Snowy Mountains, A 7-Day Painting Challenge in Watercolors

1. Introduction: Painting is more than just putting colors on paper. It is a way to slow down, breathe, and connect with yourself. It gives you the space to express feelings that sometimes words can't. Painting helps you unwind and find a sense of calm. And the best part, every time you finish your painting, no matter how it turns out, there's a little spark of joy and accomplishment. Hi, I'm Shannon Suhan. I'm an artist, art educator, and a former software engineer residing in Bangalore, India. I have been painting for over seven years now, and painting landscapes are my absolute favorite. You can find my paintings on my Instagram page Water Cool. Here I share my paintings behind the scene moments and creative experiments. I have also created 40 plus classes on Skillshare, mainly focusing on painting landscapes with watercolors and gouache. Over the years, I even had the chance to showcase my paintings in art exhibitions. Welcome to my class on painting snowy mountain landscapes. In this class, we will learn seven beautiful snowy mountain paintings. This class is spread over seven days. Each day we will learn a new project using the techniques learned in the class. Now, if painting mountains feel a bit intimidating, don't worry. I'll walk you through everything, starting from techniques to supplies and everything you need for this class. I'll also be sharing some examples so that you can practice and feel confident as you start the painting process. This class is not about achieving perfection. It is about to learn, explore, and let your creative juices flow. We will be painting together in real time, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the creative process. While I'll guide you step by step, I encourage you to bring your own artistic touch rather than simply following a fixed set of rules. Art is all about expression and exploration, so feel free to experiment, make it your own and enjoy the journey. I'm really excited to start this journey with you. So let's dive in and start painting. 2. An Overview of the Class: Before we start the class, I want to give you an overview of the class so that you know what to expect. Firstly, I'll walk you through all the art supplies needed for the class. You don't have to worry if you don't have exact same shades or brushes. What matters is your interest towards learning and creating artwork. Grab whatever art supplies you already have and we'll get started with that. Secondly, we will cover all the necessary watercolor techniques needed for painting snowy mountain scapes. Prior to that, I would expect you to know some basic watercolor skills or techniques like, wet on dry. So in techniques chapter, we will cover the tonal values and then brush marks. I'll also talk about creating highlights here and tilting or using the fluidity property of watercolor. Next, we have this selective wet on wet where we will selectively create soft and diffused effects. Then we have this dry on dry effect or creating snowy texture. And shadow and light, based on the light source, how the shadow and light changes will cover that and softening technique for softening the hard edges. Once we have learned all the techniques and you feel confident, we will begin with the class project. Each day, I will introduce a new project, each one unique from the previous one. I'll guide you with step by step instructions as we paint, along with all the necessary materials and guidelines. While all the projects will feature snowy landscapes, each will have its own distinct style and approach. 3. How to Approach this class!: Before we begin, here are a few tips that will help you make the most of the class. First is to watch the painting lessons in advance. So once we start the class projects, I want you to watch each project in advance, maybe in two x speed or so and understand how to approach the painting. Watch the process that will help you understand the flow of the painting and see how I have approached the painting process. Understand the bigger picture, and then you can go back and play it at a normal speed and paint along with me. This will help you understand the techniques and the approach that I have used in the painting process. If you already feel comfortable and feel that you can paint along with me without watching it first, then you can jump right in. But if you're unsure, I would definitely recommend you watching it beforehand so that you feel confident. Next thing I want you to remember is art is best when you are relaxed. So art is all about freedom, right? So painting should be done with free mind. Be like a child, explore, be curious and experiment with the techniques that you learn in each class. Next is to embrace the mistakes and let go of control. Don't try to achieve perfect pieces. Mistakes are bound to happen, so embrace that and let go of the control. Next is to pick any reference image and learn to paint on your own. Once you learn the techniques, I encourage you to try them on your own, maybe pick some references. When you try your old painting, you make mistakes and you learn. I personally feel that's how one gets to learn will make mistakes and learn your own techniques, and eventually you will find your own signature painting style. During this course, if you have any doubts or queries, you can reach out to me with your questions under the Discussion tab. I would be really glad to help you all. 4. Art Materials: Let me walk you through all the art supplies that we need for this painting series. I'm going to use Bohng 300 GSM, coal press paper. This is 100% cotton and acid free. This is coal press textured paper. You could also use rough texture that would be really helpful while painting the mountain texture. But as of now, I have only coal press texture with me, so I'm painting with these papers. You could use any watercolor paper of your choice. I highly recommend using 100% cotton papers. Next, let us talk about the colors. Here, I'm using artist grade colors, and I've stored them in this airtight palette. All the colors here are artist grade quality. And I wouldn't insist you on taking the exact same brand or shade as mine. You can find something similar that you already have because your creativity shouldn't be limited by brand or exact shades, right? So go ahead and grab any similar colors that you already have. I'll be mentioning all the shades needed before we start each project. I'll be mixing colors in the space provided in this container. It's convenient. And since these are artist grade, they vet easily. Next, let us talk about the brushes. So I have these four to five brushes. One is Princeton Neptune, size six mob brush. Then I have another mob brush. This is Brostro and it is size eight. I'll use these two brushes for washes and larger brush strokes. I always try to keep one brush clean for the washes. Next is Busto size four mob brush. This is a medium size brush, and another brush is silver black velvet, size eight. These are for regular brush strokes. Next is size two round brush for detailing purpose, and then I have pencil and eraser for sketching. To wet the paper during the painting process, we would need a water spray bottle. Next, we need a clipboard or any hard surface for taping the paper. This makes the painting process more convenient. It allows you to move around and create a better flow and movement in your work. Also, we would need two masking tapes, one of 1 " and other one of two inch. You can also use 1 " tape. That's fine. But I'll be using these two. 1 " tape is for the three sides. This two inch border is to create the bottom thicker border. I'll use that space for showing all the colors that I've used in the painting. Next, we would need some napkins and tissue papers for wiping off the pints of the brushes. I'll be using the tissues mainly for the dry brush effect. Tissues absorb great amount of water and gives us nice dry texture. We're using watercolors right, which means we need water, obviously. So I got these new fancy square shaped jars for storing clean water, and I really want to keep them clean. So to protect their cleanliness, I've also kept this extra jar for dirty water as a backup. So now, these new jars won't suffer with all the dirty stains. And I'll also use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. It's not mandatory to have this hair dryer. You could also let the colors dry naturally. So these are all the supplies that I'm going to use in this whole class. You can use whatever similar supplies you have. 5. Techniques - part one: In this chapter, we will discuss about the tonal values and how it is used to achieve depth in the artwork. Take any color of your choice. Here, I'm taking ultramarine blue in its thickest form, which means very little amount of water and more paints. I have a value scale drawn to demonstrate tonal variations. I'll start with the thickest consistency first, which means very little water and more pigments. As I move along the scale, I'll gradually add more water little by little. So around the mid area of the scale, we should achieve 50 50 ratio of paint and water. As we continue towards the end, we will keep increasing the water content until we reach a very diluted watery consistency. So to summarize, we started with the thickest color consistency and gradually added water until we reach a diluted state. Alternatively, you can begin with a diluted tone and keep adding more colors or pigments. Before moving on to the mountain example, I will first demonstrate tonal values using a cube or a cuboid. Next, let's take the example of a cube to demonstrate the three dimensional effect. I'll be using single color here. But even if we were working with multiple colors in watercolor, we would use different tonal values to emphasize the lighter and shadow colors. On one side of this cube, it represents the lighter areas while the other side, we focus on the darker areas. Next, let us use tonal values to paint this mountain. I'll start with the lightest tone for the highlighted side. For the other side, I'll use slightly mid tone or a darker color. Now, I'll add next layer using slightly darker tone. Now you can see this way, we are able to build a sense of depth in the mountain area. I'm giving you the simple example of an apple. I'll start with the lighter tone. Lifting of all the excess paint. So now I have a lighter watch. Next I'll gradually add the darker colors. By adding different tonal values, we are able to achieve a sense of depth in any object. So tonal values have this ability to prevent an object from appearing flat. Even if you're using multiple colors, tonal values are crucial. So you can practice with simple elements around you, or you can even try painting mountains. But make sure to take your time and practice until you understand this concept clearly. Sorry for the disturbance here. Okay. So now if you look at this painting, you will see, I have used different tonal values. So this way, by using tonal values, you can create a visually appealing and dynamic artwork. Next, let us talk about the brush marks. In this entire series of painting mountain, brush marks play a crucial role. So let's take some time to practice them. Here, I'm using a size round brush, which has a pointed tip and a slightly thicker belly. I'm using both of these features to create different brush marks, some thin, some thick, and some medium brush strokes. To make longer strokes, apply more pressure and press the brush firmly against the paper. For softer brush marks, I lightly dab the brush with minimal pressure. It's all about adjusting the angle and pressure to achieve different effects. You can even make these tiny dots as well. So let's go to this mountain area. I'm dabbing the brush, creating small brush strokes. You can even add larger brush marks as well. On the lighter side of the mountain, I'll switch to a diluted version of ultramarine Blue. A as you can see, even in this painting and the class projects, I've used a variety of brush marks with different sizes. You can practice these brush marks on a rough sheet of paper or even on newspaper. This is just to build muscle memory. You can also layer different colors to add a sense of depth. This technique helps create depth and texture. So here, you don't need any extraordinary artistic skills as such. Simple expressive brushstrokes are enough. Simple random lines have helped shape this mountain. You can also use this technique to layer or glaze your mountains for added depth. Take it one step at a time and trust the process. Next, I'll show you a continuous textured effect. Start by applying some zig zag diagonal lines. There's no fixed pattern as such, but start with lighter color first. Once you have this random texture with minimal gap in between, then gradually add darker tones. This technique helps build a sense of dense texture in the mountains. 6. Techniques - part two: Now, let us discuss the lifting technique for creating highlights. To demonstrate this, I have painted a shape of a mountain. And then I'll add darker color on one side. So while the paint is still wet, I will take a clean and damp brush and gently glide it over the surface to lift off some of the pigment. The damp brush here picks up the paint, creating subtle highlights. Another way to create highlight is by dabbing the tissue paper. This will also lift off the paints from the surface area. In another approach, you can start by applying a single base color mountain. Now to introduce highlights, you can lift the paints using a dry tissue while it is still wet. So once you have lifted the paints, then you can go back and add those brush marks that we learned earlier. If at any point you feel the colors are darker, you could use a damp brush or a dry tissue. Remember, lifting technique works best while the paint and paper are still wet. Once the paint has dried, lifting becomes much more difficult or even impossible. You can use this technique to create clouds as well. All right. That was lifting technique for creating highlights. Next, let us move on to tilting or moving the paper to achieve a fluid flowing effect. So this is for the fluidity property of watercolors. First, I'm going to wet the paper thoroughly. This helps the paint flow more smoothly. Now, take any color of your choice and apply it on this wet surface. As you tilt or move the paper, you will notice that the paint flows in the direction of the tilt. This allows you to control or manipulate the movement of the paint. This technique is especially useful for creating soft flowy effects such as in the clouds or any organic loose painting techniques. Simply change the direction of the tilt and you will see how beautifully the paint moves. This is the reason why I always prefer using a clipboard. It gives me the flexibility to move the paper around if you tape your paper directly onto a table or the floor, the movement of the paint will be restricted, making it harder to achieve this kind of effect. Look at how I'm playing with the paints here. It's very therapeutic to add the colors and move them around. Next, I'm going to teach you selective wet on wet technique. In this technique, we partially wet only the areas where we want to create soft and diffused effect. To demonstrate this, I'm drawing a mountain and dividing it into two segments. One side will be the lighter highlight, and the other side will be the darker part. So now on one side, where I want a diffused effect, I will first that area selectively. Then I'll apply the paint inside that wet section, allowing it to spread softly and create diffused effect. So here I've used diluted paint. Don't go with thicker paints. Okay? So now, on the other side, I will create a few spots and then perform selective wet on wet again. This technique is great for achieving controlled softness in specific areas while keeping other areas sharp and defined. Another example of selective wet on wet technique is when painting mountains with a soft diffused sky. First, I draw the mountains. Then instead of wetting the entire paper, I selectively wet only the area above the mountains. Once the surface is wet, I apply the color, allowing it to blend smoothly. Next is dry brush or dry on dry technique for creating snowy textures. Here we apply dry or thick paints onto a dry paper. It is widely used for various effects, but in this class, we will focus on using it for creating snow texture on mountain. Now take a small amount of thick paint, and before you apply it, wipe off any excess paint from the brush using a tissue paper. When you lightly drag your brush over the paper, you will achieve a beautiful textured effect that mimics the look of the snow on the mountain surface. If your brush has too much paint, you will end up with a heavier texture, which is not ideal for the snow effect. The brush strokes may appear too thick or very solid, so avoid that. Make sure your brush has just small amount of paint and wipe off the excess paint. Moving on, let's draw a mountain shape and divide it into multiple segments. I'll take a small amount of paint and wipe off the excess on the tissue. Using a gentle gliding motion, I'll drag my brush over the paper surface to create a snowy texture. If your paper has a textured surface, this technique becomes much easier to achieve. However, if you are using hot press or smooth finish paper, it will be more difficult to get desired texture since the paint won't catch on the surface as effectively. So for the main class projects, make sure to use paper with some texture, such as cold press or rough pressed paper to get best results. Next, I'm going to demonstrate the dry on dry technique on another painted surface. So let's say we have painted a mountain using other techniques like wet on dry and then adding some darker tonal values for the shadows. This is what we learned earlier. So we will use this as our base. Now to perform dry on dry technique, the paper needs to be completely dry. But since it is wet, so we will use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. Once it is fully dry, I will take a slightly darker paint, wipe off all the excess paints and water from the brush, and then lightly glide the brush over the textured surface. Both the paper and the paint should be dry. As I apply the paint, you will see it creates a subtle texture, enhancing a sense of rocky surface on the mountain. Now, for the brighter side of the mountain, I will use a slightly diluted shade of the same color, I'll wipe off all the excess water and paint and gently glide the brush over the surface area. This creates a nice textured effect. Remember, textures can vary in tonal value depending on how much paint and pressure you apply. Moving on, let us see how light affects the mountains. So I will start by sketching the rough shapes of the mountain, draw a basic V shape, and then divide it into two parts for the light and the shadow. I'll explain that in detail. But for now, let me complete the sketch. Drawing another pack of mountains. Okay, so I'm done with the drawing. Okay, so now in the first example, the source of light or sunlight is on the left side, and in the second example, it is on the right side. The part facing the light will appear bright while the opposite side will have darker tones. Since watercolor relies on transparency, we won't use white paint explicitly. Instead of applying white, we here use white color of the paper. So here, I have left white on the left side to represent the brightest part of the mountain. And then on the darker side, I will apply a mid tone color of blue. Once all the shadow sides are painted, I will use clean or diluted water to connect all these parts together. Moving on, we will add some texture on the highlighted side. Since mountains are washed and textured with natural creases and ridges to capture this, I'm adding the brush marks. Next on the shadow side, we will need to add darker creases. So here I'm using indigo. So the shadow color doesn't always have to be blue because it often reflects the surrounding color. For example, if the sky is pink, the mountains shadow may have a hint of pink in it. It is important to keep these basic principles in mind. So once the main colors are laid down, we will enhance the details by adding darker lines in paints gray or black. This will help define the rocky surface beneath the snow, making the painting more realistic. Next, let us paint another mountain range. The first thing to consider is the light source. In this case, the light is coming from the right side. So the brighter side will be on the right, and the shadows will fall on the left side, which is the opposite side. We will start by applying a blue base color, but you can choose any color you prefer. Once the shadow is added, I will use diluted paint to softly connect the two mountains. That was next, we will create texture and some creases using brush marks to enhance the mountains surface on the brighter side. Since the brighter side is well lit and almost white and reflective, we will use a very diluted color for the texture of the mountain to have a natural look. Whereas for the shadow side, I'll use a slightly darker shade. Remember the tonal values we studied earlier, you will need to apply those principles when mixing the shades. Y. Finally, we will add the darker textures. You could use concentrated paint, gray or black color. I'll also be applying this on the whiter part of the mountain to show the rocky surface beneath the snow. Keep wearing the brush marks. You could also apply some zigzag brush strokes. I'll go back to the first example to add more darker color. So never hesitate to go back to your painted pieces and make adjustments. It's completely natural with watercolors as they tend to appear dull once they dry. You will only be able to judge the final look after the paint has fully dried. Next, I'm going to show you softening technique in watercolor. So this technique is often used to soften the hard edges that may appear while painting wet on dry. So when you paint with wet on dry, you often get sharp edges. Sometimes it could be intentional, but other times these edges can disrupt the continuity and harmony of the painting. To soften these hard edges, we use a clean damp brush and gently create a soft edged effect. You just have to run your damp brush over the hard edges, and you'll be left with a soft appearing line. This technique is especially useful for blending and achieving a more balanced look in the painting. 7. Day 1 - Pink Mountains - part one : Today, we are going to learn this artwork. The colors needed for this class project are opera pink or crimson, violet, indigo or paints gray, ultramarine blue, and we would also need white gauche paint, or you could take white watercolor. All right. Let us begin. Before we tame down the paper, I'm going to wet the backside of the paper. Here I'm applying multiple repeated brush strokes using a mob brush. So this step helps ensure that the paper remains wet for a longer duration. Once the paper is thoroughly wet, turn over the paper and stick it onto the clipboard. Now, because of the wetness of the paper, the paper sticks or dies onto the clipboard. Now let us tape down the paper. I'm using a 1 " masking tape. I'll use this 1 " tape on the three sides. And for the bottom side, I'm going to use a two inch masking tape to have a thicker border so that I can paint all the colors that I have used for the painting. Now, let us move on to the sketching part. Here I have this beautiful image of the mountain, so I'll try to create something similar. Please bear with me while I try to draw this. My hand to eye coordination is not that great. So I'll try to make it as simple as possible. I've drawn this heart like shape, and then I will draw the mountain shape around that. So I have drawn this heart as a guideline to simplify the shape. Once I get the basic proportion, then I'll correct the shape of the mountain. Drawing some wobbly lines depicting the organic shape of mountain. It's okay. Don't worry about achieving exact same shape. A little bit here and there is totally fine. A drawing another distant mountain in the background. That is it with the mountain sketch. Now, let's start painting. I'll rotate the clipboard upside down and paint the sky first. Place something underneath the clipboard so that there's a slight tilt while painting. Let all the water flow due to gravity. For the sky, I'm going to use Pains gray, let, and ultramarine blue. First, I will use Pains gray in medium consistency. Dab my brush, creating the shape of clouds. Since we have placed the board in a tilted manner, the colors will tend to flow downwards. Leave some white gaps in between. Now, add some let in medium consistency. Towards the mountain, we will paint the clouds in smaller shapes because the clouds or the sky near the horizon appears smaller, and the one in the upper part appears bigger. So that's the rule of perspective. I have also added few dabs of ultramarine blue. When these three shades get mixed together, it creates a very beautiful sky. Now lift the clipboard and move it around gently. Here we are making use of the fluidity or property of water and guiding the paints to flow in certain direction. I'm moving my board in different direction so that it creates a soft and diffused effect. Now it's time to dry the paint because I don't want the paint to interfere with the next layer, which is the mountain layer. So let's dry it well. Okay, so the paper has dried. The sky has turned out really soft and beautiful, right? Next, I'm going to paint the sunlit side of the mountain. The sunlit side, in this case, is going to be the light pink color, while the shadow side will have a grayish pink tone. To create the pink needed for the sunlit side, I'm mixing opera pink and let to a mid tone consistency. In this painting, we are considering the light source on the right side. So let's wet the right side of the mountains partially, that is selective wet on wet. So let's wet all the areas that's facing right side one by one. Keep the two color mixes ready. One is opera and let, and other one is pure let. First, I'll drop in the pink mix that we have on the wet surface. Leave some white gaps as well. Take the board, let the colors flow. Also, dropping in the pink colour on the upper part of the mountain. Remember, these were the partially wet areas. Now, add in a bit of pure let in between. Once this is applied on all the wet area, we'll lift the clipboard and move it in different direction, letting the colors flow naturally. I'll further intensify this sunlit side by adding more pink colour. So this section is almost done. You can either let it dry naturally or use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. Okay, so the paper is dry. Now, let us move on to painting the shadow side. So for painting the shadow side, I'm going to need some opaque colors, but I don't have one. So what I'll do here is I'll take white gauche paint and mix it with the existing colors that I have. The reason behind using opaque colors is to block the light or cancel the transparency property of watercolor. Watercolors are transparent, and hence they will show the underneath color of the paper. That's why I'm mixing a little bit of white gauze with this let and paints gray mix. There are readily available opaque watercolors in the market, but right now I don't have them in these shades. That's why I'm mixing the white gauche paint. 8. Day 1 - Pink Mountains - part two: So I have mixed let and paints gray and a tiny bit of white gauche. Again, I have mixed these colors in mid tone consistency, which means 50% water, and rest is the 50% color mixture. As I apply the color mix on the paper, I realize it is more pinkish. So I'm going to add ultramarine blue to make it a little cooler in color. This shade looks good to me, more like a shadow color. All right. Now, let's apply it throughout the shadow area. Use the pointed tip of the brush to paint around the edges and the peak area. I'll also drop this pink mixture in between. It gives a nice variation between blue and purple. So by adding gauche color, you can see that the watercolor paint has become more opaque, which is making it appear denser and less reflective. So here I have used bigger brush for the center area, and around the mountain edges, I will be switching to a thinner brush. Y. Painting the shadow side of the background mountain. Next, I'm going to lift off the paints using a tissue paper on the sides of the painting. Here I want the focus more on the center part. Moving on, we will add some lines and creases to the sunlit side of the mountain. Simply paint some random brush marks and diagonal lines in a loose scattered manner, almost like tiny dots and strokes. This will help create texture and depth, making the mountain look more natural. Adding these diluted paints along the mountain edges to create a seamless transition. A we will paint some random marks at the foot of the mountain since this area is out of focus. These marks are just there to create a sense of continuity and momentum. We don't want the attention to be drawn in this bottom area. Next, while the shadow side is still wet, we will take paints gray in slightly thicker consistency. And I'm going to apply this thick color mix on the damp surface. In case your paper has already dried, then you can use slightly diluted tone. Or if you have a water spray bottle, then just spray one or two pumps so that the color spreads I'm simply dabbing my brush, creating some brush marks on the shadow side. Also adding these darker brush marks on the sanlit part. Apply brush strokes of varied sizes, keep some of them smaller and a few of them very thicker or bigger in size. Try to create dry brush effect by gliding your brush. If you feel you're not getting the right texture, then use a tissue paper and dab off the excess paint. Here I'm able to achieve a nice dry brush effect, so I will continue doing it towards the lower part of the mountain. You can keep your mountain minimal as well. You don't have to add these mini textures. A Next, take paints gray in thicker form. I'm just adding about ten, 20% water. West is all color. We will paint these along the edges of the mountain, adding brush marks to suggest the underlying texture of the rock and snow. This will help define the form and make the mountain look natural and detailed. Applying tiny dots and brush marks on the sunlit side. A There is a chance you might feel tempted to add too many brush marks, but be careful. No overdoing is the key. Too many details can make the painting look cluttered and overly busy taking away its natural flow. So keep it balanced and let the simplicity enhance the overall look. Y. Next, I'll use dry brush effect to create some brush mark that represents the underlying texture of the snow. This gives a natural rugged look to the mountain area. Adding some darker colors around the peak area of the mountain. I got a bit carried away myself and ended up adding too many brush marks. But you can avoid this. Try to resist the urge to keep adding more details. Sometimes I struggle to stop because I enjoy the process so much, but you don't have to add these extra textures at the end. Keep it minimal, keep it simple and let the painting breathe. Next, we will add an important final step that is defining the overall shape of the mountain. We will have to separate the main mountain from the background mountain. To do that, I will add darker colors around the background mountain. This creates separation between the two mountains, and they look distinct from each other. Next, let us paint some birds flying in the sky. There you go. We are done with this project. Let us peel off the masking tape, revealing the final look of the artwork. I hope you enjoyed painting this with me. If you have painted along, please share your class projects under the projects gallery. Okay, so I'll see you in the next class project. Until then, bye bye. 9. Day 2 - Misty Mountains - part one : Welcome to day two of the challenge. Today, let us create this gorgeous artwork. The colors needed for this painting lesson is Pains gray, indigo, ultramarine blue, volet and bon Tambo. You could also use any similar colors that you already have before we begin, let us prepare the paper for the painting process. So first, I'm going to wet the backside of the paper. This will help keep the paper moist for a longer duration, which will be useful during the painting. Make sure to generously apply water. Apply horizontal and vertical bras strokes so that the water is evenly distributed. So next, I'll place the paper on the clipboard so that it sticks to the surface. Next I'll tape the paper on all the sides using masking tape. So here I'm using 1 " masking tape. And for the bottom side, I will be using two inch masking tape to create a thicker border. The reason for this border is so that at the end, we can add the colors we have used, giving it a neat and finished look. That's it for the preparation. Now let's move on to the sketching part. This is the reference image that I'll be using for this project. So in this image, the light falls on the left side of the mountain while the right side of the mountain is in shadow. So it's a simple concept, but to achieve this effect, we will need to build up multiple layers on the mountain. Let us begin the sketching process. I'll start with the peak of the mountain and gradually work my way downwards. If you observe closely, there's a distinct line that separates the light and shadow areas. I'll sketch that first and then mark all the shadow regions. While I may not be able to replicate the reference image exactly, my goal is to capture its overall essence, which will focus on balancing the light and shadow and also creating smooth transitions on the sides of the mountain. Remember to gently draw the outlines without applying too much pressure on the pencil. Keep your pencil marks light and delicate to maintain a natural subtle sketch. If you would like, you can also mark all the shadow areas beforehand to make the painting process easier. A I'm shading the areas where we have these dark textured regions. This will help us capture the rocky texture of the mountain, adding depth and realism to the painting. Don't worry about achieving perfect drawing. You can also draw simple mountain shapes and follow the painting procedure. All right. That is it with the sketching. Now let us move on to the painting process. So let's start by wetting the paper. I'm using a mob brush and evenly applying water throughout the paper surface. Run your brush multiple times to let the paper absorb enough moisture so that it remains wet during the painting process. Now let us mix the colors needed. First tile, take ultramarine blue and mix it in medium consistency tone. Next, we take Paine gray so I'm using this pains gray PWC and it is almost similar to indigo, I feel. But it's fine. You can use any similar shade. I'll have both the shades mixed on the palette. That is indigo and pains gray. The paper is still wet. Take indigo and apply it on the shadow side. On the upper part of the mountain, I'm trying to create a sort of misty effect along the side, which will help to achieve a smooth transition. And also, the colors may not be exact matched to the reference image, but our goal is not to replicate it perfectly. As I mentioned, I want to create a smooth transition, so I'm applying water and gently blending it into the wide background of the paper. Make sure you leave these areas white during the entire process because that's the lighter or highlighted part of the painting. Now, while the paper is damp, I'm going to add the sky using ultramarine blue in diluted form. Now going back to the shadow side of the mountain, I'm going to apply indigo. At this point, the paper is slightly damp, which allows us to achieve the desired shape. If we had applied the paints earlier when the paper was completely wet, it would have spread too much, giving us less control. Now the paint will slightly diffuse, but we can manage it better and even lift some paints if needed. It is important to leave those white areas untouched for the brighter highlight. Next, we will use violet, or you could also use purple in a mid tone consistency to add a sense of drama and interest on the shadow side. This will enhance the depth, making it more visually engaging. Can lift some pins of the darker areas to make it feel lighter and create seamless transitions. Using diluted ultramarine blue, I'm creating some marks on the highlighted side. This will create a sense of continuity or a sense of flow in the mountain. All right. Now I'm going to dry this area completely using a hair dryer. You can even let it dry naturally, let it sit for about ten, 15 minutes until it is completely dry or simply use a hair dryer. You can pause the video if you need more time. 10. Day 2 - Misty Mountains - part two: All right. My paper is completely dry. I hope yours is too. Now we're ready to move on to the next step. Now, lettuce mix paints gray and ultramarine blue in a very diluted watery form. So you can have about 20, 30% of paint and 70% water. Now, apply this mix on the shadow region of the mountain. Carefully paint the edges. As I go down towards the lower part of the paper, I use a clean brush and blend it with water. It. Next, we will drop in some blobs of paint slightly thicker on the edges of this shadow area. Moving on to the upper part of the mountain and covering the shadow area. Carefully paint around the edges. While you're painting this, gently drop in some let colour as well. As you are painting towards the outer right side, add in water and blend it well to create a seamless blend. Like I said earlier, we want a misty effect in this part. So applying water and blending it into the paper. Adding some lines using mid tone color to create a sense of continuity and flow in the mountain. It should appear as one single mountain, right? Then using clean brush, blending the hard edges. This is a softening technique we learned Now, adding some darker color to create that sharp shadow effect. Take darker paints gray and drop in some paints on the shadow area so that we don't have a flat appearing surface. It helps us create a sense of ups and downs in the mountain surface. On the highlighted side, I will use lifting technique to soften the darker edges. The lower area is partially covered with diluted colors, so I'm lifting it off using clean tissue. This will give a dense foggy or misty appearance. Now I'm going to dry it using hair dryer. All right, the paper is dry. Now let's add some details. So we're going to need pains gray. I'm going to mix paints gray and burn tumbo. This will give us a sort of blackish color. Now take a tissue and wipe off the excess paints. We want to perform dry on dry technique to get a textured defect. So if you are not able to achieve the texture defect, you could simply apply some dots. The texture effect that we are creating here represents the rocky surface beneath the snow, which is subtly emerging through the layers. We will also create this texture on the highlighted part as well, because that's also a part of the mountain, right? Try to create rich textures on the mountain to bring out the essence of snowy landscape. So one mistake I made was choosing cold press paper. It has mild texture, of course, but rough paper would have been ideal for achieving perfect results, but it is still better than hot press papers, right? Now, if you have rough paper or even cold paper, that's perfect. But in case you're using a hot press paper or a smooth textured paper, then you can take your time and manually build the texture by adding these small dots of different sizes, and you can experiment with creating the texture defect. All right. So you can glide the belly of the brush, creating longer brush strokes with the texture defect. I'll let you watch and paint along while I create these textures of different sizes. Next, I'm switching to a smaller size brush. This is size two round brush. I'm creating small dots and lines. Next, we will add a mid tone color between the light and the darker shades. Here I'm introducing mid gray and adding a few lines in the mountain shadow areas. This is mid tone paints gray, okay? This will create natural creases and lines in the mountain and make it look organic and realistic. There is no specific shape or design to follow here. Simply observe the natural flow of the mountain and follow its diagonal direction. Now let's say if you add a horizontal or a straight vertical line, it may not align with the mountain's natural flow, right. So try to go with the shape of the mountain that you have drawn. Yours may not be exactly like mine, so it's okay. So go for the natural flow. Now, using the pointy tip of the brush, add some fine lines and creases to enhance the natural effect of the mountain. This will make the mountain look more dynamic, organic, giving the impression that you have thoughtfully put so much effort into the painting. I Now, let us move on to painting the birds. Birds are one of my favorite elements to add to a painting. I just love painting them. It's such a simple yet impactful detail that brings life and movement to the painting. All right. We are done with this artwork. I hope you enjoyed today's lesson and learned something new. Now, let's peel off the tape. It's always such a satisfying moment, right? I would love to see your class project in the project gallery. It would mean a lot to me. And if you have any questions or need any clarifications, feel free to drop your queries in the discussion section. I'll be happy to help. 11. Day 3 - Mountain Blues - part one: Hey, there. Today we are going to learn this artwork. The colors needed for this painting project are ultramarine blue and paints gray. So here, I have used deep sea blue by white knight. It's similar to paints gray. You could use any alternative color that you already have. Okay, so I have already taped down the paper. But before you tape your paper down, remember to apply water on the backside. Now I have this image as my reference, and I'm trying to create something similar, not an exact copy because let's be real. That never happens with me. I'm terrible at sketching. Give me a brush and I'm all in, but ask me to sketch something perfectly. No, that's not happening. My sketches are more like simple suggestions rather than perfect drawings. So if you are someone who loves sketching and enjoys getting every detail right, please go for it. And if you're like me and need a little help with drawing, then please follow along. I started by sketching a simple mountain shape and then added partitions inside it to suggest a tree dimensional shape. Now I'm adding distant mountain in the background, some very simple curvy shapes to suggest the mountains in the background. And remember, to be very gentle with the drawing, if you sketch lightly, you will have the flexibility to erase and adjust things if needed. Now for the foreground, I'm drawing another mountain with basic shape, dissecting it into two parts and then take this line and connect it outside. Let's just imagine this outer mountain extending into the sin. If I seem slow at some point, that's because I'm thinking about how these shapes connect with each other. I don't always have it figured out right away. When I see the painting, I think, Okay, I can do this, but when I start drawing, it feels so difficult. So remember, I'm just adding some guiding lines, and we'll refine everything once we start painting. So don't stress about getting the exact shapes right. Things will come together as we go. So now that we have the reference image in hand, you can see where the shadow areas are, right? According to my painting, I'm marking these shadow areas by adding some shading lines using my pencil. So this helps me stay organized during the painting process. So I don't get confused about which areas are highlights and which are shadows. I'm simply marking all the spots where the shadows will fall. It is like leaving little notes for myself before I start painting. All right, we are done with the sketching part. Now let us move on to the painting process. So let me take my color palette. For this painting lesson, I'm going to use a new shade that is gray blue missed by white knight. This is a granulating color, and I recently bought it, so I thought, let me use it for this painting. You could use indigo or Pains gray. The shade is similar to Pains gray, so you can go with that. Mixing the color in mid tone consistency. Next, I'll also take ultramarine blue and mix it in same mid tone consistency. We'll start by painting the distant mountains. Take paints gray and ultramarine blue mix. Take this mix and apply it on the distant mountain area. This is wet on dry, directly applying wet paints on dry paper. To soften the hard edges of the mountain, I'm using clean brush. On the left side, I'll add another mountain, which is actually a continuation of the previous mountain. Since the main mountain in the center is blocking part of it, you won't see the full connection. Next take paints gray and paint another mountain right next to this, or let's say just below it. This helps distinguish it from the previous mountain. Again, painting the same mountain on the right side. To add more depth, I'm using a very diluted color to paint another mountain in the background. So here, there is no fixed shape you have to follow to paint these mountains. So don't worry about getting it perfect. Just go with whatever you have drawn in the sketching stage, or if you feel like it, create a new shape. It's fine. So the orall idea is very simple. Just add a few layers of distant mountains in the background, and you are good to go. Next, let us start with the main hero element that is the center mountain. I'll begin with the shadow areas using a very diluted mix of ultramarine blue and a tiny bit of paints gray. The consistency should be very watery and light. Now, we're going to fill in the shadow areas we marked earlier. So it's a simple step. But if you find it tricky, don't worry. Focus on creating balance between highlights and shadows. Okay? On the right side of the upper mountain, I'm applying these diluted tones, following the marked areas I'm also leaving some white spaces here just to try my luck and see if I can create some natural looking highlights in between the shadow areas. For some reason, I have this feeling that I might mess this up at some point. But hey, that's part of the process, right? So let's give it a shot. Now, I'm taking a slightly darker tone compared to before. This is a mix of 30% paints and 70% water approximately, which gives us a nice mid tone to start adding depth. Painting the smaller shadow areas within the highlighted section. These subtle shadows add more depth and make the mountain look very natural. I'm dabbing it off using a tissue paper to prevent hard edges on these areas. I'm simply applying some diluted lines along the creases to create a mountain like texture. These lines define the form and add a natural feel to the surface. Moving on, let's paint the lower mountain. So I'm going to add this diluted color on the left side first. Don't get confused here. The right side of the mountain is much more darker, as you can see in the reference image. This means that less light is hitting on the surface of the mountain, so we are keeping it lighter in comparison. I lifted off some paint using a tissue on the corners of this mountain to create a subtle highlight. Next, I'm going to apply a mix of ultramarine and paint gray on the right side of this mountain. So this is the actual shadow area of the mountain. Once we add this darker color, you will start to see everything come together. Initially, when I added the diluted color on the left side, it might have looked confusing. But now when I add this darker color, it all makes sense, right? That's why I always say, learn to trust the process. This contrast between light and shadow is what really brings the mountain to life. And 12. Day 3 - Mountain Blues - part two: Next, I will use Pains gray to add shadows. Since this is the valley area, which is a low point, so I'm using a darker shade that is pains gray. Along with that, I'll also add few brush marks on the slope part of the shadow area and then blend it with the ins gray section. It's okay if the color bleeds a little or doesn't come as per your expectation, doesn't have to be perfect. Next, I'm adding some dilute and blue in the lower front area and creating a few random lines to depict uneven light and shadow effect on the snow. Moving on, I'll add another layer over the shadow areas to intensify the shadows. Since my paper is slightly moist in this area, I'll apply the paint directly. You could also use wet on dry if your paper has already dried. Both technique works fine. I Using a damp clean brush, I'm lifting some paints, trying to define the edges of this mountain. Adding diluted color, I'll add few lines. Adding such lines enhances the texture of the mountain. It prevents from appearing flat. Introducing some more lines on the white highlighted area. Use very diluted paint here. Otherwise, it might ruin the whole appearance of the highlighted section. Add smaller brush marks. Over here, I'm thinking of adding a sharp shadow. Let's see if it works. If not, we'll remove it. That's fine. So I'm adding paints gray, and it looks a bit off, so I'm lifting it off using a clean tissue. Just dab on the area where you made a mistake and it will come off. That's totally fine. So with watercolors, you always need to leave some room for experimentation. Trial and error is how you learn and grow. Just because I'm teaching this doesn't mean I get every step perfect. The background mounted we painted earlier looks a bit flat to me. So I'm going back to add more depth. I apply slightly darker tone and blend it with clean water. This way, it will create a nice soft, misty effect. All right. Now let's allow it to dry. I'm using a hair dryer here. Next, let us add the details on the mountain. Take any darker color like black or darker blue. I am using blue gray mist by white nights in thicker consistency. Now, I apply this color on the mountain edges using dotted or random brush marks to create the underneath rocky texture on the mountain. While I add these dots and brush marks, I'll let you absorb and follow along with me. You can pause the video if you need more time. Here in the background, I'm adding more texture defect to create a rocky mountain. Use tissue paper to wipe off excess veins, and let's create dry on dry effect on the shadow side. Using diluted paints, I'm creating these lines and creases on the mountain surface. Since this is the highlighted area, so I'm using diluted color and some mid tone creases in the foreground area. Using darker blue, I'm adding some brush marks on the highlighted area as well. So I never try to copy the reference exactly. Instead, I try to focus on capturing its essence. If you start comparing every tiny detail, it can get frustrating and take the fun out of the painting process. And honestly, that's not great for your growth as an artist. The good thing is that you don't need to get everything perfect for your art to be called beautiful. So let go of that pleasure, and it gives you more freedom to explore and make the painting your own. If you compare my reference and my painting, they're about 80% similar in texture and feel. I've tried to create my own brush marks and my own shape. So that's totally okay. At is about expression and not just accuracy. So trust yourself and enjoy the process. Applying darker colors on this valley area, mostly dry on dry technique. When we darken this lower area, it helps the other two shadow areas with the blue color stand out even more. This contrast make the painting feel more balanced. Adding some random lines and textures on the mountain to create a natural appearance. A Okay, so we are almost done with the mountain part. Now let's rotate the clipboard and paint the sky. This is the easier way to paint the sky because the water or the paints will flow down due to gravity. So first, let's apply clean water carefully around the mountains. Keep it in a tilted position. Now take ultramarine blue and apply this mix along the edges of the paper. We are creating a very minimal sky. Apply some horizontal lines towards the mountain area. Okay, so let's turn the board back to its normal position. I think we're almost done. Let me add some final details so that the foreground is also slightly defined. I will also add some grasses in the front area. So simply apply some grass blades by making vertical brush marks. All right, so we are done with this painting. Let's peel off the masking tape. There you go. We are done with the tape peel, and this is the final look of the painting. I hope you enjoyed painting along with me and had a fun learning session today. Don't forget to share your class projects under the project's gallery and let me know your thoughts. I would love to see what you have created. 13. Day 4 - Sunlit Mountain - part one: Hi there. Today we are going to learn this artwork and the colors we need are Bziana Painted gray. Pains gray. Next colors are for the sky, which is ultramarine blue. VletPermanent yellow. Red and burn tumber as well for the mountain. You could use any similar color that you already have. So let's start the painting project before we tape down the paper. I'm going to apply water on the backside of the paper. This will help retain the moisture for longer duration. And once this is done, we'll start taping the paper. You'll have to apply multiple layers of water by repeated brush strokes. That's when you will know that the paper has absorbed good amount of moisture. Now, turn the paper, stick it onto the clipboard and start applying the masking tape. Here, I'm using 1 " tape, giving about a quarter inch border. For the three sides, I'll use 1 " tape, and for the bottom side, I'll be using two inch masking tape. That is because I want to list the colors that I've used for the painting. So here I have this two inch masking tape. I'm applying it on the bottom area. So let's begin. This is a reference image I have for today's project. I'm not going to entirely use this in my painting. I'll just replicate the shape, and for the sky, I'll go with a different color. Let me warn you beforehand. My sketches aren't always perfect. I don't always get everything right, so please bear with me. If you are good at sketching, feel free to copy the one you see on the screen. Otherwise, you can simply follow along with me step by step. I have drawn the basic mountain shape roughly in the middle of the paper. Then I will draw another line dividing it into two parts and further dividing this area into two. Totally, we have created four sections. Now, focusing on this third section, I'm drawing a few lines to indicate shadows. It is a little tricky to explain the exact placement of these lines, but I hope you get the gist. You also have the reference image. I've added some diagonal lines representing the creases in the mountain. In the foreground, I'm adding some continuous lines to make the mountain appear more connected. The foreground area is darker as there isn't enough light here. In the background area, I'll add another distant mountain. So this background mountain is not there in the reference image. I've added to enhance the composition. So yeah, that's about the sketching part. Now, let's get started with the painting process. I'm applying clean water throughout the paper using a mob brush. Apply generous amount of water and spread it evenly throughout the surface. Keep running your brush into and fro motion. A paper needs to absorb good amount of moisture. Next, we will take burnt sienna and mid tone consistency, which means 50% of paint and 50% of water. Now apply this color on the right side of the mountain. Using a mob brush, I'll spread the colors while leaving some white spaces. This will create a snowy effect in some areas and a brownish appearance in other. Moving on, let us paint the shadow side. So for this side, you will use a dark color, probably burnt amber and paints gray. I'm using tinted gray and burned tamber and also a bit of white gauche color. You could use any brown color for the shadow side. Doesn't have to be exactly the same shade as mine. Apply this shadow color to all the areas marked for the shadow. Inside the shadow area, you can add some different colors. Here, in some areas, I'm applying pure tinted gray color. You could also add paints gray or ultramarine blue mixed with the bond tumber just so we can create slight variation in the shadow area. Then I'll also apply the shadow color in the mid to partition area. Applying diluted colors around the foot of the mountain. Going back again to define the shape of the shadow area. By using the tip of the brush, you can easily adjust the edges of the mountain. Once the overall mountain shape looks good to me, I will dry this painted area using a hair dryer. You could also let it dry naturally. It's up to you. Okay, so the paper has completely dried. Next, I will mix a darker color, taking a tinted gray. You could also take paints gray or any other similar color. Also, mixing a tiny bit of white gauze to make the color opaque. I'll start applying the paint from the peak of the mountain. Also, have a tissue paper handy so that you can wipe off the excess paints. Apply the veins in downward motion. A applying the same color in the midsection shadow area. Dropping in some concentrated color. Apply the paints along the shadow edges. Next, I'm going to take diluted color, about 20% paint and rest is water. And with this colour mix, I'll paint the creases on the highlighted part of the mountain. Use a darker color, such as paints gray or black to paint the foreground area. And then we will cover the previously painted lighter areas with these brush marks. So here on the shadow areas, I'm adding the brush marks, creating the texture. Otherwise, it will look flat. Next, let's take concentrated paint. It could be paints gray or black or sepia, any color. It should be very concentrated and dark. So I'll apply some brush marks to create darker edges, creases and lines in the mountain shadow area. Next on the right side, I'll swiftly apply a brush strope creating a side mountain. To achieve this texture, I have used dry on dry. Next, I'll add some concentrated brush marks on the shadow areas. 14. Day 4 - Sunlit Mountain - part two: Moving on, let us paint the distant mountain using a diluted color. I'm using diluted gray. Moving on, let us add some details to the highlighted section of the mountain. Here, I'm using diluted mix to create some brush marks and also incorporate the dry brush technique for texture defect. Remember, you don't have to replicate exactly what I'm doing. You do based on how you have achieved your base layer. Wherever you have this brown area, there you can add the brown brush marks and also add some mid tone colors of Benciana. If achieving dry brush technique feels difficult, you can use tissue paper, wipe off the excess paints, and then dab the brush. Next, I'll take a very watery tone of paint gray and add some lines creating texture like effect. No. I'll also apply this diluted color around the lower part of the mountain, blending it gently to create a connection with the shadow area. So now, take a moment to observe your painting and the overall shape of the mountain. Try to establish a natural flow between the highlights and shadows. Don't let them feel like separate elements. This subtle blending will help create depth and harmony in the painting. Adding a few darker brush marks. Some areas are still wet, so I want to dry them to dry the paints completely. I'm using hair dryer. Moving on, let us take a thick color. So I'm going to take burn timber and paints gray mix. So this will look like black color. With this concentrated colour, I'm going to create the brush marks on the shadow side of the painting. Apply a variety of brush marks, some small and some bigger. Don't just take to one type of brush marks that will make your painting look unnatural. Now adding some brush marks on the highlighted section as well. Don't add a lot of darker marks on the highlighted side. We'll try to keep it subtle. On shadow cards, I'm going to add some lines and brush marks. Use dry brush technique to create the textures. Just light the brush against the paper, and it will give you a nice textured effect. Next, take Bonsiana in mid tone, and we will add some brush marks on the highlighted side. Do leave some white spaces as well. Don't entirely cover this area with brown marks. Since we are applying wet paints on dry paper, it leaves some hard edges. That's why I have dabbed my fingers on the painted surface. Applying some random zigzag lines, trying to connect the shadow areas. Next, let us dry this completely so we can go ahead and paint the sky. The reference image here has a different sky. I'm not going to create that. Instead, I'll paint a simple sky. So using my mob brush, I'm going to wet the area above the mountain. So carefully apply water around the edges. Don't let the water flow inside the painted mountain area. Next, I'll take ultramarine blue with a little bit of bursiana to mutrate down. Applying this color on the upper part. Then slowly applying diluted mix of this color towards the mountain area. I'm going to add in other colors as well, but this is the base color. O. Now with this diluted tone, I'm going to apply the paints around the mountain edges. Hilt the board and move it around in different direction so that the colors flow really well. Next, I'll take paints gray and dab the brush, creating clouds in the sky. Okay. Since we have created a yellow effect on the mountain, so I'm going to add a hint of sunlight with a few streaks of yellow and red in the sky. This will enhance the atmosphere and bring a sense of warm to the scene. O. Now, while we are transitioning from yellow to blue, this might look a bit odd. So I'm going to create smoother blend by adding hints of purple in the sky. This will help bridge the colours naturally, creating a soft transition from yellow to purple and then into blue. Also adding some yellow color on the upper area as well. So you don't have to paint this kind of sky. You could even paint some simple sky as well. Now, I'll spray a few pumps of water to let the colors blend naturally instead of having these hard edges. Once the water is sprayed, you can use a hair dron to guide the paints in different direction. Or you can even tilt the board. Yes. Now, let us add some words in the sky. You can use a pencil to mark the shape of the birch and then take a fine line of brush and paint the birch. Lastly, I will add few details on the mountain. All right, so let us peel off the masking tape and reveal the final look of the painting. There you go. This is how our artwork looks like. Isn't it gorgeous? I hope yours has turned out beautifully as well. Please share it with me in the projects gallery. I would love to see it. And don't hesitate to share, even if you feel it didn't turn out exactly as you imagined. Let's just embrace the creative process together. 15. Day 5 - Northern Lights - part one: So today we are going to learn. This artwork. The colors needed are lemon yellow, or you could use any cool yellow color. Then the next color is Azure blue. This is like a aqua blue color. We'll use this for the Northern light effect. Next is ultramarine blue indigo, or you could also take pains gray burn tamber permanent yellow. This is a warmer low. That's about the colors. So let us begin the painting process. I have already taped down the paper on all the four sides. And remember to wet the backside of the paper. Today, we are going to paint a snowscaped mountain with beautiful Northern light setting. So let's begin. I have two images here. I'm going to combine them into one. I'm going to pick the mountain from one image and combine it with a tiny little hut and snowy foreground from another image. Don't worry. I'm going to draw everything here. So first, let us draw the horizon line in the lower half of the paper. Note the proportion in which we have divided the plane. Now let's draw the mountains. Below the horizon area, I'm drawing a tiny little hut. I'm not drawing from the main image you see in the mobile phone. It is the bottom one in the left side. I like the image, but I forgot to open. So there it is. This is the one. I'm not creating the exact replica. I just like this idea of having glowy window and snow covered roof. So that is how I combined two images. Let's define the roof of the house since it is covered with snow, so we will add some dimension over there. Let me show you two main colors that would be needed for this project. One is lemon yellow, and other one is azure blue. If you don't have this blue, then you could also use cobal blue or serleanblue. The colors are poured over here in the palette. So let's start. I'll first wet the paper, applying clean water throughout the surface of the paper. Apply repeated brass strokes to make sure it remains wet for longer duration. If the paper remains moist, we can work on multiple layers for the northern light effect. Now, let's mix the colors before we start. So I'm switching to my size eight round brush and taking lemon yellow in mid tone to slightly thicker consistency. The next color I'm mixing is azure blue. So this is slightly like aqua blue color. The next color I'll mix is indigo. You could also take paints gray. Okay. Now that all colors are ready, let's take lemon yellow, and we are going to apply the paints in a swift sweeping motion. Don't worry if it doesn't turn out perfect. This is not the final layer. We will refine it as we paint further. Next time taking azure blue and applying it next to the lemon yellow. The colors, I'm hoping that they'll blend naturally. Otherwise, we'll have to do it manually. So first, let's fill in all the empty white spaces using some swift vertical brush strokes in back and forth motion. This will help us create a smooth blend suggesting the effect of northern lights. Now I'm lifting the clipboard and tilting it vertically to allow the pain to flow downward. Now, clean your brush and use a damp brush. Here, I'm guiding the paints in controlled downward direction. At this stage, you can see the paints are flowing down. So take a tissue and gently wipe off the excess paint from the mountain region. Remove any color that has flowed into the unwanted areas. So here I also want the yellow to remain visible. So I'm carefully lifting off any excess blue that has seeped into the yellow area, ensuring that the yellow color stays visible. Also, I don't want it to be very vibrant as well. So simply lifting off any excess paints in this area. While the paper is still damp, I'm taking a bit of indigo, and I'll again apply this blue paint in a swift swirling downward motion. In the next step, I'll simply mix ultramarine blue to the indigo to enhance the bluishness of the color. Your output doesn't have to be exactly like mine. Feel free to experiment with your own swirling motion as long as it captures the essence of Northern lights. At this point, I feel unsure, and I worry I might be ruining my artwork. But I try to manage it somehow. Let's see how it turns out. So here, to soften any harsh edges, I'm lightly spraying water over the painted surface. So once I've done that, I'll tilt the board in a vertical manner to let the colors flow downward naturally. While the paper is in tilted upright position, I'm also guiding the paints to flow in the desired direction. If you notice the paint moving horizontally or in any different direction, you can adjust the angle of your board to control the flow. I have sprayed the water again, and now I'll move the board to guide the paint where I want to. I want some colors to flow in a diagonal slant motion. So you can see how the colors shift as I change the board's angle. This creates a beautiful, soft northern light effect. Next time adding some paints gray to enhance and intensify the painting. When we introduce a darker color like this, it naturally makes the lighter color stand out even more. So the paints are flowing downward, and I'm preventing it from entering the mountain area. So defining the shape around the mountain You can use the tissue paper to lift off any excess paints. All right. Now let us dry this using a hair dryer. Or you could let it dry naturally and paint at your own pace by pausing the video. A 16. Day 5 - Northern Lights - part two: Alright. Now that the painting is dry, I'm simply embracing how it has turned out. Let us move on to paint the mountains. Since we are painting a night scene, we won't have those bright white mountains because there is lack of light, right? Instead, I'll cover the entire area with diluted shade of indigo and ultramarine blue. You could use any blue color. Make sure to keep the paint very watery, about 80, 85% of water and only and only about 15% paints. Apply it section by section, like first paint the mountain and then go to the other elements. Keep the strokes light and fluid. Next, I'm going to paint the roof of the tiny little house. Next, we will add the windows and doors of this tiny little hut. And for that, I'll take warm yellow in mid tone consistency and apply it on the marked areas. Below this area, I'll apply a layer of water and drop in the reflection of the warm light that's coming from inside the house. Since the ground is covered with snow, the light will be reflected immediately. To enhance this effect, I'll softly apply a diluted mix around the reflection area. As I mentioned earlier, we are painting this entire snowy region with diluted colors to achieve a soft glowing effect. I'll be adding multiple layers with different tonal values to create some depth in the snow. Next, we'll take a slightly darker tonal value of the same color and apply a few brush strokes in the foreground area. This will create subtle variations. Though the difference may be minimal, but the key here is to practice adjusting tonal values to add a sense of depth. Right now, I'm drying the paper before moving on to the next layer. Moving on, let's create the texture of the mountain. Mix a slightly thicker version of indigo. Now slowly add some diagonal brush marks to shape the mountain, keeping them organic and natural. Nothing too precise, a few raw strokes to suggest the texture on the mountain. We'll follow the same step for the smaller mountain as well. Covering the right side of this smaller mountain to suggest the shadow part. I'll add in some darker indigo along the boundaries of this partial half visible mountain. So for this larger mountain, I'll divide it into two sections to create depth and a three dimensional effect. Draw a partition like this with your brush itself. One side will be in the shadow, so we will paint a darker tone, while the other side will remain white or lightly colored to represent the bright sunlit area. Similarly, I'll also paint this smaller mountain adding dimension. Now returning to the lighter side of the main mountain, I'll add tiny lines to define the creases and textures. Vary the sizes of the brush stroke. So should be smaller, while some slightly larger. This will create a natural uneven look on the mountain texture. Then lastly, I'll take a darker shade of indigo and add some details. This will enhance the shadow area of the mountain. Apply brush strokes of different sizes. Also apply it on the lighter side to bring out more texture and depth. Next, let us use the dry brush technique near the horizon area and around the mountains to create a subtle texture in the snow. And also, I want the hut to stand out more and the roof snow to appear a little lighter, so I'll darken the background in that area to give it a stronger contrast. Next, I'm going to paint the hut. So for that, you can use any brown color. I've mixed a little bit of blue to get a darker brown color. A Next, we will add a darker color on the mountain. So for this darker color, you can either use black directly or mix brown and paints gray or indigo. That will give us a darker intense color. Whatever color you mix, make sure it is rich and dark. Now I'm going to dab and create some textured impression on the shadow side mainly. Then we'll also add them on the lighter side as well. So one thing to remember is to keep the marks varied in sizes, to maintain an organic look. We'll place more of these darker marks on the shadow side and fewer on the lighter side to enhance a sense of contrast. Be careful not to overdo it. Too many dark marks might overwhelm the painting. So if you notice, adding these darker areas makes the lighter parts of the painting stand out more, right? Even though we initially used a blue color, the contrast that we created here makes the highlight pop. It looks almost white now. That's the beauty of balancing light and shadow in a painting. Without these darker colors, the painting would look pale and incomplete. Next, I'll use the dry brush technique. I'll wipe off the excess paints from my brush using a clean tissue paper and gently glide it across the mountain area to create the textured effect, the minute textures. This effect is great for achieving natural rugged effect. So after applying it, I feel maybe I shouldn't have added this texture, but that's the self doubt that creeps in every time I paint something. It's completely fine, I think. That's a part of the creative process. Art is all about experimenting and learning. Sometimes you regret a choice, and other times you surprise yourself with what you create. Either way, I'm happy with how this has turned out right now. So here, I have noticed this blue color in the mountain area. So I'm going to cover that up using black color. Adding darker paint along the edges of the mountain line to enhance a sense of depth, and it will also define the mountains form and create a realistic look. Just a reminder, your mountain shapes and textures don't have to look exactly like mine. Even if they match 50% or less, it's completely fine. Don't stress about perfection that can hold you back from being creative. Like I said earlier, I want the roof of the hut to appear bright and stand out. Even after using the dry brush technique earlier, I still feel it is not prominent enough. So I'm going back and adding a slightly darker tone to enhance the contrast. Make sure to leave tiny gaps in between. This will help create a three dimensional effect rather than having a flat surface around the hut. Here I have mixed indigo and ultramarine blue and use them in mid tone consistency. Next, let us paint the foreground area. In this painting, our focus is not on the foreground, but on the hut and the mountain, which we have painted carefully. So for the foreground, we will keep it loose and simple, applying some paint randomly and swiftly without overworking on it. A apply a few brush marks near the horizon to create a separation between the mountain and the snowy land. Now, I'm going to paint some rough pine trees. We'll paint a few more of them around the house. And as filler element, I'll add some vertical lines depicting the smaller trees. Now, after adding these trees, the painting has a different perspective, almost like a wide angle shot. Do you see that? It adds more depth and makes the scene feel more expansive, right? C. Next, let us take a slightly darker tonal value of blue and apply it on the snowy area. This creates a sense of separation and unevenness on the ground. Throughout the painting process, I don't know why, but my mind kept focusing on the roof of the hut. I just really wanted it to pop somehow. I guess you two might have noticed that. Now I'm going back to the same hut and adding white highlight using white gauche paint. It's not mandatory. You can skip this part. But if you are like me who want to, you know, do something extra, then you can go back and add it. I'll also use this white gauge paint to add a snowy highlight on the tree just by dabbing the brush for a more wintry feel. Finally, since we are painting a night sky, I'll create some stars by splattering white paint across the sky. It's okay if it falls on the mountain or the snowy land. That's totally fine. Also, I'm adding a few highlights on the snowy mountain, mainly because I had some paint left on my brush, and I felt like adding it somewhere. That's just me. You can choose to skip this step or add your own personal touches to make the painting uniquely yours. Okay, so we are done. Now, let us peel off the masking tape. I hope you enjoyed painting this with me. Do share your class projects under the project gallery, I would really love to see your artworks. 17. Day 6 - Sunset Mountain part one: Hi there. Today we are going to learn this artwork. And the colors needed are permanent yellow, orange, burned Siana ultramarine blue, paints gray, and burned tumbo. You can use any similar alternative colors that you already have. Before we tape down our paper, let us apply water on the back of the paper, apply repeated brush strokes so that it remains wet for longer duration and absorbs good amount of moisture. Now, turn the paper and place it on the clipboard. Now let us apply the masking tape on all the sides. Now for the bottom part, I'm applying two inch masking tape. You could also apply the same 1 " masking tape that's up to you. All right. Now let us begin with the sketching part. I'm going to take inspiration from this picture and try to capture the sunlit essence on the mountain. I'm so sorry the camera got a little blood here. I'll start from the peak of the mountain. You can see the slight curvy angle here. At this stage, I'm only marking the rough shapes. Since this video is slightly blurred, so I'm going to speed up the sketching process. Once the basic shape of the mountain is done, then I will mark all the darker shadow areas. It doesn't have to be exactly like this. You can mark anything as per your convenience. You can pause the video for some time and sketch something similar on your paper. I hope you have completed the sketching part. Now let us move on to the painting process. So let's start with painting the sunlit effect on the mountain. Let's mix the colors needed for that. First is warm yellow. You could use any warm yellow, and then the next color is orange. So I'll have two colors ready. First, take yellow color in mid tone consistency and apply it on the left part or the highlighted side of the mountain. Now on some areas, I'm going to add orange color. Here I'm following wet on dry. The paints are wet and the paper is dry. Towards the peak area, I'm applying water to create a smooth gradation from lighter to mid tone colors. Towards the bottom part of the mountain, I'm applying orangish color. Next, apply slightly darker orange color for the lower part. I painted it separately just to create a mental separation between the two elements. Next, applying orange on the shadow side. This will enhance the shadow when we paint with the blue colors next. Next, take a tissue paper and a clean brush, lift off some paints on the brighter side. Now to create a sense of variation, I am splattering some orange beants. I will also splatter some water drops so that it creates nice textured effect. Now I'm going to let this dry. So I'll use a head dryer to speed up the drying process. You could also let it dry naturally for about ten, 15 minutes. If not, you could simply use a head dryer. All right, the paper is completely dry. Now take ultramarine blue and a little bit of pains gray. I'm going to paint the shadow side of the mountain using a size round brush using its pointed tip to precisely paint the detailed shape. Here, orange acts as the undertone for this blue color. Next is another shadow site. Dropping in some blue paints on the painted surface to create an uneven textured effect. Also dropping some orange hues on the same area. And using paints gray, I'll apply some paint along the boundary area of the mountain. So the blue and yellow might turn green once they dry. So to avoid that, I'm adding some darker orange here. Right? Next time adding some longer brush marks to create a sense of creases and texture on the mountain. So this is going to be darker brown once we are done with this. So for that, we are now painting the base color. For the lower part of the mountain, use darker orange color. Paint these brush marks in different sizes. We don't want to have a uniform symmetric appearance here. Now for the mid area, I'm using diluted orange. A so if you observe the reference image, there is a small section which has this orange highlight. So I'm creating that stripe in the shadow area. Next, I've taken a color mix of paint gray and burnt tamber. This gives us almost black color. Apply this on the area above the stripe that we have painted. I'm simply painting some zigzaggy lines and random shapes. So at this stage, it might look a little ugly, but please go on and keep painting. This is where you need to trust the process. I And towards the bottom area, I'll completely fill in this area with the same darker color. Now, I'll go back to the previous segment and add another layer of darker paint. So this segment, the darker one represents the shadow area within the mountain. So we are painting it in darker color. Even though it is shadow, it still has definition, the texture effect, right? So we are creating that using darker tonal values. There could be multiple ways of painting this, but this is how I chose to paint. Next, let us take burnt Siana and mix it in medium consistency. I'll apply this on the lower strip that we painted earlier. The previous layer looked very bright after drying, so I'm adding another coat. Next, using the same color. I'm painting some slant diagonal lines to enhance the texture of the mountain. Not that I'm not exactly replicating the textures. That feels a lot of work or very daunting to me. So I'm trying to create my own style of pattern to create or capture the essence of the mountain we have here in the picture. Et's add some random textures on the yellow section of the mountain. This will help us create more dynamic and realistic effect in the mountain area. You can simply create dry brush effect using thick paint. Do not worry if you have not achieved the exact same result as mine. Go ahead and embrace your own artwork. It's okay if you have made mistake. Now let us dry this area completely using a hair dryer. 18. Day 6 - Sunset Mountain part two: Next, I'll mix paints gray and burn dumber to form a black color. I'll use this to create markings and texture on the yellow side of the mountain. Now on the lower darker shadow side of the mountain, I will add thicker patches for more depth and texture. Next, we will go over the previously painted segment one more time to create a sense of depth and layered effect in the shadow area. A a Next, I will use a darker brown color. So I'm mixing burnt Siana and ultramarine blue. Now, take this color and add some random marks to the lower part of the mountain. This will create a smoother transition from black to dark brown then to orange and yellow. You will see that graded effect. I will also add these darker brown marks on the upper part as well. A adding the brush marks on the orange stripe in the shadow part. Creating some tiny brush marks to add a sense of texture and creases. On the lower shadow side, I don't want these highlights to be very prominent, so I'm covering it up with the brown color. Moving on, let us add some details on the shadow side of the mountain peak. Here I'm simply dabbing my brush, creating the brush marks. Randomly adding some dots wherever I feel it needs some darker impression. Now, using a head dryer, I'm drying the paint so that it doesn't interfere with the next layer. All right, the paper looks completely dry. So moving on, let us paint the sky. So for that, we need to rotate the clipboard and place a masking tape under the board so that there is a slight tilt while painting. So we will go with wet on wet for the sky and I'm carefully applying water around the boundaries of the mountain. Once the water is applied around the boundaries, then you can roughly apply water on rest of the area. You can paint your sky in any color you want. I'm going to paint it in a slightly muted blue color, like the one in reference. I'll be using ultramarine blue and a tiny bit of orange in the color mix to mute down the vibrancy. You could use any blue that's available with you. Gently apply the pains. Do not let it go inside the yellow highlighted part of the mountain. You could add some darker clouds in the sky or leave it simple plain sky. It's up to you. A I'm using paints gray for darker clouds now. All right. Now let us use the hair dryer to speed up the drying process. Now let us add some birds in the sky. Alright, we are done with this artwork. Now let us peel off the masking tape. There you go. This is the final look of the artwork. I hope you enjoyed painting this with me. And please do share your class project under the projects gallery, and you can reach out to me under discussion section if you have any doubts or clarifications regarding this class project. 19. Day 7 - Mountain & Humans part one: Hi there. Today we are going to learn this artwork. The colors we need are let. Ultramarine blue, opera pink, cerulean blue. Paints gray. You could also use indigo, red and yellow. So this pink, red, yellow, are for the sky. Now let's start the painting. I have already taped down the paper. And remember to apply water on the backside of the paper before taping down the masking tape. So this is the reference image I'll be using for today's class project. It's a beautiful image with strong contrast between shadow and highlights in the mountain. The reference image has blue colors in it, but I'm going to use bluish violet color for this and a different color for the sky. So it's not entirely same. Now let us start the sketching part. I'm roughly marking the basic shape, then I'll add all the inside details. Starting from the peak part, I'll draw a line to divide the mountain, bringing it down towards the foreground. Then there's another mountain in the foreground area. This mountain has several segments representing the shadow and highlight. So I'll use rough lines to divide them and mark the shadow areas. This will make it easier to paint later. The left side of the mountain is in shadow, while the right side is intensely bright white. In the background area, I'll add another mountain and some more mountains just as we have in the reference image. Okay. The curve that I've drawn here is quite steep. So I'm going to adjust it to make it slightly smoother. Add all the necessary shadow marks, seeing the reference image. I'll correct the drawing here as well. If you have already drawn it right, then don't erase anything. Like I've already told you, I'm not very great at drawing perfect pictures. So please bear with me. Moving on, I'm going to draw some humans climbing this mountain. So I'll start by drawing two lines, and then the head and the torso part. And lastly, the feet. So it's just a rough depiction. And then I'm adding the shoulders and the ant. Draw it very lightly. Do not apply more pressure because then you won't be able to erase if anything goes wrong. I've done very rough and basic shape of humans here. I hope they turn out good. If not, it's fine. We'll do something. I'll draw some more humans near the peak area. These tiny humans are not there in the reference image. I've just added as an addition. Okay, so let us begin with the painting process. Before we begin, let us mix the colors needed. I'm going to take a mix of ultramarine blue and violet. I'll mix them together. This gives us a lety blue color. Now, let's apply this on the shadow side. So I am using a mob brush. You could also use a size eight or similar brush. Carefully paint around the edges. If you observe the paint, here appears seamless. Try to achieve this kind of effect. Do not apply repeated brush strokes. Painting all the shaded areas. Now coming to the foreground mountain, here, I've marked some shadow areas. So I'll take a slightly diluted tone here because there is a lot of variation in the tonal values. So I'll start from the latest tonal value. This is to create a sense of distinction. I'll not be leaving any bright, intense light area because this area also comes under the shadow part. So I'll try to keep some diluted colors. Adding some shadows in the background distant mountains. Now, take a tissue paper and dab off some paints from the foreground area, creating a sense of highlight. We still have some diluted paints left on the paper. It's not very bright white. Okay. Next, take very diluted or watery paint, and we will apply around the edges to soften the hard edges here and also add some lines and creases on the white area. This is the snow part that reflects the white light. I'll also add this diluted slightly darker tone on the slope part of the mountain just to suggest the overall shape. Next, let us mix this color in a slightly darker consistency. About 70 is to 30 ratio. Using this darker shade, I'll intensify the shadows in the background. So I'm also going to apply this to the foreground by dabbing my brush, leaving some brush marks, leave some gaps as well to suggest the diluted color we painted earlier. This lighter color suggests the brighter highlights inside the shadow part. So when you have this lighter and darker color randomly applied, it creates an uneven texture on the snowy ground, making it look more rugged and natural. It gives the impression of a bumpy, uneven surface like clumped up snow. Then after leaving some space for this slope area, I'll swiftly glide my brush, creating this mild texture on this slopy part. Adding some more diluted color on the highlighted side to build a sense of depth. Remember the brush marks we learned in the techniques chapter. Make use of that and apply brush marks in different sizes. Now, inside the shadow area, I'll dab my tissue to give a sense of textured effect. Look at how beautiful these textures appear. Now for the distant mountain here, I realize that it shouldn't have been so dark, so I'm applying water with my brush and dabbing of the excess pins Suppose you have made a mistake by adding darker color in your painting, then you can use this technique of re wetting the painted area and lifting the paint using a tissue paper or a damp brush. 20. Day 7 - Mountain & Humans part two: I moving on, I'm going to paint the humans. So to make it pop, I'm going to use red color. I'll apply this for the head and the back area. The red part on the head suggests that the person is wearing some cloth or cap. Next, I will take black color and apply on the lower area and the head. So I'm not trying to achieve any perfect human shapes. Just rough depiction would be enough. And also painting some of the tiny humans in the distant area. Don't forget to add the legs and the hands. Otherwise, it will look like flying ghost in the mountains. I have taken a pointed tip round two brush, and I'm adding all the details here. Adding legs and hands on the tiny humans in the distant area. Okay, so we are done painting the humans. Next, let us add some details on the mountain. So I'm mixing paints gray with the purplish make sure we have. This forms a darker mix. Now, add the brush marks on the mountain shadow area, as well as the highlight area. This suggests the underneath texture on the mountain. And when we add this darker details, the lighter part of the mountain naturally gets highlighted. I don't want the darker texture to be very dark because I felt it is getting confused with the humans. So let me keep it slightly lighter by dabbing off the excess pins. So adding some water to make it slightly diluted, now adding some texture on the shadow area of the mountain. These are simple brush marks. When we add multiple tonal values layer by layer, it creates a sense of depth and makes it more appealing. Adding some more brush marks using darker tonal value of the same color. Next, let us paint the sky. We're almost done with the mountain part. So to paint the sky, I'm going to turn my clipboard and keep it in a tilted angle. So first, I'm going to wet the empty area with clean water. So using a larger brush so that it is easier and faster as well. Carefully apply water around the mountain edges. I'm going to apply repeated brush strokes of water so that the paper absorbs more water and remains moist for a longer duration that will help us work on the sky for a longer duration. Now take cerulean blue or even cobalt blue is fine and apply some horizontal brush strokes on the wet area. So you don't have to paint exact same kind of sky as mine. You're free to go ahead and paint your own skies. But if you want to follow along, then you can paint along with me. Next, I'll apply opera pink on some areas. So this is a mix of blue and pink with some yellow in the sky. Now let's add some darker clouds in the sky. So I'm going to take paints gray and mix it with the red existing on palette this gives me a brownish gray colored. Randomly applying the paints, allowing it to form a natural cloudy appearance in the sky. Adding some more pink cues. Now, I'll allow gravity to do its job. So I'll move it around in different directions so that the paints flow and create a nice soft effect. Next, take a clean and damp brush and also a tissue paper. We will lift off the paints from this damp area. I'm creating some sunbeams on the upper part by lifting the paints. If your paints have already dry, then you can simply create a simple sky. That's also fine. Don't worry about not having perfect results. Since we have the highlighted part of the mountain on the right side, that's why I have created this sunbeam effect on the right side of the painting. That's the only reason. So you have already seen the reference image. It was plain blue sky, but the sky that I'm creating is totally different from that. So here I just made it up. I'm doing my own imaginary sky by adding random colors and creating this beam effect. Okay, so we will leave that for now. Now going back to the tiny humans here, I'm adding some thick red color and some yellow color as well. This is to create the impression that the humans are carrying some sort of bags or some trekking items with them. Just thin brush marks are enough. Do not overdo it. I'll also add some green as well. Next, let us paint the shadows of these humans. So I'm using the same darker, bluish violet color and applying some lines under the humans. Lastly, I'll go back to the mountains and add some more details. Adding some texture using dry brush effect. In the foreground area, we need to add some details because the focal element is around the humans in the foreground. So let's add some details there. I'm using different tonal values to create a sense of balance. So texture on the white part of the mountain. Now, to make the distant mountain stand out, I'm going to add some bluish let colour. Okay And some tiny brush marks on the white part as well. Don't overdo it. If you feel you have added a lot of them, then you can wipe it off using a tissue paper. Now using a hair dryer, I'm drying the paints. Now, let's add some birds using paints gray or black. A Alright, we are done with this. Now let us peel off the masking tape. I hope you enjoyed painting this with me and had a fun learning session. Do share your projects under the projects Gallery. I would really love to see your artworks. There you go. This is how the painting looks in the end. Beautiful, right? I hope yours turned out just as well or even better. C. 21. Thank you!: Hello again. Thank you for joining this painting challenge. Your support and encouragement means a lot to me. I would really appreciate if you could share your artworks under the project's gallery. Also if you like this class, please leave a review for this that would be really helpful in reaching more students like you. All right. I'll see you in my next class until then, bye bye.