Watercolor for beginners: 5 Ways to paint white | Maria Smirnova | Skillshare
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Watercolor for beginners: 5 Ways to paint white

teacher avatar Maria Smirnova, Watercolor artist

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Intro

      0:46

    • 2.

      Common way

      3:26

    • 3.

      Taking the color away

      4:45

    • 4.

      Masking

      6:18

    • 5.

      Pastel

      1:37

    • 6.

      Opaque materials

      2:23

    • 7.

      Bonus

      1:27

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About This Class

When we start discovering how to paint with watercolors, sometimes we have dark and toneless pictures turning out. One of the ways to make them more impressive is to bring some light into them. 

In many plots, radiant objects have white color and as watercolor is transparent medium, painting it can be really challenging!


If you’re a beginner in watercolors join the class and you will learn several different ways of making white you might use for your future paintings.

Meet Your Teacher

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Maria Smirnova

Watercolor artist

Top Teacher

Hello!

I'm Maria, a watercolor artist and instructor, currently based in Paris.

An electrical engineer in the past, I've changed my whole life chasing my dreams.

I draw and paint since I remember myself and the last several years were about practicing watercolor. I totally fell in love with this amazing material and it has become a big part of my life by now.

Almost every painting I've made is about light. It is all about something instant, flash slipping away.

I'm glad to share with you some techniques and tricks I use in my work!

See full profile

Level: Beginner

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Transcripts

1. Intro: Hi, everyone. I'm Maria being mostly self taught artist. I know for sure that learning how to play with water cars is not an easy thing sometimes. So in this, new media decided to give you some typical tips which might help you if you just begun to discover water cars and the wife color is on Janet. Today I had door creating series with the lines pictures with high contrast heiress, and the working process raises an issue how to bake. Why details and elements so in this class will find five different ways of making wide that you may apply for your future wanted babies join the class and enjoy Water brothers. 2. Common way: Let's look what options we have for drawing the white color by means of watercolor. It is Opus that the white ist we can receive is the color off the paper itself. Therefore, the first way ridiculous is to leave paper unpainted for this purpose. If somewhat elements are requires, we just keep this zones on, leave them unpainted, for example. At the same time, you certainly know that we can work with what I call differently very open. When I draw the shining objects like street lights or the sun, I choose one of two basic matters. The win number one, working on dry paper encircle the contour of the sun, and now it's possible to draw, for example, the sounds of sky around it. In that case, the solar disk will be very accurately outlines because the papers dry, see further if it's necessary. I can still add new colors, make the sky mawr expressive, but we won't pay too much attention here. Further, I cannot differently. I can take a moistened paper in this case with the some clean water I used for this purpose , a white brush and I moistened the surface of paper with it I will do the same. But this time I will begin to draw this song counter. Be widely then I would like to receive as a result, because the pain will flow within the culture. I give this up. I will make a color great and as well imitating the color of the sky. So now you see that it's possible to leave paper and painted differently, drawing it on dry or on wet techniques. 3. Taking the color away: Now let's see what to do in case we already put any pain player. But we need to receive the white collar for this purpose. Let's pain this area over with some color. Now we have the color wash here. What can we make? Well, first, it's possible to take a clean, damp, but not really wet brush. I rang out properly, and I can remove the excess color from the paper surface every time I need to wash and wring a brush out. Because if I once collected the bank here, it's still remains on my brush. Accordingly. If I go on doing it, color one be washed away. Therefore, while the paper isn't dry, I can raise to almost white, especially if I work on several less paper, depending on the big mons corals. In this, it is possible to turn papering toe white again. Also in the certain situations I can use a napkin and wipe it like this. It's also possible to try Next way. Let's pain over one more area. Perhaps you already faced the touch phenomenon when paper isn't dry yet, and we, by accident or on purpose, drop water on and them paint layer. Now I have clean water on my brush. When we added on paper, this water begins to push and move. Five. Baines, You see, these droplets are spreading. We can even wipe them a little more. Or on the contrary, and more water or even special former brush. We will get small dots off course. He doesn't yield absolutely white color result bands on the type of paper and pains and on other conditions. But person plots, for example, the falling snow. It can work quite well. Also, I can't mechanically expand this Florida, Or on the contrary, I can absorb the paint with dry brush have done in this case. I will remove the excess paid here to make it. Dr. Foster, Let's take a new color and paying over the new area. Now I need her there side of my brush. Look, it's seen and tough from plastic. Actually, any fled an elastic tip off. Anything will be suitable for this action. It maybe the angle of the plastic car that it can be painting knife or something else. The main idea is, um, this surface should be rather sharp and firm, while paper is a bit wet Aiken tear off the pain, which remained on the surface, pressing the brash edged to paper look So there. I want the brush, and I can repeat the action it is possible to draw. For example, grass blades or tweaks. It is important to watch how where your paper is. If pain is too, too wet and mobile, it can flow onto this trips. As it turned out. In this case, if paper in this place is already getting dry, then it turns out well, as here. If we don't wait to paper dries up them, we will receive here such dark stripes to receive white lines, we asked, crouching them on already almost red paper and want to do. If the pain is already absolutely dry. Way work on settlers paper, then we can try to wash it away, no matter what. Let's take a bit dumb brush and try to wash away at paint layer here. If our materials alone, I mean regency off a brush and the surface of paper, the paint will be sometimes washed away, such, and the fact will be hardly possible on cotton paper. Keep it in mind because after drying the pain is talking to depth off cotton paper 4. Masking: to show you our next method. I need the masking liquid. They can be with different release form on different manufacturers. In my case, it's a small bottle with some liquid in it. Now, by means of aid will reserve why there is off paper for the future. For this purpose, I will use an all spare brush. I moistened it with water and in order to protect somehow I will rob. It's also it won't let the liquid to get second fibers. If you use the liquid, only then your brush will become useless really quickly. It's possible to gain our master liquid now with a soft brush. Um, now implying the liquid for those zones. I want to leave untouched. I will draw Florence. It's tinted. You see a little greenish, Um, Therefore, I see them paper and I can quietly prepare. Withdrawing for myself this way is the best for making small details that will prepare the drawing also here, and I let it dry after I finished working with the brush. It's important to clean it as soon as possible, because otherwise the brush room blew up and will be spoiled. You see, the drawing is ready here. Now it's necessary to wait, while right now when everything dries, I can start drawing directly on the reserve. You see where the liquid is applied. The pain doesn't lay at all. It allows to draw difficult backgrounds without thinking off small details. Trays drawing. I won't need to skip each dot. It's possible to focus on beautiful feeling. Now I will finish this piece. Also this way can be useful for a large number of lines, Like in this picture, it's clear that in such applause it would be difficult to paint around each tribe. If any separate details could be traced than in this case, it's better to take the masculine quit it let us do. For example, complicated background adds to add a drop of water or something else. And then we need to wait, feels completely dry, and then we'll remove the reserving cover up. It's possible to remove the mask differently. First accurately tried to remove it with your nail wondering movie cover up. You see, uh, there is unpainted area or white paper. I'll remove now here from all the parts goes easily, or it's also possible to use in the razor it. Let us remove the mask from papers. Well, come together, for instance, such a spider lines. I think that you notice this that this way doesn't really work for drawing some lines. Even where I tried my best to make lines thin, it was different from what I wanted. After unmasking, you can draw on these and masked white layer on paper. By the way, here you could not is one more weight off white paper is oration, namely by means of paper tape when we remove it paper under. It also remains white, but be careful. Sometimes the tapes digs tightly and tears off a part of paper, especially concerns the silliest paper with a smooth surface. 5. Pastel: in this part, I will show you the fourth way for this purpose. The bass still on an oil or wax phases is suitable here. I will use oil. Best tell, uh, as you can see, it's white. If I applied, I will also reserve paper under it. Now it's not visible because the past those white. But we'll see that later. I'll draw a couple of stripes here. Now I take the pains and look how it turns out in the place where I applied. The fatso pain doesn't lay because often oil basis. Whether doesn't get there on their strives and gleams here. I even tried to draw for three. But I think you understand that touching method is hardly suitable for a specific civilization. 6. Opaque materials: Let's see how else we can work with the white color for this purpose. It's made this phone stuck, maybe even doctor here. And let's find out what we can alternatively do. If previous methods don't see this, well, then the paper is practical dry. One of the ways is to try again to use the best off, which can be applied over the dried pain as well. I can take the planes. Likewise. In this particular case, I will take the wash. I'll squeeze it out a little, uh, here, in order you deceived slightly. I washing away with brush, but not intensely. I need to see faint like kind of a face consistence. Essentially, it can be applied over the dark thing. It's important to understand in this case, though, we get white spots, but officially it won't be the same white collar. Relatively two papers white light will be reflected differently from the surface of paper and from the surface of whitebait, Wash can even have a yellowish shape. Therefore, I wouldn't use opaque white paint to draw some large white areas. You probably mad this method before it's often used for drawing the star sky or the policies. Now we also take this dif paint and afraid, or it's impossible to try to trade something. The main idea here, the faint should be there. Okay. And we get here. Such stars splashed everywhere. 7. Bonus: well. And finally what about what watercolor Generally the paint layer after it remains transparent, so it's impossible to draw wide object. So what is it for them for obtaining special shapes? I will take here such a clean being shaped and now I will mix it with a little white water color. And now the color of pain and its structure are changing. Is getting dancer and acquiring such a cream wiser shape, even if now I will add rather look our total car one become dark anyway, Just reach on the dance color. Well, a little girlish, though it works the same for all the other callers from the blue were fastening into such a pleasant sky blue or pale blue shade. By the way, there are ready pains, which already complained the white pigment in the structure. They have a covering properties, too. Um, here, for example, I have these kind of blue. Consequently, don't hesitate to try things out with mixing off the transparent and covering colors. Human get unexpected pleasant shades