Watercolor Basics: 30 Essential Watercolor Techniques You Need to Know

1. Introduction: Watercolors are amazing. The vibrant colors, the fluid movement, the meditative blends, and let's not forget those beautifully unpredictable textures are unlike any other medium. But understanding all the ways you can use watercolors to create expressive paintings doesn't come easily. So imagine if you could learn how to harness those unpredictable qualities in order to create your own stunning artwork. Hi there creative. My name is Shannon Lane. I'm an artist, a hund letterer, and a teacher here on Skillshare. In this class, I'll be sharing all the techniques that I wish I had known when I first started learning how to use watercolors from basic painting techniques like wet on wet and flat washes to more complex ones like blending, glazing, and even scumbling. Plus we'll also be experimenting with some household items like gauze and soap to create beautiful textures. Then we'll wrap up with a class project where you'll combine some of the techniques that you've learned to create a beautiful, expressive i fish painting. This class is perfect for all skill levels from beginners who are new to watercolor, but may be struggling with painting washes, blending, or creating textures to more advanced artists who want to experiment or refresh your skills. So if you're ready to dive into the wonderful world of watercolors, I'll see you in the first lesson. 2. Supplies: In this lesson, I'm going to share all the supplies that you will need for this class. Don't feel like you need to go gather all of these items right now because that can be a bit overwhelming. We are going to be experimenting a lot. So I would suggest that you wash the lessons before you attempt the exercises so you can get a good idea of the exact supplies you need for certain techniques in that particular lesson. Overall, the main supplies that you will need for all the lessons are watercolor paints. You can use whichever brand of high quality paints that you're comfortable with. Watercolor paper that is 300 GSM and cool press. You will need about three or four sheets of these because we'll be practicing 30 different techniques. Paint brushes, particularly some row brushes in a few sizes, as well as a large flat brush. A palette to makes your paint in Two jars of water, one for rinsing your brush out, and the other for picking up clean water to add to your paints or paper as needed. So paper towels to remove excess paint from your paper and your paint brush. Then for some lessons, you will need masking tape, mask in fluid, sketching supplies like a pencil, an erasor and a ruler. A heat gun to help you dry your water colors in between layers and some household items specifically for the lessons where we're trying different texture techniques. If at any time you don't have these exact materials I'm using, feel free to substitute or experiment with other materials that you may have at home or you can even skip that particular technique and just watch for the reactions and the results that I achieve. Once you gather your core supplies, you can divert into the next lesson because we'll be practicing some basic painting techniques. 3. Basic Painting Techniques : Well watercolor is an unpredictable medium. Learning the basic techniques of how to add paint to your paper can make it so much easier for you to get the results that you want when you approach a painting. I'll be showing you these techniques in real time. If you want to paint along with me, grab a sheet of watercolor paper and divide it into two columns and three rows. Then you'll need to mix your paint, and the mixture that you're using should have a consistency similar to liquid watercolor where it is watery but still very pigmented. Of course, test it out on a piece of scrap paper before you start these painting techniques. The first technique you need to know is the dry brush technique where you add paint onto dry watercolor paper with a almost dry paint brush. Dip your paint brush into the mixture and pick up some of that color. Then dap it onto a piece of paper towel to remove some of that paint. As you paint, you should get a scratchy effect that allows the texture of the paper to show through. I love using this technique to add texture, but I'm painting landscapes, especially to capture aves. The next technique is the bet on dry technique. Where you add paint onto dry paper with a paint brush. Start by beating your brush with clean water and be sure to drag it along the edge of your cup to get rid of any excess water. We want the brush to be damp but not dripping. Then pick up paint and paint onto your paper. This technique allows you to have control as the paint you add will remain in the area you put it and it will only move if you push it around with your paint brush. The next method of painting is the bat on at method where you add paint onto paper or with a pate brush. So you're going to start by wetting your paper with a p brush filled with water or a square bottle if you have one. As you're wet in your paper, you want to make sure that it doesn't have any puddles, but instead, the paper should look glossy. If you have water pooling in any areas to form puddles, you can use a paper towel to get rid of the excess water from your brush and use your brush to lift the water from the puddle. Once your paper is covered with water, you're going to pick up some of your color with your brush and add it into that wet area. I am painting the exact same strokes that I painted for the wet on dry technique, so you can see the difference in the effects. And you may also notice that as you paint the color bleeds into the water, and it doesn't stay exactly where you add it and it may also have some softer edges. So this technique, the only thing that you can really control is the initial area where you add your paint. Since the paints will pretty much go wherever they want within that wet area. 4. Lifting Techniques: Now that you know how to add paint onto your paper, I want to share a few techniques that you can use to remove paint from your paper. These techniques are very important to know, because they allow you to correct mistakes, create highlights, and give you a little bit more control when you're painting. The first method we can try is lifting from back paint with a paint brush. So paint a small section of color using the bat and technique. Then rinse out your brush and remove the excess water from it by dabbing it onto a piece of paper towel. Drag your paint brush where you want to remove the paint from. If you want to remove more paint, just dab that paint brush onto the paper towel to remove the color that you lifted and repeat those steps. You can also give this lifting technique a tray with the wet on wet method to see how different the results may be. Another way you can lift color is called blotting, paint a small section of color using the bet on dry technique. Then use a dry paper toll to lift color from the area you want. And just like the first lifting technique, you can give this with the wet on wet method as well. Now, I want to show you how you can lift color but the paint is completely dry. You're going to paint two sections of color using the wet and method and allow them to completely. You could use a heat gun if you need to to speed up the process. Use a red paint brush to add water to the area where you want your color to lift from. This help to reactivate your water color. Then dab your brush onto a piece of paper towel to remove some of that color you've lifted and just repeat those steps until you're happy with it. One thing to keep in mind is that some water colors will stay in your paper. While you may be able to lift some color, your paper won't go back to its natural white color. Okay. Then for your next section of color g to combine using the paint brush and the tissue to lift color. So vet your paint brush and paint it over the area you want to lift color from then use your paper towel to up that color. So that's it for some basic painting and lifting techniques that you should know. In the next lesson, you learn how to paint perfect watercolor washes with ease. 5. Watercolor Washes: The term watercolor wash refers to a method of applying paint across the paper surface in a smooth uncontrolled manner. Washes are often used as backgrounds or base layers and serve as a foundation for additional layers of paint to be added to. Learning how to paint basic watercolor washes will help you to create cohesive paintings with smooth transitions and vibrant even colors. I am using a new sheet of paper divided into three rows and four columns. The first and the most basic type of wash that you can create is a flat wash and it involves applying a smooth, even layer of color across the paper. To get started, load your paint brush with paint. Then you're going to use your brush to smoothly pull that color across the paper. When you notice that the brush is running out, pick up more color and add it to the section where you left off. Blend that new paint seamlessly into the previous set, then continue to move it across the paper in the left to right motion as you go down. As you are painting this wash, you want to have a small puddle, and this is what you'll be pulling downwards to make sure that your wash is even. If your paint is not moving to the bottom and it is puddling in the middle of your wash, you can tilt your papers so that gravity will help to pull the paint down. Yeah. When you reach the bottom of where you want your wash to end to get rid of that puddle of color, simply use a paper towel to take the paint from your brush, then lightly d that bright brush into the color and your brush should absorb the paint. Then you can remove the color using the paper towel and lightly brush across the bottom to smooth out any color. Then you're going to allow this paint to dry completely on a flat surface. The next wash we're going to try is a red red flat wash. The process is the same, but we're going to wet our paper with clean water before adding color. I'm using a large flat brush because it is just easier to bet larger areas with these brushes. And remember that when you're wet in your paper, you want it to be glossy without any puddles. Once your paper is bet, you're going to load your round brush with paint and add it to the paper starting in one corner, using that left to t motion to pull it across the paper. You're going to pick up more paint as needed and you can lift the paper if you need to help that color be pulled down a bit. Yeah. And when you reach the bottom, use your paper towel to help take the paint from your brush and then use that brush to remove any excess paint. The next wash we have is a graded wash. This is a variation of the flat wash where the color gradually transitions from dark to light or vice versa. You're going to start with your brush fully loaded with paints and add it to the top of your box. Then instead of reloading your brush with more paint, like you did for the flat wash, you're going to load it with water. Don't raise your brush completely just simply dip it in clean water, and this will remove some of the paint from the brush and also add water to the paint that remains and creates a diluted volume. And you're going to continue and instead of picking up paint, you're going to be picking up water each time. When you reach the bottom. You should be painting with clear water. So the bottom of this should be a very late value. Then you're going to allow this to dry completely on a flat surface. Again, if you need to get rid of any puddles at the bottom, just use a paper towel to take your water from your brush and use that y brush to get rid of your puddle. Then you're going to repeat this graded wash technique, but using the wet on wet method instead. Another type of wash that you can create is a variegated wash. This incorporates multiple colors within a single wash, creating a really fine and dynamic gradient effect. So you're going to start a flat wash with one color. Then rinse your brush and load it with a second color. The paint should have the same consistency in order to make sure that they blend smoothly. If one is too thick, you may have trouble getting it to move or if it is too watery, it could move around too much. Be sure to test out your colors and your mixes on a separate piece of scrap paper. Then I'm going to add my second color along the bottom of that first color. Your paints should try to blend on their own, but you can use your paint brush to smoothly blend them together using that left to right motion. And just continue to paint and pull down that color. If you want to add another color, simply rinse your brush and repeat those steps. Remember to tilt your paper to encourage your colors to flow down. Now with this wash, you really want to make sure that you're using colors that will blend nicely together and not turn into dark or muddy colors. Okay. And again, you can repeat this same technique using the on method to see how it turns out. Know that we've done some basic watercolor washes, it is no time to explore some blending and de techniques. 6. Blending and Layering Techniques: The first technique that I want to share with you is called feathering, and this is used to create soft delicate edges and transitions. This technique is very similar to what we did to create the graded wash. Start by simply applying some paint to your paper. While that paint is still t, use a clean brush to gently pull along the edge you want to be feathered. Blending is a technique used to seamlessly merge two or more colors together to create smooth transitions or gradients. Start by applying your paint onto your paper and while it is t, use the clean brush to add a little bit of water along the edge you want to blend. Then pick up your second color and add it next to that t edge. Then use a dump brush to pull those two colors together, working in small circular motions. If needed, you can also add more paints and continue blending until you achieve your desired effect. Glazing or layering is a technique used to build up layers of transparent color to create depth and intensity in your paintings. Use your paint brush to paint and transparent wash of color and allow it to. Then you're going to add another thin transparent layer on top. You will notice that this will change the value of the color of the layer underneath. For example, when I painted pink on pink, it became, but when that same color was painted over blue, it became purple. The next technique I want to share for layering is called scumbling. This is a dry brush technique used to create texture and visual interest in your painting. Load your brush with a small amount of paint and remove excess moisture by blocking it on a piece of paper towel, if necessary. Then you're going to add it to your paper and vary the pressure and direction of your brush strokes. Basically, all you're doing is scribbling with your paint brush. Then you're going to allow that paint to dry completely before repeating this step to add another layer of color. If your pain is wet, you won't be able to get the defined edges that really make this technique look beautiful. Because if your paint is wet, it will bleed and spread and create an abstract background of color. This technique is really great for foliage and adding texture to trees and bush and grass. As you are adding your layers, you're not trying to cover up the entire layer that you painted before because you want some of it to be visible. Rips and splatters are fun spontaneous watercolor techniques that can add layers, texture, movement, and visual interest to your paintings. I'd like to add these as the final layer to my pieces. Sometimes I add them to areas while I'm painting, and they are artists who also start their paintings with drips or splatters first. Before we start to do some spiders, you need to know that drips and spiders can get everywhere. So cover any areas that you don't want your spiders to go with a piece of scrap paper before you even start trying these techniques. To create fine splitters, pick up some paint with the bristles of your brush and then tap the handle of your paint brush. For larger splatters, you can use a dropper or a water brush to pick up some paint. Hold it above your paper and squeeze or tap to create large splatters. The further away you hold the dropper, the larger your splatters can turn out. To create drips, you can use a water brush or a dropper to squeeze paint onto your paper and then tilt that paper so the paint runs down and you can manipulate this a bit by moving your paper to create different paths for your paint to follow. You can even use your paintbrush to push paint around as well. That's it for blending and in, I hope you're ready to learn a few more fun experimental techniques that you can use to create textures because that's what the next lesson is all about. 7. Texture Techniques: These net techniques are fun ways to add textures to your washes. These are unpredictable and it will produce different results each time. Most of them can be achieved using household items, and as is going to make these even better. So once again, I'm using a new sheet of watercolor paper that I've divided into three rows and four columns. And inside each of these boxes, we're going to try a new technique. The first texture technique we're going to try is called dry brushing. This involves using a nearly dry brush to create textured and broken brush roll on dry paper. So paint your background in a flat wash of color and allow it to dry completely. Then mold your brush with paint and remove the excess moisture by blocking it onto a piece of paper towel. Apply that paint lightly and sparingly onto that dry paper, allowing that texture of the paper and the color that you painted the background to show through. Feel free to experiment with different breast sizes and pressures to create a variety of different textures and effects. This is a really, really great technique for creating wood texture for adding texture to the ocean. Even rocks, this is really great for bringing life into those objects. Blooms are created when you add water or wet paint into an area that has already started to dry. If you add wet paint, this causes the pigments to spread and create organic shapes. If you add water, the pigment is pushed away from the area where the water is added and the white of the paper will show. Start by applying a wash of watercolor paint to the paper and allowing it to partially dry until it is no longer shiny, but it still appears damp. Then load your brush with water or another color if you want to try with paint and drop it into that background. You can also tap your brush to as some splatters or even use a spray bottle with water. These will all produce different effects. I love using this technique when I'm painting galaxies to add a little bit more texture and color variation, or if I'm just creating an abstract background, this works really great for that. Tissue texture involves pressing a piece of paper towel or tissue onto wet paint to lift some of the pigment and create a soft texture effect. Apply whatever color you want and allow it to dry partially, then place your paper towel onto the color and lightly press it in before lifting it. As you will see, the pattern for the paper towel is transferred onto your color while some of that color being lifted to create a really cool effect. Scratching or scraping involves using a sharp tool such as a palette knife, an old credit card, a toothpick or even the end of your paint brush to scrape away some paint and expose your paper. Apply whatever color you want and allow it to dry a little bit. Then scrape or scratch away areas of paint, creating lines, textures and shapes. Not only can you experiment with different tools, but you can also try different pressure levels to create a variety of different effects. To get the salt texture, you're going to paint some color and allow it to dry a little bit. Then sprinkle some salt onto your damp paper. The saturation of your paper plays an important role in the amount of texture that you can achieve. If your paper is too wet, the salt will likely dissolve before it can produce texture. If your paper is too dry, you may not be able to see any texture at all. Different types of salt will also have different results, so you can experiment with finer grains of salt as well as larger coarse grains to see what happens. Then you need to make sure that your paper is completely dry before you use your fingers to brush it away. This usually takes quite a long time depending on the humidity where you live. For me, I usually have to leave things overnight when I use the salt texture because I find that the salt also pulls moisture from the ear and it leaves your paper damp, so you want to make sure it is completely dry before you brush away your salt. Mine isn't dry yet, so I'm just going to move on to the next technique. We are using rice, and this is very similar to the salt. So you're going to apply your color onto the paper. Then you're going to sprinkle some of that rice onto it. Unlike the salt, the rice is not something that will dissolve into the water if the paint is too wet. Instead, the rice will absorb that paint and give you a really cool texture once it is dried. 8. Texture Techniques pt2: To create the next texture, we're going to use some plastic. This can be plastic wrap or a plastic bike. You're going to paint some color and then apply that plastic onto your red paint to create a crinkled and irregular texture. You can also try this with foil paper, was paper or parchment paper to see the results you get. Then you're going to allow this to dry completely before removing it. This will also take a while to dry. So again, this is another one that you may need to leave over night. Don't be tempted to use a heat gun to speed this up because if you're using plastic, this will likely cause the plastic to melt instead. The next texture we're going to trace with alcohol. This involves applying alcohol, either isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol and this will create some interesting patterns and effects. After you've painted your paint onto the paper, dip a clean brush, even a cotton swab into alcohol, then apply it to your red paint. You can also pick up some with a dropper and squeeze it onto your background as well. The alcohol will repel the water color and create a very unique texture once it evaporates. Another pussol item that you can use to create texture is a sponge. So add some paint onto your sponge, or you can lightly dab that sponge into your paint and then stamp it onto your paper. You can also create texture with soap. In a small container, make some water and this so until you get some bubbles. I use some of my paint water that was purple so that you can see this a little bit better on camera, but you want to use some clean water when you're doing this technique. You're then going to paint your background in whatever color you want. Using your paint brush, you're going to pick up some of those bubbles and add it to your paint. You can also create texture with watercolor pencil shavings. So use an exacto knife or botcutter to scrape some color from your pencil point and onto a piece of paper. Then you can sprinkle those savings over your bed background and then allow this to dry and see the type of effect you'll get. The final thing we're going to use to create texture is gauze. So after playing your paint onto the paper, lay a piece of gauze over your painted area, press it down with your finger. You can leave this as it is and allow it too dry. Over you can even add some color on top of that gauze. Most of these textures will take quite a while to drain naturally. So you can leave this sheet of paper for a few hours or overnight and then come back and remove your salt, your rice, your plastic wrap, your gauze and see the effect that you get. 9. Resist Techniques: The final things we're going to look at are some resist techniques. So these are just techniques that will help you to preserve the whiteness of your paper in certain areas. So first thing I'm using is masking fluid. So if you're using maskin fluid, you should use an old brush, and you should also dip that into some salt water before you dip your brush into the masking fluid. This salt water acts as a barrier and just protects your bristles. So I'm just going to use the brush to draw a few shapes and a few areas that I want to remain white, you have to be very careful where you are applying this masking fluid and make sure you don't miss any spots. The next thing we're going to use is masking tape. You can also use washing tape or painter tape. Apply your tape to whatever area you want to remain white and then paint. After the paint is dried, you can then remove your tape. The final thing you can use is a white was creon or even an oil pastel if you have it. I've just used my oil pastel to draw a shape, and now we are going to start adding our color. For the masculine fluid, you need to make sure it is completely dry before you paint over it. Minus still hasn't dried as yet, so I'm not going to paint in that section as yet. As I was removing the mask in fluid, I did end up pulling some of my mad paint into the area that I wanted to remain white. Definitely make sure your paint is completely dry before you remove your mask in fluid. A few ways you can remove that is you can use your finger to rub it away or you can use any erasor to help you rub off that maskin fluid, or you can peel it up depending on how thick you applied it. If it is very thick, you may be able to hold it and lift it like you would tape. And to remove your tape, you can just lift it off. Now, you can see that this one, the paint completely see true, and that was because these weren't applied as properly as the first two pieces of tape. 10. Class Project: Paint Some Koi Fish: So now that you know all about adding paint to paper, creating textures, resist techniques. We're going to get started on our class project. So make sure that you download the sketch as well as the reference image, and you're going to sketch your design onto the watercolor paper. The areas that you see in on the reference sketch are the areas that will remain black in your painting, and the areas that are in gray, those will be in orange. The areas that remain white in the reference sketch are the areas that will be white in the final painting. Once you have your image sketch onto your paper, you can secure your paper onto your surface by taping the edges with some masking or washy tape. Then I'm going to start mixing my colors. The first color I'm starting with is a yellow orange color. This is called tangerine. I'm just going to use that to add my first layer of color to the orange section. The reason why I'm doing that is because we are going to be working in layers so that we can get a more vibrant, more intense orange color for our fish. I'm using a small paint brush to add that paint to the Range spots of the fish, using the wet on technique. Allow the paint to dry on that first layer and then choose a warm red color and mix it with some water and a little bit of that same color that you use for the first layer. Then you're going to paint that color over your first layer. As you paint, you should still be able to see some of the yellow from underneath showing. You can also add some of that red without mixing in yellow to it to a few places to add a little bit more contrast. A. To complete these orange spots, we're going to add a third layer. This time we're going to take that red and add a little bit of brown into it to make it darker. Be sure to test this on a piece of scrap paper to make sure it is dark enough before you add it to the fish. Add your color in sharp choppy brush strokes, and then use your paint brush with a little bit of water to blend the color into the background. Unlike the previous layer, you don't need to cover the entire orange spot. You're just adding a little bit of shattering. You can of course, look at the reference image to see where those darkest areas are and add your color there. Once you're finished painting those orange spots, allow the paint to dry completely because in the next lesson, we'll be painting the rest of the details on the oh. 11. Adding Details: Now, we're going to paint the spots on the fish. But instead of using straight from the pan, I'm going to use a blue and mix a small amount of into it. When you have the color that you want, use a small brush to carefully add those spots onto the fish. Yeah. To pad in the remaining ears on this fish, I'm actually going to use some gray and add a bit of water to it so that it is diluted. I'm also adding a little bit of that blue. And then I'm just going to paint in some of these white areas. If you look at the referenced image, there is very little pure white on these fish. It is kind of like more light grey. So I'm just going to try to mix that color again. We can test it out until you get the color looking who you want. And then I'm just going to go in and roughly add that color to a few areas. Now, I'm not covering in the entire a white spot. I'm going to use some water to help me blend the color into the paper and pain attention to the shadows that I can see on the reference image, and just making those areas a little bit darker by using a more saturated version of that grayish color. When you're finished adding in the gray paint to completely, and I'll see you in the next lesson, we paint the background. 12. Painting the Background : After you finish painting in those gray areas, your fish are complete. No, we're going to focus on painting the background. And this background is going to be a wet on very loose, very abstract background. So to avoid any bleeded color running into or from the fish, I'm going to use my gun to just make sure that this painting that we've already completed so far is completely dry before we move on to the backgrounds. Then for the background, I'm going to use a mixture of different shades of blue. Then I'm using that same small brush, and I'm going to paint along the outside edge of each of these fish. So after I add a line of color, I'm just going to pick up some water and blend the outer edge of the line. And I'm also going to be dropping in some color. And I'm just going to do this all around both of these fish. So once I finish painting all around the fish, I'm going to use a larger brush and add a lot of water to the background. When I see a lot of water, I'm not adding puddles. I'm just wetting the paper enough so that the paint can move around so the paper it's blossy and it doesn't have any puddles. I've added that water into the area next to the fish, and I'm just going to be dropping in and adding some colors just to create a really fun abstract watery background. Okay. And to pay attention to any areas where you already add color and appears to be drying it appears to be dry and just add some more paint to it or some water. You really don't want any of those harsh edges to form. We're trying to go for a cohesive background. Once you're happy with how those blues are looking, we're going to add some texture before it joys. So I've just picked up some clean water on my brush, I'm just going to top it lightly over some areas on the page. So wherever scatters of water landed, you're going to see that it pushes away some of the pigment and it's going to create a really fun texture. You can continue to add your blue any places that you feel needs to be darkened a bit. So I'm adding some of the blue directly from the pan. And just going along the edge of this first fish. Another fun way to add texture to this background is just to sprinkle some salt across it. So I have allowed the paint to dry into the paper just a little bit. And then I'm just going to add in some salt. And you can see that I have a puddle forming towards the bottom. I'm going to add a lot of salt there because that is going to help absorb some of that I've used fine salt as well as some thicker coarse table salt. Any type of salt that you have will work. Okay. So then going to use my size to brush to paint the outside of the other fish. I'm using the same technique where I add color and then I use water to just blend it into the other part of the background that we've painted already. Yeah. Once you finish adding that blue color around the fish with the fine brush, you can then switch to your larger brush and just add some water to get the paper a little more saturated. I'm just going to go back in with my different shades of blue and add the color all across this background. Once you've finished adding in that blue color, you can then add some more salt all across where you just painted just to help create that texture. And another way you can add texture is by using some white paint. We don't use white paint very often. Well, specifically, white water color, we don't use it very often when we're painting, we usually use the white of the paper. So I'd like to just pick up some of that white and add some splatters all across what we've just painted. If your white is a and a little more opaque, it's going to dry that way and you're going to see it. There are some white that when you add it, it's not going to be very visible. I'm not sure about this one, so I'm just experimenting. I've added some spiders, and I'm also going to add a few dots in some areas. And you can see in the areas where the paper is still wet, like the background, the white sort of just sprites into background and has a really fun texture. On top of the fish where I add the white is very dry. So it stays in place. Once you're finished, you're going to allow that to dry or you can use a hat gun to speed up the process. If you notice that there are any areas that have a visible harsh line, you can just add some paint on top of it and blend it into the background. To help smoothen the edge that you've just painted, you can use a paper towel to just dab it along that line, and it will just help the color fade into the background a lot easier. Once you're finished and your painting is completely dry, you can remove the tape because your painting is complete. Okay. And I hope you enjoyed painting this. I know I loved painting this. I've struggled with painting quite in the past, but I found that really taking my time and doing it in this way. It was very fun and I really liked how it turned out. Love all the fun texture in the background, I love the texture on the fish. 13. Wrap Up : Congratulations on making it to the end of this class. Together, we've explored painting and lifting techniques, watercolor washes, layering and blending, along with texture and resist techniques. I hope you enjoyed playing around and experimenting with your paints as much as I have. I'm very excited to see not only your class project, but also some of your experiments. So head to the projects and resources tab of this class, tap the Create Project button, upload an image of your ifish painting along with any other relevant information you want to include, and then click that published button. If you share your project on Instagram, you can tag me at By Shannon Lane, and don't forget to leave a review sharing your thoughts on this class. Be sure to follow me on my Skillshare page so you'll be the first to know about what I have coming up next. Now that you've mastered these 30 essential watercolor techniques. You can continue to build upon your watercolor skills with the next class in this watercolor basic series, all about color theory and mixing. In this class, you'll learn the basics of color theory, how to mix vibrant colors. Then we'll wrap up with a super fun class project, which not only uses everything we cover in that class, but it will also include some of the texture techniques from this class, so you don't want to miss it. If you have specific questions or want personalized guidance, that's where my one on one sessions come in. These sessions are perfect if you're looking to get feedback on your work, if you want to tackle challenges you've encountered. It is your time to ask anything you need to take your art to the next level. Thank you so much for joining me, and I'll see you soon.