Watercolor Galaxies - Learn to paint a dreamy night sky | Zaneena Nabeel | Skillshare
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Watercolor Galaxies - Learn to paint a dreamy night sky

teacher avatar Zaneena Nabeel, Top Teacher | Artist

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

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.

      Welcome to my Class :)

      1:20

    • 2.

      Art Supplies

      4:04

    • 3.

      Don't have Turquoise blue? Let's make it :)

      4:00

    • 4.

      A Quick look at what we are painting

      1:57

    • 5.

      Painting the Sky

      5:50

    • 6.

      Adding the Milkyway

      2:47

    • 7.

      Splattering the Stars

      3:07

    • 8.

      Adding the Reflections

      4:19

    • 9.

      Painting the Mountains

      3:25

    • 10.

      Peeling off the Masking tape

      1:40

    • 11.

      Thank you for joining :)

      0:50

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About This Class

Everyone loves to gaze at the stars, what about creating your own dreamy imaginative starry night using watercolors! 

In this class you’ll learn my process for painting a dreamy starry night using watercolors. Each and every material will specified for everyone to follow, the class will be suitable for beginner and a professional. 

Join me to create your own AURORA!

If you like this class, please leave a review that will help this class reach more students.

Happy Painting

Z :) 

Meet Your Teacher

Teacher Profile Image

Zaneena Nabeel

Top Teacher | Artist

Top Teacher

LINK TO THE CLASS - 30 Day Watercolor Challenge : Learn to Paint 30 Easy Winter Landscapes

Experience the joy of painting winter watercolor landscapes in this 30-day challenge.

Each day, discover the beauty of new techniques, color combinations, and helpful tips in just 20-25 minutes. These projects are designed to easily fit into your busy schedule, so consider joining us if you have some time to spare :)

I believe that everyone can paint, and I am sure we have all had the desire to paint something at one time or another. Painting has a healing, calming and transformative effect on us. It's less about the end result and more about the process and experience. If you have always wanted to paint, or if you'd like to start a creative routine, join me on this 30... See full profile

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Transcripts

1. Welcome to my Class :): everyone off was lost to gaze at the night sky. I think camping under a starry night and torching the night sky. Is there everyone's bucket list? How about painting such a nice guy off your own on that? Exactly what we're going to paint today. Hello, everyone. Michael, Journeyman a beauty. Galaxies are one off my most for everything to paint in particular. If you are following me on Instagram, you would know how much I love to paint them. Galaxies are my favorite subject of paint and teach. Ask for So today I'm gonna teach you how to paint a dreamy night sky. It is a quick 30 minutes class on. I have broken down the entire class into manageable steps, which makes it easy for anyone to full. All right, without anymore, do let's get started. 2. Art Supplies: Let's have a look at the materials that you will require to follow my class. So well, let's begin with the paper. Have my archers 1 40 l b. Which is a rough cream paper and it is 100% carton. This will be the people that I will be using. You can go with any paper which is a minimum All fun 40 l b To get the best results. Onda have taken a piece off people from this block. It is an A portrait manner. This will be though layout that will be working on today. And here I have my ceramic palette, which has three divisions. We'll be working with three main shades. That is why I went with this particular palette so that I have enough space to mix on each shade. It is a dream, the night sky. So the colors that we're gonna use our black that is the darkest own. Then I hope Russian blue. This is Bison earlier. I'm gonna squeeze out that onto my palate on After that we have dark eyes blue. If you don't have turquoise blue Turnberry, I have a section coming up next fair. I'm teaching how to make your own two cars. Prue, if you don't have one, it's gonna be a super dreamy blue sky. That's why I went with Depression, Lou. And it took ice blue. You can replace the clothes, a silverfish or passport the one start to have with you. It doesn't really matter which call those that you can follow. It is only the method and the procedure that matters more so cool with any colors that you have caught. The one I'm using here is from white knights allowed to guys blue, especially for water on those dreaming sky. So that is turquoise blue. The next year that I have a oppression blue this from sin earlier. I hope most off you will have Prussian blue. It is a common color, but you will have in all the basic cortical set. I'm adding a scratch off that. And then I have this ivory plaque. This is the doctor Stone that we're gonna use for other sky and also for the mountains will be using ivory black. All right, so those are the three shades that will be using mainly try and go with the similar shape that I'm using here to get the similar kind off drinking sky. Andi. Along with that, we need a white watercolor. This is 1/2 banned from white nights. That's all with the water close that it will need now to supply to the stars. I will be using a white wash. This one here is by Artista and it is from my basic are set. You can go with a click paint or Dr Beach Martin braid proofing. If you don't have any off this, even your whitewater color will book. So that was all about the colors and the particular people now coming onto the brush. These will be the two precious that I will be using throughout the class. You will need a wide wash brush to paint your sky and then you need Oh, smaller size fresh toe. Add in all the details and painter mountains. This is for splash by Princeton Buddha from the relevant touch cities. You don't need to have the exact same branded amusing here. Cope with any flat brush on medium sized one on. Then you need any medium to smaller sized around fresh to add in all the extraordinary tales. That's all you need on. That's all about the pressures. Now you will need two jars of water. One has to stay clean on the other one. A student's off the pain from your brush. It is very important to use clean water to blend in Ali Carlos, who has to get a cleaner looking colors. Otherwise, you will end up getting Mardy close if you're using dirty water. So it is very important to have two jars of water while you work with water colors so that you can separate the water that you use for rinsing the paint off from your brush on the water. That useful blending. Then you need to have a masking tape to mosque all the edges off your paper on you need a pencil on an eraser on last, but not the least. You will also need a people towel. All right, go grab all the materials and join me in my next video 3. Don't have Turquoise blue? Let's make it :): in the art supply section, I mentioned that we will be working but took eyes blue. But it's not a very common color and all the normal basic political asset. So here in this video, I'm going to teach you how to make your own turquoise blue, the one which you are seeing right here on the screen. That is from white nights. I'm just adding a scratch here so that we can compare the readily available turquoise blue with the one that will be making So we have our turquoise blue. I just apply the tonal boys showing the darkest and the lightest stone. So this one here is Sommelier Green. It is a bride yellowish green on. Then I have ultra marine blue. Now I'm gonna makes thes two colors together and see what kind of color that I'm getting. The color that I guard is not really a turquoise blue is a Turk, guys green sort of a shed. So the mix off these two colors doesn't really work well for a turquoise blue. But it it really works well for a took eyes green. This is the color. Never mind. Every failure is a lesson. Lawn so we learned how to make turkey eyes green. Now let's try and makes two other shades. This one here as Veridian queen. This one is a kind off common color and I hope you will have it. And now I'm gonna makes this color with Prussian blue again. That is one color that we are already using for our sky. This expression blue by senator here Now I'm gonna mix these two colors together and let's see what is the kind of color that I'm getting. I have taken equal amount off both a shade mix them together on Dhere is the result. It is somewhat closer to the turquoise blue. It is more or less similar to barber Turk eyes blue. So here is the finding you can makes viridian green and Prussian blue to get your turquoise blue. This is such a gorgeous shade it looks so close to the one which is readily available in the market. So you can try and play what different amounts of green and blue rather than mixing them an equal parts play with different ratios in one makes you can go. What more green on lesser blue on trying out the color that you're getting When you do that on also, maybe you can play work. Lesser blue and more green makes matters off H shade that you're getting by mixing different blues and greens. Aunt. Have a collection off. This way you can identify the kind of makes that you should be making when you need a particular Turk. Guys, green or blue. That one was ultra marine blue on sen earlier. Queen on We got it, guys screen instead of a took eyes blue. So we take away from this video as that you can make any green on blue to get different varieties after Kai's blue, you have to do with yourself to understand the kind of color that you're getting. So try and make all the possibilities of turquoise blue that you can make with your palate . This will help you later. That is so much visible from these factions that you guys blew that. We made us so much closer to the Born, which is readily available in the market. Andi could see we got a turquoise blue here and a Turk guys queen here we only used four brightest so green on blue on that Waas for your greedy and green I hope the spelling is right. Onda, We used Prussian blue. Those are the two shades we used to get our turquoise blue Give it a try on Jews er, turquoise blue and join me in my next video. 4. A Quick look at what we are painting: before we start. Let's how cook Look at what we're painting today. So here I have the finished painting and a piece of paper and you can also see the status of the colors that we're using. I took almost similar sized paper so that it is easy to understand the way of your composing. I'm starting to put a border. So we have that area right there at the top. Almost this much media. We will be painting any black, which is the darkest portion of the sky on after that. Almost. Oh, here we have brushing blue on these two colors will be blending it together and then we have two guys blew. This will be the darkest motion off to Christ that will be using. And we'll blend that together where it is meeting on almost still this much area, we will be using a lighter version off turquoise blue, just use water on bringing to a lighter tone. So that is for two will be doing at the center. And the same way. How we have in the top will be dividing the rest of the idea into two. And you will again have your guys blue and then trashing blue. So this is what we'll be doing. This is the kind of colors that will be using and the way they are blending them to care. They're starting with black on the top. Then we will come down to pressure in blue Andan Turk, eyes blue on at the center will have this lighter turquoise blue, and this is where we will be starting the mountains and then we'll take the mountain layer toward the town. So that's how we'll be composing our painting. You have a basic idea even before you start to paint. This is all what I wanted. All right, now let's start with the painting. 5. Painting the Sky: All right, we are going to start painting of a dreamy night sky. I have my beasts off people ready Here. I'm gonna begin by taping it down onto ablaze, using your masking tape. Mosque, the entire four sides applied formally. You can run your fingers across it to make it stronger so that there was no caps in between . If there's any captive what? I can see pinto and spoil your clean. And just so make sure your tape us formally fixed now moving on to the other side. I just fix this 80 on Don't forget to run. Neil singles across the tape to make a stronger. You can also use your ruler to do the same thing now onto the last site. Six in the tape and running my fingers across it on. Yes. All right, so my paper is fixed onto the base. And now that start applying the paint. This is my wash. Fresh by Princeton. I'm gonna apply and even goto water onto the paper. Just take the bigger brush that you have on, apply and even called the water. Make sure you're applying and even code. There's no pools of water in between which is needle knife shine a water on the people we're gonna do overturn red sky I just kept the palate closer to me so that you can see everything that I'm doing I kept my people travel also closer to me So now let's talk to paint. We have everything ready in there. We're going to picking by the doctors tool, which is black. So I'm taking enough off black on my wash brush. Andi, I'm gonna apply this on the top. Most line off our paper right here. Just apply it were there and now I'm gonna wash my brush. Clean it on the paper Talk will drama all the paint off from your brush Now go back to pressure loop on Now I'm applying the Prussian blue on blending the black and the Prussian blue together Now you can see there is a little of black Which got mixed on to eat fresh and cleaning that off washing on wiping it off The people travel going back with brushing blue adding the cleaner Prussian blue King I'm applying that we are going with the Grady in sky So it is good to use a flat brush My people has dried a little. Never mind. I'll just do it quickly cleaning my brush, wiping it off on the people Trouble now going toe two guys almost still hear I'm gonna add the Turk eyes blue. No, I'm adding the turquoise blue ki, blending the colors. You just need to take your brush across in a back and forth movement. The colors will automatically get blended in a nice way. After this line, I'm going to bring down the turquoise blue toe a lighter tone, so I'm taking my cleaner water on, then taking fresh clean water on my brush and then blending a down to the night of value. Go with the lighter tone. Almost more than three. Food off the paper key formed, repeating it. We just need a lighter turquoise blue, just a very light shade. Now come back with the taco. Two guys blew at that blend, the lighter and the Dakhil value together. Now, going back to Prussian blue and remaining off the area, I'll be filling up with Prussian blue. Now the task was to blend all these colors together. Battery. I'm going with a darker tone off oppression room because there isn't enough office. I'm adding that in removing the excess paint, wiping it off on the people, talk well again, trying to blend all these colors together. Keep on blending until you get a nice Grady and wash off all these colors on just a final touch up and be a turn. But the sky just blended together. We're quite happy with a blending just a little on the top. Yep, on we're done with the sky. Now let's go ahead and add the Milky Way. 6. Adding the Milkyway : we finished painting this guy. The next task is to add in the Milky Way. I'm using the smaller sized brush This assize number four Princeton Velvet Touch brush on a Whitewater Colotto are in the Milky Way. I just replaced my water. Tow a clean one. I'm taking a little of this paint on my brush on. I'm just grabbing that on the sky. Similarly, a tick, a little more off paint on. Just dab it on the sky and create a Milky Way kind of a pattern, if you notice my paper is not completely wet on, does not completely dry Aspar at a somewhere in between. I don't usually make my Milky way of, and my paper is completely right. When I do that, the painful kind of start spreading on it is little crazy to control the way the pain to spreading. You cannot how much control when the background us wet. So I always added, when my paper is kind off, 70% tried, so the restaurant a little room for blending, but it won't spread as that will spread on a wet background. Just grab your opinions and create a pattern you don't need to worry about the shower plant . Hundley Just the doesn't matter once be splattered the stars on top of foot. It all looks the same, so don't worry too much about the perfection. If you want a more dramatic Milky Way, you can add in more off white and create a much more broader pattern for you. Milk yui or again, Just add something like what I'm doing. I'm just starting on dinner streaks just worn and a little one on the top. If if we like your Milky Way has to be a little more softer, you can add a little water on blend the edges the chances that you may not be happy with the kind of milky way that you have got. In that case, you can take a little off any off the shade into turquoise or Prussian blue, and then you can just drop it around those Milky Way and make your will give me more softer and nicer. But as I said earlier, it doesn't really matter. Even if you're with giving is kind of shark looking, it is still OK. Once we splatter the stars on top of it, nothing really shoes so it was OK to leave it like that. But if you're a perfectionist, you can still make your pattern nicer by using water or light or tunes. All right, so that's about Sky and the Milky Way. Now let's go ahead and add some stars. 7. Splattering the Stars: If you have tried galaxy paintings before, you know, splattering the stars as one off the easiest and messiest part off painting our nights car on Dhere. We are doing the same thing. I'm using this wide quash from artists. It is part of the set which has 24 colors to mix the colors. I'm using this. Let I'm going to squeeze out a little off paint onto this, led directly from the tube before I start to splatter. I'm just hiding the slow proportion, which is my water on. I don't want any stars on that side. Just more of these things aside, I'm gonna take a tiny drop of water on going. Aren't that into this paint on time? Making a little loose? It certainly too watery. This is the kind of consistency that I'm working on. It has to be somewhere in between the loose on the concentrated paint. Be careful. It shouldn't be too watery or it shouldn't be too loose as well. It should be somewhere in the middle. Once you have the right consistency, they have toe. Take the paint on this smaller brush on just with heavier brush or pencil or any other objectives. Chaperone the smaller brush. Very have paint to create this platinums. This is what we're gonna continue throughout this clattering. Make sure your consistency is proper before you splatter the stars. Maybe you can try on a sample piece of paper and make sure it is not too watery. And you're not getting big splatters to get these kind of tiny little stars. Your consistency needs to be right. Give it to try on a sample is off paper first before you move to your main painting at asked. Meaning styles as you want. There is no rule. It is totally up to you. How many you want. I'm kind of obsessed with the stars and I never get done for them on that some more. Here on some more. Here, ask food. Maybe some at the top. There. I had that black dark sky. Looks like we have enough off stars. And there I think that's good to stop it there. Maybe one more tap. Okay, I decided to stop it There on. I'm gonna go back to this lead where I help paint on, and I'm gonna take that on my fresh on. I'm just hiding some tiny dots. So these are my bigger, bolder stars. You can added a trend on a dias as many as you want. Adding the stars is so much addictive. I feel that way because I never get done with them. I feel like keeping on adding more and more button it just need once plateau this point, your entire skies will be always careful on there We have Upper Sky, the Milky Way and the stars. 8. Adding the Reflections: So before going in with the mountains, I'm gonna add the reflection first. This way I have more control over the reflections. I'm taking my pencil on. I'm gonna draw some shapes here first on. Then I'll aren't the reflections. So I'm going with a shaped like this on the right side. I don't know if you are able to see it. Maybe once I finished, it'll be much more of the Sibyl. So I'm going with the shade like this. Once I finished, the side allowed similar kind of shape on the left side, Aspelin, The same way I'm adding some mountains. It's not really mountains just like a low lying land with the topography. Some of them are higher and some of them are lower. Anyway, I'm calling it mountains for the safer side. I'm just starting shapes like this. So if you noticed I'm not making my mountains maid at the centre. I'm leaving it as blank because I won't toe have that sky merging with the sea. Kind of an effect there. So I'm not making the meat. We have the outlining their now I'm going back to my wash brush Now I'm going to apply and even called the water, leaving the sky chest at the water area just already light called the water. Don't disturb the paper a lot. Give it a gentle touch you could see on the screen. You're not even seeing my We went to court. So you have to be that Jindal while doing this now, mix a little off black with the Prussian blue on Get an indigo sort of color. This is the kind of colored A to have to use for your shadows now. But that color it is a lie to tune that we're using. Add in the shadows like this as behind the outline off the mountains, which we drew already. It is much easier to add in the shadows. You don't need to really follow the shape of the mountains that have drawn. You just need to add some lines like this on because your background, despite it, will start so much and give you a nice effect, saying goes. On the left side, you could see the pain that we're adding as automatically blending into the water, giving it a nice effect. This is just because they applied out, even called a water there you might have drawn the shape of the mountains little differently or in the similar way. I don't know how you have drawn it. So however, you have drawn and just followed that lines and added reflection underneath those lines. Now I'm gonna clean my brush. I just washed my brush and I'm just wiping off the excess water on a people total and I have a clean brush. Now I'm just running my brush on top of the reflections to make it a little more small toe against the on the right side. I have little of chapel lines. I don't want that. I'm just taking my brush across those lines on just giving it a nicer cleaner. Look, be very gentle. You shouldn't be disturbing the base layers. Now I'm going with the Doc O Toole and just adding ah line there will be have that outline off the mountains. It was just a thin line will make it to pull word on ticker. At some places, you can make a bit more Ducker. You can see how this mountains are having an effect of them floating in the water. The shadows are so gentle on they have nicely blended into the water. So here's the trick. If if we like your shadows are looking very sharp, I run a clean called the water on top off. Your reflection on this will make everything looks motor. Now go ahead, ad in your reflections and I'll see you in the next video. 9. Painting the Mountains: and guess, world guys, we are at the last section off our dreamy night sky. We just need to paint the mountains on the that we will be done. First things first. Make sure your entire background has tried completely. I'm going with this round brush by Princeton. Does the size number four when I'm digging some paint on my brush on beginning by, drawing the outline off this mountain. Once you have your outline there than Philip, the entire section and black shade, you can repeat the same thing, but all the other little mountains hospital go in by adding the outline. First on When you have outlines in place, fill up the remaining area on black will be the same for all of the other mountains. Asphalt. Make sure the 1st 2 mountains the outline as very sharp and clean because that is the one which will keep a lot of them back to your sky and water. This two mountains will give a lot of glow to your painting as a tacit contrast to the lighter sky in the background. So just be a little careful while you draw the outlines for those two mountains all dry to be painted all the mountains. Now I'm gonna take the same quash which I was using for my stars. And I'm taking my smaller brush on dime, adding a thin line where about the mountain is touching the reflection It doesn't need to be from one end to the other end. It can be a smaller line. As for it doesn't need to run across the entire length of the mountain on, they added in the white lines, everywhere, underneath E mountains. Now I'm going with the same brush and I'm adding some white lines on top of the mountains. I'm going to repeat doing this for all of this little mountains there. This is just to give my mountains a bit more realistic. Look, because it was totally flat and black and color, we have to add some lighter tones on the top where the light of hitting the mountains so ardent some streaks like this on the top on all the mountains. Once you have done that, take a little of border on, blend it. So you have a lighter face on the top of the mountains and the rest off it will be darker. This is just to replicate the light Hitting the mountains don't make the lines too bold and sharp. If you feel like this bold and loud, just take a little water on, blend it and make it smoother. Andi, I have added ooze lighter face on all the mountains. So we are almost done. You see this 80 often border. I feel like having some stars will here. Congress is I'm just splattering some stars here. If you don't want against keep the step, it is not really needed. But I feel like it is nicer. If I had some stars over this darker area on that so dreamy night sky I hope you all in charge Painting this with me. Join my next video. Let's be off the masking tape and see How is it looking 10. Peeling off the Masking tape: peeling off the masking tape is quite easy, but tricky. At the same time, you have to do with the right way so as to prevent your people from ripping off on also to get clean a juice. So let's try killing off our masking tape. The easiest and the most commonly used way is to feel it all off. A 10 on Good oh, medicine tied a clean edge. There is a little off pain which got seeped in through that little gaps. Maybe I haven't fixed my masking t properly now mine to moving on to the next site, I hope. Decide when lead better. I'm just taking off my masking tape again. A tense ankle on looks fine to me. The tomato diet again for load to prevent your paper from dripping off us to apply, blow dry onto your baseball first and then being off your masking tape. This way it can loosen the glue off the masking tape, and it will again prevent your people from dropping off. And now on to the last side looks. This is all so much cleaner than the bottom line. All right, so looks clean on using a good quality paper also helps to an extent. But if that is not working, always blow. Try before you pin off your masking tape on. This is how our dreamy nights guy is looking. I'm quite happy with the outcome. 11. Thank you for joining :) : Hi again. I hope you all enjoyed painting with me. Oh, I have tried my best to make this class short and crisp. If you like this class, please leave a review. It will mean a lot to me. And also, if you're trying this dreamy night sky, please post them here in the frigid gallery on If you're posting them on to Instagram to attack me my handlers, Aurora by sea. I would love to re share your work on my stories. All right, thanks a lot for watching and happy painting.