Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hello, Welcome to
this Skillshare class botanical illustration
with watercolors. My name is Cristina Cabrera. I'm a self-taught Mexican watercolor artist
based in Canada, Art has always been part of my life. Since I was a kid. I always remember being drawing and creating
things with my hands. Two years ago, I decided
to get back to my passion. drawing and painting. During this time. I discovered watercolors and I totally fell in love with them. Also, I realized that nature has always been
my biggest source of Inspiration. And it
was this way I got into botanicals, social media has played a huge role on
my watercolor journey. There I started sharing
and helping other artists. And this took me
to another passion teaching. Now I have a question for you. Do you love painting botanicals too but, you don't
know how to draw. I know drawing can be intimidating. So in this Skillshare class, I will share with you part
of my creative process. I will teach you how to create your own botanical compositions using the tracing technique. We will explore the main
watercolour techniques. And I will guide you
on how to create your very own color palette using the three primary
colors plus white. Finally, we will be painting
a botanical composition. So join me for this class and let's have fun together.
Let's get started.
2. Creating a Botanical Composition: Welcome to our first lesson. In this lesson, I will teach you the tracing technique I use
to create my compositions. So let's get started. What I do first is to look for
flowers and I like to see, see the shapes,
different colors. And so after that, once I have my flower and I
have seen lots of pictures, just going to print it out. Let's start tracing. My starting point is going to
be the center of my flower. I'm going to do is
just trace the shape. For camellia flowers. I like to draw the center. That way. what I'm going to teach
you in this class. if You can see my work is not a completely literalistic
botanical work. I like to do more, put more on my own and will be more like
an illustration. So, yeah, going to
start now working the petals We have our first flower.
Let's go to the second one. Here. As you can see. We cannot see this part
of the petals but. Imagine that
following the shapes. So this petal,
might be finishing here. So just try to do
the whole petal. And now let's do
our third flower. I'm going to be working basically with these
three flowers. So the composition is going to have these three flowers, alright Once we're done
with the flowers, we can also start
tracing some leaves. We are now ready
with these three elements. So we're gonna be
working basically with these flowers and
one, two, four leaves. And that could be basically
enough for our composition. For the second part
I'm going to be using and we'll continue
using my micron pen, I have switched to number zero three. And this time I'm gonna
be using my light box. This is a very useful
tool for drawing. I will leave you the link on the video so you can go and look for it to
you, if you want it. Otherwise, you can
also use a window with a very good light or even there is like some other apps
that you can use with Your iPad. For this part, I have
closed my windows so you can have a better light
for the tracing. So let's just get started. Once I have finished
tracing my flowers, I will continue working with the leaves But I'm going to trace the leaves separately
because I want to have all these elements
separate so I can later have all them for
the final composition. So let's continue tracing. There might be so
elements that are not complete in the picture, so you can just
continue drawing, imagining where they might go. So what I'm doing here, and there you go. You have your flowers
and your leaves. But I'm going to
do now is to draw some lines within my petals because I want to know the
direction of each petal. So that's going to help me when I go to
the painting part. So I like to do
this these lines. You can also go back always
to your first reference and just see these directions. So that's going to be very, very helpful by the time
you start painting. So I'm just going to do this. We've also like to add some other elements
to this composition. I'm going to do a
free drawing in here. It's going to be
very easy and basic. So don't worry about doing all these complicated
drawing or shapes. I always like to add a
another kind of leaves. So I will show you how to do it. And if you want to learn more about compositions and how
to make this more appealing, can also start learning a bit
about the rule of thirds. It is a Principle applied to photography, which helps a lot. But for this class, I just going to show you
an easy way to do it. For me has been very useful
to start working with my elements starting in the center of my illustrations. So I will show you how to do it. And I'd like to have a nice, nice flow in my illustration. So sometimes what I do is just draw a simple
line like this one. Going to give me the flow on
my whole illustration. I'm going to turn
on my lightbox. And I am going to start
tracing my first element. For this first
flower will choose. This one, it is going to be
facing, facing down. I'm just going to
do the tracing. As you can see for this part
of tracing I'm using this pencil is just a regular
pencil, HB number two. Why I'm doing this first, because I'm going to play with with the flowers
and the leaves. So this is going to
give me some freedom to erase the parts that I don't like or even to overlap some petals and some leaves. So that's why I'm working with, with this pencil right now. And I do have now my flower
and let's just add the second one. so for the second flower. Have chosen. this one. Facing, it's facing up. And we'll do the same. Another tip here is, try to
really do your composition I will say in a
more organic way. I mean, like the flowers. Sometimes if you observe
bouquets or flowers, they, they are not like a separate, they kind of overlap each other. So it's what I'm
doing here with this, these two petals, these
are going to be over. this flower. I just
make the composition a little bit more,
more, more organic. So let's trace our third flower. Here. I will continue
playing now with the leaves. And I will just try to follow
this first line I drew. We're done with our composition. This is now ready
to get transferred on to the Watercolor paper. We're done with
the first lesson. I hope that at this
point now you're feeling more confident
about creating your own compositions
and playing with some elements and drawing. So let's go to the next one.
3. Color Palette: Welcome to lesson number
two, color palette. In this lesson, I will
teach you how to create your own colors using the three primary
colors plus white. So we are going to be ready to start painting.
Let's get started. In this lesson, we will be
working on our colour palette, and we will need watercolor paper, a ceramic
watercolor palette. Like this one. I am going to be using my primary
colours so, and a white one. So it's basically ocher. Blue, magenta, white. We will need a round
watercolor brush like this one. I like to use an old one. this is going to be perfect
to create my colors. Kitchen paper. And two containers
with clean water. I like to use two because
one is going to be for my warm colors and the other one is going
to be for the cold ones. This part is one of my
favorite ones because you can start being
really creative here. So I'm going to start with my warm colors and
going to create a light pink for
for the flowers. So once I have my my base with white color I am going to start adding
a bit of magenta. Then I'm going to add a bit of ochre. if you see here, color is
going to start changing. I'll add more magenta. This part is really free because you can basically go with the colors
that you like. But I advise to do this because
it's really fun and it's going to give a nice
identity to your work, just play with the colours. Remember, white is my
base then magenta, ocher, And here I will play a little bit with the
opposite colour. So I'm going to be
adding a touch of blue. After playing a while
with my colors, I have gotten the
one that I like. So it's always a good
idea to write it down. Let's say like the
formula that you made to get this, this mix. So let's go and do our
ocher. For my ocher. I am going to see if I like the
one that I have now. Just try on the
watercolor paper. In my opinion, this
ocher is still a bit light. I will be adding a touch
of ultramarine blue. Careful when adding the colours. Try to just go with
very small amounts. Otherwise you will be
changing the primary, the first primary color. And we don't want to do that. I think I kind of like this one. Ok and I am ready with my ocher. Know, I will be
creating a green one. And again, my base
is going to be White. Then create the blue, the green, sorry,
the green color. I am going toI mix the ocher
with the blue. A very useful tool here. If you want to learn a bit
more about color theory, it's important to
have a color wheel. So this is a very useful tool if you want to start learning about how to mix and to get
specific colors, okay? I continue playing with my mix. Here. I'd like this colour, but I still think is a bit light. So I will just play with
the opposite one here. It's the magenta. Be careful, don't add too much. Just. A very very small, touch. Just keep playing. I like this green, It's not the first one I
was planning to get, but this is the good
part about playing with colors because you
can get colors that you are not
expecting to get. And let's work on
Another green. I decided to play a bit more with the ocher color
because I thought this one is, It was
going to be a bit light. So I just added a
little bit more of ocher, blue and a touch of magenta. And so we have our color palette
ready to start painting. We are finished
with this lesson, how to create your very
own color palette. I hope that now you are
feeling more confident about how to create your very own
colors using primary colors. I invite you to continue
exploring about colour theory. And let's go to the next one.
4. Watercolour Techniques & Warming Up Exercises: Welcome to lesson number three. In this lesson, we will explore some watercolor techniques and we will do some
warming up exercises. So let's get started. To paint our illustration
we will be using two watercolour techniques. The first one is
called wet on wet. The second one is called wet
on dry with gradient washes. The first one, wet on wet, means that we're going to
wet our paper and then we're going to place our
pigment and play with it. And for the second technique, wet on dry means
that we're gonna use our pigment on dry paper. So this is also going to
be a good warming up exercise. What I am doing here is just placing
clean water on my paper. My paper has to be wet enough, but be careful doesn't
have to be like a puddle. I really like to use
this technique to paint flowers because it gives a very nice texture
and it's really cool. Now, I will show
you the wet on dry. Now, I will be adding
a second layer on this leaf using the
wet on dry technique. No, I will be
painting the center of my flower using the wet
on dry technique as well. And while my paper is still wet. I can be playing with a
wet on wet technique here. As you can see here, I have added a second layer. I have created a nice shadow. I can continue placing more
pigment to create shadows. And I will show you how to do it in between these two petals. Now using my brush number one, I will be adding some details. Other good exercises before going on to our botanical
composition will be drawing some lines. There you go. With these exercises. We are now ready to go onto
our botanical composition. We are now done with
lesson number three. And I hope that now
you are feeling ready to start painting because this is what we're
going to do next. Painting, a botanical
illustration. Let's go to lesson number four.
5. Painting First Layer: Welcome to lesson number four. In this lesson, we're finally ready to start painting
or illustration. We will work our first layer, and then we will
work on details. So let's get started. It's now time to paint or
botanical composition. I have already transfered my drawing onto my
watercolor paper. Using the same
tracing technique I showed you in
the first lesson. I use a regular pencil to do it. And I will be using
watercolor paper cold press, 100 per cent cotton. At this point is
also good to have your first reference to follow shadows and
details on the flowers. I also have my
pigments ready here, my water, my kitchen paper. I will be using my round
watercolour brushes number 1,2,3. And also I have
here this malleable eraser just to eliminate
excess of graphite here. The first technique I'm going to be using is going to
be wet on wet. I will do the first, the first wash on my petals
is gonna be a very light one. Because remember that you
have to be, in watercolors. You will be working from
less to more colour. So the first wash, It's going to be light
and then we're gonna be going to more, especially to work on the
shadows. So let's do it. We have our first
petal ready here. Remember, I cannot work. The petal that is next
because the pigment, because this one
is still not dry, so the pigments just
going to blend. So let's just be careful
and go with the next one. Before I start
working on this petal, I'm just going to make sure that this one, these
two are completely dry. I just touch it
and feel it, they are now ready too. Now. I can continue. I will continue painting
the rest of my petals. I will be using
the same technique for all the petals wet on wet. And I will get back
to you once I'm done. I am done with the first
layer on my flowers. As you can see, I have achieved
very nice textures here. Just with the first wash. I will now continue
painting the center of each flower using the
wet on dry technique. And I will show
you how to do it. What I'm doing here is
working the wet on wet. While my paper is still wet. I'm just going to draw this. Will paint this
Line to create a shadow. Now I want to start working on my leaves using the wet
on dry technique. I will continue painting
the next leaves using the same technique and then
I will get back to you. My first wash is ready. And now we'll continue with the other leaves using the
different green I made. We're now ready
with our first layer on the whole illustration. In the next lesson,
we will work on the second wash,
shadows and details. Thanks for taking this class. So we are now done with our
first layer and then we're going to be working on the
second layer and the details. So see you in the next lesson.
6. Painting Next Layers & Details: Welcome to lesson number five. This is our last one and we're going to be working on second, third layer and details. So let's have fun together. I will paint a second
wash on my leaves mainly. And then I will be adding some shadows on my flowers
and adding some details. I'm already done with the
second layer on my leaves. And now I will work on
a second layer on my petals and the three flowers to create more
shadows and volume. And I will add some
details in the middle. I will be adding more
details on the next flowers, doing exactly the same What I'm doing here. Our illustration now ready. You can continue working on
details as much as you want. That's totally up to you. Also feel free to play
with the composition. Thanks for taking
lesson number five. So we are now ready.
7. Conclusion: So congratulations on
finishing this class. I hope that now you're
feeling more confident about creating your own
botanical compositions and start drawing using
the tracing technique and have fun with watercolors. I hope that you have learned
so much in this class. I cannot wait to see all your work and if you
have any questions, please just leave it. And I will be happy to give you some feedback and
answer all your questions. I hope that you can also
join me for future classes. Thanks for joining me. Bye.
Cristina Cabrera, Artist
