Watercolor Autumn Leaves Painting : Paint 7 beautiful projects

1. About this class: Paul is such a beautiful season. The crisp air, the glories trees, and of course, all things pumpkin spice. I'm Anita, I'm an artist and educator. And over the years, I've tried to capture the essence of autumn, two watercolors many at times. I have two other classes on Skillshare where we cover some fun patterns and all postcards in watercolors. But in this class, I share with you seven beautiful projects that are all things fall. This is a beginner friendly class, so we'll be covering all the basic techniques that are needed to get started with watercolors before diving into this lovely pile of four leaves. I'll also be sharing my color palette with you so that you can match it with the brand that you're using. And over the course of this class, we will be painting seven fun and easy projects showcasing the beauty of fall. I hope you'll join me on this creative adventure. Let's get started. 2. Materials Needed: So starting with the materials for this class, I'm using dash three and GSM hundred percent cotton paper. So you can go with any brand, but I highly recommend going for something that is 300 GSM and 100% cotton. Because this will help you with the techniques that we're going to try out. This little wet on wet involved. So going for a thicker paper will really help. And it's one investment that I think is good. If you have to like splurge on something, I would always say splurge on people because people makes all the difference when it comes to watercolors. Now, coming to the beads. Daniel Smith watercolors here. So I'm going to share all the shapes that I'm using in a separate section so that you can check it with your own brand that you're using and try mixing the colors are matching the colors that I'm using here. So I'll be sharing all of that in a separate section. Now, come to the brushes. You will need a lot of them. I'm using an API size paper. So you need one good round brush or a mop brush for putting all the background, layers, the washes, etc. One medium-sized brush like a size four for adding the details. And I'm using a script liner brush for some final details like these trees, the branches are the veins in the leaves. For bees, I'm using this script liner brush because it really helps and creating those extended long lines. Then you lead a pencil for the initial sketching part that we're going to do, add a tape to tape the paper down. So since we're using a lot of wet-on-wet, it will be really helpful for the people to be taped down to surface. I'm using a board and a masking tape to tape it down. So that's it. That's all the materials that you'll need for this class. So let's get to the next section. 3. Basic Techniques: Alright, so starting with our basics, I'll start with wet on wet technique, which is mainly as the name sounds, adding wet paint to wet paper. By wet people, I mean, it could be a layer of clean water like in this case, or another layer of paint. So when your paper is already wet, you add another layer of paint on top of it. So this helps watercolor come to life. You can see that it spreads a blend. So this is where you can do all the blending, any sort of soft, glowy background effect that you want to create. It has to be done in wet on wet. Once the watercolor dries, you cannot really blend two colors. And so this is where you can do all the kind of gift watercolors, a little bit of direction. And here I'm trying to add another color and you can see that it can just start flowing along with the previous layer. So you can use a clean brush to blend it a little bit, give it a bit of direction. But this is what we'll be using for the backgrounds. Now coming to wet on dry, wet on dry is when your paper is dry and you add a layer of paint on top of it, which is the normal painting technique. Wet on dry, you would mainly be using this technique To added details, create subsequent layers for depth, etcetera. But this is mainly for the detailing part. Wet on wet is what you'll use for all your soft backgrounds. And wet on dry is what you'd use for adding the subsequent layers are the details on to that. Now, when we talk about adding the details, there's a concept of glazing, which is what I use for adding depth to the paintings. So there are a few projects where we have a pile of leaves or leaves on water. So to bring out the depth and the painting like to bring out this leaf that is on top. It could be on any surface, on water or on another pile of leaves. But to create that kind of a dip, we use the glazing technique. It's basically adding a layer of paint and then spreading it out with a clean brush is e.g. this leaf that I painted earlier. I'll add in another layer of paint right next to it, like this. And then I clean my brush and use this clean brush to just spread out the paint. So here we are not painting the entire surface below the leaf. I'm just adding that darker color there and then spreading it out using a clean brush. This instantly creates the illusion that there's something beyond this leaf or behind this leaf. And that's the kind of depth that we are trying to create using this technique. Next thing I would like to cover is the value scale. So when I say value, it basically means how dark or how light or color can get. So this is a fun exercise that you can try out with your paints. You can start with a very darker value like this and then keep adding water to lighten it. So when I see a lighter value, it means that it has less pigment, more water. And when it's a darker value, it means that it has a lot of pigment and very less water. Using these terms going on in the projects. But it's just a helpful thing to try out your colors in this space so that you know how dark or how light to color can get. The last technique that I would like to try out as lifting. Lifting is basically picking the pigment up from the people. So as you can see here, I, this paint was still wet and I used a clean brush to just lift the pigment off. Now, how how much of a pigment comes off the people totally depends on how staining the pigment is. So some of the colors are very staining. So you'd see that even when you lift them up, you get a very stained kind of paper. That's because the pigment itself and some papers absorb pigments very fast. So even in that case, you'd see that the paper does not give up the pigment. And because of that. So we're using this lifting technique in a few of our projects like in this one to create the bouquet effect, and in this one to show the light coming through the leaves. So this is where we're going to use the lifting techniques to lift off the peak of the paper to create that kind of glue. So let's move on to our next section where we explored the colors. 4. Color Palette: So let's get started with the colors that we're going to use for this class. So mainly for the leaves, I'm using a mix of yellows and reds and browns. So that's the autumn color palette that we're going to use. But that's it. We have a few projects where we use in green in the background. So these are kind of signifying the genes that is coming up. So there is greenery around and the leaves are slowly starting to change colors. And you have all these vibrant colors of the leaves as well. Then we have this one where we have water body and the leaves have fallen on top of it. For this, we'll be using a couple of blues. And for the leaves again, it's the same. Continue using the yellow, brown, red mix. So that's about it. That's all the colors that we need. A little bit of blue, a little bit of green for these projects, and then a lot of yellow, red, and grounds. So let's get started with the mixes and share the colors that I'm using that you can match it with the colors that you have in your palette. So I'll start with the warm yellow. I'm using Hansa yellow, medium hue. Any yellow that is kind of towards red or towards orange works just fine. Just something that is on the warmer side. I'm using a nice bright red. So this one is a pile of red. You can use any scarlet or vermilion color that is, again, a more vibrant, brighter red. Then I'm also using the same mix for creating oranges. So if you mix a nice Scarlett with the warm yellow, you'll create some vibrant oranges as well. So I'm using the same mix to create oranges. And then I'm using this Alizarin crimson. So any dark maroon niche or pinkish red works just fine. For the browns. I'll start with burnt sienna. So you'll find this in almost all palettes, All grants. So it's a nice warm brown. And then for the darker shade of brown, I'm using the bond amber. So this again is for the darker shadow areas are drawing the reins on top of leaves, etc. Now for the greens, I'm mainly using just one green that is the sap green. I'm not going to use any other dark green. We can simply makes indigo or darker blue to create a more dark shades of this one. But this one is a nice and vibrant green. So that's what we're going to use for all our projects. And for the project where we have the water body, I'm going to use two. A blues. One is the ultramarine blue. Again, a very common color in all pallets or brands, and then an inner thrown blue. So this, again, is a very dark blue compared to the ultramarine and creates a beautiful blending effect when mixed with ultramarine. And lastly, for all the dark areas are shadows. I'm going to be using indigo, some avoiding black here. But it's a beautiful color and you can use it to mix it with the green and create a darker green, mix it with a brown and create darker brown. So I'm using this for all sorts of shadows are darker areas in our project. And that's it. That's all the colors that we're going to use for our projects. So I hope you can try these out, mix the colors and match it with the palette that you have. And get started with our first project. 5. Project 1 : Leaf on a log: In this project, you're going to paint some beautiful maple leaves, mainly one in the foreground. And the rest of them will be kind of blurred in the background. So we draw a tree trunk over here. Just rough shape, nothing to detail. And then we draw the leaf on top of it here. How I go about drawing the maple leaf is simply to draw the central vein like this and then build on that with the remaining veins. So all of them kind of converge at one point. And then we draw the rounded. Once you have the weeds drawn out, it's kind of easier to draw the leaves because you're just building out on that shapes who? You are just building the leaf around it. So it's, I think the key here is to draw that central vein and then build up on it sideways and then added the leaf. Now drawing just another outline here, just trying to create a slightly bigger trunk. And now we'll go about adding the leaves around it. So for this part, we do not need to add in a lot of details. They will be like shapes like this. Basically dried crumpled leaves that have fallen on the ground. So you need not follow a certain shape or pattern like you need not even draw it the way we drew the main div, shapes like this to outline crumpled leaves on the ground. And then we paint around it. And then that's it. That's all the sketching that's needed. So let's get started with the painting part. So I'll quickly mix my colors here. I'll start with this warm yellow and we need a bit of red. I'm using the pile Scarlett. Next I mix my browser. So I'm using the burnt sienna over here and a slightly darker brown burnt umber. So this would be the main D, the colors that we use for the tree, the tree trunk at all. And then a little bit of maroon. So I'm using the perylene maroon integral. So those are all the colors that we need for this project. So let's get started with the central leaf. First. We start with this one and while it's drying with the background leaves, I'm wetting the Leaf fully and starting with the yellow, just dropping it in. So you can see that since the people was already wet, I'm just using my paint directly to blend in. Now, if at any point you feel that the paint is not blending, you can always use a clean brush and help it out a little bit. Now while this layer is still wet, I'll add in the spiral scarlet. And you can see how beautifully it starts bleeding into the yellow. So you need not stop here. You can add in a little bit darker red as well. And also you can go in with another layer of yellow like I've done here because I felt that at places this was too bland. It was mixing a little too much. I wanted to retain that yellow. So I kept it like this. Now, after this we'll go about painting the background leaves. Now the background is going to be a mix of colors and we'll be adding in all the details later on. But to start with, we'll start with a simple wash. Let's wet the people first. Sum using clean water here to wet the background part. I'm avoiding the trunk at the moment. It won't really matter because the trunk is going to be a much darker color. So you can always correct it later on since it is going light to dark. But I'm trying to keep it uniform here. Once you've done with wetting the paper, you can add in the colors again. So I'm going with the same kind of mix. I'm starting with the yellow here. And while it's still wet, I'll start adding the red. Just drop it in here and there. So you still need that yellow to show up from the base layer. So I'll still leave a lot of yellow around and just mix a little bit of red here and there and just let it blend on its own. Now, again with the same wet on wet technique, I'm dropping in a little bit of maroon here and there. So all these details about the leaves or everything will be doing it later on. Using glazing technique, using a little bit of wet on dry. But for now, since this is the first layer, the first background layer, I'm just dropping in the colors and letting them blend into each other, creating that nice vibrant look. And we'll let this dry. Now, as you can see, once dry, watercolor has become much lighter. So that's something that we need to keep in mind while starting out. Because while you're painting, it may seem that the colors are too dark or too vibrant. But once they're dry, they're going to turn up much, much lighter. So at times you may need multiple layers to bring out that depth or that color. But in this case, for now, we'll go ahead and paint the trunk and then we work on the background a little bit more. So I'm starting with a lighter value of burnt sienna and then mixing up darker values here and there. You can also mix of burnt umber right away, or we can keep it for adding in the details in the second layer. So I'm just being a little careful around the leaf because you want to retain that shape of the leaf and don't want the brown to go into the leaf part. Just being a little bit extra careful around the leaves. So this is where a good brush helps, like this one, despite being a mop brush, It's got a great depths. So I can clearly euro just paint around the leaf. Remember to play with the values here. Helps in creating a little bit of texture and variation in the first layer itself will of course have multiple layers here to build the details and the depth of this trunk. But when we're starting out, it really helps to have some variation in the first layer itself. And B, let us pray. Now, once you people is dry, we start with the next layer. For this, I'm using a burnt umber. I'm adding in patches like this. So this is the darker brown. If you do not have burnt umber, you can use a little bit of indigo and add it to the burnt sienna to get a darker brown as well. So here you're adding pigment and patches like this. And next, I take a clean brush. No more pigment, just plain water and blend it in. I'm just trying to blend in and create kind of a continuation in these patches and remove those hard edges. So for this, it helps to have a clean brush with just water like this. Now, violet still bed, I'm adding in some more pigment here and there. And now around the leaf to create a little bit of depth. I'm adding in that darker brown just next to the leaf like this of creating an outline with that brown in a way. And while it's still there, still wet. I use a clean brush to blend it in. So it's like the glazing technique here. We are simply using the darker color to start with, kind of create an outline and then use a clean brush to blend it in. Now we are done with the foreground leaf. Now, we'll add more to the background for the background, but we're going to do is to paint around the leaves that we have set in here. So I'll avoid inserting on the leaf for now. I'll just paint around it. So I'm using this darker red and my overall leaf shapes are still visible. Like the pencil drawing that I've done is still visible. So I'm trying to paint this red around it. So in a way kind of highlights the previous layer. So you can see that as soon as I paint around it, it kinda shows up this leaf further. So we're doing that negative predict technique. We're painting around the mean subjects so that it kind of gets highlighted. And for these patches as well, while they're still wet, I'm adding the darker maroon. So we working wet on wet here as well. We're trying to make sure that it's not monotonous, it's not a plain grid. So that's why we are adding in these little layers and missing in the maroon line, it's still wet. Now the key here is to understand your paper and see how soon it's trying. So if it is drying super fast, you'll have to work in smaller batches. If it is not drying fast. If you have time, then you can go for an extended area in the light red and then dropping the darker red. So it is quite dependent on where you are and what kind of people you're using. If you are in a super hot area, there are chances that two people won't stay wet for long. In such cases, I recommend going for smaller batches. Or if you can wet the back of your people and maybe use a plastic or a glass board instead of taping it down. That works as well. But since it is mostly wet on wet, you will need to make sure that your paper stays wet for a little longer so that you can blend the colors in the, continue with the same process in the top part as well. Painting around the leaves, starting with the lighter red or Scarlett, then dropping in the darker maroon red over here. So the idea here is to keep these leaves in the background, not to details so that they stay in the background. So your focus still remains on that main leaf that's there on the trunk. So that's your main subject. And all these leaves, fallen leaves, the background add to the overall composition of the picture. So we are done with the first layer of the background. And now we let this dry before moving on to the next spot. All right, Once my paper is dry, I'll start with creating depth for this trunk. So I'm adding the darker burnt umber around it like this and place it in. So we start by adding the pigment right next to the trunk, and then using a clean brush to spread it out. We repeat the same around the trunk, adding in the darker pigment around it and then using a clean brush to spread it out. Doing the same for the top part, using a burnt sienna, dark burnt sienna, and then using a clean brush to spread it out. So we don't want a lot of goods here now going on to the leaves as such. So I'm taking care that I'm still just dabbing my clean brush around it, not letting the brown spread onto the leaves completely a little bit is fine because there may be old dried leaves as well. Next we start adding the details onto the trunk. So I'm using my liner brush here to create these cracks in the trunk. I'm using indigo here and I'm betting the thickness of the cracks here in this. Some of them are quite thick, some of them are thinner like this. And we kind of continue around the knee like this. So you can see that slowly building in the detail onto the trunk. Next we add the circular pattern on the trunk. But this again, I'm using my script liner brush. This brush the way it does. It really helps and holding a lot of pain while at the same time giving you this super thin line. So it helps it creating shapes and patterns like this. I'm going around the leaf and creating these circular patterns. Here again, you can play with the values of bit. You can make it darker in some areas and slightly less pigment in it others. So that it creates a bit of variation, a bit of drama around the leaf. Adding a few more cracks here. Right up to the leaf here. And I like how the trunk looks right now. It looks more lifelike. Well, not really because the tree has been cut, but yeah, it looks more closer to what a real trunk would look like. Next we add in a bit of depth in the leaf again, we did this one while doing the first layer of the trunk. So now I'm adding the burnt umber around it and I'll glaze it out a little bit so that it gives the illusion that the leaf is on top. There are a bit of shadows around it. Next we add in the details on the leaves using the darker red. So I'm using the perylene maroon here. And I'm just building on whatever we had drawn earlier. So we already have those pencil marks in here. So I'm just adding on top of that. You can see that once we have the central vein, we can just build up on the remaining ways and then add in a bit of detail like this. Now for the background leaves, I'm not going to add in a lot of detail because I want them to be in the background. But we can add in a few veins here and there so that the kind of look like the leafs. So again, not too much detail but just a few lines here and there. Now we're done with the veins on these leaves. Now, I'd like to add in a little bit more depth around the leaves that it gives the illusion that these are on a pile of leaves. So for that, I'll again use the glazing technique. So I'm starting with darker maroon here. Once you have applied the maroon around the leaves, we use a clean brush to blend it out. So mainly just following the same thing, just adding the darker maroon around the shapes. And then using a clean brush to blend it a little bit, the glazing technique. So this is creating further depth around the leaves, kind of giving the illusion that it is in a pile that are mowed leaves below this. And that's what we're trying to create here. We already did a lot of work on the background. We added a lot of wet on wet layers. This is just the final finishing route. Wherever you're creating some depth with this glazing technique. And that's our first project done. I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you'll give this a try. I'll see you in the next one. 6. Project 2 : Lights and Shadows: In this project, you're going to paint another beautiful maple leaf with some gorgeous play applied. So we're going to try out the lifting technique and create that glowing light peeking through the leaf here. So we start again with a sketch. We'll start with the central vein, and then we'll build up on it with the other sites. Once you have the wind structure, we start building on the leaf. A simple drawing like this. We continue with the leaf on the other side. Drying outline of the leaf like this. And we'll also add some holes here so that we can show the light peeking through. I'm just adding in the Google take this and we're done with the sketching. So we'll start with the painting part. So for painting, I'm starting with the background first and reading the background with clean water. And we try to paint around the leaf, weed not want the water to go on to the leaf. So we try and paint around it. A bit of it has gone here in my case, but I'll maybe just wipe it off before we start with the background. Now for this project we're going with a very soft Louis kind of a background. It's mostly wet on wet. So that's why we're reading the whole background with clean water first. And then starting with the colors. For this, I'm going to make sure that the flow of the beam is in a certain direction. So I'm going to keep a basking deep at the back here so that it can help with the flow. So now I'm going to make sure that the paint flows downward and we start with the yellow. So I'm starting with the Hansa yellow medium, painting carefully around the leaf here. Now since we did not wet, you do not really have to worry about the paint seeping into the leaf. But if it does, you can always use a clean brush to wipe it off. And I'm using the same yellow and letting it flow like this. You can always give a bit of direction to the paint while it's still wet. You can tilt your board and let it flow upwards like this. Now while it's still wet, I'll start with a slightly darker yellow. It's the same wholesaler medium, but more pigment. And I'll add it somewhere around the middle, like this. So it kind of blends into, into the earlier yellow that he had painted. And next week go with the brown. Again while this is still wet, I start adding the burnt sienna and let it blend in with the yellow around the leaves. I'm being a little careful. Once the leaf part is done, you can go and look. You don't have to worry about the pin going in any way. So now that I'm done with the leaf, I'm able to paint much more freaky. So I'll keep adding in a slightly darker color toward the base. So we are trying to vary the overall sheets here. We started with a very light yellow, then added in slightly more pigment, Hansa yellow medium. Then we added the burnt sienna, and now at the end we are adding a slightly darker pigmented value, burnt sienna. This is at the BSW. And since the paper is still wet, I'm not having to do a lot of work with the blending part. It's mostly blending on its own. Now while this is still wet, I'm going to add in burnt umber at, the bees were trying to create this beautiful mix of yellows and browns here, going from a very light yellow to the darker yellow and then do the burnt sienna and then adding in burnt umber, which is the darkest brown. And letting it flow. We're letting the pigment flow in cases that it's not mixing properly anywhere. You can use a clean brush and helping with the blending a little bit. You can influence the flow of the paints and pigments by moving the board a little bit. So I'm trying to create this kind of a balanced in the background. And next violet still bet, but not like completely with now, all the pins are in the process of crimes. They are cried a little bit. I will add some splatter. So for this, I'm using a clean brush, this plain water, and just dropping it in. So even if it falls of the leaf, It's fine because it's just plain water. I'm adding in a little bit more splatter here. And next we'll let this dry. Now, once you people is dry, you can see that it's become much lighter the background. So we'll start with the foreground leaf now this time I'm not reading the entire leaf. I want it to be much more vibrant, much more dark. So I'm going indirectly with the pigment, starting with the Hansa yellow medium, directly painting on the leaf, wet, on dry. So here I'm painting around those holes that we had drawn. Because we will be painting light flowing through these. And around these goals, we want to go in with a lighter value or the same yellow. So towards the edges, we will paint in a darker value of the yellow bile around these halls. Specifically, we are going in light. So that's how we will be creating light, the glue of the light by painting in a lighter color around these holes and then going darker towards the edges of the leaves. So here you can see that I'm going in with a darker yellow now towards the base. So to create light, essentially you will have to create darker areas, which kind of compliment that because once you have a darker area right next to a light source like this, you'll see that the flow of light is very clearly visible. And to help with this, we'll also use the lifting technique. So we finished painting the leaves first and then we will go about the light bulb. All right, you're done with the leaf, the first Leo, and next we'll add in a slightly darker brown. While it's still wet. We'll work wet on wet and adding the burnt sienna like this, just drop it in. No need to do much here. Since the previous layer is still wet, it will blend on its own. Next, while it's still wet, I add in the red. So I'm using the viral Scarlett. And you can see that since the colors are all still wet, the bleed or the blend happens on its own so you don't have to do much here, just dropping the color and let it flow. And that in a way, it's the beauty of watercolors. It has a life of its own. It at times hard to control, but that makes it equally fun. So now that we're done with this part of the leaf, will use a clean brush to lift the paint out in some areas, especially around these holes. So this is where the light is peeking through. So for that, we need to have this area to be much lighter than the rest of the leaf. And that's what we're trying to do here. We're trying to lift the paint from around these holes. Next week, try to create the rays around these holes. So for that again, we're going to use the lifting technique. You have to make sure that every time you lift the paint, you clean the brush and dab it in the tissues so that you don't end up putting pigment back into the lifted areas. Every time you lift it like this, you'll have to clean it or rather dab it on a clean tissue and clean your brush often. Because you want the pigment to be off your brush only then you can lift more pigment. If your brush already has a lot of pigment, it will be difficult to lift anymore. And also remember that the way the pigment gets lifted depends on the pigment that you're using, on the color that you're using, as well as the taper. So some tapers absorb colors faster. They may just eat up the pigment and UP not be able to lift much of pigments sustaining. So even though you're lifting them off, then still leave a little bit of color behind. Once you've lifted from the leaf like this, we'll try and enhance the whole light part, the flow path by making the rest of the leaf darker. So this is kind of goes hand-in-hand. So why do you agree trying to create the light here? You also have to make the other areas darker so that it does reflect in a way that the light is peeping through these holes here. So that's what we're trying to do here. We're trying to make the rest of the leaf darker now. So for this, I'm using the perylene maroon and I'm painting the outer part of the leaf like this. So we have to make sure that the edges of the leaf or darker, while the central part and the area around these holes is much lighter. And I also love how the sunlight is coming into picture right here on my table. So it's kind of adding to the overall glow effect that I'm trying to create on the li. For the edges here, I'm adding in the darker maroon color and then using a clean brush to spread it towards the center. So I don't want the leaf to be very dark towards the center. And that's the reason that I'm adding it at the edges and then using a clean brush to just spread it inside like this kind of a glazing technique. But making sure that those rays that we painted still remain. Now, once you're done with this part, we lift a liquid mode pain from around this area. And I'm trying to make the edges softer so we don't want any harsh edges here. So I'm using a clean brush to just blend that in. And then we lifted a little bit more pigment like this. The same way we use a clean brush. Lift the pigment, dab it in the tissue, clean the brush. So you'll have to do it a little few more times so that you can create that glue. And now that we already have the darker parts here, you can see that the area around those holes is already lighter. And then you blending it in, lifting these colors out to create that glow effect. Next we add in the veins using so I'm starting with a darker color at the base. And then towards the top, we'll go and lighter. So you can either paint it with a lighter value or use a tissue to dab the color. I'm painting all the veins first and then I'll use a tissue and just pick some color off. So the idea here is to make the wings lighter around these holes from where the light is peeping through. So that's why I'm dabbing the color out from there. And then we added a few more details with a lighter maroon. One final round of the tailing around the edges. So I'm using again the perylene maroon and just adding it to the edges here. So again, we're building up on the blue of light. So the edges here would be darker. And any area basically around those goals from where the light is coming through, it'll be slightly darker. So that's what we're trying to do here. We are adding in the darker maroon at the edges and then using a clean brush to just blend it in a little bit so we don't want any harsh edges. So once I add the pigment, I'm using a clean brush to blend it in a bit. We continue with the same for the other parts of the leaf variable B to not have that light flowing through just at the edge like this. And using a clean brush, we blend it in a bit and be done. So I hope you enjoyed this project and I hope you'll give this a try. I see you in the next one. 7. Project 3 : Last leaf: Onto our next project, and this one will capture a soft, flowy kind of a background. And then we'll have one leaf in the foreground, which will be the main focus point. So we'll draw the branches here from the tree. And we'll use the rigger brush to later on beat them out. But I'm just placing the main leaf here. And for the rest of it, we just use a paintbrush. So we have RBDPO, level Q, whole branches, some of them being in the foreground, so they eat darker. The ones in the background will be slightly lighter. So we repeat them according the varying the values of the colors so that we can have some dog and sunlight are branches. And be done with the sketching part. Not a lot to do here. I've just marked the main branches and the leaves here so that an overall placement of things. But most of the work would be done in the background itself. I'll start with the mixing of colors. The colors, in addition to the usual red, yellow palette, I'll be using some muted colors for the background, so I'm using a shadow violet here. You can ultimately mix ultramarine and crimson to get a light purple color or use Payne's gray as well. For the trees, the darker trees, I'm going to use indigo. You cannot neatly use black as well if you want. I prefer to avoid black in the painting, so I'm using an integral instead. So we'll start with wetting the paper completion using clean water. Now, we are aiming for a soft background here and that's the reason we be wetting the paper first and then adding the colors or net wet-on-wet. And also we'll keep in mind that this is going to dry lighter. I'm P, I'm adding the water around the leaf here. I don't want it to seep into the leaf. Although the background is going to be much lighter than the LEA, I still want to leave to retain its vibrant color. I don't want to mix an increase on to clear the leaf itself. That's what I'm trying to avoid being degree. So I've just added to water around the leaf on the rest of the paper. And even if you do end up adding a little bit of water or belief, you can use a clean brush to lift it out or use a tissue to just pick up the water from there. And next we start adding the colors here. I'm starting with the shadow violet. I'm just dabbing it in and letting it blend in because the paper is already wet, so I don't have to do much here, just adding the colors in, leaving a little bit of space and then adding the color again. I'm using a very light hand and just random screws are not trying to create any pattern here. A background, like I said, it'll dry, much lighter. So by the time of Christ, you wouldn't be able to see much of this color. But we're trying to create that flow. So that's the reason I'm adding it around the leaf like this. Now, while the paper is still wet, I'll add the next colors. So here we're trying to show that there are leaves in the background, paintings that are kind of somewhere in the background. So that's the reason we're still working wet on wet. So we don't want these to be defined shapes as such. So in case your paper is dry, you can use a clean brush and spread it out a little bit. But we want these to be in the background, not the primary focus. So that's why we are just creating these blurred shapes that are going to represent leaves in the background. So I think we've added enough leaves here, just cleaning up the edges here with a tissue. And just to add a little bit more fun to the background, I'll use the splatter technique. For this. I'm using a clean brush with some water and just dropping it in here like this. So it creates those little loop that adds so much to the background. And I noticed that there's a little bit of patch left in the background that I did add anything to this, no background added here. And we're going to have that leaf in-focus here. I would just blend it in a little bit here so that it's all uniform. I don't want to leave a white patch. I'm just adding a little bit of color here. And now we'll let this dry completely so that we can start with our next step. Right now my paper has dried, so I'll start working on the foreground leaf. So again, reading the leaf a little bit so that we can work wet on wet. So just apply the clean layer of water. And next we'll start dropping in the colors. I'm starting with the Hansa yellow medium. And I'm starting it at the edges here, like this. Now, as you can see from the background, once the watercolors cry The Prime much lighter and it's giving a nice effect on the background. But for this leaf, we want it to be the main focus. So I'm using a slightly pigment it value of yellow. And we'll also be adding many more layers to this with other colors. I'll start with the burnt sienna, just dropping in burnt sienna like this. So it kinda shows the leaf turning from yellow to brown, dropping in a little bit more pigmented yellow. Just add the edges. Next, I drop in simple dots or maroon like this. You can use a crimson, red as well. Trying to show the beautiful colors on this leaf. We then start with adding the branches in the background. Now, the background, once we be lighter because they are further away from your right. Whereas the foreground branches would be much darker. So for the lighter branches, the ones in the background, I'm using the same shadow violet, and I'm using the script liner brush to just create these branches. Now we'll play with the values of bit here. So I'm adding a hint of indigo to the same color. And we'll add a few more branches. Now these are slightly coming towards the foreground, so they kind of become darker. So as you can see, once we cleave these values, once we create this kind of an effect, you can already see that the lighter branches in the background tend to give the effect of depth because you're creating these multiple layers with different values. So this one, again is a slightly darker value than what we used in the previous layer of branches. And then we'll add another one with the darkest layer. For the branches itself. I'm not pulling any specific pattern. I'm just going with the blue. As you'll see in the nature, the way the branches are. Just adding them in here. And my people crying nicely. So by the time I'm adding the next layer, the previous lighter layer of the branches is already dry. But in case your paper is not drying if it's still wet, I'd suggest letting it dry, letting the previous layer off branches dry before we move on to the next layer. I'll give this a minute to dry and then we'll start with our next layer of crunches. So this is going to be in the foreground. So I'm taking integral, which will be a much darker value than what we have here. And I repeat the same motion creating those branches. Not trying to create any straight lines here. They're all kind of curvy, zigzag. I really enjoy using the script liner brush for creating these details here. And also the smaller branches like this. It kind of adds to the overall detailing that we're doing here. And sometimes it gets tricky knowing when to stop because it's just so much fun. I'm trying to limit the whole ground ones here, just adding details so that it looks more realistic, more closer to the nature. Adding a few more branches in the foreground with the darkest color. So now you can see the kind of tech that has been created because of the different values we used for these branches in the background. So it really gives the impression that there's a lot more happening in the background here. Now, coming back to the li, we'll add in a few more details, including the weeds, a little bit more color to the leaf. So I'm using the crimson to add in the details of the veins on the leaf using a smaller brush. Now adding some final round of color to the leaves at the edges. So what I'm doing here is using a darker paint at DHS and then using a clean brush to just spread it out. Glazing technique again. So we're not trying to color the whole league, mainly adding the color at the edges like this, and then using a clean brush to spread it out. So all your previous layers stay intact because you're not using a lot of water here are a lot of pain. It's mainly of pigments value at hedges. And then a clean brush to just even adult across. We repeat the same at the other edges like this. Adding the color and spreading it out using a clean brush. We let this layer dry a little bit and then do one final round of touch up on the veins because I kind of blurred them out a little bit while doing the glazing technique. Just on the main ones, I'm adding a little bit more color and we're done. So that's another project done. I really like how the soft background looks here. And I hope you enjoyed this project and you'll give this a try. I'll see you in the next one. 8. Project 4 : Leaves on water: All right, moving on to our next project. This one has a little bit of change in scenery. So here we're going to pin two leaves all-in on water. So it's going to be a lot of blue in the background. And like the previous projects. And this is probably the only project in this class that has so much blue in the background. So we're going to have some fun with it. So I'm just sketching out the leaves here with the very basic skeleton outline. And we are done with the sketching. So we'll start with the painting part. For this one, we're taking a slightly different approach. For one, we're starting with the leaves, which are the main subjects here and not the background. And I'm going to start directly with the yellow because I want this to be a much darker, vibrant color. Because the blue and the background is going to be much darker. So we want the yellows here to stand out as well. So we'll still be working wet on wet, but instead of using a clean layer of water for the first layer, we directly using the yellow, a very pigmented, vibrant yellow as the first layer of the leaf. So based on how we go about painting the leaf, like whether we use a watery layer to start with, or we use pigment like this directly, it will change how wiping the leaf looks. And in this case, I want it to be full of color, vibrant and opaque as compared to the blue background. And that's the reason I'm going indirectly with the yellow am also varying the values here and there. So you can see that in some patches that is slightly darker, which is fine because we're going to work on multiple layers on top of this leaf. So it will all blend in together. So while this is still wet, I'm adding in scarlet color here, parallel Scarlett, any vibrant, bright red color. This is going to mix wet on wet, and you can see that the combination already looks so beautiful. Again, this is going to dry much lighter right now. It looks like there's a lot of pigment in there. So we will need to add layers later on, more detailing, Wet, on Dry, etc. But for now we're aiming at the first layer. So for that, I'm adding in these dots as well with crimson, a much darker color. And we work in the same way for the other leaf as well. Once we've done with both leaves, we'll let this dry. And once the paper is dry, we can start working on the background. I'll write my paper is dry and add mix some ultramarine here. So this is the main color that we're going to use in the background. We'll add in some different values and also a hint of a different blue as well in the background. But we'll start first with wetting the background completely. I will try and avoid wetting the leaf because I don't want the blue to go in there. Just being a little careful around the leaf here. And once again, even if you do end up wetting it with clean water, it's fine because you can always pick it up with a clean tissue or a clean brush. But we need to make sure that the water does not seep into the leaves so that the color does not end up seeping into the leaves. I could see that there are a few patches where the water has gone into the leaf. So I'll just use a clean tissue and dab it out. So we don't want any of the water to stay there because the blue that we add now will seep into the leaves in that case. So just making sure that the edges are clean and I just picked up some water from the leaf like this. And now we'll start adding the blue ultramarine in almost all brands is a beautiful granulating colors. So you can see the way it spreads and the beautiful effect it's creating already. So this is again wet on wet. We already wet the paper with clean water, and now we're using this color. And we'll add in another color on top of this to create some shadows and depth. But we'll start first with the ultramarine and then build upon it. And again, when I'm closer to the edges of the leaves, I'm being a little bit extra careful that I don't end up painting the leaves blue. Now I'm done with the first layer. Now I'm adding an Indian thrown blue, which is a slightly darker blue as compared to the ultramarine. And while the paper is still wet, I'm dropping it in like this. So we'll let it blend in on its own. You don't need to do much. If you feel that the colors are not mixing, you can definitely use a clean brush and help them blend. But closer to the edges of the leaves will have a slightly darker patch. And as you move away, you will see that there are ripples and some lighter patches of the water as well. The shadows. We will be painting them with indigo later on. So this is just the first level of detailing that we're adding onto the water. For the shadows under the leaves as well as the ripples. We use indigo and painted later wet on dry. So this one is just the first layer of detailing that we're adding. So I'm just adding this darker blue right next to the leaves. Just being a little careful around the edges here. We already left a lot of room for playing around, around these edges because we made sure that these are not where the leaves are not wet. So there's scope for having fun here, adding in those shadows. Using a smaller brush and just putting the pigment in. This is indigo and you can still see that it spreads because the remaining part is still wet. The water part being still wet, the pigment will try to spread in that direction. As you can see. We repeat the same for this leaf. Again, my paper is still wet so I'm able to play around with this. So we just add the pigment like this and let it spread onto the water side. And before this dries completely, I'll just use a clean brush and add in a little bit of splatter onto the area where we are painted water. And then we let this layer dry completely before we start with the shadow part. Alright, once my paper is dry, I'll work on the shadows. So for this I'm using indigo and I'll pin the ripples and shadows under the leaves using this color. So we're doing this wet on dry. So the paper is already tried and this is a much pigment it value, as you can see, it is giving a beautiful contrast with the blue and the orange leaf. We also have some detailing left to be done on the leaves itself, but for now, we'll just work on the ripples around this leaf. So I'm trying to mimic the movement of water here as it would be with this leaf floating on top of it. So creating those little ripples around it. Along with the repulse, we also work on the shadows just under the leaf. So in the same VP already had created that additional depth by using a darker pigment around it, wet-on-wet. Now we spend in it further with this indigo. And B. At the same time I'm using a clean brush to just even it out. So I don't want a very harsh edge here, just trying to create the shadows and then smoothen the edges using a clean brush. Now we'll repeat the process for the other leaf, using indigo to add in the shadow and then using a clean brush to just smoothing it out. Now we are done with the overall shadows on the water. So we'll get back to the leaf. So I'm going to use the same technique that we did in the previous project. We added the darker color at the edges here. Oh, much pigment it value. And then use a clean brush to just glaze it. We will repeat the same for the other leaf, adding in the darker pigment at the edges, and then using a clean brush to spread it out. So this creates a little bit of drama on the leaf. As you can see, even though we applied a lot of pigment in value, right in the first wash, it's dried-up, much lighter and it kind of looks boring. So adding these layers of darker color helps in creating a little bit of depth, a little bit of variation in the leaf. So I really like how my leaf looks now. So once it is dry, we'll start working on the veins. So I'm using the dark red color here and adding in the veins with smaller brush. Same for the other leaf. Just adding in the weeds using the dark color. We're almost done as a final round of finishing touches. I'll just add a few more dots here. The darker red color. And smooth blending it out using a clean brush. Same on the other leaf. Just adding a few dots and smooth them out. Adding an, a last round of shadows with the darker indigo. So it helps in creating the depth, as you can see, it gives the illusion of this leaf floating on water. So for that we are adding one final round of the indigo. In the same way, we just add the pigment ID value at the edge and then use a clean brush to spread it out. And we are done. So this is kind of different from the projects that we've done so far in this class because it has a very blue background, which we haven't used in any of the other projects. So I hope you enjoyed this one and you'll give this a try. I'll see you in the next project. 9. Project 5 : Fall Hearts: Starting with our next project, this one is slightly different from what we have tried so far. It's got a very vibrant, colorful background. And it's a mix of yellows and greens. And also it's a super cute project because these, there are these two leaves with hard cutout in between. And I really liked this when I saw the picture, it was slightly different. The picture I saw was for me please. But I thought I'd looked like change it into this kind of leap because we have already tried maple so far. So I'm just quickly sketching the outline here. So we have these two pins holding those leaves and the crowd the leaves now. And of course, the cute little hard cutout in between. So that's it. That's one leaf. I will draw another one here. So while painting, our main focus here would be on these leaves and most of the background would be just nice and colorful. Blow. Really quickly wrap up this drawing and get started with the background and with dads. So I'll quickly erase this and get started with the background wash. So we'll start with clean water and wet the paper completely. And I tried to avoid the leaf here because I still want to retain its color, its wide prints when you print it out. So I don't want it to have any greens in there. I'm painting around it. But this is going to be a wet on wet wash again, really let the colors blend into each other. Give us that soft, glowy look in the background. Now for the colors in the background, I'll be using lemon yellow. And we'll also make some green and brown. So this is more of a cooler yellow than what we've used so far. And I'll also be using a sap green for the background. Just little bits here and there. So let's get started. I'm just dropping this in, avoiding the deep, just dropping it randomly. You can add in this color in patches. And then as the paper is still wet, we can drop in the other colors and let them blend. So while this is still wet, I'll add in some reds and some greens. So I'm not really putting any effort to blend them in here since the paper is still wet. Just letting watercolor do its thing. And next I'll drop in the green. Sap. Green is another color that just spreads like crazy. You can see it here. So I'm trying to achieve that soft look in the background. Remember that the colors are going to dry much lighter. So if you want, you can add in a bit more color to this. My aim here is to keep the focus on the leaves so the background is going to be more or less a blur once it completely dry. So I'm letting the colors blend that way. Next, I'll add some browns. So trying to get this reddish brown in the background. And even though it looks much darker right now, it's going to dry much lighter. So just adding some patches here so that there are some color variations in the background. And you can see that it kind of gives that feel that there's a bunch of leaves in the background that are still green patches and then again, drying out and all brown in practice. Just making sure that the color doesn't go into the leaves yet. You paint them separately later. Once this background is gray, adding in a little bit more green since the background is still wet, I'm just trying to add in a few more colors here, making it darker in batches. And just a hint of red and brown here to there. Now my people is on. It's way too dry. So I'll quickly at some splatter here using a clean brush and clean water. And then we let this dry completely before moving on to painting the leaves. Now, once the paper is dry, we get started with the lease for the leaves. I'm not going to wet the paper. I'm going indirectly with the color. So I plan to paint one in a very bright vibrant red and the other one kind of yellow. I'm starting directly with the red here, taking in a slightly pigmented value. I left the hard part in the middle, which is kind of a hole. So it would ideally be blending with the background. But we finish up the leaves, let it dry completely and then just added that. But we already know what's in the background. So I'll likely use a mix of green and a bit of brown to paint it out. But for now, just adding all the details onto this leaf. So here again, you can play with the values of bit. You can start with a slightly lighter value. And then as you go you can add in darker pigment and values of the same color as well. It gives a bit of life to the leaf, also makes it less monotonous. So I'm adding in some patches of a darker red here. And since this previous layer is still wet, I'm just letting it blended. Moving on to the next leaf, I'm using yellow orange bugs for this. So this yellow is quite different, much warmer than the one that he used in the background. Repeat the same thing. I'll apply base of yellow here and then add in some more pigment it values of the same color or we can use and oranges with, I guess I'll go with little bit of red orange here. Just dropping it in. Again, the yellow layer is still wet, so it kind of spreads on its own. And we let this dry completely before moving on to the next step. Now, once it leaves, have tried. We'll get started with those spins. The clothes-pins that were used to hang these leaves. I'm mixing light brown here. And we'll add in some darker sheets as well. So I'll start with these. Just adding the color in here. And we'll add in a few more details with a darker color. So dropping in a little bit darker color here. And while it dries, we'll go on to pin the little heart left in the middle, since there's actually a whole. So we're just trying to blend this thing with the background. So I'm adding a bit of green, yellow, green, and dropping sap green a bit here, a little bit of brown here. So I can see that it kind of blended with the background here. Now, once this cry, I'm using an indigo to be the branch or the wire with these leaves are hanging. All right, Now really get going with the details on these leaves. So I'm adding the veins using a darker color, darker red. Same for the other leaf. I'm using a slightly lighter value of the same color, but you're adding the veins on this one as well. Try to add a bit more color to this leaf, so I'm adding in the dark color at the edges. And then we'll use the glazing technique to spread this out. Now, I kind of feel the wings. Did. I no longer visible scientists do a retouch for those once this dries. Adding some final details onto the pins here, I'm using a darker brown. Since these have the wooden texture and just adding in some more details onto these using a darker brown, just simple dry brush strokes where dragging the brush along. So it gives a little bit of texture to this plane. So a final round of detailing on the sleeves since the beans kind of disappeared once we did the glazing techniques. So adding in the weeds here again and get done. So I hope you enjoyed this. It was a simple project as compared to the others and 11 at that. So I hope you'll give this a try. I'll see you in the next one. 10. Project 6 : Fallen leaves: Alright, so we are moving on from the water back onto the ground. So in this project, we're going to paint some oak leaves that have fallen on the grass on the ground, along with some econs. So this one is going to be slightly different because again, we haven't painted oak leaves yet. So the shape is slightly different from the regular maple. I'm just drawing the central lines here so that we can decide on the placement of the leaves. Will have like three or four leaves here. And we will be painting them in layers so that we can create the depth in between the leaves. As you can see, the shape is slightly different from what we are doing for the Maple Leafs. Adding in a few more leaves under the main top layer as well. So here we have a nice bunch of leaves on the crown. In addition to this, I added some icons here. Just an outline of the shape. And we are done with the sketching. I'll move on to mixing the colors and painting it out. Now. For this one, again, for the leaves will have a mix of yellows and browns and greens. Green mainly in the background here. I'm mixing the warm yellow hansa yellow medium. I'm also adding in a cooler yellow here, which is more of a greenish yellow in comparison to the Hansa yellow medium that you're using. And we need a brown, so I'm using burnt sienna here. So that's all the colors. We will get started with. Leaves. For this one, we will again go in directly with the yellow. I'm not adding water here because I want the leaves to be nice and vibrant and Bateson to the dark green background that we're going to have. I'm adding in a sap green violet is still wet, so the blending is happening on its own here. So we're trying to create a mix of this yellow green leaf. You can also vary the value of green here, adding in a slightly darker value here and there to create some mediation the leap. And once we're done with this leaf, we will let it dry. But in the meantime, we can start working on other leaves that are not directly connected to this one. So I'll start with this one here. And for that, I'll use a base of the brown. So I'm using a burnt sienna as the base. Again, we're starting directly with the color and not using water for the base. Now I'm adding a slightly pigmented value of the same burnt sienna. You can see that it's much darker here and it's spreading on to the already painted part, which was much lighter. Adding in some dots here with the darker brown pour a little bit of drama. And we'll continue painting the other leaves. So in this case, as The leaves are connected. I'll wait for it to dry a bit. And once it leaves are dry, we can continue painting the other leaves. So this one again, I'm trying the brown mix. So going in with yellow peas and I'll add some brown on top. Yellow brown mix here. So while it's still wet, I'm dropping in the brown around the edges where you have these overlapping leaves. You would want to create the depth by using the glazing technique later on. But even before that, while we are still working on the first layer, wet on wet, I'm trying to create a slightly darker area around the overlapping leaves so that it gives the illusion of depth here. We will work on the details later on, but for now, we're just adding that little bit of darker color around the leaf will continue working on the other leaves here. So adding in the yellow brown mix again, just make sure that you're connecting leaves are dry so that the color doesn't bleed into each other. But even if it does, it's alright. We can work around it. So I'm adding my brown here while the yellow is still wet. So you can see that a bit of blending happens on its own. And if it doesn't, you can always use a clean brush and use it to blend in. Adding a much darker value of burnt sienna for that one leaves the edge. And while we're at it, we'll also be in the cards. So for that, I'm using brown and painting the base bot. Just dropping in a little bit more pigment in value on to the already wet layer up the strong pain for icons. And next we let this dry completely and then get started with the green path. I missed this one leaf here, so I'm just adding in the darker brown for this one. So for all these leaves that are kind of overlapping, we'll work on the shadows. We'd work on the tech by using the glazing technique later on. For now I'll just quickly add this leaf and then we'll let this dry. Now, once your paper is dry, we start working on the background. For the background, I'm using a subquery. Again, I'm not going to wet the paper because I want it to be a lot darker. So once you wet the paper, that the pigment kind of blends in and then it lights, lightens further once it dries. I'm starting directly with the sap green. And we'll play with the values. We'll add in a slightly more pigmented value here and there. I'm also mixing a darker green in the background. Here with a little bit of indigo. We work with both these colors, mainly the green, sap green being the main one. And while painting around the leaves, I'm being a little careful that we don't end up putting the green onto the leaf. Although we do have a green leaf here, so it won't really be a spoiler. So here I'm using a smaller brush since we have a lot of areas that are super small between these leaves, I'm just going around slowly painting them. We don't need any harsh edges, so we need to make sure that the areas that we are covering have me be covering them in one go. So there are these smaller patches between the leaves that we can cover together. So just taking it one small batch at a time here and mixing a little bit of indigo here and there. So, so that we have this mix of light and dark green in this. And when this is still wet and again, use the splash technique. So I'm going to use a little bit of clean water on the brush and then just splatter it here like this, so that it creates some blooms at the background. And we let it try that part and continue working on the other parts. Cycled mainly divide the background into three or four patches here and just work around them. And since we're still working wet on wet in the sense that we are mixing the green, the lighter green with a darker green, the indigo mix. We still need to make sure that the patch that we're working on, It's still there while we are applying the second layer. And of course the splatter has to be done while the paper is still wet. Once it's completely dry, you won't get these plumes. So it has to be in the process of drying for the Bloom's to work. And we go to this last patch now. So we'll quickly wrap up this green part for the background. Once that is done, we can get started with working on the detailing of the leaves. So as the leaves are not directly connected to the background, we can work in parallel while the background dries. Just make sure that you don't pick up any pigment on your handled on the brush from the background. Now for the leaves will start with adding depth to the lowermost layer of leaves. So these will definitely have some shadows from the leaves that are there on the top. So for that we use the glazing techniques. So we start with adding a little bit of pigment and then using a clean brush to spread it out like this. So it instantly creates that debt, gives the illusion that this leaf is in the background. We repeat the same for the lower leaf, adding in a pigmented value in the areas where the leaves overlap, then spreading it out a bit. Now we start working on the veins for this, I'm using a burnt sienna darker value. And just adding in means like this on all the leaves. Well at the green one and maybe use a slightly different color and not proud. So I go get a little bit of green or a blue and added the weeds on this one. Now for the patient one, I want to add in a little bit more detail. I'm using the same sap green mix and just adding in little patches of color here like this. And using a clean brush to spread it out. So I'm doing this right next to where we have drawn the weeds, adding in the color and then spreading it out like this. You can see that it creates this beautiful effect on the leaf and gives it a bit of character. So earlier it was looking quite monotonous, even the veins. Adding these little things, you can create some variation and belief. And it won't look as boring. We repeat the same with the other brownish leaves. Not Lord, because they already have those dots, so that's already adding to the leaf. But we still need to add in a bit of color here and there. Doing the same for the other leaves, adding in a bit of color and then spreading it out using a clean brush. This, again, is a way of adding more depth because these are the leaves that are in the background, the leaves at the back. But then we're adding in this extra color. Now I know we already did one round of placing here, but we're continuing to build the depth using the glazing technique here with a darker color scheme for this econ, since it is under that leaf, you're adding in some shadows here with a darker color and using the glazing technique. Now we'll paint the remaining part here for the cons. So adding in the darker brown mix with a little bit of blue here, we continue to add more shadows to the leaves that are at the back using a dark color. This. So as soon as you add in those shadows here, Ethan, we indirectly highlighting the leaves on top. As you can see here, as soon as I add the darker color, the other leaf becomes highlighted because of the lighter color that a test. We repeat the same thing for all the other leaves where we have this kind of an overlap. So the ones at the back will have a slightly darker color. Now, adding in some shadows for these acorns, again using the glazing technique, adding in a darker value and then just leaving it out like this. Also adding in some more shadows to the leaves here. So using an indigo to create that outline and then using a clean brush to just glaze it out. We repeat the same for all the leaves here. We are done. I hope you enjoyed this and learn something new about creating depth. And these leaves. This was a much greener project in comparison to the others that we've done so far. But I hope you liked it and you'll give it a try. See you in the next one. 11. Project 7 : Lights and Bokeh: Moving on to my favorite project in this class. So I'm a little biased to this one because this is one of the most detailed ones. As well as we get to play around with a lot of things, including the way light passes through the leaves and the bouquet pet. So I'm kind of biased this one. But I really enjoyed all the projects for that matter. But this was the most detailed one and I hope you'll enjoy this too. So I'll start with the sketching. It's got a bunch of leaves here. So again, be agreeing with BMI said I'm just adding them. A very light sketch. So I'm drawing a bunch of leaves so that we can later on with different colors in these leaves. And there'll be some light passing through a few of them. So trying to place them that way. Hi, add in one more leaf here. And we are done with the sketching part. So we'll get started with the color mixes. Painting the leaves. In this one, we're going to start with leaves first and then go around the background. Since the leaves are much lighter. So I'm applying some clean water here and then dropping in the yellow to blend. I'm using a warm yellow here that has a yellow medium. And trying to keep it in a way that towards the left, there's a bit of a lighter area because that's where the light is passing through these leaves. And towards the edge of the leaves, I have added the darker yellow, the same color, but a much more pigmented value. And while it's still wet, I'm dropping in the red again towards the edges and then letting it spread towards the center. Now, I want the left part to be where the light is passing through. So I'm using a clean brush to pick some color up from there. That it can be a slightly lighter color, lighter value. Adding a little bit more detail to the edges here and making them first. So we continue the same way with the other leaves. We have to take a little bit of care to not be in the air to simply is because the colors will bleed into each other. So since we want to keep each leaf individual, we'll paint them separately as well. So I'm trying to pick a leaf that is not connected to the one that we just painted. Using the scene yellow, red mix here. And again, going with a lead that is not connected to the ones that he painted. A similar orange yellow mix. The next leaf I'm going in with a crimson. So adding a slightly darker pigmented value. Painting it out. This time. As you can see, I'm not reading the Li, I'm trying to make it darker and more pigmented. So I'm going indirectly with the color, continuing to paint the other leaves in this set. So this bunch of leaves that you're going to paint with this darker color is going to help us with creating the contrast that is needed to show the flow of light. So as in any medium, when you try to paint light, you'll have to alternately create shadows or create darker spots so that it gets highlighted that way. So that's what we're trying to create here. So this bunch of leaves, much darker color as compared to the others that we painted. So we're going with a darker value here and walk around the other leaves to create that glow. Now, the first leaf that we painted is dry, so I can start working on the leaves that are connected to it around it. Again, for this time, I believes that are below from where the light is passing. I'm going in with a lighter color again. So I've used the yellow, orange mix and trying to keep the individuality of beliefs, trying to keep it separate. So here again, as the light is going to pass through the center, I'm trying to add the darker color at the edges. And again, this is the previous yellow layer that we painted is still wet, so just dropping in the red and let it blend. And the final small leaves. So for this again, I'm going in with a slightly darker orange-ish red color. And while all this dries quickly added the branches. Now lifting a little bit of color from here on small leaves that we painted. And then we'll let this dry completely before starting with the background. Once your paper is dry, we start with the background. For this, I'm going to again go in with a much darker color. So like I said, when we are trying to create this light effect, you'll have to add in the contrast as well. So here the background is going to be much darker. I'm trying to be a little bit careful around the leaves so that we let it retain the shape that we painted using a smaller brush and adding in the darker color here. Now, while painting this background again, you can play with the values starting with a lighter shade of green and then adding in darker green here. Also blues. And you're also going to experiment with the bouquet effect and this one. So kind of setting the stage for that. So again, around the leaves, I'm being extra careful. And then once that part is done, you can add the colors three. Now since we're doing this in batches, need to make sure that your colors stays wet. The edges have to be wet otherwise, you end up with harsh edges. And we are trying to create this bouquet effect in the backgrounds, but that we need the background to be well blended. Here. I'm just being a little careful around the branches and adding in the darker blue gene here onto the already wet clean layer. So notice that I keep going back to the patch that I previously painted. I'm trying to keep the edges wet. And once that part is done, we can let the blend happens to me. I did not fit the complete people because again, this is something I wanted it to be a dark background. So if we read the paper, it kind of lightens up the watercolor because you are lightening up the value. And I was trying to avoid that. I was trying to make sure that the background is much darker as compared to the leaves so that the glue. So we'll slowly continue painting the background this way. Being extra careful around the leaves and then adding in different values of green and blue. Now around leaves and the branches, I'm being careful while adding some darker values as well. So we try and mix a little bit of indigo to this so that we get a darker color. But you can see that from the BCS. As soon as you add a darker background like this, with a lot of greens and blues, can see that the leaves get light enough. So it's adding to that overall effect that's helping with the contrast. And that's why we went for a darker background in this project. So while it's still wet, I'll add in some darker shade of indigo and the indigo green mix. Slowly getting there. Since we did it in so many patches, can see that there's a lot of variation in the background already. So here I'm adding in the darker indigo to treat more contrast. Filling up these little gaps between the branches and the leaves. These can be darker because they are kind of in the background of leaves. Final patch at the top. Again, and let's careful around the branches. And then we can go all free flow. Again, I'm fixed the indigo but sap green and adding it in with a mix of values. Now we'll get started with creating the bouquet effect in the background. So for that, I'm using a clean brush and we read this circle with clean water, then use a tissue to pick it up or down. But you can see that we have lifted some color from there and it kind of leaves the base layer transparent. So we continue doing this. We use a clean brush, draw PNP circles with water, and then lift it up. Every time you do this, you'll have to make sure that you're using clean water again. So you'll have to clean your brush and then use clean water to do this. But you can see that beautiful spots coming up as soon as we do this. So for lifting again, you'll notice that when the layer is wet, it gives the soft kind of lift where the paint is still trying to seep into the area that we lifted. But when it is dry, you will see that it gives a very clear, harsh edge on the area that you have lifted. So trying to get that nice effect here. So part of it is completely dry now, the background, whereas part of it is wet. So you can see that we're getting different results in different patches because that's how we painted the background in the first place. So again, using the clean brush to draw the circle, then using a tissue to pick it up. Trying to pick a few more here. So every time you pick the color, you will have to clean the brush and then divert again. So you can see that in different patches that we lifted the way it got lifted and the color that is showing underneath is quite different. So some of them are lighter. Some of them still have that greenish yellow tinge. So it totally depends on the color as well as the paper as to how the lifting we'll work. Some colors are staining, so it's likely that they'll show up on the people. Whereas some colors get lifted super easy. And also it depends on the people because the people, some people can absorb the color repeatedly and you won't be able to lift my job. On the other hand, some people's give you some time to work through it and try out these effects, etc. So we could quickly do a few more of these. And then it's quite addicted. So again, I'd like to add some more depth to the background. So we will quickly add a darker color at the edges of the paper and glaze it true that it's a slightly darker color than what we have right now? Once you have applied the paint, you can use a clean brush to blend it and spread it out like this. We're done with this. So I let this dry. And in the meantime, I quickly add some details onto the leaves so that I'm using this darker crimson color and adding some beans onto beliefs. Also for these overlapping leaves, I added the shadows here. So since the light is passing through these leaves, once overlapping, would have a slightly darker patches shadow like this. Also adding a little bit more detail to this one. So adding the color at the edges and then spreading it out using glazing technique. Adding the veins on to the remaining leaves. So for the ones closer to the light, we want them to be lighter. So one way is to paint with a lighter value. Or you can paint with a slightly darker value and lifted up with a tissue or a brush. Continuing with the details on the leaves. Slowly painting out the beans here with a lighter value. Adding a final round of detailing onto the leaves. Done. I love how this turned out. I love slight glow on the leaves because of the light passing through. I left creating the bouquet effect here. And I really hope you also enjoyed this project as much as I did. And that you'll give a try. I will see you in the next section. 12. Thank You and beyond: And that's it. Thank you for joining me on this creative adventure. I had a blast shooting this class because Wall is my favorite season. And I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. And I hope that it will get these projects to try. If you do, please do upload them in the project section. I would love to see the magic you create. And if you are on social media, you can find me as factories e tutte le, on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I do have some specific boards on Pinterest dedicated to all things fall. So do check it out. And if you have a feedback positive or negative about this class, please do reach out to me and share your review. Your feedback really helps me create better classes, and I really appreciate it. And I hope to see you soon with another class. Until then, stay safe and keep painting.