Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi everyone, This is my god. I'm a watercolor artist
space in Bangalore, India. And in today's
class, we are going to try something really fun. That's what I had. Here. I am out in my mom's
garden and you can see this beautiful
leg lift up land and all the beautiful pinks
and peaches and greens and all the sports and
designs and all these marks. This is just crazy. And I'm going to pick a few leaves from
here and we will use one of them to replicate and
others just as inspiration. And you can, if you want, you can paint any of
the other leaves. Just look at this beautiful
and standing designs. In this class, I
will be teaching you how to draw the outline, how to add all the layering and all the detail things
that will just bring this leaf to life and make it look super fun and realistic. So this will be a slow
process step-by-step. So hang in there with me. We will be adding
lots of colors, lots of layers, and
lots of details. Without any further delay. Let's go ahead and
start with this class.
2. Materials: Alright, so let's have a look at all the materials that
you will be needing. So I'm using this supersized
watercolor paper. So this is 100% of watercolor
paper with 300 GSM. And this is a size which
is 18 by 24 inches. And we'll be using
just have the sheep, but you can just decide how much bigger you want
to scale up your painting. And according to that,
you can use the paper. And here are our leaves. These are beautiful
nucleophile leaves from my mom's garden, so I'll be using
them as a reference. And these are my
large sized brushes. You can use anything
between 14 to ten to 16. And if you're not comfortable
dealing with these, you can also use a
finer one hover. I'm just going to use these
for detailing as well. And here are my
two jars of water. As a rule, we always use
two jars of water of his watercolors that's there. And then let's have a look at the watercolors that we
are going to use today. So I have my Daniel Smith
watercolors set here. And I will let you know
all the colors that we will be using as we go along. And you'll also need
a lot of tissue for soaking up the
extra paint and water. And we're also going to draw
this leaf a little bit. We're not going
to directly paid, so keep your resume and
your pencil handy as well. So this is, I think, everything that you will be
needing for today's class, the brushes and all you can choose as per your preference. The main thing is
the large size paper because we are going to use it. So make sure that it's at
least 12 inches or more. You can use 12 by 12 or
whatever size you prefer. And as I said before,
we are not going to use sheet here we are. We will just be using
the top half of it later on for framing and all. If you want, you can
just cut it to size, or if you want to paint it on landscape style
that you can do, then we'll color mixing palette. If you need extra, you can have since I have it in my bag. So I will be using this. In the next part. We'll go ahead and
start with our drawing.
3. Drawing: Alright, so let's start with our drawings or
with the drawing, there isn't very much to do. We have to just replicate
this basic shape of a leaf. So I'm just looking
at my reference and then just copying it very, very lightly because
we don't want it to be very, very dark. So I'm just copying the shape, but I can see the stem. And then the little bit of
this edges there on the leaf, which is going to
facilitate the edge zigzag, which we will do
later while painting. So for now I'm just painting a very basic leaf shape
using my pencil and eraser. The ones to keep in mind
is that keep it very, very light as we don't
want it to show through. Or if you have made a darker, you can always go ahead and erase it a little bit later on. All I have also included the reference CVS
with this class, so you can refer to
those and then you can print them out and
you can draw them. There's no rule here because it can be a little bit
different also, all we want is the
basic shape which is there to be to come
in your painting. So just be careful about that. Well, that's it.
We are done with a very basic outline
of the leaf. And in the next
part of this class, go ahead and start
with our painting.
4. First Light Layer: Okay, so let's start
with our layers now. What I'm doing first is making sure that my brush
is nice and clean. And then after that
we will start with a layer of water
because we'll be mostly doing wet on wet
for the first few steps. Once you have nice
and clean brush, then just apply a
layer of clear water, makes sure that the water is nice and even and
there are no bodies. Neither. It is way too dry
for the color to spread nicely. Just like this. I will keep on
applying this and make sure that you are the place
which is not too windy. Otherwise the water will keep on drying very fast and you won't
be able to put the colors. And if you think that you're not comfortable doing
such a big area than what you can do is you can start the top of the leaf first, like from the center vein, you can just divide it
in an imaginary line and then work on the
top part first and then move down to
the bottom part. Some type is also one
technique that you can try is now nice and wet and we'll
start with that colors. I'm starting with
the opera pink here. And I'm diluting it a little bit and also mixing it with allocate green because the pink here is slightly has a hint of green. This leaf, as you
can see, very light. I have put undersea green, just a tiny bit of it. And then looking at my leaf, you can see in batches,
watercolors are there. You can clearly see the green
areas and the pink areas. So first I'm going ahead
and doing the pink part, and then we'll
move on and again, use the undersea green very, very light, again diluted. And then we'll apply
that and the green area. This will be our first layer done with the pink. And so now I'm
moving to the green. Again. I'm diluting it
and using very less, we already have water
on the surface. If it is dry, you can go
ahead and rewrite it. So now you can see the
color appears to be very smooth and spreading nicely instead of giving
a very hard batch. Now I ever do the green part. So as I have shared a lot of
pictures of these leaves, so there is no hard
and fast rule. Just start to stay on track. I'm just following
all the colors, schemes which are there in this leaf that I just,
I just reference. And I've worked
with that just to maintain that otherwise there
is no hard and fast rule. You can have four
or five leaves with you and just have
a look at them and then apply the colors
in your own way. So that's a very important
or very important part of watercolors that you have to always start very light and then you have to
build up your layers. So this is a very first layer. So you might think
that how come it's so dull and so light, but that's how it
is supposed to be. As if you go on painting, you will understand
how this works and how to get that realistic touch with these leaves that you can. So yeah, just hold on and
just follow the steps. And now, same way as
we did with the pink, we are going to do
with the green. Suggest if you are
painting with me, so I'm just keeping it real time so that it's easy
for you to follow. Okay, so now we are done
with our layer one, and in the next step we
start and the veins.
5. Painting the Veins: Alright, so our
lightest layer or layer one is now nice and dry. So now we will do a little
bit of detailing in here. I know that detailing is
something that we do in the end so that we
are going to do. We're going to repeat
this step again, but at this point we
have to do it one time. So that this vein that
we do right now will help us as a guide when
we add our second layer. So that's why I'm doing it. And for that I'm just
using my number 40 brush, which I have used before. So if you think that this is not very convenient
for you to use, then you can just go ahead
and use a thinner brush, liner brush or any fine
brush number 0, number one, whichever you feel comfortable for this to work on the scale. Otherwise, if your
brush has a nice tip, if you have a nice
steady hand and you can just continue to use this. I'm just referring
to my reference. The relief here
which I have with me and I'm just following
what all means. I can see the veins are all
in dark pink as you can see. I'm just following that
and creating this outline, which will keep me,
which will make us ready for the next step. Alright, so we are
mostly done with this and add this
point missing, weird, but it just hanging there and just follow these steps
because this is what will help our leaf to just blow up and look
realistic in the end. To all these steps
are necessary. And once this is nice and dry, then we will move on to the
second part and we'll do some more layering under
this painting. So yeah. Alright, So we'll add some
more color in the next part.
6. Layer 2 Top half: Okay, so once the veins
are nice and dry, we'll start with our leering, the second layer and
then we'll start at the top parts and just be
referring to the leaf here. And we'll be using mostly wet
on wet technique for this. I'm applying a layer of
clear water and then I'll just follow whatever colors
are there on the leaf. If it is pink, then some places I'll be using
opera pink very light. And if it's dark, then I'll be mixing it
a little bit magenta. Because as such, this color
is very bright and neon ish. So we don't want to
use Of sheet will just mute it a little bit
by adding the magenta. And then we have
the greens here. So I'll be using both of them, green apatite first and then
later on for darkening it, I will be adding
the undersea green. So here is a close-up
for adding the dots. You can do stippling, which is just using the
tip of the brush and tap, tap to create this mini dots. And you can do this either
on the dry or on the wet as per your preference
or as per the need. If the dots are really
spread out and very light, then you can do wet on wet, but if they are
very detailed and prominent and you
can do wet on dry. So here are the veins
that we created before are acting as a guide. So that way it becomes
really very easy for you to look at your leaf and look at that particular
part that you are doing and then finish
it step-by-step. So that's why we did
this extra step. And we will also be
repeating this in the end. Once we are done
with everything. Just like this, I'm adding a little bit more green uphill, wet-on-wet, and then always
blending it together. Wherever the pink and
the green I'm mixing. So whenever you are painting something realistic like this, you have to always
observe first. And we'll firstly as very, very light and then
gradually build it up. Because with watercolors, if you start with the dark color, you cannot lighten it
all becomes really, really difficult to lift, lift off that color
and make it lighter. So basically it's just
observing your leaf picking either green or the pink and
then applying wet on wet. And when you're
doing wet on wet, you have to be slightly quick, otherwise, the
leaves seem to dry and then you'll get
batches or max. So you have to be fast. And also, if you are painting
on a large scale like this, you have to use
your big brushes. And as gradually developed this you'll see how the
leaf is coming to life. And when we do wet on wet, the color becomes soft on its
own and it spreads still. You can see the
different colors. And it won't look like sports. And the edge of the leaf, which we didn't draw before, we just drew a clean leaf that also to create when
you are painting this. So whichever color
is their desk, read those edges with
your brush to make that Jigsaw kind of sheep
on the edge of the leaf. Just like here, I'm just
creating that serrated edge. It the green for
the leaf because while drawing it to be just
a very simple and clean dry. Now as I firstly, secondly, it keeps on drying
more color to it. For example, this bottom
part is now nice and dry, but it has become
very, very light. So I will add one
more layer onto it to make it slightly darker. Just like this will
keep up on buildings. So that's where make sure that your paper is nice and thick. The thicker the paper, it is the best. And it will prevent
any kind of wrinkling. Especially when you
are working with so many layers and you are putting so much
water on the paper. So it's very important to
use a thicker paper and also be careful not to be
very hard with your brush. Otherwise the paper
will start peeling off. The brush may be damaged. So be very gentle when
you are doing this. So for me, I think I'm mostly done with it and
we'll keep on adding more color and leaving if required or as required
as we move ahead. And in the next
part of this class, we'll go ahead and do this
other half of the leaf.
7. Layer 2 on Bottom Half: Okay, so the first half is done the top part and
now is the bottom part. So basically we have to
follow the same steps. You have to follow the leaf that you are using
as a reference and then you have to
apply a pinks and greens are creamish color,
whichever you choose. And according to that,
just keep on applying. And the techniques are
basically the same, the wet on wet and then for
a few parts wet on dry. So just keep on repeating. First, finish the pinks
and then the greens. I'm still doing the wet on wet, applying a little bit of
more water here on the side. Just like this. And so we will be mostly continuing the
same steps and I'm keeping it real time in case
if you are painting with me or if you want to
see it, It's up to you. And then I'm just dropping
the greens as you can see. A few of those are
very, very light, so we are doing them
while it's still wet. The paint is still wet. So for this part,
it will be mostly like painting more
and talking less. So. Enjoy the rest
of the lesson. Let's quickly hop on
to the stem as well. It's very nice and thin. And as you can see in the leaf, it's very, very dark. So what I'm doing
is I'm using the magenta mixed with the
opera pink a little bit. And mostly it will be
magenta because it's dark. So it was this end
and do this first, I did the opera pink, and then now I'm adding magenta to it to create
the darker part. There is no much detailing
or anything here, just as color a little bit
and then dropping a little bit more of this towards the end and then
just spreading it. We're doing a lot
of stippling or the dots for the leaf and adding all those
details in here. So you can see, check your leave and observe if the
dots are very, very fine and very, very sharp, then you can do like wet on dry, but if they are soft
and not that prominent, then you can do wet on wet. So I like to use
both the techniques. I like to mix them.
Look at a few places. I use wet on wet and a
few places let andre looks like it is mostly done. So we just do a little bit of touching up on the
top part as well as after drying the pink
looks LTE bit very light. So I'll just go ahead
and do that and add a few little touch
ups to this side as well. And I'm also adding a little bit of darker undersea green. So you can just look at the leaf and you'll get
the colors that you have and then use the
readings like that. First, I have a, I applied the green apatite and
now I'm going with the undersea green because
this is slightly darker. So I'm adding that and then also blending
it at the same time. Let's add a little bit of darker on the other side as well. A bit more stippling here, just to add all those details. Okay, so for me, the
reference I am looking at, I think I'm mostly
done with the leaf now and I don't want to just do a little bit
cleaning up here. And then I don't want to add any more details or
anything to eat. So we just hop onto
the last part, let this dry nicely and properly and one
citizen, nice and dry. We'll do the veins
again as a final.
8. Final touch up: Alright, so this is
now nice and dry. All our larynx have been done and the color
is quite okay. I'm satisfied with it. If you think that
yours is like you can add one more extra layer. This follow the colors which are there and then do the detailing. And for me the detailing
is also quite okay. So I'm not doing any
of that anymore and now we'll just go ahead
and start with our veins. So this is basically the
same step that we did first before we started our second layer after
doing the first one. So that's the same thing
which we have to repeat here. Again, you can refer to
your leaf as a reference. And just using the
tip of the brush, we ingest the opera
pink and magenta mixed and no more pigment and
less water on the brush. And using just the
tip of the brush, we just go ahead and outline
the veins again just to bring that pop of
color and highlight our leaf once again. So just like this,
I'm starting again. If you are not comfortable using the thick brush as I'm again
using my phone number 14. If you're not very
comfortable using that, then you can always use liner brush or a
thin brush number 01 or two as per
the size of this. And do that if you're
using a bigger brush, please make sure that your
brush has a very nice point. Otherwise, if these
veins become thick, then it will spoil the
whole art and painting. So you can just relax and
enjoy and just watch this. And after this, we will be done with our
painting for today. Alright, so now we are done. I've just adding a little
bit color here and there. Mostly we are done now. And in the next
part of this class, we just go ahead and I will tell you about your
class project.
9. Class Project: Alright, so we are done with our large-scale realistic leaf. And if you have like my class, don't forget to leave
a review for me. And as a class project
you can use any of these leaves as
an inspiration. Use the techniques or gather
your own leaf and use the techniques taught
in the class and submit this as your
class project. And I will see you in my
next class till then. Thank you and bye-bye.
Megha Cassandra, byTheArtBug - Artist, Crafter & Educator
