Let's Dive Into The Blue: Painting Ocean Giants With Abstract Background In Watercolor

1. ABOUT THE CLASS: Whenever I look at the ocean, I always wonder how endlessly it stretched beyond the horizon, beyond where the eye can follow. Beneath this vastness lies a deep breathing universe that is home to some of the most magnificent creatures on earth. Sea creatures such as strong and powerful sharks, intelligent and graceful dolphins and white wing stingray drifting through the water like living kites. This class is all about painting these giants of the ocean. Hello. My name is D Mittal a watercolor artist and an ocean lover. Painting animals has always been a big part of my artistic journey, whether it's realistic wildlife, expressive birds, marine creatures, of colorful sketchbooks filled with the flora and fauna of the blue. In this class, we will paint these three ocean creatures against beautiful abstract backgrounds. Through these three projects, we will explore different properties of watercolors and learn how to use them effectively in our paintings. For our first project, we will work with analogous colors, and you will learn how using different values of the same color can create beautiful contrast and dimension in our work. You will also discover how the wet on wet technique creates soft edges and how layering helps build depth. In our second project, we will explore why different pigments behave in certain ways and how we can use these unique watercolor properties to our advantage to create a variety of beautiful effects. For our third project, we will dive into the fascinating world of complimentary colors and learn how to use them to create striking contrast that make our paintings stand out beautifully. Throughout this class, we will work with a limited palette and we also explore some alternative color options. I will guide you through all the materials you will need, along with the techniques used to create these artworks. By the end of this class, you will have completed three courteous ocean inspired paintings with your own hands. You will also gain a deeper understanding about how collars behave in different environments and how various watercolor techniques and approaches can be used to achieve the desired results. I'm so excited to invite you into this beautiful world of blue. Let's dive into it together with our watercolors, create some magic, and bring these magnificent ocean creatures to life on paper. I can't wait to see you in the class. 2. MATERIALS & SUPPLIES: I'm so glad you have decided to join the class. Let's have a look at the materials. For this class, we will need most important is, of course, paper. Today, I'm using Windsor and Newton Cold Press 100% cotton watercolor paper size 21 by 31. You can use any good quality watercolor paper for this, whichever you like. Just keep it in mind, it should be 100% cotton and minimum 140 pounds thick with a little texture. Sometimes using a cheap quality paper can be very frustrating, as you might have your technique right, but if the paper is not able to handle a good amount of water, then we will not get similar results. Today, I'm using a block, so I don't need to stretch my paper. In case you are using loose sheets, I will suggest to tape down your paper to a board nicely. For these projects, we will be using not a lot of colors. Let's discuss one by one. First and the most important one is indigo. Indigo is a very dark tone blue color, which in its full concentration looks almost like black, and it is named as Indigo itself by mostly all brands. However, they can vary in their tones, which we will discuss later. The one I will be using is this one from Sennelier, which is a very deep, bluish black tone. The second most important color is cobalt green or cobalt Turquoise or thturquois as named differently by different brands. So it's always good to go by the pigment number. It is PB 36. Next is Idanthrinblue, which is pigment number PB 60. Again, a very dark blue royal pigment. So in case you are using an indigo which is blackish in tone, you will need to mix this beautiful blue pigment to it to get the desired color. Next one is Windsor blue or Hello blue, pigment PB 15. Transparent orange or any bright orange. If you don't have orange, you can make usual yellow and pink to make your own orange. Next one is Aasarin crimson and black. So not just any black. It should be a granulating one. There are many options to choose from like Mars black, by Windsor, lunar black or hemotypeGenuine Bar tanielSmith. You can choose any. And lastly, pains gray. So we will discuss more about colors, their properties, and their alternatives later in the next lesson. Next is brushes. We will use various brushes like a soft flat brush to wet our paper, some soft round synthetic brushes, which have good water holding capacity. I'll be using size eight for painting our main subjects, some fine tip brush for the details, and one old thin tip brush to apply masking fluid. Masking fluid, any good quality masking fluid is okay. Also, for some fine application, we can use this type of masking fluid applicators color mixing palette. Any plastic or ceramic mixing palette will work. Just make sure it is clean or we will get muddy colors. To jars of water, one for cleaning our brush, and one for clean water for mixing colors. So paper towels, a pencil for sketching. Elastic eraser, some masking tape. In case you are using loose sheet, you will need to tape it down on some board so that the paper doesn't buckle as we will be working with lots of water, some scrap paper to test our colors and some loose sheets to practice the techniques. Also, we will be using cling film or saran wrap for one of our projects. We will discuss more about the colors and their properties in the section, understanding pigments and their properties. So grab your materials, and let's start working on our projects. 3. UNDERSTANDING PIGMENTS & THEIR PROPERTIES : The most important way to learn about watercolors is to understand our colors, identifying our pigments, exploring why different pigments behave in certain ways. What are their specific properties and how to achieve certain outcomes when using different watercolor techniques makes it easier to understand them and hence, easier to learn and work with. Mainly, the colors are divided into different categories based on their properties. For example, transparent or opaque colors depending on the ability to pass the light through them. Staining or non staining, depending on how permanent the pigment is and the extent to which we can lift or erase the color. Granulating or non granulating colors depending on how heavy the pigment particles are. Some pigments are made of very small particle which give us smooth washes when we paint, hence non granulating. However, some pigment particles are heavier and hence they separate and settle in the texture of the paper. They create various patterns and are called granulating pigments. To understand this more, we will now explore our limited palette one by one. Where we will see each pigment in detail, explore the alternatives for some, and then experiment with them based on these three criterias. Tonal contrast, that is how light and dark the pigment can go when used in different dilutions, how they spread when we work wet and wet and any special properties of the color, like if they are granulating or not. First and one of the most important pigment is indigo. Indigo is a very dark, deep blackish blue color, which in its pure form almost looks like plaque. When we look at the pigments, it normally has a blue pigment mixed with a black though the ratio of blue to black can vary depending on the brand and hence little variations in the tone of the color. Let's explore the possibilities of what this pigment is capable of. Indigo can create a wide range of tonal values, right from the lightest to almost black when it is used in its pul strength, where the lightest tone is transparent and luminous, which turns nearly opaque in heavier ratios. No wonder why indigo is the most common pigment to be used for monochromatic paintings, and it is one of my favorites, too. While working wet and wet with this pigment, it spreads nicely and can create a wide variety of tones while flowing with water, perfect for creating effects and depth in water bodies like oceans and lakes. This is a non granulating pigment, and hence can give smooth washes, not too staining, and hence can be lifted to some extent, as we can see. We will be using indigo in our all three projects, as this is a very important pigment for our projects, and hence, I will suggest you should consider using it like that. Next is Pains gray, which is more of a platish gray color and almost has a pinkish undertone. Though this is also a mix of blue pigment with black, but it leans towards gray and is known by the name Pains gray itself by most of the brands. Let's see how this pigment behaves on our three criteria. Pains gray can also create a wide variety of tonal values ranging from the lightest where it behaves fully transparent to the darkest. However, unlike indigo, some pains gray have a very slight purplish anatone which gives kind of a glow in the lightest value, where it behaves transparently. However, this property of pigment doesn't affect much in the darkest value where it is nearly opaqu. L Indigo, this color also spreads nicely and gives a variety of tones when we use it in wet and wet. The one I'm using is a non granulating color and hence smoother application, while there are some different brands where pains gray can be a granulating color. So be careful which one are you using as we will be using a non granulating one for our project. These special properties of creating a ton of tonal values of Pinscrey and indigo make them everyone's favorite pigments for the monochrome studies, Windsor blue or hal blue. As named differently by different brands, this one is a very beautiful bright blue color, which is known as the most common pigment among the artists. A fully transparent single pigment staining color, which when mixed with water remains brighter, even in its lowest dilution. Carrying pigment number PB 15, it is an absolute non granulating pure pigment, perfect to paint water and sometimes the sky. It flows and spreads nicely while working wet and wet, stays very bright, even in its lowest dilution, and a very dominant pigment. And hence, we should use it very carefully as because of its staining properties, it cannot be lightened or lifted. We will be using thaloblue for one of our projects. However, because of its staining properties, I will suggest you to work on this pigment to understand its dilutions before moving to the main project. Next is Ianthn blue. Now, this is a very deep blue color which is very well known as pigment PB 60. Again, also a single pigment color, which if you haven't tried yet, then you are absolutely missing something. A very beautiful deep pigment, when used for color mixing, creates beautiful blacks with browns and purples and is fully transparent. Okay, as we are not mixing blacks here, so we will not discuss this, let's have a look at the properties of this deep blue color. When used on wet surface, it flows instantly, spreads beautifully, and hence we have to be very careful with this one. This is an absolutely non granulating pigment which gives smooth washes. A dark pigment and hence can create a variety of values. Still, the lightest values are fully transparent, which can be dark enough in higher concentrations. That's why to create the background for our second project, we will mix this beautiful blue with our other two pigments, which are granulating and which I'm going to discuss next. So the first one is cobalt torquoise or cobalt green, containing pigment PB 36. This one is a beautiful torquoise color, which has a greenish blue undertone. Again, a single pigment color. Let's have a look at the superpowers of this pigment. Not a variation in the tonal values. This pigment is quite light yet strong due to its opacity. Flows instantly, and hence a little goes a long way. Tone almost stays similar throughout the wash, granulates beautifully, and hence works best with lots of water, for example, while working wet and wet. Granulation adds to texture, and hence helps create a variety of patterns. As granulating colors works best with lots of water, and hence, as we increase the consistency of the color, it loses its granulation. Because of its property, this pigment will be our star pigment for painting whale shark. Cobalt turquoise are also known as cobalt green and works best with lots of water. And the second one is hematite genuine, a very heavy granulating pigment by Daniel Smith. This black super granulating color will help us in creating textures for our second project. As I have mentioned before, any black color which granulates will do the work. Some alternatives are like lunar black and Mrs black. As we know, granulating colors works best with lots of water and hence not a good choice for creating values. In fact, if we increase their concentration, we even lose their special property to granulate. It's heavy particles sediments in the texture of paper and hence need lots of water to work with. And it's always good to work on with a textured paper to maximize their results. I will refer to this color as black in our future conversations so as not to create any confusion about which black we are using. Okay, so enough of blues and blacks, let's bring some contrast and discuss the last two pigments which we will use for one of our projects. First is transparent orange, as the name suggests, is a very beautiful, bright, transparent pigment, which gives smooth washes. This is also a single pigment orange color by Windsor and Newton. Let's have a look at the properties of this beautiful pigment. A transparent, somewhat staining pigment, which gives very smooth washes. If we look at the intensity of the color, it is very light in the lowest dilution, but very bright and vibrant in the darkest value. Doesn't spread too much, and hence we can achieve a consistent and controlled effect, absolutely non granulating and hence smooth application. And the last, but a very strong bright red color is laserin crimson, fully transparent, non staining, normally a mix of red and yellow pigments. Let's talk about the properties of this color. Can create some variations in the tonal value when used in the lightest or the darkest dilution. Make smooth washes in low dilutions, and when mixed with certain colors, give bright beautiful color mixes. Spreads instantly and beautifully when it comes in contact with water and hence a good option to create certain effects. Absolutely non granulating. That's all for the colors. Hope you will also play and experiment with your pigments to understand them better before moving to the main projects. Your certain pigments can behave differently depending on the brand you are using, and that's completely okay. The main idea is to understand how they work and what we can achieve with them. See you in next lesson. 4. TECHNIQUES & EXERCISES : Now we understand our pigments and it's time to practice some techniques and try some color mixing exercises that we are going to use for these projects to understand better and make it easier. Let's divide our projects into two parts, the background and the main subject. So to paint our projects, the first and the most important technique we are going to use is wet in wet, which we will use to paint both the backgrounds and our main subjects. For wet in wet, as the name suggests, we wet our paper first, and then we apply wet color to it. However, both the flow of the color and the intensity of pigment depends on the dilution of the pigment. Let's have a look. Here, my paper is wet. And for the first example, I'm using a little diluted color like water or milk ratio. That means less pigment and more water. So what happens? We get beautiful light tone. The color spreads nicely, gives soft edges and smooth transitions, and hence, everything feels smoother. For the second example, let's see what happens when we use fully saturated pigment that is cream ratio on wet paper. See the difference. The color doesn't flow much, gives soft edges though, and the intensity of the pigment remains high and hence creates beautiful contrast. This way, changing the water to color ratio affects the end result. For more softer washes, we use more diluted color, and for achieving more contrast, we use heavier ratios of the color. Let's try another variation of this technique where we add more intense color to our previously painted lighter color when it is still wet. This way, we can increase the intensity of the color and create beautiful contrast. This practice is perfect for creating backgrounds and enhancing the contrast. Et's take one more example. To increase the intensity of this blue feather and to create certain effects, let's add another darker color. For example, indigo to it. Can you see this way by adding different pigments when our color is still wet, we can create more contrast and depth. This technique we will use to create the background color for our first project, which is dolphin. Let's enhance the color of this second one also. This way, when the color is still wet, we can darken the tone, increase the contrast, and can control our color to some extent. Next is wet on dry in which we apply our color directly on the paper or previously painted layer, which has dried off. This gives us smooth washes, uniform color and texture. This technique is mostly used for adding the details or some textures and effects. So other examples of wet on dry techniques are like some fine brush movements, making a variety of brush marks, both thick and thin. Or we can use it for dry brushing to create some textures or to create some more darker tones. This way, practicing these techniques will help you to understand your pigments and brush movements and hence improving overall techniques. Also one more little variation of this technique is called layering, where we can add another layer of transparent color to our previously dried color. Let's try this here as our color is dry and adding one more layer of color creates depth and we can blend and smoothen our edges. This way, painting in layers can help us to enhance colors to create depth and vibrancy and we can get much controlled results. For example, to paint our main subjects, we will use these techniques along with wet in wet. Now, let's practice some mixing with granulating colors. Let's see how mixing granulating colors can create some visual interest to our backgrounds. Here I have tested a few examples with granulating colors, which we can use to paint our second project. As we know, we can mix colors in two ways. One on the palette and second on the paper while painting wet in wet. Let's try both examples with granulating colors. Here I'm taking some cobalt and see what happens when we mix it with some darker color like indigo. When mixed in palette, the color spreads uniformly, creates texture, but the tone of color stays neutral throughout the wash. However, to create some more visual effects, let's try mixing it on paper. Let's wet the paper first. Here's our cobalt green, which is a beautiful granulating color, and we can see it spreads and creates texture. Now, let's add some dark color. Let's see what happens when I mix it with dark tone non granulating indigo on taper. As you can see, this way, mixing granulating colors with non granulating ones can help us create a variety of shades and textures, which creates a visual interest for our background. And we can enhance and darken the color at some places. Let's take one more example. For example, some indigo, some cobalt color and black. So let's see what happens when we mix them on paper, all wet in wet. A quick rub with water. Here is our bolt and some indigo to darken the tone at some places. Here I'm adding black, the granulating one. And some more we can even add more water to enhance the texture and effects. So by mixing two or more granulating colors, we can increase the granulation and enhance the intensity of the texture. This method we will use for painting the background of our shah Now let's try mixing some complimentary colors, the colors that are on opposite ends of the color wheel like blue and orange. For this exercise, let's use cobalt, indigo, and orange. As usual, we will begin with wetting the paper. Let's start with our cobalt. So more thicker consistency. And while it's still wet, let's add indigo on one end to create some mutual intrast. And let's see how adding complementary color brightens up our background. When we add orange color to it and let them blend we can even enhance the contrast by using heavier ratios of the color Okay. This way, we can create some beautiful transitions from blues to gray to brown and orange. And we can even incorporate some more dark colors. For example, let's try lazine crimson. Beautiful contrast. And we can even make it look more interesting when we add some thicker colors. Some more cobalt. Did you see? So we will be using these combinations for our third background. And even some spatters. Which is our last exercise. However, spatters can create various types of effects depending on the wetness of our paper. For example, when we add spatters on wet paper like this, the color spreads all over and give beautiful effects, and we can use different colors to achieve different results. However, the results depend on many factors like thickness of brush, wetness or dryness of the paper, and the tapping movements. For example, if we spatter on a dry paper, the spatters, they will stay local and the color will not spread for more details on these techniques and to practice more, I will suggest you check the technique sections from my class. Let's paint seasons in watercolor, where I have explained this all in much detail. That's it with the techniques. Okay, all set. Let's move to our main projects now. See you in the class. 5. DOLPHIN - THE SKETCH: Let's quickly put together a sketch for this beautiful creature. This is a very simple sketch, and you can either draw along with the reference or if you want, you can download it from the project section. It's your choice. I just love to draw my sketches by hand, as a good sketch is always a foundation for a good art. So this is the basic shape, a simple streamlined body. You will be the mouth, the eye area. You will be offense. Okay, let's refine the shape. The tail A little bigger belly. And the dorsal fin. No Aye. You will be our beak. A little bit more round. Okay, that's good. I want the tail a little bit more lower. Yes, that's better. Okay, so here is our simple sketch. That's it with the sketch. 6. DOLPHIN - APPLYYING MASKING : As our dolphin is jumping out of water, so we will create a splash around this area. For this, we will apply some masking fluid using a stiff thicker brush. You can use any toothbrush also, and we'll make some spray movements like this using our finger. So there should be a variation of sprays, though we don't want big blobs of masking fluid on our paper, so I prefer to test once on a scrap paper before using it on my original project. Okay, we are good to go. Now, imagine how splash works. There should be a little bigger drops. So closer ones near the dolphin, and some finer ones as we move away. Some on this side. And some finer ones. Okay. By the time our masking fluid is drying, let's have a look at the colors we will use for this project. First one is Tlloblue from the lightest value, which we will use in dolphin, which is like water like ratio and to the darkest dilution, which we will use for painting our water. Then paints gray from the lightest to its darkest cream like ratio. Pain scrap we will use for painting dolphin only. Another colors are indigo, which we will use to darken the blue of water. And also, I have decided to use a little bit of Naples yellow for warm tones in the face and body of the dolphin. Okay, then, let's begin our project. 7. PAINTING DOLPHIN : H let's begin with wetting our paper. As I mentioned before, our projects are divided into two parts, the background, and the main subject. So to begin with, we will wet the body of our dolphin first, nice and shiny, taking our time. As to achieve softness and smoother blends, wet paper is a must. For the initial layer, we will work wet and wet, and then later on, we will add the details on a dry surface. I'm not worried about the tail area right now as it will be darker, so we can work on it later on. Oh softly and generously. Okay. So for the lightest highlights, I will be using some naples yellow. Naples yellow will also help us to balance the colours and bring some warmth as mostly our color palette consists of cold colors. Also, I will be using this small separate palette for pains gray as I don't want my colours to get muddy. Let's start putting some colors right away, beginning with the lightest parts around the eye over the beak area. A little bit around the neck area, the belly, wherever we can think the light falls and the lightest areas like belly. Letting it blend and switching to the blue using a water like ratio with the lowest value of color. As the belly area is the lightest part of dolphin's body, and as it is facing the water surface, so putting some blues here as a reflection of the water and letting it blend with the yellow. H some more around the belly. As we know watercolor always dry lighter than how they look when they are wet and letting it blend with the yellow. As you know, dolphins skin is a shiny, bright grayish color, and it reflects colors of its surroundings. But as we are not working realistically, so without going into too many details, we will try to make it look like that. Soft, smooth, mirror like surface. Okay, let's start working with gray. Working all wet in wet, using a diluted color tie ratio. And blending everything, starting from the tail area. Going a little darker in color, but still keeping milk like ratio, building depth, slowly layer by layer, and softening everything. Carefully working around the eye. And the beak. A little more darker. Carefully keeping away from the light areas as I don't want to lose them. The side of the belly. And softening every time I'm putting new color. Okay, it's still wet. Let's add some darker colors on the flippers, too. Please keep in mind, I'm still working with milk like ratio as going heavier on ratio will make our paper dry faster, and I don't want that right now. And blend, blend blend more. Let's enhance some colours here also. As my paper is still wet. And softening everything. Let's add some darker tones on the inner part of the flippers. Oh, that's dry, but it's okay. Let's smoothen it a little bit with a damp brush. And some more ducks on the tail area. I'm trying to build more depth as my paper is still wet here. Please keep in mind, I'm now working with only Pains gray and a milky mix. A little more on the flippers. And it's almost dry. Let's try it fully, and then we will come back to it. 8. DOLPHIN - PAINTING DETAILS: Welcome back. As our paper is fully dry by now, let's start building layers and details for our dolphin, starting with the fin. Lighter and shiny on the top, and darker on the bottom part as because of the shadow. And softening. Let's darken the back a little bit more. Oh Again, a milky mix of paints gray. And then blend. Okay. That looks good. A little more. Here, please notice using two brushes will be a good choice as I am using one round synthetic brush for adding color and a softer round brush for softening. Slowly darkening the darker areas around the edges of the flippers and blending. On this one, too? Please keep in mind, I'm using a soft temp brush for softening. Okay, that's good. Let's add details around the eyes and face. Working with a thick, creamy consistency of the color now. Slowly and carefully adding the details and softening where needed. Building shadows and depth. A little darker tones on the beak area. In blending. Similarly on the lower lip. The idea is to enhance the shadows so our highlights become prominent. A slight suggestion of the blow hole and blending it into the background. That's good. Let's darken the eye carefully with a fine tip brush. Okay. 9. DOLPHIN - DETAILS PART 2: Let's work on the tail now, wetting the area. I will start with a creamy mix of pain scray here as I don't want it to spread too much. And softening with a milky mix of thalo blue, something like shiny skin, the inner surface of the tail. So while working wet in bed, we always get soft blends. Similarly on this one. Husband. A little paints gray. In the hello blue. Okay, that's good. Oh. I'm now shaping the lower end of the body a little bit. Let's work on the dorsal fin a bit. I want to enhance the shadows here a bit more carefully. And blending everything that's better. So this is the advantage or you can say disadvantage while working with a single colour. All we can do to enhance the contrast is increase the values and enhance the shadows. That looks more natural. Shaping the belly area a little bit more. I love this part of the process slowly working on the details, noticing what's to improve here, and then wedding a little bit more depth here and there. This stage helps build up the piece. Slowly and carefully. Okay. Now I have switched to a fine tip brush for real fine lines and details, darkening the darker areas and to enhance the shadows darkening the color of eye. The shadows. Okay. What else? Let's add a little bit more, blue. And a little bit yellow. On the beak. And a little shadow. Okay, that's good. 10. DOLPHIN - FINISHING DETAILS : A little bit yellow here on the neck area. Okay. That looks better. I want to reshape the dorsal fin once more. A little broader on the bottom. Using a creamy mix of paints gray. Fully opaque. Yes, that's better. Now the shadows, they look more enhanced. And as usual, softening and a little bit darker here. And we're done. Let's paint water in the next lesson. See you there. 11. DOLPHIN - PAINTING WATER : Okay, let's begin the second part of our project and create a beautiful background. To begin the process, we will first wet the whole white area, carefully working around the dolphin, as we don't want any color to bleed or lift or any strong blue color in there. Using a flat brush, I will gently start wetting my paper, keeping our dolphin dry, carefully working around it. Gently, taking my time for good 2 minutes, as we will work all wet in wet, so it's good to take time to wet the paper. This way, we get ample time to cover the whole background, and paper doesn't dry too fast. Although it depends on the weather conditions at your place. So as I live here in a tropical climate and it's summertime here right now, my paper will dry faster, so I'll have to work really very fast. Being careful near the edges. A quick rub. Okay, that's good. And right away, I will start with the lowest dilution of Windsor blue. And I'll start putting some color in the sky area as the sky will be the lightest part of our background and we don't want any details there some suggestions. Please notice I'm not touching the edges here, just keeping my brush near to them, and as our paper is wet, so the color will flow naturally. Be careful about the dilution as windsor blue or thal blue is a very strong pigment and hence can look patchy if not diluted properly. Very gently and carefully working around the dolphin. So lighter colors on the top. Some softening there. Okay, that's good for the sky. Let's begin with the water. Slightly increasing the dilution as the final water will be much darker. Notice my brush movements where for the sky, I was making small round petchy movements, and now for water, I'm making slightly longer brush strokes while giving them some direction. As our dolphin is jumping out of water, so the water movement will be towards the surface from all directions. Always remember watercolor always dry lighter than how they look like when they are wet, keeping in mind. Going a little darker now using a milk like ratio and enhancing my water direction. I'm not going to a creamy mix right now as it will dry our paper very quickly. Keeping my strokes, longitudinal, working on the shape of the water. Some splash like strokes there. Enhancing the color. Okay, I think the blue looks good enough. Let's start putting some darker tones, mixing indigo now using the same milk like ratio. Keeping the direction of my strokes. Small longitudinal brush strokes. As our paper is wet, so I'm slightly touching the surface of the paper. Slowly increasing the ratio of indigo to blue, moving to a darker side keeping my strokes in check in terms of direction and length. Using the darker color on the bottom and the light tone on the top parts. Slowly increasing the concentration of the color keeping the tone of the colour lighter near the masking area. Let's add some more blue here as my paper is still wet. Okay, that's better. The shape looks good. So more lighter tones. Okay, now I'm using a creamy mix of pure indigo and enhancing the color in the darker areas, keeping my strokes in place and shorter. It softening some of the hard edges with a damp brush. The paper is already dry there. Okay, that looks good. Let's go full concentration and add the darkest color. Now I'm using a pure indigo in its full strength and only to darken the color further. I'm not touching the light parts now as my paper is drying too fast, and I don't want any hard edges. Gently enhancing the color wherever I am feeling, the paper is still okay to touch. Okay. I think that looks good. Let's add some spatters. Using a stiff brush same like before, as here we want very fine spatters just to mimic the splash. Using winsor blue. Let me take some fresh colour. Okay, that's good. Similarly on this side. As the paper is still wet at some places, so these patters will melt into the background. Okay, I want to darken the bottom part of water a little bit more. What else? There are a few gaps. That's better. Okay. You the paper is still wet. Let me add some darker tones. Okay, I think it looks beautiful, and let's not touch it again and call it done. Let's try this completely before removing the masking in the next lesson. 12. DOLPHIN - REMOVING MASKING & FINISHING: Welcome to the final part of first project. As our paper is fully dry by now, we will remove the masking and we'll see how the splash turned out. Carefully using my finger, I'll remove the masking. Not pressing too hard, or we can smudge our color as it's a very dark color. Okay, let's clean everything with a soft brush. Okay. That looks good. Let's add a few spatters. For this, I will cover my ski and the fish or dolphin. And using a small fine tip brush and a milky mix of colour, I'll add spatters. Oh using indigo or blue. And sometimes a mix of both. Carefully, I don't want big blobs here. Just small fine spatters. So with blue on the top part. Gently tapping the brush. Not too much water. He Okay, let's see how it looks. Wow. Learning how to create contrast by using a few colors and different values was a really interesting exercise. I love painting this one. Hope you enjoyed it, too. Let's get ready for our next project. 13. SHARK - THE SKETCH: Welcome to our second project. Let's begin with a sketch. Looking at our reference, the whale shark have quite a simple structure which you can either draw along or can download from the project section. It's your choice. So here's a sleek, torpedo like body, a broad head or snout and mouth in the front. Wavy body with a large upper tail fin and some patterns on the top, for which we will use masking later on. So as we know, the whale sharks are known for their distinct pattern spots, mixed with faint stripes here the belly area. Let me tell you some fun facts. Do you know, like human fingerprints, every whale shark have a completely unique marking, which marine biologists use to understand them. Coming back to our sketch, I'm using a B lead pencil here as our shark is going to be darker in color, so I'm not worried about the lines here. One thing I would like to tell you guys, whenever you sketch for watercolors, always use HB or a B or a two B pencil and never etch or two tch or four etch. The etch here stands for the hardness of the lead, and with a hard pencil, though it will appear lighter, you will always get pencil marks, and it will ruin your paper. Ideally, for landscapes, we should use a TV or more dark ones, as they are softer, and while painting with watercolors, they mostly get dissolved in water. However, for some delicate colors like flowers or lighter birds, we can use HB. So here are the wings on both sides. Let me refine one or two lines here. Now, it's better. The sketch looks good. Let's begin with a painting part. 14. SHARK - THE BACKGROUND: Before starting with a painting, I always remove the extra pencil marks and lighten my sketch by using an elastic eraser. The colors which I'm going to use to paint this project are hematite genuine or any granulating black, cobalt tren. Indigo, which I have taken out in this small palette separately. As we have discussed earlier, also, some indigo leans towards black and some towards blue. For example, Indigo by Daniel Smith has a black undertone. While Indigo by sanela which I'm using leans towards blue. In case your indigo has a black undertone, then you have to mix a little bit of Ianthn blue to it. Let me explain the process a little bit. To paint our shark, we will begin with the background this time. First, we will wet our paper fully, including the sharp, and then we will start putting colors. We will create texture using sun wrap for the background. Then we will mask our lighter parts. That is the spots on the sharp using masking fluid. And finally, we will give shape to our sharp. As I mentioned earlier, take your time to wet the paper like good one to 2 minutes. This helps with the smoother replication of the color. And right away, I'll start putting some colors, starting with a watery mix of cobalt torquis and we will cover the entire surface with a similar consistency of cobalt. Please notice I'm not worrying about the direction of the strokes right now and moving my soft bristle flat brush quickly and gently. My aim right now is to put the color everywhere and keep my paper wet. Okay, our base color is done. Now I will work for granulation, going a little heavier in the consistency, using same colour, keeping a little away from my shark and right away mixing my black to add more granulation. Always keep in mind granulating colors works best with water, so I'm mixing ample amount of water to my color. And And I will start darkening the water area using indigo, pure indigo, starting right from the top and working downwards, keeping dark color away from the shark and letting the color and water do their thing. As my paper is wet, the colors will blend in by themselves. Similarly, on this side, the idea is to create a gradient from light to dark, working from the center towards the edges. Don't worry about the brush strokes, color blending, or smoothness. Just have fun and keep the paper wet. Keeping away from the shark. Going darker near the edges. Okay, that looks perfect. Now it's time to cover our paper with Kling wrap. So I have a piece of Kling wrap here, and I'll cover my entire paper making these type of tingly textures. So while putting the wrap, if by chance you mess up, which is very likely because of its sticky nature, don't worry and don't pick it up again. Just cover however much area you can and then get another piece to cover the rest. Effect will be similar. However, picking it up and then trying to fixing again can ruin the colour gradient. Make sure to make as many folds as possible with your gentle hand movements. Okay. That looks good. Let's leave it to dry completely for two, 3 hours or preferably overnight. 15. SHARK - APPLYING MASKING: So after applying Kling wrap, I left my paper overnight, and I did put some weight on it so that the paper dries flat. Let's see our results. Removing Kling wrap carefully. Wow, look at the texture. Hm, I'm very happy with the texture achieved here. This side, not that perfect as my paper buuckled a little bit, but it's okay. Now it's time to put masking on our shark. As the pattern should be neat and tiny dots, so you can use a pointed tool like this if you are not comfortable using a brush. Now, this part here is very important, as how we create the pattern will make all the difference for the final result. So take your time, be patient, and don't rush. I will start with the main fin on the top, carefully covering the top highlight of the entire fin with a very thin line of masking fluid. If your masking fluid is thick or lumpy, then please mix a drop or two of water in it. Going all the way down, covering the whole fin. Mm. After the fin, I'll start with the head. As we can see in the reference picture, the spots on the top part of the head are quite smaller, closer and have no fixed pattern. They become a little bigger but still scattered further down. And as we move further near the wings, the pattern appears, keeping in mind the basics. Please notice as I continue your wings, I have started making some lines with the dots, and I'm working together on both sides, moving outwards. This way, it will help us get an even pattern. Always working from inside towards outwards. Moving all the way down, making the pattern. And then again scattered and smaller you the tail area. All the way down. Similarly, on the wings. Random size and cheap. What else? Let's put some random spots here and there to keep everything looking natural. Okay, that looks good. Let's dry it before painting our shot. Oh 16. PAINTING SHARK: Our must include hesit and using only one color indigo, we will now be working on our sharp. The background colors that we already put here on the sharp in our first player will work as the lighter areas. And using indigo, we just bring in shadows and Tarke tones. Beginning with wetting the surface of the shark, carefully using a soft round brush. Working within the lines of our sketch. Okay, that's shiny. And with a creamy mix of indigo, I'll start putting on some colors. No colors. Actually, we are using a single color. Please notice I'm not going full strength yet. Let's first establish our lights. Then we can further enhance the darker areas. Notice how I'm not rubbing my brush all over the surface, but just touching my creamy consistency color on the paper surface, which being wet, the color is flowing naturally, and we get these gradients. Going back to the top. As color already settled here, now I will define the shape and go a little darker with a heavy cream ratio. As now there is less water, so the color will not spread much. This way, we will keep going back to the areas we already painted to enhance our color before they dry out. Making similar movements with the brush. Just touching lightly. And keeping the shape in mind. Okay. That's good. Let's move forward before the paper dries. As there is masking, we can work in sections. So it's an advantage for us. Hmm. Working on left side first. And darkening the edges right away. Going back where we painted last. Keeping the edges darker. My color is still wet there. Okay, as we move down near the tail area, I'm keeping my color in full consistency. Here, the body of shark is usually darker. It's a small area, and all we have to do is darken the edges to keep the shape. Darkening the shadows under the fin. Okay. Moving to the wings. Oh, my paper is dry here. No worries. Let me just paint, and then I will then I will pull the color using a tap brush. And pull the colour towards the lower edge. That's okay. Darkening the upper edge. Similarly on the second one. And cleaning my brush and pull to the edge. A little lifting. Okay, that's better. And Okay, now as all of our areas are covered with color, it's time to enhance the color wherever needed and make the shape corrections. I want to come in here one more time. That's better. The tail area looks good. This area looks lighter to me. Let me add some more color here. Yes, that's better. Rn some here. My paper is still wet here. Okay, that's good. Let's try it completely before removing masking fluid. 17. SHARK - REMOVING MASKING : As my paper is fully dry now, I will remove the masking fluid using my finger. Being careful about not rubbing too hard, or we can smudge the color. As indigo is a very dark color. Let me clean it up with a soft brush. Okay, this looks good. Now we will work on the shadows and using a milky mix of same indigo, we will tone down our white spots which are in the shadow areas as they are in the shadow area, so they will not appear so bright, and it will help us giving our shark more definition. Starting with the head part, working on a dry paper this time, we will put some color on the edges, and then using a clean damp brush, I'll soften the color and blend it into the main part. This side is in shallow and darker, so we will adjust the color here too. A little bit on this side. Going over the edge. And softening into the main body. Darkening here a little bit, as this is a fold here. Not to forget the tail. That's good. Under the upper fin and correcting the shape. So this is a time when we can correct things. And on wings, too, only on the upper side. Yes, that looks good. I want this one a little bit more dark. Okay, that's good. Let's come back one more time and paint the details. M. 18. SHARK - FINAL DETAILS: Welcome to the final section of our second project. To paint the top fin, I have now switched to a thin tip brush. You can use a size four or size two and using indigo, I'll now start with creating the base of the fin using a creamy color mix on a dry surface. Working all the way down. And cleaning my brush and a gentle rope with a damp brush to soften it. Collecting the shape where needed. And giving a gentle rub with soft temp brush to smoothen everything so that the whites don't look too harsh. Similarly here, Similarly, working on the top edge of the fin. Carefully going over the line. All the way down. Okay. I want to darken this side a little bit as it's in the shadow. That's better. What else? Let's enhance the tail a little bit. And a little on this edge. This is not dark enough. I need more creamy color here. Let me take some from the tube. Yes, that's better. Maybe a little bit here. Here's some final touches. And a little here. Okay, that's a good indicator. I think it's time to say it's done. Hope you enjoyed painting along. See you in our final project. 19. STINGRAY THE SKETCH: Uh Welcome to our final project, which is wide wing stingray. Let's quickly put together a sketch for this. Not going into too many structural details, we will just work on the main areas for which we will begin with a moon shaped wing and the wing fold. He just a suggestion of mouth or the snout and a big belly here will be our tail. And the second wing. Let's make this wing a little more wavy. And both joining on the back near the tail area. Okay, that's good. Let's refine this a little more curvy belly. Yes, that's better. Let me tell you something interesting about stingray. Do you know, sting rays, they don't have any bones in their body. Instead, they're made of cartilage. That's why super flexible body, very easy to draw and super fun to paint. No complications. Just try and make pins as heavy as possible and keep track of the dimensions. That's it. And a long tail. A little more curve. Yes, that's better. That's dark on the wings. And the pelvic fin. Okay. Okay. That's good. Let's start putting some colors. 20. STINGRAY - FIRST LAYER WING: Welcome to the class. Let me walk you through the process before we begin for this project, we will first start with painting a very light wash of indigo on the wings, which will be our base color for the spots. For the second step, we will apply masking for white spots before working on the body of the stingray. And then finally, we will add the background using complimentary colors. The colors which I'll be using for this project are indigo, cobalt turquoise, transparent orange and lazarin crimson. Okay, then let's begin with the wings. So using a very watery mix of indigo, I'll start putting some colors on the back, the wings area, and the tail, working on a dry paper this time. This will become the lightest value of our painting, which will be the color of white spots. As indigo is a very strong color, I'll suggest, please be careful with the dilution, or it will become difficult to differentiate between spots and the color later on. Carefully working in the lines. And using a uniform water makes. Mm. Very quickly as my color is still wet, I will enhance the color of the tail as this area will be darker eventually and the shadow area. For this, I'm using the same concentration of indigo, the watery mix. I have not changed the ratio of my color. Similarly, this fold of the wing, And be careful with the wet color. Okay. That's it. Now let's try this completely before putting masking fluid. 21. STINGRAY - APPLYING MASKING: Okay, our first wash is completely dry now, so I will apply masking fluid all over this area using a thin tip pool brush. Similarly, as we did for our shark. The only difference will be for the shark, there was a pattern that we had to follow. However, for stingray, it's completely random. Applying tiny spots a little closer to each other and keeping their position random all along, covering the whole wing. Moving to the back area, keeping in mind about the variation of size two, so they don't look too uniform. Some people just don't like applying masking before and would use white cash on the top, though there is no harm in that, too, but for me, masking works for some textures like these spots, as I don't like to use white cash or any other opaque medium with my watercolors. And with adding whites on the top, we also lose transparency. All the way. Moving to the second wing now. Random position and random size. Let's add some more pig ones in random places. On the tail, all the way down. In the middle of the wing fold too. Okay, let's try this before we move to the second layer. 22. STINGRAY - PAINTING THE WHITES: Okay, by the time our masking is drying, we can work on the white parts, the pale area. To paint the whites, we will use two colors cobalt turquoise and transparent orange. Cobalt turquoise or also known as cobalt green is pigment number PB 36, and as we have seen, is a very beautiful granulating color. We will be using a milky consistency of both colors. Activating my colors. Let me take out some fresh indigo also. So for the process, we will first wet the paper, only the area we want to put color on, keeping in lines, taking our time, as the color will spread out nicely on a wet paper, and we will achieve soft edges. Taking my time. Carefully around the edges. Okay, that's good. Let's start putting some colors. Using a size eight round brush, carefully starting with the edges and letting the color flow on its own. Look at that. As the top part of the wing will be in shadow, so we are using cool color for this. Oh. Using a milky mix.Topping some more on the edges. Carefully giving shape. Yes. Going all the way until the mouth. Blending a little bit. Okay. That's good. Now I'm mixing a little bit of indigo to our cobalt, like 50 50, and right away, I'll drop some darker tone to the top edges to darken the top part of the wing. Let's quickly move here before our paper dries a quick rub with water, carefully not touching the color. And I'll start adding orange along the bottom edge and letting the color flow. As the belly will reflect the reflection of the ocean bed, so the warm color. That's why we are using orange color as it's both warm and complimentary to our plues. Smoothing out with a damp soft brush. And pulling all the way to the edge. A Okay, that's good. And darkening the lower edge, dropping some more orange. That's it. We're done with the white area. Let's paint our wings in the next lesson. 23. STINGRAY - WING PAINTING SHADOWS: Okay, our masking is right, and so does the white area. Let's begin with wetting the wing. Going carefully, I don't want to activate the surrounding colors and dropping some juicy indigo only on the edges and letting it blend with water. All the way to the bottom. And to the top. Switching to a thinner synthetic crush now. Now, it has started taking a shape. Okay. That looks good. Softening the edge. And carefully going in between the lines. Giving shape to the snout. Just a suggestion with a thin tape brush. Yes, that's good. And going even darker with the color, giving shape to the outlines. I softening a bit. Okay, that's good. Let's wet the back. A gentle ripe with a damp soft brush. We don't want to disturb the masking. Carefully working around the veins. All the way to the tail. Okay. And dropping some juicy colour right away. All wet in wet. Keeping in mind the darker areas. Carefully giving the shape and some blending in the middle with a soft tempush similarly, working on the front wing. Here I'm working in parts as we can divide the wings with the tail, and it's always easier. Giving shape and blend. This way, I'm working on in layers and building shadows. Darkening the back the middle area. Moving all the way to the tail as it is the darkest part of all. All the way till the end. Adding some color and blending with a soft tempush. Here I'm using two brushes. Yes, that looks more natural. Carefully giving shape. Okay. Let's add some more darks on the wing as our color is still wet, so it will blend smoothly. I'm going slow and building the color step by step, rather than going all in advce as this way we get more depth and natural effects. Adding color in the shadow areas and then blending and smoothening with a damp brush. Building lights and shadows. Yes, that looks good. Oh That's almost dry. A gentle rub. And a little darker near the tail area. Carefully working on the edge of the wing, keeping the shape, heading some dark tones, and then blending and softening it. Okay. All the way to the bottom. A little darker here at the tail area. As indigo is a very strong color, so we are going step by step. Yes. That looks natural. And a little more shadow on the back. In blending. Okay. That looks good. 24. STING RAY - DEFINING WINGS: Okay. Now it's time to go and do the final touches on our stingray. I have decided to add a little wing fold here on this one, as it will give it more natural look. Wetting the little area right away and dropping some milky mix of cobalt, as this is the white area. Yes, that looks better. Now, one more time. Let's define the darker edges of the wings using a creamy mix of pure indigo and a fine tip brush. Only working on the darkest areas, correcting the shapes, and darkening the edges. A little more shadow here. Yes, that's better. It looks more defined now. What else? Let's add a little bit in the tail area. I'm using now a creamy mix straight from the tune. And the shape of the tail. Okay. A bit here on the wing. A little more dark on the top part. Some more definition in the snout. Okay, the swing here, it doesn't look that smooth. Yes. Now it looks more natural. Let's balance this one also. Okay, that looks great. Let's try this and remove the masking in next lesson. 25. STINGRAY - REMOVING MASKING: Okay. As our color is dry by now, so using my finger very quickly and gently, I'll remove the masking fluid. Being careful not to smdch the color. Let's clean this. Wow, that looks good, isn't it? The white spots are shining beautifully. Let's soften the ones. Those are in the shade a little bit in a similar way as we did in the shark. Using a very watery mix of indigo and a very soft round brush. We don't want to lift the previous lab and cleaning my brush and gently pull the colour with some water It's a little bit of masking, okay? Similarly, on this side. I gen pulling the color with damp brush. And some in the back area. Wherever we have darker shadows, we will tone down the whiteness of the spots as they are in shadow two. A little bit on this one, just to define the shape. I now it looks more round. Okay, then let's move to the background now. 26. STINGRAY - THE BACKGROUND: Welcome to the final part of our final project, and it's time to add a background where we will complete the piece by creating contrast with complimentary colors. As we know, complimentary colors are colors which are on the opposite sides of the color wheel. For example, red and green, yellow and violet and blue and orange. As for this project, we are already using torquoise and orange. Along with them, we will use lyserin Crimson to create some darker tones at some places. As we have already practiced in the technique section. I will suggest please visit the exercise once more if you wish to freshen up. Taking out my pigments in advance and activating them. Okay, so you know the drill by now to paint our background, we have to wet the paper first carefully around the corners of the stingray. We don't want to activate the previous color using my soft flat brush. I've started wetting the paper, but this time, we will wet only the top half of the paper where we will work wet and wet and we'll create soft edges. So wetting the paper, nice and shiny, just halfway. So for the lower half, we will work on a dry paper using dry brushing somewhere and then dropping darker colors when our previous color is still wet. And this way, we will create hard edges in the lower part and hence more contrast. This way, working with lost and found edges, we will create our background. Taking some milky mix of cobalt to begin with. And using a round soft brush, I'm dropping my color right away. The color is spreading nicely as the vapor is wet. Going closer to the edges really carefully. Now, working quickly on a wet paper so as to achieve soft edges. So lost edges in the top part to imitate the distance. Similarly on this side. And something near the edge. And my paper is wet until here, this point. Adding more creamier cobalt, creamy ratio this time, just dropping the color and rest letting the water and colour do their thing. As we know, the colour always dries lighter than how it looks when it is wet. Now, as our paper is dry from here onwards, first, I'll be using a milky mix of colour to water ratio, creating the softer blend. M And now going dry brushing around the bottom to create texture. Dropping some more milky mix here and there, so as to create the illusion of water. Yes, that's good. And until now, only working with the torquois Okay, that's good. O. 27. STINGRAY - FINISHING BACKGROUND: Okay, while our color is still wet, let's start adding contrast, working with orange. And I'll add in the bottom part of the stingray, as this is the shadow part, so it will be the darkest. And blending in Kobalt turquoise right away while my color is still wet. See how beautiful dark color it creates. Similarly, in this back part, solid darker tones in the top And as we go down, I'm creating dry brush effects. Now taking a much creamy mix of cobalt, I'm dropping some more dark tones as I don't want my color to spread too much, so a heavier consistency of the color. Let's start dropping ilzarin crimson also. As my izarin crimson is a pushy color, it will make space for itself. Going totally abstract. And alternating with a creamy mix of cobalt to create darker shadows. Dropping here and there, not everywhere. Let's add some spatters too. Why not? And some with orange. Okay. That looks good. Two. Okay, that looks good. Let's add some contrast here before the paper dries totally. Adding some spatters with orange and red. Oh, I like this effect. Some heart and some softer plums. Dropping some more color directly. Similarly here. Oh, the paper here is already dry. Going back to our bottom part. Let's add some Tarkastns here to build shadows. Using a creamy color. Okay, I want a few more dry brush strokes here. And a little softening here. This blend looks too harsh. The Okay, that's good. What else? Okay, that looks good. And as our color is not so wet now, it's almost damp. So let's add the final touch, some creamy turquoise directly into the damp areas. This way, due to thicker consistency, the color will not spread much, and it will create some sharp, darker contrasts. And spatters And I will say it's done. This was indeed an interesting journey. I hope you had fun painting these three projects along with me. Now, this is how it looks after drying. Look at all those granulations of cobalt and these contrast. Isn't this beautiful? Let's wrap up things in the final lesson. 28. LET'S CONCLUDE: I'm so glad we finished this class together. Hope you enjoyed painting these projects. So let's have a recap of what we learn. Learning watercolor takes practice, and no two people can make exact same painting. It all depends on so many factors. The choice of paper, the timing, your mood that day, and even the weather conditions. Even after years of experience, my two pieces don't look like two exact copies. Results can vary depending on your mood also. Some days I want to work more loosely, while some days I love to go into the details. For example, these two pieces are done on two different papers on two different days. I love the background of this one more, but the colors and the details of the shark in the other one. Similarly, background here turned out so soft, but here my papers started drying too fast, and I love how we got mixed effects, some softness and some more defined effects. So I will say, be kind to yourself, practice more. Don't compare your work, and just try to be better than your own self. To share your projects in the project section. I always love to see how you approach different aspects and how your art turned out. Don't forget to review the class. It helps me get better ideas for the future. Follow me on Skillshare so you will get notified about the latest updates and new classes. And lastly, do follow me on Instagram. And if you are sharing your art there, don't forget to tag me until next time, take care and keep painting.