Transcripts
1. Welcome: Hi everyone, I'm Julia. In this culture class, I will show you how to create some unique Christmas card while learning the basics of watercolor. I love creating my own card and Christmas cards. I think it's a really cute and loving present and really easy to create too. In this class, I will explain how watercolor works, and then we will go through the all process step-by-step. This class is totally beginner friendly. We will take inspiration from some gorgeous flower composition, and then I will guide you through some exercises that will help you gain confidence in painting your final piece. Today's project is really relaxing so you don't have to worry on how realistic the flowers will be. The most important thing is to get some Christmas spirit into our card and have fun. At the end of this class, you will be able to paint your own combination of flower for your card, and you will have gained much more confidence with brushstrokes, shapes, and the watercolor technique. You can apply this technique for any flower combination or to create any card, bookmark, or painting. Follow me in the next video and let's get started.
2. The Project: In this class, you will learn how to create a gorgeous Christmas card. I will start by guiding you on some watercolor basics, then we will gather some inspiration by flower composition. I will show you some example of different ways to play into your final card. Then I will go through some specific exercises for the type of flowers that you will see at the end. By going through the basics of watercolors and with a few exercises, you will see how easy it is to relax and to improve your painting skills. You can follow me in this step-by-step project or get creative and use any of the picture you like or get inspired by the Pinterest board I created for you. You will see that I will choose one reference picture. I will simplify all the elements, I will practice those elements, and then I will combine everything in one final thorough composition. You can upload your project into the projects section and I can't wait to see what you created. In the next class, I will go over the equipment that you need for this project.
3. Equipment: In this class, we will give you some information about the equipment that you will need and what I like to use. You will need some water color paper. For today's project, 100% cellulose paper would work. I'm going to use sulfur briano 300js end paper with 50% cotton that I cut in 16 by 22 centimeters squares. This paper is quite thick and it will not fold while painting. As for the brushes for today's project, you will only need two. Round number 4 and the round number 0. As for colors, I like to use bans or [inaudible]. If you want to buy just a couple of colors to experiment, you can buy an alizarin red, viridian green, and some cadmium yellow. Another option is to buy ultramarine blue instead of viridian green, and then mix the blue with the yellow to get the shade of green that you like the most. Then you will need two cups of water, one for cleaning the brush from the color and the other to collect clean water before painting with a new color, you will need a plate to mix the paint, and if you bought a set, then it will work well as a mixing area. Also, you will need some tape to secure your paper and cloth or a paper towel to collect excess water or correct mistakes. I also like to add some gold details, I'm going to use our gold ink pen. You will need a pencil to trace some guiding lines and then a razor. In the next lesson, I will start telling you how I like to use watercolor. I will see you there.
4. Watercolour Basics: I'm now going to prepare my colors. I wet the pen with that drop of water, and then I drag the color into my mixing area. To darken the color, I will add a drop of color from the opposite side of the color wheel. In this case, I will add some red to the green to make it darker. To lighten down the color, I will not use the white paint, but I will just add water, one drop at a time until I get the shade that I want. I always have with me a piece of scrap paper to test the colors. In the next class, I will go over the inspiration process, so I'll see you there.
5. Inspiration: To show you how to simplify flowers into easy brushstrokes, I chose some pictures from Shutterstock. The process I go through is choose a picture that inspires me, and separate all the different elements, and finally combined all these elements together. The shape of the red flowers is rounded with a dark circle in the middle, and I can easily represent this with a red circle and adding some really dark red in the middle. There are some eucalyptus leaves that I will simplify in this way, and then some red berries that are going to be small red dots, close to a dark line. I will have three elements to combine in our final compensation. Here there's another example. In this picture, there are some red roses that I will just simplify by doing some C shapes in a round shape. The branches here have little green leaves, and this green flower, I will just simplify it by drawing little lines in an oval shape and then adding a few more shorter lines blooming from the base of the flower. This is of course my interpretation. You can represent the flowers, the leaves, the battles, in which way you like the most. This last picture is the one that I'm going to use as a reference for the elements in my card. I will show you in detail how to practice to get confident with this beautiful watercolor flowers. You can apply this process to any flower you decide to paint. Also in the research set section, you can find out a Pinterest board that I created for you that you can use to be inspired for your flowers. In the next class, we will start painting with some exercises.
6. Excercise: Petals: The exercise that we're going to make are great to gain confidence with your brushes and the paint. If this is your first time using watercolors, I recommend you to follow me into this lesson, which is really relaxing and satisfying. If the palette is now dry, just wet the colors with a drop of water using your brush. When collecting the color with my brush, I try to shape the bristles to get a pointed tip. I start to paint a paper creating some waves. I start making a really thin line and then I push the middle part of the brush on the paper to create that thicker line. Then I will go back to a thin line by lifting the bristles. Repeat this exercise as much as you need until you're comfortable. Using this skill we just practice, we are going to create the shape of the petals. I will just start making a really thin line, then I will push the brush on the paper as I did before. Then I lift the bristles and this time I lift the brush. In this way I created the shape of the petal. My suggestion is to repeat these petals until you're comfortable until you're satisfied with the result. In the next lesson, there's another exercise and you will learn how to make really thin lines.
7. Exercise: Leaves: We will move on to the next exercise. Using a really thin brush and number 0, I would collect some green paint. I will now trace some thin lines in the paper to get used to the movement and to help my eyes and my end to coordinate and to create the closest lines I can. When I'm comfortable with this movement, I'll try to create thinner lines. If you feel tense or if your hand is shaking, just take a deep breathe and make sure that your hand and your arm are resting on the table. The more you practice, the easier it will be to paint these shapes and lines in the future. For the next part of this exercise, we are going to create pine leaves by simply adding small lines at each side of the main line. This small exercises are a great opportunity to practice with watercolor and improve your skills. You're now getting used to the movement and you're hand and your eyes are coordinating to create these shapes. You will see that painting your card at the end would be easier than you think. Now that we've practice with this exercise, we are ready and confident to paint our card so I'll see you in the next lesson.
8. Paint the Christmas Card: Before starting painting, I need to prepare my paper. I would lightly trace some lines that will help me out in the painting process. I make a small dot where the center of the flower would be, and then I will trace a light round to define where the petals end. I will then tape the paper onto my spot, leaving more or less the same distance in all the sides of the paper. Now, I'm ready to start painting. Keeping in mind what I did in the exercises, I will now paint my flower, starting from the middle of the flower and then building up the petals as I did before. I try and leave some white space here and there to make it more interesting. Once a flower is completed, I take a bit of green and I paint with it in the middle of the flower to get the darker shade. If I want to get the lighter shade of red, I will just dilute the color with water. To keep the color right, I will not use white paint but I will use the white of the paper and the transparency of watercolor paint to get the right of red. I always use two jars of water; using one jar to wash the brush and the other one to get clean water. I now add the leaves using the same process. If I want to get a darker green, I add attach of red paint. Keeping the exercise in and between line, I will add some pine leaves and some little branches. I take the brush number 0 for a very thin line. My suggestion is to try the color on a scrap piece paper to see if there's too much water on the bristles. In this way you will avoid thick lines and stains. With a cadmium yellow, I add some small dots to fill these spaces. In the next lesson, I will add the final details and then I will give you some more ideas.
9. Final Details and Other Ideas: With my gold ink pen, I will add some gold details. I like to add some reflection on the berries and some more pine leaves. Our Christmas card is completed. There are other versions of this card that you can create and they are great for Christmas. You can create tag for your presents or even a bookmark. A postcard is also a great idea, and I like to tape a section in the middle of the card so that I can write my Christmas wishes or the name.
10. Thank You!: Thank you for watching this class. I hope you found the exercises useful and relaxing and that you enjoyed painting your card. I encourage you to share your work into the project section and if you have any questions, just let me know. Thank you for joining me in this class and I'll see you next time.
Giulia D'Andrea, Illustrator - Artist
