Paint with Confidence: Ten Minute Watercolor Apples

1. Introduction: Two things I've noticed people struggling with when they're learning watercolor are the wet in wet technique and tonal value. And one of the reasons they struggle with the wetting wet technique is that the first layer of paint that they put down is either too wa cherry, too thin with not enough pigment, or it dries too quickly. And if the first layer is wrong, then the wetting wear technique won't work. So I've come up with a fun way to master this by making quick paintings of an apple. We will first underpaint using just one color, and we will look at what makes a good first layer. Then we will shape the apple using a good rich black that we have mixed ourselves. We will focus on tonal values and on achieving beautiful wet and wet effects. I'm Catherine Jennifer. I'm an artist and art educator. I teach in person watercolor classes. I run an art club in my village, and I'm a top teacher on Skillshare. And I love helping people to discover the joy of creativity. This class is a follow on from my class called Paint Wi Confidence five minute Luscious Landscapes, in which the focus is on building your confidence with putting down paint loosely and quickly. You may also find it helpful to check out my class called Lost and Found Edges in watercolor painting because I will refer to Lost and Found Edges during the wet and wet painting process. In that class, you will also meet my alter ego who hasn't made an appearance in this class yet. So two colors, two steps, one apple. Let's practice building our confidence with watercolor. A 2. Project: The project for this class is to paint an apple using a colored underlayer and then working into it with your mixed black using the wet in wet technique. In the class resources section, you will find photographs of an apple. I took these photographs and each time slightly adjusted the angle of the apple and the lighting so that the photos are similar but slightly different in each case. You can paint just one apple, but you'll learn the most if you practice painting the apple a few times. It's really fun to try out different colored underlayers and see how each underneath color affects the layers that you put on top. Each painting should take you 10-15 minutes. When you've finished your project, please take a quick photo and upload it into the class project gallery so that I can offer you some personalized feedback. Let me know how you found it and if there was anything you found particularly difficult. 3. Materials: Materials you will need are watercolor paints, a few different colors, and some colors that you can mix up a good dark. I'll show you how to do that. I'm going to be working on a smooth watercolor paper, hot pressed. You can work on whatever you've got. It doesn't really matter. And there are photograph for you to work from in the class resources section. 4. What Makes a Good First Layer: So for the wet in wet technique, the first layer is very important. But if you are doing this on your own at home, how do you know what makes a good first layer? It basically comes down to two things. The first is the wetness, how wet is your brush. And the second is the pigment consistency. How pigmented is your paint. Before you start painting, you need to prepare your paints. So if you're using pans, these are Kurataki pans. You might be using Windsor and Newton or another make. What you do is you get them all nice and wet with a spray bottle first. I've seen a lot of beginners painting with very dry pans of paint. This makes your job even more difficult. So get your pants nice and wet. After two or 3 minutes, you'll need to do that again. These are actually tube paints, these core paints made by golden, which I've squeezed out into empty kiataki pans. And same as with my kiataki paints, I will spray them all down before I start painting. Like that. If you are using tubes and you're just going to squeeze them out straight onto the palette, which is another way of working, then you'll put your little paint down, and you will probably need to get it slightly wet. So to get the first layer of paint right, the first aspect is the wetness. Now, how do you know if you've got the wetness right? Well, first of all, you need to fully load your brush. So I'm doing this palette work. I'm moving my brush backwards and forwards on my palette. And what I'm doing is not only getting a feel for how wet it is here, but I'm soaking up the paint right up into the bristles. And hopefully you can see, it's not just paint on the end of my brush there. It's all the way up. You get the feel for the wetness by painting a lot. But if you are new to it and you're still trying to work out, what's a good first layer? What's a about first layer, you can do a few tests. So just on a rough piece of paper, you can I I put that down, that is actually quite a good first layer. It's wet enough that it's got a nice shine, but it's not so wet that I've got a swimming pool sitting on top or little pools of water in different places. If I'm going to purposefully, do a layer that's too wet so you can see the difference. So if I'm taking lots of water, and if I do that here, and I rarely get all of that out. I hope you can see, that's not a good first layer because it's too wet, the paint isn't evenly distributed in the water. And it just is going to make my second layer much more difficult compared to that. On the other extreme end of the scale, if your paint is not wet enough and you come in with your first layer, so let's say I haven't properly prepared my brush or I've tapped out too much and my brush is too dry. If that's my first layer, I hope you can see, it's going to dry so quickly that there's nothing there for my second layer to interact with. Can you see how wet that layer still is? Whereas that one is doing a beautiful soaking in ready for its second layer. It's almost too late to ready for that one. So you want it to be just the right level of wetness. And you probably if you're struggling with the wet in wet technique, it's probably that either your first layer is too wet, or you can see how it's even running on that page, or it's not wet enough, and it's drying so fast that nothing can interact with it. The second thing about getting your first layer right is how strongly pigmented your first layer is. So if I come in with exactly the right pigmentation level, something quite strong but not too strong. See if I can get a good one now. So let's say that's my first layer. So that's quite strong. Quite dark, maybe a little bit too dark. But if I come in with my second layer, there's lots there that my second layer can interact with. If I make it even stronger, just to illustrate my point, almost pure pigment as my first layer, that's too strong. Okay? When I come in and start trying to work a second layer into that, it's already too loaded, too intense, and you're going to end up with a sort of heavy hot mess if you do that. On the other end of the spectrum, and this is what I've seen most often with the beginners, is that they don't have enough pigment in their first layer. So let's say they're a little bit nervous. You know, this is all very new and terrifying. So they do their first layer, a bit like this. Now, if it's nice and wet, that's fine. You will get wet and wet techniques. But if it's very unpigmented and it's very dry, let me do a dryer one like this, if your first layer is as weak as that, so it lacks pigmentation and it lacks wetness, then your second layer isn't going to give you nice wet and wet effects. So as you do this, really, take your time to get your brush properly loaded, and then really pay attention to how wet your first layer is. I use the term juicy. If it's juicy, then it's right, okay? Really pay attention to that. And if you're struggling, ask yourself, was it too wet? Was it too dry? Did it lack pigment? And if it's any of those three things, then you know what to do to fix it the next time. 5. Mixing a Good Dark Color: So let's get started on painting some wet and wet apples. Before I start my painting, I'm going to mix up a good dark color. So I'm going to use this Thalo green as this core paint, which is made by golden. I'm going to use a little bit of this parle red light. And I'm going to mix those two together and add a little bit of black as well. So just off camera here, I've got these AkitakiGanzi tambi paints, and I'm just taking a bit of the black and going to put it there. And then when you mix your red with your green like this, it gives you a very lovely dark. But the dark can be slightly brown. Brown. It's a beautiful dark. And it's really lovely, but I'm just also going to pop in a bit of black. So I've got a lovely, rich black mixed up and ready to go. The advantage of mixing your own black is that when it tints down in your paint or when you use it as a transparent color, the colors that make up the black become evident. You'll see it as we go along. 6. Apple 1: So now I'm going to have a go at painting this apple, which I photographed. First, I'm going to paint an underlayer, then I'm going to come in with my darks. I'm going to set a timer for 10 minutes. Now, this is going to be a guide. If I go over slightly by a few minutes, that's okay. But what I don't want to happen is it turns into a great long painting because the longer it is, the more you fiddle and it loses its freshness and its spontaneity. So when you're doing this at home, if you have an element of a time limit, maybe start with 10 minutes. If that feels too short, you can try 12, 13 minutes. You don't want to be panicked and rushing, but equally, you want to push yourself to work a little bit faster than you might otherwise. And that helps keep the freshness and the spontaneity in your painting. I'm getting my paint ready on my brush, and I've also got tissue in my non brush hand. This is important for helping me control that wetness. Now, I can feel on the palette that it's a little bit too wet, but the color is probably about right. Maybe it's a little bit too strong, as well for my first layer, the pigmentation. So I'm going to tap out this is my water jar. I'm going to take if my pigmentation is too strong, I'm going to take out a bit of the pigment by dipping in my water, tapping on the side, and then coming back in here. And I can control, let me just clean this so you can see what I'm doing. I can control the consistency of the pigment that way. Okay, so I've got a stronger mix at the top. I've got a medium mix here, and I've got a slightly less pigmented mix here. And now I'm ready to start. So I'm going to press my timer. And we're going. I'm going to start with the basic shape of the apple and just get that in. I chose an apple because it's quite an easy thing to draw. It's basically just a circle. So we want to focus on mastering the timing and the wetness with a subject that's not too complicated. As the light falls on the apple, I'm taking out some of that pigment so that I can start to create these tonal differences. But I want to keep it nice and wet. So it's a balance between having a lighter tone, but also keeping it wet and juicy. That's not as even as I would like it to be, so I'm going to just come in and try and even out some of the pigment. Okay, and start on these leaves. Now, when I do the leaves, watch what I do with the brush. I'm going to use more weight through the brush, pressing down harder so that more of the bristles touch the paper, and I can make that leaf shape very quickly, almost in one movement. I'm not just using the tip of my brush and going, Tap dab dab dab dab. Okay? One movement, push down and use the weight of your brush so that you can get to that shape really quickly. And that also gives you much nicer watercolor effects. Lovely. And all the time, I'm watching this. And when the moment is exactly right, I'm going to come in with my second layer. So just start getting these leaves in. And where it's very, very dark, I'm going to deepen out my pigment. Now, where I've got shapes touching, I want to create lost edges. And if you haven't already watched my class on lost and found Edges, I highly recommend you go and have a look at that because it explains what lost and found edges are and how to create them. But here, what I'm effectively doing is losing the edge between the apple and the shadow. Now, I want to soften this shadow, so I'm cleaning my brush, and I'm going to come from a distance. I call this approaching by stealth just with water. And then as I get nearer, I'm just touching on that shadow to soften it a bit. Okay. And there's going to be a shadow here, so I'm very loosely and quickly putting that shadow in. Working fast like this forces us to be more expressive, and that's what I'm aiming for with this painting a painting that's looser and more expressive than I might otherwise do. So now this here is pretty much ready for my dog. In fact, I might even be too late. Let's have a look. When I come in with my dark, no, it's fine. It's perfect. But there's a golden rule for wet and wet painting, and the rule is this. When you bring a second layer onto a first layer, make sure that what's in your brush is less wet than what's on your paper. And how you do that is you load your brush with your paint, and then you tap off onto some tissue. Before you come onto your paper, and that enables you to control your second layer. Just remember, second layer needs to be less wet than what's on your paper, and it's always your brush is always wetter than you think it is. So that's a good tip. Now, my black here is too dark. So I've tapped out a bit of the pigment into my water, and it's also very green. But here you can see I've changed the pigmentation strength. Now I'm tapping off, and I'm going to come in here with my lighter tone. And I want it to move in the layer underneath. Okay. Lovely. And then it's a lighter tone through the back and then over here. So the underneath layer is sort of a guide almost showing me where to deposit my paint in my top layer. It's a different way of painting, but I find it quite fun, and you end up with these lovely soft effects. Then I want a third, much lighter black. So I've taken out even more of the pigment. I'm tapping it off, and I just want to pop a little bit in here. It's too wet still in my brush, and if it's too wet, the risk is that you might get a cauliflower. So that's what you want to control. Now, the leaves here are getting dry rapidly. In fact, they probably already too dry. This one is still good. So let's come in with our black for this one. Yeah, that's fine. I just want to get something in there. And then the sleeve, the tone is lighter, so I'm coming to a lighter tone here, tapping off. Get that light gray tone in beautiful. Okay. This leaf is dry. So I'm going to come back to my under layer and just reactivate it with a little bit more pigment and a little bit more water. So I'm re wetting it. Okay. And while I'm at it, I'm going to paint the next leaf in here. Remember doing to put weight through my brush. Okay, use the full amount of bristles that I can. So here, I can just pop in this leaf, bring it around. Bring it down here, and then there's a leaf here coming down. I'm not too worried about completely copying the photo. What I've got here are some nice washy effects, which I was hoping to get. So that's great. Now, the gray hair is drying rapidly, and I'm getting a cauliflower. So I'm going to see if I can fix that by bringing in a little bit more of my dark and just coming over here. I think that watercolor painting is a lot about knowing how to fix when things go wrong. And this is one way you can fix a cauliflower. So I've come in again, and I'm making sure my brush is not too wet, and I'm just putting a little more pigment down there. We won't know until it dries whether I was successful at fixing that. The less hope so. Okay, the shadow, I might just soften out that shadow. A little bit. Okay. And then I'm going to come in with my dark paint into this leaf. So timing your top layer is really important. If you come in too soon, when your bottom layer is still pooling like that and shiny, then you won't be able to control your top layer. You want the bottom layer to have soaked in a bit but still be moist. And if it's soaked in but moist, that's the perfect time to bring in your top layer, and you will get this lovely movement of paint into the layer below. I'm nearly at my 10 minutes, and I'm not going to panic, but it's telling me that it's time for me to think about finishing this painting. There we go. That's my 10 minutes. So my last step with this is that I'm checking my tonal values and just punching up the darks where I want them even darker so that I've got a full range of tone from light to dark. I'm just going to add a bit of dark. Here, my black has turned pretty much almost green. I'm just going to try and adjust that that. There I go. So having the discipline to stop it's quite important and also quite tricky. And then for this leaf, because I've run out of time, I'm just going to put some darks in and let them move however they want to. And for the folded bit, I'm taking out some of that pigment and just going through very quickly. Do that. And as a final step, I'm going to try and see if I can lift out a little bit of paint here to create highlights. So I've cleaned my brush. I'm drying my brush, and now lifting out Lifting? Yes. And clean again. Dry again, lift. And that's how you can just as a final moment in your painting, create a few extra highlights and details. And there we go. So that is my finished apple using an underpainting and then coming in on top to study the tonal values. 7. Apple 2: For this next one, I'm going to paint a slightly different photo. It's the same apple just at a slightly different angle. And I'm going to use a different color as my underpainting. I'm going to use this it's called Nickel Azo yellow, and it's made by core. It's a very beautiful warm yellow. And I'm getting it right on the palette before I begin. And I'm going to have my clock set for 10 minutes. So, same as before, I'm going to come in with the basic shape of the apple first, try and make it a bit bigger this time. I'm using the whole of the brush to get the shape in as quick as possible. And there's a leaf here on top, which is less which is lighter in tone. So for that, I'm pulling the pigment down a bit drier to get that lighter tone. And then on the side of that leaf, the tone gets darker again. And it comes out here. And there's a funny sticky outbid there. It's such a beautiful color, this yellow. And then the stark comes up and it comes out and into this leaf. And just get the basic shape of the leaf. Down. Once again, I'm going to put more weight through the brush and pull up to get the shape done as quickly as I can. And I just come in with this leaf. So same as with the other one, the wetness of the paint is the key thing here. I want everything to be quite juicy, quite wet so that when I come in with my next layer, everything is still active and ready for me. It's lighter shade here, so I'll just bring it down a bit. And then there's a little leaf here. Stem coming out. And once again, I'm going to put wrong wrong yellow. Put a bit more weight through my brush as I bring this leaf down. And get that angle in there and wait and get it in. Now, before it's too late, I'm going to just come in again. So if it's starting to get a bit dry, I'm rewetting it and then bring this shadow in. And then I don't want anything to get too dry, so I'm just rewetting those crucial areas. Okay. Now, to get that shadow to soften, I'm going to take cleaner water. I'm going to come from a distance. And just lightly touch into that shadow to soften it. And same thing over here. Just lightly soften that edge, and then let the paper and the paint do its thing naturally. Now I'm ready to go in with my top layer, and I'm using a different brush, and I'm getting my paint ready. I'm going to start with the darkest part and just bring in that color with as clean and simple a brush stroke as I can. That was beautiful. And bring that stalk in. Lovely. And again, I'm just looking for the darkest areas and get those in. You can see here the green that was part of my black is coming evident as the paint separates out. And that's one of the reasons why you want to make your own black is that if it's a mixed black, you get all the beautiful tones that make it up as you do your painting. And then the leaf here is more of a mid tone. So I'm taking out some of the wetness. The really important thing to keep in mind is that your paint on your brush needs to be drier than the paint on your paper, than the paper that you're going into. So I'm coming in with my dark color now and just going to try and see what it needs. Now, it's already quite dry. And if this happens, then I'm going to come back in with my first brush, my yellow brush, and just activate things again a little bit like that. And same here. I'm just coming in with my original brush and reactivating that underneath layer. Okay. And now back with my dark brush and bring in and try and be quite Oh, now what happened there? My brush was too wet. I forgot to dab. This is a common mistake we all make. So now I'm going to fix it by drying my brush and lifting out some of that excess. I think a large part of watercolor painting is knowing how to rescue your painting when things go wrong. And lifting out in that situation can save it. So that's looking nice. I want to deepen my dark tones, but let me first just try and get this leaf in a little bit. The darkest part of the leaf is actually this side. And I want to make as few marks as possible on the paper. I've smudged my paper here. So if I'm very quick, I can come in and try and fix that. Same thing up here. I want this to be kind of painting that sits together and is quite expressive. So if I am quite quick, I can create a bit of softness there. There we go. Now, back to this leaf. The darkest part is sticking out here. I've got just over 2 minutes left, bringing it round and join those two things together. And then here, I want to darken up what's happening here. Now, the leaf itself is actually quite a light tone. So I'm taking out some of the paint from the brush, and as you can see on my palette it's a much lighter tone. I'm drying it a crucial step, and I'm just going to try and come in and indicate this leaf a little bit. Just going for an expressive kind of thing, nothing too detailed because I just don't have time. There we go. Beautiful. Then if I squint my eyes, the toe behind the leaf is actually kind of darker mid to dark. I'll just try and get that in. Like that. There we go. Got just over a minute left. So I'm going to come in on this bit of leaf and just see if I can finish it off. The beauty of this method is that you get expressive results that you wouldn't necessarily have got if you were trying to control every single thing. So if you're wanting to move towards looser and more expressive watercolor, this method can be your friend. The leaf up here needs just a little bit of gray. And then final touch is just to deepen out the very darkest darks. So here, and I want to go less is more for this. That came out a little middle orange than I wanted. And I want to get in the sense that there's a dipper in the apple. Add a few details. But I don't want to do too much. Here we go. And last thing I might do with my last few seconds is just see if I can improve the shadow ever so slightly. Like that. There we go. My 10 minutes is up, and there you have an expressive wet in wet watercolor apple using a different color as an initial underpainting. It's a really fun way to loosen up with paint. 8. Conclusion: I hope you found that useful, and I hope you feel more confident working in the wet in wet technique. Remember that the first layer of paint that you put down is really important. You don't want it to be too thin or too watery. You want it to have just the right consistency so that when you come in with the second layer, you can get those beautiful wet and wet techniques. And when you do come in with your second layer of paint or your second color, remember to keep the brush less wet than the paper. And in general, you want the brush to be drier than you think. So a quick tap on a tissue will take out that excess moisture and you'll be surprised by how wet the paper still is. You can do as many of these as you want. Just have fun. It comes. The more you practice it, the more successful you will be. I would love to see what you have painted, so please don't forget to take a quick photo and then upload it into the class project gallery so that I can offer you some personal feedback. And if you enjoy the class, I'd be really grateful if you could leave a review on Skillshare. If you'd like to connect with me on Instagram, I am at Catherine Jeni for Designs, same on Facebook and same on YouTube. And don't forget that if you enjoy this class, head over and check out my two other classes, Lost and Found Edges in watercolor painting, which goes in depth into lost and found Edges, what they are, how to make them, and also paint with confidence five minute luscious landscapes, which is just a really fun way to build your confidence with paint. Until next time, thanks for watching.