Paint a spring sunset landscape with me - Using Watercolors

1. Hello Spring!: Spring is the season of beautiful and bright, sunny days with flowers and trees blooming all around. And along comes hope and fresh beginnings. It is a season to feel motivated, refreshed, and to rekindle the spark in your soul. Hello, everyone. I'm Esharia, an engineer, a watercolor artist, and an art instructor. Today I'm back with yet another beautiful class. In this class, we will be painting a beautiful spring sunset landscape. You will learn how to create soft, beautiful backgrounds, green landscapes or meadows using the wet on wet technique. You'll also learn how to add interesting details to make your painting look more natural and more realistic. What are you waiting for? Go grab your art supplies and let us get started. 2. Art Supplies: All right, so let us take a look at the art supplies that you need. First is the paper I'm using, R cheese, which is 300 GSM, 100% cotton, and it is of 140 LB thickness. And this is a cold pressed paper and it does not have a lot of texture. You can go with any brand of watercolor paper, but make sure it is 300 GSM, 100% Next up, let us take a look at the brushes. You will need a flat brush to apply an even coat of water. This brush is from silver, black velvet and it is a hake brush. You can go with any of your flat brush. Next up, you will need a round brush. A larger size round brush, preferably of size ten or 12. Next up, you will need a round brush of smaller size, preferably size number six or eight. Lastly, you will need a detailing brush of size number two or zero, or you can go with rigger brush. Next up, you will need some pencil and an eraser for making the pencil sketch. Next up, you will need colors. Obviously, if you want to look at the details section of what colors you will require for this particular class, I have made a detailed section. You can go to that section and watch out for all the colors and prep your colors before you begin painting. All right, Next up, you will need two jars of water. One has to stay clean so that you can pick up fresh paint. And the other is to rinse off all the dirty paint from your brush. All right, Next up, you will require a white gash. This is basically to add the flowers. Next you will need a masking tape, where you're going to tape down the paper onto the backing board. And you will also need some tissues or some cotton cloth to wipe off the water. Lastly, you'll need a board like this to fix the paper onto the board. Go grab your art supplies and I'll see you soon in the next section. 3. Colors: All right, so let's take a look at the colors that you will need for this particular class. So the first color that I'm going to be swatching here is the bright blue. So it's a beautiful shade. You can choose any blue that you want for painting the sky. That's absolutely fine. So you can go with either erlian blue or any other light blue. Okay, and the next one is the oilet. The Wilet is from the normal Indian brand, that is Camel. But if you have any other volet from any other brand, that, that's completely fine. We just want a little bit of olet for adding the clouds onto the sky. Next up we have the paints gray. And this is again from the brand white knights, but you're a free to choose any other paints gray. Okay, next up we have cadmium yellow. Yes, this is again a very beautiful shade. It's opaque yellow. It's not a transparent yellow like how we have Indian yellow, right? That's really transparent. But this cadmium yellow is really bold and very opaque. And we're going to use this again for painting that sunset sky. Next up we have cadmium orange, so this is again, an opaque kind of orange. So you can go with this or any other orange that you have got. Next up we have, I think I'm going to be swatching the greens now. So basically we're going to paint the meadows. So you will need different variety of greens like olive green, light green, leaf green. You can choose any green that you have need not be the same that I am swatching here. First one I swatched was olive green. The next one is the normal green, dark green from white nights. And if you don't have this particular green, you can go with emerald green. Or you can just simply mix your green with paints gray and get the different kinds of green. That's absolutely fine. Your meadow has to be just green. Doesn't matter which green you're choosing. Next up I'm going to use Dk Brown. You can go with any other brown or burn sienna or burnt umber. Okay, that's it for the colors. And get your colors ready. And I'll see you soon in the next section. 4. Pencil Sketch: All right, so let's start by adding the pencil sketch. So first we will add a sloping curve towards the sky line, that is where your horizon ends. From the right hand side you will have a sloping steeping, curvy meadow. Okay? From the left hand side I will have another curve which is the left hand side part of the meadow. Okay? And then from there we will have a steep narrow pathway which is diminishing towards the vanishing point. As it gets closer to the viewer, it gets broadened. Okay? So you can see this is the pathway. What I suggest is you can wait for me to complete the entire pencil sketch, and then you can either take the screenshot of the pencil sketch, which I have prepared, or you can pause the video and then draw a pencil sketch for yourself. That way it will be easy for you follow along. And you can also skip this erasing process as I am doing currently. Okay, wait for me to complete, watch the process and then you can add the pencil sketch. All right, so this is the final pencil sketch. So draws, and I'll see you soon in the next section. 5. Let's paint the sky!: All right, so we are ready with our paper over here. Now let us start by painting the sky. So first of all, let us go and apply an even coat of water onto the entire sky region. So for this purpose, I will be using my flat brush, which is also known as Hake brush, which is from silver, black velvet. But it's absolutely fine for you to choose any flat brush, or for that matter, if you don't have a flat brush, you can choose a bigger sized round brush to simply wet the April. All right? So apply an even coat and make sure you do this multiple number of times. Because we're going to work on the wet on wet technique. Your paper has to stay wet for a longer duration of time. All right, so now I have switched to my size number 12 brush. This is again from the brand silver black velvet. Yes. So I'm just going to apply the water evenly and make sure that there are no big puddles so that the paint does not get collected over there. Make sure there is too much water on the edges of the masking tape. Make sure to take a tissue or a paper cloth and remove the excess amount of water from here. Paper. I keep repeating these things because these are the small, tiny little things that make a lot of difference. What happens is if the water gets collected at the edges, chances are the water may seep into your painting and it may ruin your painting. You don't want that to happen, right? Yes. I think the paper is nicely and evenly wet and we can start painting our beautiful spring sunset sky. So first of all, I will be going with the cadmium orange. You can see I'm mixing that on my palette. You can go with any orange of your choice. You can go with bright orange, orange, any opaque orange that you have got. Okay, so to make it more intense, I'm mixing that orange with a little bit of cadmium red. So to make it a little bit more dramatic and more bold. Okay, so you can see I am having very little water on my brush. Or you can see barely minimum water because already there is too much of water on the paper. And if you have too much water on your brush, then your paint will start flowing uncontrollably and you would not be able to control the strokes. So for that sake, you need to gauge the amount of water on your paper and the amount of water on your brush, and this all comes just by practice. Okay? So if you have a lot of water on your brush, make shawl to hold a tissue or a cloth in your hand so that you can dab the excess amount of water. All right. Long story short, next color is the cadmium yellow. So you can see right where I stopped adding the orange, I have started to add the cadmium yellow. As you can see, it is a very nice, brilliant, opaque yellow. You can choose any yellow that you have got. Now on top of that cadmium yellow, I will be adding a little bit of crimson. Crimson is a very bright, pinkish, reddish color. We don't want it to be too dark, I just want a mild, soft pink into the sky. So I'm just taking a little bit of that crimson and adding it to the central portion and towards the left hand side of the paper. Now all you're going to do is blend those colors well so that it doesn't look uneven. Blend it well and make sure your sky is looking nice and pretty. At this moment, just don't bother, just keep adding the colors. At the end, we will add clouds and adjust those things. Okay, So now onto the top layer, I have started adding bright blue. You can see I use this bright blue from white nights for almost all the landscape paintings, especially for painting the sky, because this blue just stands out and it makes your sky soft, subtle yet dramatic. So if you don't have bright blue, you can choose Erlian blue or you can go with any other blue that you have got. Just make sure you apply it nicely and brightly and boldly. Okay. Yeah. Now you can see I'm applying it in the form of strokes at an angle. And while I'm applying, I'm not just applying as a flat wash. You can see I'm just rotating my brush, creating those small cloud like structures and holding my brush at an angle. Make sure you don't go with a flat wash. Just give some structure and shape and create those clouds. Don't go with one single tonal value. Make sure you go with different tonal values. Like you can see here in the middle. I have left some space and at the sides I'm having a little bit of denser clouds. Now you can see I'm adjusting the amount of crimson and I'm layering that with the Erlian blue, the bright blue that I have added earlier. All right. I'm going to keep adding these colors until I'm completely satisfied. If you're already satisfied, then you can just wait and watch me and you can follow the next step. Now the next step is to add the volet. The volet is from the brand camel. Obviously, you can choose any volet you have got. It's up to you now. I have chosen volet to add those deeper, denser clouds onto the sky. Right where I have stopped adding the erlian blue, I'm focusing on majorly on the bottom region where we added the orange and the yellow. I want to add that ilet onto the sky and create some clouds again. I'm adding it in the form of strokes and there is very less water onto my brush, and that is the reason the paint is not flowing. And I'm able to control the strokes, so this is a very important step. If you're not confident, please practice it on a scrap piece of paper and then you can try it on the main painting, Okay, So just create some clouds with violet and this is how the sky is looking at the moment. I'm extremely happy the way it has turned out. I think we need to add a little bit of more clouds and make it a little bit more dramatic. To make it more dramatic, all you have to do is grab more paint and less water and keep adding it. Also, one more thing to make sure is make sure your paper is wet. If your paper has started to dry, then please do not perform this step. Wait for the paper to dry completely and then all you have to do is apply an even coat of water. I mean re wet the paper and start painting again. Okay? All right. So now I'm satisfied with how the sky is looking now let us wait for this to dry completely and I'll see you soon in the next section. 6. Painting the bushes: Okay, so now that our sky has dried completely, let us add some small bushes or some far away trees in the background towards the horizon line. For this purpose, I'm switching to my size number six brush and I'm picking up the color dark green from white nights. If you don't have dark green, all you can do is you can mix your green with paints gray and create this shade of green. So I'm just adding some irregular branches or bushes onto the background so you can visualize right when you see a distant mountain or when you see something from very far away, there are some tiny bushes that appear, right? So we are going to create exactly that one over here. Just keep adding these bushes in a variety of sizes, like at some places these are a little bit teeny tiny, and at some other places you can adjust the height and make it more organic and natural. So I'm just going to go ahead and keep adding these bushes onto the entire horizon line. All right. So yes. All right. So I have added the bushes onto the entire horizon line and this is how it has turned out. So you can go ahead and add these bushes and I'll see you soon in the upcoming section. 7. Painting the meadow: All right, so now let us begin painting the meadow. We have meadow on either side, left and right. And first we will be painting the left side. Take any round size brush, preferably size number six or size number eight, anything of your choice. And start by wetting the left hand side of the meadow. Make sure you're wetting it nicely because we are going to be playing with different tonal values of green. We want that area to stay wet for a longer duration of time in case, even though you forget to wet it for multiple number of times, that is absolutely fine because you can go with either wet on wet technique or you can make use of the wet on dry technique. Okay, so anything is fine. Okay, so let us begin. The first color is olive green. I love olive green in my green landscapes. It just pops out and it stands out. So I just like using this color. It doesn't matter if you don't have olive green, it's absolutely fine. You can mix a little bit of yellow with your green and create this shade. Now you can see right where I stopped adding the olive green, I am going ahead and applying a little bit of green. This is the normal dark green from white nights. And I'm just trying to play with different tonal values here because I don't want to have that flat look for my meadow. If you see a meadow, you can see different variety of greens at some places it is darker, at some places it is lighter. We want to bring that depth, so we're going to play with different tonal values. It's absolutely fine. You can gather like just all the greens from your palette and you can keep adding this. Make sure you mix colors well into your palette and then you drop them onto the paper. Otherwise, if you're going to directly pick up the paint from the palette and then add it, it may try to create larger blooms. And once it dries out, right, you'll be able to see dark patches. So we don't want that to happen. Mix your colors well into your palette and then blend it onto the paper. All right, so now you can see at the top. I want the meadow to be a little lighter because I want to show the sun is hitting the top surface of the meadow at the bottom, you can see like I have added the depth. Okay. Now, similarly, we have finished the left hand side. Now we're going to move towards the right hand side. Since this is a larger area, I am switching to my size number 12 brush because I can paint a little bit faster and it holds a lot of water and a lot of pain. Okay, so choose what is comfortable for you and then you can start. All right. So I'll quickly go ahead and wet this region. All right. So now that we have vetted the paper completely, I mean the meadow completely. Now let us start painting the meadow on the right hand side starting with olive green again. Okay. Make sure you maintain this tonal value towards the horizon line. We're going to have lighter tonal values of green as we progress further away towards the viewer. We're going to have that depth and deeper tonal values once you understand display of colors, right? It's going to be really easy. And then it's all up to you. The magic is in your hands. You can just choose different kinds of green. Just blend it, add different tonal values need not be the same as I am doing. You can just vary the shades. You can vary the way you're adding. Maybe in between you can add a little bit grassy texture so there are a wide variety of things and it just comes with a lot of practice. All right, so now I'm picking a little bit of dark green and I will be adding it in a sloping manner. I want my meadow to look like a sloping valley you might have seen. I don't know if you have seen that in the photographs. Right, We have those sloping valleys. If someone has visited Switzerland, probably they could have seen that. But no worries. We can create our own Switzerland over here in this painting and enjoy it, isn't it? Yes. Now you can see. I have created that separation between the top layer and the bottom layer by adding the green. Similarly, again, onto the sides, I'm like creating a deeper tonal value into the between. I have that lighter shade of olive green. Okay. And yes, not to forget, leaf green is another important shade which makes your meadows look more beautiful. So if you have leaf green, you could go with that, but no worries at all. If you don't have it, just choose whatever colors you have and make your meadow look green. It's all about green today. Okay. So now you can see I'm increasing the total value of that sloping valley and just trying to create different shapes. So it's just u, horizontal movement of the brush like left or right. It's just the strokes, if you are completely new to water color painting, maybe you could try these strokes onto a sample piece of paper. But I feel this is a really beginner friendly and you need not really practice before starting. You can just add the colors, just make sure your paper is wet and yeah, you're good to go Now you can see, I know it's looking weird at this moment of time, but trust me and trust the process. Once it's going to dry, it's going to look absolutely stunning. Okay. So I'll keep adding the colors, and meanwhile, you can watch me and then paint it again. Okay. So now we can see I have started to add some strokes, vertical strokes. I'm trying to create those grassy blades, you can switch to a smaller sized brush, preferably size number two. Or if you have a long rigger brush, you could even use that because rigger brush gives that nice pointed look for your grassy blades. If you don't have rigger brush, just go with size number two. Size number one, create those grassy patterns. You might have seen grass blades, right? They are always sticking out and they are in different sizes and different shapes. It's not like perfect straight line. You're just going to press the tip of the, as you go upwards, you're just going to pull the off the paper. Just create those strokes. One tip is just do it very fast so that you'll get random organic grass blades. All right? So yeah, I'll just keep adding this and you can watch me. All right. So now that we have created some grass blades onto the bottom region, now we can start creating some grassy patterns onto those top valleys. Okay. So it's the same procedure. There's nothing different. So the brush is in your hand and you can choose to paint it in any way you want. All right, so this is how it is looking at the moment and as I said, you trust the process and you'll surely enjoy it. Okay? So I'll see you soon in the next section. 8. Let's paint the pathway: All right, so now that we have painted the meadow, now it's time to add the pathway in between. We have left this gap for painting the pathway Gently take your brush and start applying an even coat of water onto the pathway. So make sure when you're wetting the pathway, the water should not seep onto the meadow. Okay. Is you're going to get hard edges and ruin the painting. Just be very careful if you're not comfortable with larger sized brush. I suggest you to take a smaller sized brush and wet your paper. All right. So let me quickly go ahead and wait it. All right. So now that we have completely wetted the pathway, now let us start adding the colors for the pathway. Usually the pathway is always the ground which is brown in color. Mud. Basically, you can choose any brown of your choice. Basically, instead of going directly with Brown, you can use brown. Mixing it with paints, gray, create that earthy tone. Okay, It's all about how you play with the colors I'm using here, nd ke brown. It's a very good, nice brown shade from white nights. It's not completely brown in color. As you can see, it is like a little bit on the earthy side, so you feel that earthy tone. So doesn't matter if you don't have this nk brown. As I said, choose any brown. Add a little bit of paints gray to it and yes, you have it there. Okay, so now while painting the pathway in the middle, we're going to have the darkest tones and towards the sides we're going to have the darkest tones and we're going to leave some white gaps in between. Okay? Yes. Be very careful and be very gentle while painting the further pathway, which is that thin perspective towards the horizon line because it's a very narrow pathway. Okay. As you get further away, it's a little broadened and that's easier to paint. Okay. So take your own time and paint it. So now you can see I want to intensify the color for that. I have taken a little bit of paints gray and then I added a little bit of sepia. Just playing with the different tonal values and, you know, it gives a nice organic and natural looking pathway. All right, so I'm just intensifying the look. So if you have already added darker tonal value at the first place, then you need not perform this step always. There's a rule in painting when you start painting, don't go with dark values at the first place. Start with lesser tonal values. And as you progress further, if you feel like it's getting a little bit lighter, then on top of that you can add additional tonal values. That way, if you make any mistake, you can actually go back and correct. But if you directly add darker colors, it's very difficult to lift the colors of the paper. All right? So yes, if you feel like your paint or your brush accidentally touched the meadow, keep a tissue paper handy and then you can just dab off that water or the paint. All right. So there's absolutely nothing to worry. Just guys enjoy the process and that's all I would like to say. Okay. So I'm just adding dacatonal values onto the either sides of the pathway. Same colors when K, brown and then mix of paints, gray and sepia. Okay. I'm adding it in the form of strokes. I'm pulling the strokes from, down, towards the upwards. Okay. Yes. All right, so now that we have created our pathway, it is time to add some splatters or some textures and dry brush patterns to make your pathway look more realistic and more natural naturally. When you walk on the muddy roads, you must have seen. Right? It's not always, even. There are patches, there are some stones, there are some textures, right? We cannot capture everything over here. But at least we can try to make it look a little bit natural by adding some splatters. It's very simple. Take a little bit amount of water, mix that with some brown paint, make sure you're not taking too much amount of water else you'll end up creating larger blooms. Just dab with another brush or with the help of your finger. You can dab the brush and create these dry brush patterns or splatters, and make sure you're not splattering over the sky or the meadow. So to avoid that, you can place a scrap piece of paper and then gently tap. Okay, So this is how I have created these splatters. Additionally, you can also add few dry brush patterns, and it's all up to you how you want to create your own pathway. All right. So, yes. Okay. So I have just kept on adding these platters and different patterns and textures onto the pathway to make it look more realistic and more organic. I'm really loving the look and feel of this painting. Our painting is finally taking its shape. So as I mentioned, just trust the process and you see the results at the end. All right, so now our pathway is ready. I'll see you soon in the next section. 9. Painting the fence: All right. So now that we have added the pathway, now there's time to add some final details. I thought we can add a fence onto this pathway or the meadow to make it look more interesting and more natural. Okay. Yeah. Let's start by adding the fence. To add the fence, I'm using Dak Brown. You can go with any darker tone like sepia or wink brown mixed with your paint scrap. It's very easy to add these fences, but you should always remember the rule of perspective. The fences that are away from you, that is, the fences that are towards the horizon line, they have to be thinner and shorter. And the fences that are towards you, that is towards the viewer, they have to be larger and detailed one. Okay? It's simple. Just remember this rule of perspective and go on adding the fences. Now you can see the further away fence is sh, and thin and the second fence which I'm adding currently, you can see it's a little bigger in size and a little thicker. Okay. So it's easy. You can just watch me and then you can paint for yourself. All right. So now you can see the fence, which I'm adding right now is closer to the viewer, correct? So it's a bit more detailed and more thicker in size and also larger in size. So now you can see the rule of perspective over here. Okay? So if all the fences would be in a straight line and of the same shape and size, it would look really flat and boring, correct? So this is how you can make your painting look more realistic and more beautiful if you pay attention to those small little details. And trust me guys, these small details matter a lot, Okay? So yeah, So I feel like adding few more fences and if you feel like you want to just stop with three, that's absolutely fine. But if you want to feel like you want to add more, then you can paint along with me. All right. So yes, let's keep painting. All right. So it kind of looks good. Now, I think I have left a lot of gap between the first fence and the second, so I thought of adding another teeny tiny fence over there. Okay. So yeah, this completes the whole look. Now we're going to attach these fences with a string. You must have seen that string, right? I don't know what material it is of, exactly. So I'm just calling it as a string. Hope you guys will understand it. So it's a very thin, delicate line. And make sure this line is also not straight. It's crooked. And that is what makes it look more natural. Okay? Make sure not to draw thick, bold lines. Otherwise, you're going to be ruining the rule of perspective. Okay. So make sure you're going with a smaller sized brush to add these details. Yeah. This is how it is looking. I'm just giving that final touch and to make sure your fences are properly grounded onto the meadow, Just smudge the bottom part with your hands. Okay. With your fingers? Yeah. That's it. 10. Painting flowers: All right, so now we are on to the final stage of the painting, where we are going to paint some beautiful flowers. For painting this, you will need some white gash and cadmium yellow for adding this stem. You will need sap green or any other dark green that you have got. So I already have some white gauche in my palette and I'm going to be mixing that. I'm using my size number two brush. You can go with any smaller sized brush to add these flowers. All right? So you can see I'm adding teeny tiny flowers. And you can just randomly go ahead and paint these flowers. There's no particular rule as such, and you can paint it with different variety of colors. So basically you have a darker background. And on top of that, if you're going to paint flowers, make sure you're going to mix a color with white gauche. Suppose you want to paint red flowers. The red may not be visible on the green. And to make it a little bit opaque, you can mix with white to create a pastel red. So that when you paint it on top of a darker background, it just stands out. All right, so this is how we'll be painting the flowers. Now you can see I'm adding all these flowers with white gauche and I'll be continuing to do this. All right, so now that we have added some beautiful white flowers, now it's time to add some flowers in the same manner using cadmium yellow. Now you can see this cadmium yellow is a very opaque kind of yellow. You can either mix it with white or you can directly add it. You can see I'm directly adding it and it's looking a little better. But if your yellow is not as dark as mine, then what you can do is mix it with a little bit of white go and then you can add. So it's very easy process. You have to just keep adding random flowers of different shapes and sizes. Don't add too many big flowers, okay? Because this is like a bunch of small flowers. Okay? So if you want to add some grassy blades, you could do that. If you want to add some red poppies, you could do that. Or if you want to add some lavender flowers, you could also do that. So it's all about spring, guys. So it's up to you which flowers you want to add and how many you want to add, Okay? So don't make it crowded at one place. Make sure you're covering up the entire space and leaving some gaps in between. All right? So yes, I'll continue to add the flowers and you can watch me and then paint for yourself. All right, so now that we have added these flowers, now it's time to add the stem for these flowers now. Again, you need to follow the rule of perspective here, since your flowers are very teeny tiny. The stem also should be very delicate and thin. If you're going to be drawing thick stems, it's going to really make your painting look odd. So you need to keep these things in mind and then paint, okay, so you can barely see those stems. So you have to just take your thin brush and don't take excess amount of water or paint. Just a little. And maybe you can use your detailing brush or your liner brush to make this thin, delicate stems. Okay, So now to cover up the bottom region, I'm picking up a slightly darker green. This is I think, sap green. And I'm just creating some strokes, light pattern. Okay. So just keep adding this. All right. So now that we have added those grassy patterns and stem, you can just take a little bit of white go make it a little thinner consistency. And then you can add randomly splatters by simply tapping your brush with your finger. Or you can use some other brush to make sure you're not taking too much amount of water or too much paint else. You'll be splattering everywhere. And that's not what we want. So make sure you're going with the small and medium sized splatters, and randomly you can just add a few dots or spots as you can see here. Okay. And yes, I think that is it for this painting. I absolutely enjoyed painting this meadow and it's literally giving me that spring feels. So you're free to choose whatever elements you want to add into your painting. It's absolutely yours at the end of the day, okay? So I'm here just to help you with the tips and tricks and everything about water colors that you need to know before you start painting, all right? Okay. So in the next section I'll see you where I'll be peeling off the masking tape and I will be ready to show you the entire final painting. So see you there. 11. Thank you:): All right guys. We made it to the end. I thank each one of you for making it to the end of this class. Now it's finally time to take off the masking tape. So you can see the painting has completely dried. There is no water or there is no wet paint on my paper. And now it's safe to remove the masking tape. All right. So please wait for your paper to dry and then take off the masking tape. I hope you enjoyed this class as much as I did. And if you have any queries or any questions that you want to ask me regarding this class, anything about art supplies or anything for that matter, you can start a discussion on the discussion section of this particular class and I would be happy to help you. All right, so there's another section called project sections where you're free to post your class projects. And I would be personally reviewing it and giving you a feedback so that you can improve your skills for your future paintings. All right, And please consider leaving a constructive feedback. This would help me to improve and come up with new ideas for my new classes, and also my class would be spreading to a larger number of audience. Please leave a constructive feedback. All right. Yes guys. I think that's it. And this is the beautiful painting that we painted in the class. There you go. All right. I'll see you soon in the next class. By.