. I load my brush with violet and start painting thin loose strokes across the field. This suggests the individual lavender plants. I vary the height and spacing of the strokes, scattering some in groups and leaving a few gaps to make it feel natural and organic. I focus these details mostly on the foreground and on the patches that already have purple tones. Rather than growing every tiny lavender stem, I keep it loose and expressive. We're aiming for suggestive strokes that hint at the lavender field rather than rendering it tightly. To add energy, I splatter some violet paint around the field as well. This keeps the painting from looking too stiff and adds a bit of playful spontaneity. Next, I step back and take a look, checking if there are any areas that feel a little empty. Where needed, I add a few more loose strokes to make the field feel fuller and livelier. Now, let's brighten up the field a bit. I mix an opaque violet color by blending my existing violet mix with a little ice blue. Or you can use titanium white, if you prefer. With this lighter creamier violet, I add some highlighted strokes across the lavender field, again, focusing mostly on the foreground to bring it forward visually. Then I grab a dark purple paint and add a few deeper accents and thin strokes here and there, especially in the middle ground to create contrast and depth. B Finally, to finish the whole painting, I add a small pop of color to the house, just a tiny accent to draw the viewers eyes. And with that, our expressive lavender landscape is complete. 5. Final thoughts: Thank you for joining me in this watercolor class. I hope you enjoy the process and learn something new that you can apply to your own paintings. I'd love to see your creation, so feel free to share your paintings in the class project section or tag me on Instagram at Bianca Reyala so I can see your work and cheer you on. It's always inspiring to see how you can interpret the techniques in your own unique way. I found this class helpful, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review. Your feedback helps me continue improving my classes and also encourages other students to join in. Plus, it's a great way to support the creative learning community. If you enjoy this class, be sure to check out my other watercolor classes on Skillshare where I cover a lot of topics on painting loose and expressive landscapes. As always, paint to inspire and paint from the heart. Your art is a reflection of your unique perspective and creativity. So embrace the process, express yourself freely and keep sharing your passion with the world. Thank you again for being here and I'll see you in my other classes. H