Transcripts
1. Intro: How do you create a unique artwork? Are there any ways to add personality and original touches that look less like your influences? If you paint with watercolors, you've probably asked this questions before. If it sounds familiar, this class is for you. My name is Anna, and I'm award-winning artist based in Berlin. I am also one of the top teachers here on Skillshare. I worked in mixed media and combine various painting techniques in my professional work, this approach helped me land amazing collaborations with clients like Netflix, and Amazon, or Java. Today, I'm going to show you my favorite effects that can take your artwork to the next level. We're standing now in the magnificent city of Dresden. So we'll get inspired by the wonders of the old town. I'll also share with you some of my favorite books. There is no need to buy anything specific for this class. We'll use forks, salt, pencils, of course, some specialty paint. I'll walk you through two full demonstrations. This class is aimed at all levels. If you're a beginner, you're very welcome. You'll be able to use some tips right away. If you're more advanced, you'll enjoy painting with me some more complicated artworks. By the end of the class, you'll master new facts that you can add to your creative arsenal. Of course, share your class project with us. Post your artwork in the project gallery before the end of the month for a chance to win a one year of Skillshare premium membership. So prepare your watercolors, and let's get started.
2. Inspiration: Dresden: We're standing now near the Zwinger and Opera house. It's an amazing ensemble of Baroque architecture. I think you might seen it in some movies. It's one of the world's most famous buildings. There is also a legendary Old Masters Picture Gallery right over there. A prototype to the many museums in Europe that we know today. It displays some incredible treasures like Sistine Madonna by Raphael. So I get a sketchbook with me, a travel watercolor set, and I will collect some impressions and then we'll work with these inspirations in my studio.
3. Inspiration: Books: If you've seen my other classes, you know that I have a menu obsession with books. Most of them are not so small unfortunately. This one is a sketch book by one of my favorite artists, William Turner. I would love to show you a selection of watercolor artworks by Turner and other amazing artists. Welcome to the studio, and here's a tiny pile of my books. I want to show you that water colors can be used in all the genres. For example, this amazing artifact, it's so-called the Wilson's sketchbook. It marks an important stage in the development of Turner's practice. It includes artworks and knows from his tour of the North of England. The play of light and shadow is just incredible. There are signs of famous landscapes, moonlights, sketches, mark-making. The atmosphere is magical. Of course, he didn't finish the paintings on sport. This was for the wintertime to work in the studio. Since the winter is coming we can follow his advice. The next book is dedicated to William Morris. I'm sure you've heard of this legendary figure. It's amazing how watercolors can be implied in so many ways. For example, on this wallpaper, we can see the marks of colored pencil, soft washes. Here is some mark making on toned paper. So many things that can be applied for modern art. William Morris created beautiful textile and decoration in arts and crafts movement. He also was involved in publishing and was a poet. Here are some book decorations. I really love how this way of painting leaves the septal intricate backgrounds. It's time for the next book, and here it comes. It's my favorite book illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, what a coincidence? It's called East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon. Right away we can see the beautiful effect on black backgrounds. It's a gift edition. Right from the first pages, we can find wonderful watercolor effects. The golden circles created with special to paint. We will use this technique too. Some are enamines and washes. This book is in the region fairy tale. It's illustrated by Kay Nielsen. You can find it in various editions. There are so many beautiful effects. Walks resist for painting water is a great way to paint illustrated graphic style. Here's also the stars effect. We will use it too on the darker background, it looks very effective. Of course, the colored wash on the background, I use it a lot. I hope you feel inspired. Let's check out the materials we will use.
4. Materials: Don't be afraid. You don't need all these materials, but I want to show you a lot of effects. First of all, watercolors. I'll use [inaudible] pens and in various tubes, specialty paints with shimmering effect and pearlescent properties. Brushes, I usually use round synthetic brushes. These are number 3 and number 6. I changed them a lot. A mop brush, aka French brush. It holds a lot of water, so any similar brush will do. I really love the way it holds a lot of paint. Of course, the flat wash brush to put some water on the paper and make wide strokes, you can use any size. Now comes more interesting part and a bit more unexpected. This is citric acid. I bought it in the grocery store is super inexpensive and you'll be amazed by the effects we can get with it. Salt, this one you were expecting. I'll use sea salt and flakes, but of course, you can use anything. I just bought it because of the packaging. We are not surprised, we will explore it too. I will show the effect of granulation spray and that's the only thing of this sort I buy in our supply stores, it imitates the properties of the pigment. I also have a spray with clear water. You can use a cosmetic bottle for that. Alcohol, I got mine in pharmacies, so it's not super strong. You can try various types and see how it works. The principal will be the same. So what's next? Watercolor pencils. It's a special type of pencil or medium that can be mixed with water. You can combine drawing and painting. We will see how it works in the next demos. This is interesting, a charcoal. It's a soft charcoal pencil. You've seen it before and it's something you probably didn't see, it's a liquid charcoal. It looks like watercolor, but it has very different properties. I'll show you how it works in the demo. What's next? Wax and oil pastels. These sticks are wax-based and it's great for masking and mark-making. I'll use blue and orange. Well, you will see the effect is really wonderful. This white wax chalk I use most of the time to work on the background and other effects. What else do I have? Acrylic marker, it's white, it's opaque. It should be opaque enough to cover the dark paint the same way you can use the white pen. The sponge, to add another effect. Cutting knife, it's really good to have one. Be careful to close it. It's a very dangerous tool. Masking tape and of course the paper. Most of the time, I'll work on watercolor cotton paper. But for specialty paint with shimmering and iridescent effects, I'll use black watercolor paper. It's two-sided and you will see how the color shines on it. I will also show you my favorite tan-toned watercolor paper. This one, also for the specialty paint. I think we're ready to get started, can't wait.
5. Splatter: Let me show you the artwork I did for Netflix series called Aggretsuko. You see the starry skies full of marks and dot's in irregular manner. This painting was also printed in the magazine and all the dots and marks up perfectly reproduced. This is something important to keep in mind, if you work professionally or just if you want to print your art on paper, on fabric. Keep that in mind when you choose the technique. Better or flick effect, it's playful energy to your work. Let's see how splatter works. Of course, you can use it on dry paper, but it's very effective when two pigments are combined together. I plan to put a bit of indigo first. You can actually use any dark intensive color but the pigments will look very effective in the combination of indigo and lemon yellow. Let me put a darker mix maybe Prussian blue doesn't matter that much. I just wanted to have the dark, dark, dark mix. While the paper is still wet, I take a bit of lemon yellow. You can see it here. A lot of water and splatter it like so. With lemon yellow, I create the random paint blobs right on paper without actually touching the paint. The size of blobs depends on the brush. For example, you can put some paint on a toothbrush, and make a splatter of very fine blobs. You can also lift up the paint. The way lemony yellow reacts, allows you to lift up the paint easily. Let's try another color. This is a very intense orange and I will add a bit of purple. Wow, that's a beautiful effect right away. This can work as a wonderful background. Of course, you can use it on dry paper like so. Like actually I did in Aggretsuko artwork. It's great to use it with white goulash. I can use it for trees, abstract painting, and literally anything to add dynamics. You can also try different types of brushes, for example, fan brush. The result will look different, of course. By the way, Aggretsuko is a charming character. She's an anthropomorphic red panda who loves death metal. I had a lot of fun working on that collaboration. I've changed the sheet too. I'm telling you this. I will put some clear water and see how splatter works without any color on the background. Let's prepare the surface. You can use any brushes, it just doesn't matter. You can spray it with clear water. I'll take some bright red, and the magic is happening in an instant. This can be a perfect background for any poster or scenery, seascape, almost anything. Now I want to show you another color combination. It should be muted, but not that much. I'll put some violet a bit more. This color is pretty much transparent here, so I need to put more to get the impression. Then I want to work with lemon yellow on top, but first, I think it's too light. Some more blobs, it's not that scary. I can remove them, but we don't care at this stage. Lemon yellow, beautiful muted effect. It's a texture of mimosa field in the night. There are so many ways to use this effect. Join me in the next video to discover what's next.
6. Citric Acid: For the next effect, you'll have to visit a grocery store to find this secret ingredient, citric acid. I'm almost sure you haven't tried it before. Let's take a look at what can be done with it. Here it is. Okay. Here we go. I will work with ultramarine. I have this wonderful set of blue paints and there are three types of ultramarines. It's a great tip to spray the paint first if you use pens. It will crash it up and it will be ready right away. The first one is ultramarine dark, which is actually the closest to usual ultramarine you'll probably have in your set. So I put large strokes and some more. The next one is going to be a bit lighter. The first one is ready. I think it should be darker. That's right. It's enough. It's hard to stop. I really love the blue color if you know my style of work. So the next one is ultramarine light. You can see it's a bit lighter. We will try it right here. The third one is ultramarine reddish. It looks a bit like violet, but still it's an ultramarine. Here it is. Now, quickly while the paint is still wet, I furiously open the packaging and we'll add the citric acid to the paper right away. Come on. It's like a witch's brew or like you salt some dishes. Okay, I put that chaotically here and there. It's not scary to use your fingers. So the witch's brew, secrets, spells, and all this is happening. You can see the reaction, especially on the red ultramarine. It happens really fast. It's like sugar crystals. You start noticing the chemical reaction and it begins with a very specific smell. So be careful. My husband didn't like it at all. I put a bit on the edges. Looks like it's snowing. It looks like snow. I grew up in St. Petersburg which is in Russia. So the snowy patterns are very, very close to my heart. Citric acid exists in variety of fruits and vegetables. It can be found in lemons and limes. Now we just have to wait and see the reaction. If you leave it for the few hours, you will notice that the citric acid will actually remove the pigment completely. It's not something you want for your work, I think. But a few sprinkles here and there will make a wonderful effect. I really hope you love this new secret. Now we can move on. There is still so much more to explore. Join me in the next videos and we will discover even more beauty.
7. Using Salt: Looks like we're not done with grocery store yet. For the next technique, we will need salt. The creative use of salt can add fantastic textures and make your artwork truly unique. Let's see how it works. Welcome back to the studio and here is my Arctic sea salt. I admit once again, I bought this one because of the packaging, and it happens pretty often to me, but seriously, you can use any salt. It will work anyway. I'll freshen up the paint a bit before we begin. I just want to show you a special effect I accidentally found out. I put the first layer of Naples yellow. This color is so universal. If you work on landscapes, you use it a lot for the skies with cobalt blue. This is wonderful color with amazing properties. I put the first layer and then we'll let it dry. If probably used salt before, well this effect is a bit special. I really love the way it turns out. The first layer is ready, it's thick enough and I will let it dry. You can use hairdryer or just wait for awhile, depends on how much time you have. We're all very busy. Now I will add a thick layer of indigo on top. I think for now we need to replace it with another pen. I use so much. Partly, it picks up the initial layer creating a beautiful hue. I need to add more and more pigment on top. You can try some other dark colors like dark ultra marine. Almost anything, some oxides. It depends on the effect you want to achieve. I still have a piece of Naples yellow on the left just not to forget that we have it as a first layer. It's almost enough, very rich here. It doesn't have to be smooth. I have a bit of grandeur feel here. It's wet. It's time for the salt. Put some crystals here and there. You can see the instant reaction. Since we've put a yellow layer underneath indigo, it resulted in beautiful glowing. You can see the way it shines through. When using just one layer and salt, you won't get this amazing gradient and the magical depths and feel of watercolor. If you add salt on the artwork, make sure it's totally dry before doing anything else. It takes a lot of time. Actually, it can be overnight or even longer. You will see a stunning effect but after a while. There is no reason to rush this process. I also wouldn't use a hair drier here. While the surface is still wet, you can add other colors or even combine effects like adding citric acid from the previous video or something else. Well, I know some artists like to use bleach as watercolor effect but honestly, I don't like how it feels and I don't feel comfortable having it on my studio table. Salt makes a great companion for me. I can patiently wait and see how the surface is changing. I think you can see it in the video. Of course, in reality it's even more intense. After the salt dries completely, carefully, carefully remove it from the paper. But please don't rush. Wait for the right time. Meanwhile, join me in the next video to explore another household item. Well, you will be impressed by the way it can work.
8. Rubbing Alcohol: Welcome back. I'll use this beautiful tube of Payne's gray. This color is charming and mine consists of three pigments. Yours can be a bit different, but it doesn't matter. Also rubbing alcohol. Depending on where you live, it can be called surgical spirit or ethanol. You can use any type. I put some paint in the palette, and I plan to put it on paper. This color is so mesmerizing. I really love the combination of three various pigments in this muted tone. I prepare the surface, the background, and then I will put a few drops of alcohol on top right from the bottle. Let me show you. This is going to happen. Voila, it's happening. Beautiful effect right away. A few drops. The reaction happens in a second. A few drops here. We may add a few drops near edges and group them together. This can be a great background for a grungy poster or maybe a science fiction book cover or artwork. The strong reaction happens only when the paint is wet. Like here on top, you see it's pretty dry, so it doesn't react so well. You can try various pigments and discover new versions. I'm sure you'll find out something beautiful. About the William Payne artist, he is famous for using special watercolor techniques and atmospheric effects in his work, especially for landscapes and foliage, so we're on the right track. I'm really happy that I could show you this outer space effect. It's getting dry, so no more. Well, just a little reaction. Now you can join me in the next video. We will work with another unusual medium for watercolors. We will combine watercolor pencils with wet paint. This is going to be also very interesting. Well, let's go and I'll see you there.
9. Watercolor Pencils: Welcome back. Meet our all-new friends, watercolor pencil. Usually, they have a drop or other indication that they are water-soluble and a cutting knife. How can these new friends help us? This media works like a normal pencil. You can just sketch with it, use the usual crosshatching, like a usual pencil. It just looks a bit smaller. You can loosen up but if you add water, it behaves like watercolor. Of course, it's not that intense and it can easily be lightened up with more water. Well, some artists love it some artists hate it. I use it only for small parts of the work which I'll actually show you. Let's try another thing. It's more difficult to blend watercolor pencils together. You can try and it will look like this. It's harder to blend in any form but still, it's possible, and Here is how the gradient will look like. We add water and create a smooth gradient. Color lightens and here's the transition. By the way, I'm using the really good professional quality pencils so it plays a role too. Almost like watercolor, but not that intense. I want to show you fun and playful effect. I'm going to paint a blue circle, not concerned with accuracy. Well, it's blue because I have a blue eye pencil and I want to show you the way you can apply it. It's a blue circle, nothing special. I work on the hot press paper so there is no texture. That's enough, just a circle, not necessarily circle actually, anything. I have a blue pencil somewhere here. It's almost the same hue. With a cutting knife, I scrape away the tip of the pencil right on paper. The small particles react right away creating unusual effect. This works great for sketchbooks, some oval sketching, and textures of the buildings. Now the unusual urban atmospheric sceneries and trying contrast color, yellow works as a contrast almost on any other color. I have just a few watercolor pencils so I didn't buy any set or something. I think white can be helpful. Let's see. That's right, that's a nice effect you can use for snow. I also have this dark carmine. That's a nice effect. I think we should try one more color. I will use yellow. By the way, if you are working with water over watercolor pencil, the wash will now be as clear. The small part of pencil will still be visible. These particles are never dissolved completely. Let's try contrast. It's scattered and dependent on the paper. Sometimes it bleeds a bit so you can get very unexpected happy accidents. You can try different papers and see yourself. Now I want to show you the most practical effect that I'm actually using for my work. Let's draw some autumn leaves, just a simple leaf with a French brush. Something like this very, very simple. That's right. The paint is still wet and I take the watercolor pencil of the same hue to add details, look. A few lines here and here, in a very loose manner. The edges of the lines become a bit blurry because of the water and I really love how it looks like. It works with any color combination and children's book illustrators love to work with colored pencils. It's great for sketching, you can use craft knife and your incense paper and sharpener. Now I think we are ready to move forward to the next video and learn about restricting spread.
10. Restricting Spread: Welcome back, don't be surprised. Let me introduce you to my recent gallery of work. To paint this imaginative tiger, I've used a restricting spread technique. You can see the patterns of your face here and here, the spread of the washes and lines making an intricate texture and marking. This method is generally called a separated wash. The properties of some pigments react in particular way. For example, one pigment restricts the spread of another, and it allows us to create this beautiful effects I've used here. Let me show you the example. Yes, it will remind of tiger too. I thoroughly mix Naples yellow. You can see it right here. It's almost like my favorite color these days. Naples yellow with cadmium orange. Please notice that the choice of the colors is not random. It's based on the color properties. I'll refresh it a bit. The mix of Naples yellow and cadmium orange. This will look like a tiger for sure, on the one. I've been painting though. A bit more orange. The mix is ready. Wonderful color. As a contrast to this color, I will use sepia brown. It's also called Van Dyke brown sometimes. You will have it in your set for sure. Even very tiny watercolor set has sepia. We won't need much, just a tiny bit. Let's test it on the palate. It's enough, and let's put the first line. It's working, it doesn't spread. You can actually control the lines, thin lines or very, very fine ones. You can even make tiger-like markings like so. Now you know why it's great for painting animals. I'm sure you're already imagining the one you are going to paint. Now you know the fluffy secret technique, and we can move forward to learn more about other effects.
11. Sponge & Templates: In this video, we won't use any brushes and the black paint directly on paper. Natural spawners are ideal to create textures. They can look like this or like this. We'll use the natural sponge in the next video to lift up the paint and soften the edges. In this one, we'll focus on the stamp and see what effects we can achieve. I've sketched the letter and yes, it's A and yes, it's because of my name. This is a beautiful leather with a Gothic feel, and I wanted to make a template out of it to cut it out from the paper and I did make it. That's right. I have this beautiful Gothic letter as a template now. Then I thought it looks too neat and perfect. Why not tear some edges, and I did it too. These both letters are made from thick paper and will work as templates to protect the areas of the working surface. It looks like a collage. I'll use this Balesin watercolors, I spread them with water first, so it takes around three minutes for pigment to activate and a bit of flair that diluted in water. I take this sponge, dub it in the wash to see what happens. There is enough color and let's test it on paper. Right here is watercolor paper of course. This is nice but it can be even better. Let's remove some liquid silver. I like it better. The texture is nice. You can try to drag it like so. If you feel there is still much paint, you can always blot it with paper towel. I think this will work and we can try and create a work with a template. I need to stick it to the paper with a glue tape. Make sure it's not permanent so it won't damage the paper and you can take it away afterwards. I really love how it looks like a three-dimensional field. I put it on paper and using a sponge, I stamp and drag right on it, ignoring the edges and ignoring the letter. As a result, we'll have not only beautiful texture, but the cut-out letter with a unique pattern on it. I drag the sponge, creating this dynamic textures. You can try different pressure and mark-making. You can even try the side of the sponge. Sometimes you can even cut out the forms and various shapes from the sponge to make a very special stamps. This is very meditating technique. I think we can try and add another color to see if we can make a beautiful gradient with this textures. I'm thinking about red or metal like, something like this. Of course you can try anything. It looks nice but too reddish for me. I think I will try another color. It's nice but it could be better. Let's see. What do we have here? Maybe brighter, purple. Yeah, this looks perfect. Great dynamic or the dragon technique. Stamp on the letter. How about we add yellow for a bit contrast on the side. Let's see what happens. You can use a few sponges so the wash will be clear and you will have transparent color or very clear color. Yeah, I love the look and the paint is almost dry. This technique allows us to work right away, and carefully we can remove the letter starting from the bottom corner very carefully. I'm holding the paper and carefully removing the template. So far, it worked. We have the letter with a unique texture and we have a beautiful background with a white negative space. Now let's see what else can we do with it. Let's try the black paper. You can use it for various crafted projects, for postcards, scrap-booking or scanner for future designs. I have a thick two-sided watercolor paper just torn from the block, and here is the T letter I made from another watercolor paper. Using the same non-permanent glue tape, I attach it to the surface like so. This type of pearlescent watercolor paint needs to be activated with water first, put some cleaner water in it and wait around three minutes to get a maximum brilliant color. It works for many metallic paints or paints with special effects. I activated the paint and now plan to use our stamp. You can see the small metallic particles shine. This is a lovely feel. I dub the sponge slightly into paint and right on paper. This is wonderful texture right away. You can control the amount of water and intensity of the texture. You can also combine various colors together and see what happens. You can drag or try various combinations of these colors. Work on the letter. How about twist? This is very effective technique. I twist the sponge in my hand so it place its dynamics all around page like so. Right near the letter or on the letter. This is really nice, and we have a beautiful pattern. Now, we can remove the letter and see what happens. I carefully take the left corner and lift it up very carefully. It takes a bit longer to dry for special effects paint, removing the letter and it worked. What a beautiful shimmering effect. Meet me in the next video.
12. Light Effects : We've discovered a few special effects already, and now, I'm going to share with you my favorite technique. It consists of combining a variegated wash with removing a pigment. Well, it only sounds complicated, it's not. I was inspired by the magical light on the Brute's Terrace, aka the Balcony of Europe. As a result, we'll have a beautiful gradient with magical and atmospheric light on paper. Let's see how it works. You remember this zigzag sketchbook, my watercolor travel set? I tried to catch some color impressions, the feeling of light, also some color combinations, and this will serve as a main source of inspiration. We will use the same colors in this work. I'm working without copying any particular photo so no sketch is needed this time. I want to show you some colors upfront so you will be better prepared. For the lightest and brightest parts, I'll paint with Naples yellow and cadmium orange. They blend beautifully. I really love the combination. For the shadows, I think I will use violet, which is very subtle and nice. Let's see if we mix Naples yellow and ultramarine to have a beautiful tint. I'm not sure if it's the thing. It's always best to try color combinations first on separate sheet of paper. Naples, cadmium, and ultramarine, yeah, that's nice. That's nice. Now I take madder lake. This color looks like red a bit. In Germany and in Russia it's called crop luck. But you probably have it as a madder lake sometimes it's called Crimson. But I think you should recognize the hue. These are the colors I'll need for painting and one more technique to create the dream effect for the shiny leaves. Paint random lines with Naples yellow, maybe a bit of August. August here. Let's try to mix them with ultramarine. This gray is beautiful. I'll remember that. Let's continue here. Some ogres, cadmium orange, maybe a bit yellow for brightness right on top, and here's the effect. With a wet flat brush, I'm surrounding the paint to create soft edges. It works great for atmospheric gradients and just general, dreamy impression. It looks really, really nice. There is one more thing I want to show you before we move forward. It will be the removing of the pigment. I will prepare the darker mix. You saw it in my sketchbook that I used darker tones as a contrast to the lighter ones. I will make a darker mix of violet, a bit of madder lake, let's call it like this. It's very unusual for me, but still some ultramarine, dark, dark mix. Then I want to remove and lift up the paint like so, with clear water and synthetic brush. I think it's too small. My brush is too small, so I will replace it. I'll try another one. You can use a paper towel to remove the pigment. I will take a bigger brush. It's also synthetic, so it works best. This will be the ray of light. This is it. Now we are fully prepared to start painting.
13. Glowing Trees: Background: We begin by preparing the paper surface. The watercolor shade is secured on board with a paper tape and I put a lot of water using a flat brush. I'm not using any photo so this painting is going to be just an impression, a feeling of light and joy. You will get your own unique piece because of the technique and your own impression. I carefully wet the whole surface. Here, we will have the ray of light, the source of light. We start right away with the bold rays of Naples yellow. Don't worry about it being too precise. Just raise, some splashes, it's not important. Variegated wash allows to combine pigments on wet paper, creating some very, very atmospheric paintings. Now violet for the shadow. With the very strokes without any fear or concerns about being perfect. In the sense of the sunlight, it even sounds absurd. Here and there, a bit of ultramarine, madder lake. Everything is mixed together. Smoothen it with a large brush. The damp paper allows to create a random transition of color, and that's our goal. We blend everything. I remove the sharper edges. Here it's too sharp. You can remove it with paper towel. Just don't forget to remember the direction of the light. Dark, dark, dark violet, Naples yellow. Here, here, maybe a bit of orcas, these are intense so be careful. We need to blend it a bit and remove the pigment where we don't want it to be. Some blues on top. Of course, the painting is going to be darker closer to edges. We can easily add ultramarine and Naples yellow together over here. It will blend beautifully when it's dry. Dark dark dark blues, closer to the edges. Naples yellow together is a beautiful neutral gray with a green tint. Soon it will be time to remove the pigment. We will do so using clear water. Like so. These rays of light will work in the direction that we need. Carefully, I'm removing the pigments that are not in the plan. With clear water and wet brush, I remove all the pigments that we don't need. I can also smoothen the edges here and here. I always keep in mind the general impression from the painting. Now I think I want to add random darker washes. I take madder lake, ultramarine, and even more. This will be a dark, dark violet. With very very bold strokes with a direction to the center. With a lot of water, I add random areas of dark shadows here. You can actually mix all the colors you have. It will still look beautiful. Here and here. These stronger washes will build up intensity. The blue is the strongest here of course. Even darker wash with ultramarine will add depth. This is how a variegated wash works. It creates random gradients and various smooth unexpected transitions. Even if it doesn't look like it at this stage, believe me, you will have it at the end. Now let's smoothen the edges, like so, and also here, I remove the excessive pigment on paper and I use paper towel to remove the pigment from the brush. We will repeat this step a few times. This will allow us to create a beautiful atmosphere that is very unpredictable. It will be really hard to create on purpose. Beautiful light. I'm leading the paint to the edges. Some rays here, and here. You can work with any type of brush. You just have to feel comfortable with it. Of course, with flat brush, it's very easy to create straight lines like so, or very very wide strokes, like so. I change the angle of the flat brush when I need it. You can also rotate the canvas. If you feel comfortable, working from the particular angle. Sometimes it helps, like in Photoshop or in Procreate. But of course, we won't compare these things. I want to add intensity and mix again with ultramarine with madder lake. I have big bands and half bands of the colors. Now I will definitely need a bigger pan of madder lake after this demo. Let's mix paints a bit more. Without any, any fear and without any worries, it's easy to say now, I add shadows here and here. The gradient works just by itself. You can see the color transition is beautiful and it happens just without my intention. There is an intention, but I couldn't predict it. I clear some pigments. Maybe soften up the edges here and here. While the gradient is working for me, the watercolor is working too. I just need to follow the process and build it up according to the plan. I think it's almost enough and I can dry the painting, let it dry. I will use a hairdryer, of course, to save some time. But before that, I want to remove this tiny spot over here and smoothen it with water, and here, and here. Let's use a hairdryer. We can see how the paint is lighting up. I carefully dry the whole surface. This is it. The paper is dry and you can already notice the atmospheric's subdural feel. Now I'm going to draw some abstract tree branches and leaves like we did in previous video. I paint with Naples yellow. Some abstract marks that remind me of the branches. Yellows. You can use orcas. Some cadmium orange to add brightness. Then I will soften the edges, just like we did in the previous video. I will try to do it with this brush, but maybe I'll take another one like so to create the magical dreamy effect and remove the excessive paint like so. I think my brush is too big. I will take another wash brush. This one works better. It's the same thing. Move the pigment like so and so, this will create a beautiful glowing impression in the middle of our painting. Well, not in the middle, but in the focal point. We allow this soft edges to blend together. Now let's add some shadows right here. Don't be afraid. I know it looks a bit scary just to put it like here. But it will also lighten up and it will also blend it. It's a madder lake, ultramarine or you can use violet. It is all the colors we used before. Just in some random manner to create shadows. Then soften the edges like so. Move the pigment to the edges like so. That's right. Creation and beautiful layered low-mass. I will repeat the same steps. We'll work in the same manner all over the painting. Of course, the first one was the most complicated, the branches on the trees. I mentioned there are trees. Now I just repeated using various shapes. You can just follow your intuition and think about what looks most impressive. We combine warm colors closer to the source of the light to our focal point. Then add those shadows and move the pigment to the edges. Adding red and ultramarine is really helpful. Now let's remove the paint. I'm doing the same process like we tried in the previous video. With a clear water and synthetic brush, I remove the pigments where still wet. I'm releasing this rays of light through the trees. Don't be afraid to put a lot of water. We already have a lot of layers, so you won't be able to lift up the pigment completely. It means that you will have a beautiful effect anyway. This part is pretty dark, so these will work here super. This is how the intensity of madder lake and ultramarine helps us in this difficult but rewarding endeavor. This rays here and here. Afterwards we will use a sponge to lighten things up and unify the painting. But at this moment, we are not concerned with sharp edges a lot. Removing the pigment. I'm basically doing the same thing over and over again. We don't want the rays of light to touch the edges. Otherwise, it will lose the magic feeling. We don't want them to be stopped by the border. We will need to add yellow here and maybe from this side somewhere here. This is not very detailed work as you can guess. But if you want, you can make it very fine. Cadmium orange, a bit of yellow on top. This will increase glowing effect that we're aiming for. We have this naples yellow and cadmium orange. If you blend them together, the beauty of the sunshine will work into the painting for sure. We soften the edges like we did on the first time. We remove the pigment, move it closer to the edges all over the painting here and here. Soften. Don't forget the direction of the light. I already can imagine how the painting will look like at the end. That's a nice feeling because every painting has a very scary stage at some point. Madder lake, dark mix. Let's add it here to brighten things up. Of course, soften the pigment right away. After that, we will let the painting dry completely and work on the fine details with a smaller brushes. But at this stage we're still working on the atmospheric feel of the background. Now the red violet. Here we have everything. I'm working intuitively so I just see something and I feel that here we should remove the pigment and I think you're working in the same way. You feel that you want to add a bit more red here or you don't want to use red at all, it's absolutely up to you. I will try to smoothen things up here a bit. I think that I will let the painting dry and move to the next stage.
14. Glowing Trees: Details: Welcome back. Our scenery is dry, and with my spongy friend, I want to lighten and smoothen things up. The edges are too sharp and I gently lighten up the background with a white natural sponge. Carefully, I wet it with water and work over the painting. It picks up a pigment a bit, so be careful. You don't want to leave any marks like here. You can see the violet is under sponge. I use very subtle touch to avoid too spongy marks and keep the luminous atmosphere. Always keep in mind the direction of imaginary light. I mean, this expressive painting should be convincing. It's imaginary, but still, we want to have a very natural impression. After that, I plan to dry it with a hair dryer once again. Meanwhile, I work on the edges, supporting the direction of the line. I hardly touch the paper. This is very, very gentle work. I dab the brush, drag it a bit. Not the brush but the sponge, but you get it. This work is very meditative. You might ask, why not play into various outlay right from the beginning? But this way you won't get this amazing transition we're having right now. The watercolor is a magical medium, so it works by itself. We want to be surprised at the end, I guess. More light here and here. Yeah, I remove the pigment on the side. Lighten things up. At this stage you can also lift up the paint if you feel like it, like so or so and then let it dry. It's dry and it's time for the trees. I will prepare the mix of the dark colors I've used. Like violet, madder lake, or crimson, how you call it, ultra marine, it's super dark. That's what we need. I'll be using a synthetic brush to paint very symbolic branches and leaves. This is very loose style to draw things. Nothing too specific. It looks more like mark-making, than actual leaves and branches. If you change the hues along the way, you'll get a beautiful color transition. Exactly this effect is making our painting magical. Few strokes here and here. Now we're going to smoothen things up and move the pigment to the edge like so. You can use any flat brush to do it. Actually not necessarily a flat brush, it just looks better. Some hints over here. We did exactly the same thing before. Now it's just another layer with beautiful transparency. You can dilute them mixed with water if you feel that it's too dark and you want to have subtle book, you can combine cold and warm colors. If you want to change the composition a bit along the way, it's possible to do it right now. Another tree, just a small hint. Here it should be darker, darker. I will use cold why not use a bit more cold here? It's the same mix where we're brave, with blue. This a very, very chaotic and very loose strokes. Nothing too specific. Now move away the pigment with a wet brush so the watercolor can work. We know that the paint will lighten up when dry, so no worries if something is too dark. Now on the left side will also have fewer trees. I work intuitively so I will go over the canvas to keep the whole scenery unified. The most important here is to leave a lot of air. Let the painting breath, that's why on the left I'm painting just a few strokes. Was a very diluted wash, but still it's the same color we used before. Something like this. Here and here. Maybe here. A few strokes, darker wash. I almost heard the birds singing or it's behind my window. So blue, cold. The combination of dark red and blue. It's a very, very rich one. Don't forget to move the pigment to the edge. Combine light and dark marks over here, change the angle of the brush. The scenario will look interesting. Nothing too similar. Nothing to mechanical. So a few strokes here. You can change the brushes and work, or you can work with the only one you feel comfortable with. It all doesn't matter, a few branches here. They could be darker because they're on the lightest area of the painting. Working with a French brush allows to create very subtle strokes. But now I'm going to take a small synthetic brush for a small fine elements of the branches and trees like so. Now my plan is to feel the rest of the painting in a very intuitive way with a very tiny elements and fine lines indicating some branches here and here. Just according to my impression, I feel I need to add some color essence. How about cadmium orange here, and of course most of the things up. Somewhere here I think we will need even more. I want the painting to be very convincing and organic looking, so it should be a harmony. This is very personal impression so I'm sure you will create something very, very beautiful and also personal. Here's a bit more of the light, and you just smoothen things up. This pigment is so bright through the difficult to lift it up. Yeah, that's right. This looks balancing. This is almost over and I need to try it. We'll use, you know what. It's dry. Now the most satisfying part of removing the masking tape. I will do it super fast and wonderful. We've painted a luminous scenery. We used variegated wash and sponge to create unique texture and feel. Meet me in the next video.
15. Let's Learn More!: We've discovered so many exciting effects, and created a stunning painting. Well, I hope so. Now, let's dive a bit deeper and talk about intermediate and advanced techniques. I will show you my collection of specialty paint. You will also see how I use walks pencils. For example, I worked in this techniques for my projects for ImagineFX magazine and Netflix. After that, we'll work on a beautiful botanical painting. Let's move on.
16. Using Specialty Paint: Welcome to the treasury. These are materials I use for special effects. Watercolor paints in tubes with shimmering iridescent colors and metallic paint in pads. You can combine them with watercolors and inks, and it looks so magical on toned paper. Look at this letter from my botanical alphabet. It's a mixed media on watercolor paper. You can see the shining effect and the combination of inks, watercolors with specialty paints, very effective. I have here some swatches with examples, of the shimmering paints I have, so I can always reference them. I have just a few you can see. I also love a ten watercolor paper. This one is really awesome and the black. Let me show you the difference with a usual white tone on the paper we mostly use. You can see the difference is not so big, but it's lovely. Now, I'll prepare the paint begin with my favorite the color is called sandstone and also I have arctic fire. This one and another one is called ruby. I will test the color first. I will test it with very loose leaves, in their meditative manner. The French brush works perfectly for this purpose. Here we go. Slightly push the brush and lift it up like so beautiful. The combination of black paper, water and sparkling paint creates a truly enchanting feel. I can work in this manner for hours, just enjoin the particles of metal or other pigments and even their own life on paper. But of course, we want to try toned paper and we slowly lead the paint right to another corner. You can see, it's hardly seen, but if you would put it at some angle, you will see the sparkle. This is very elegant effect, so it's great for invitation or a postcard with a very stylish, elegant feel. If you use the paint of the same hue as the paper the look will be very elegant. Now, a bit more arctic white. Let's see how it will look, it behaves a bit differently than normal paints, so lift it up. It's like a Snow Queen ornaments on the page. Very fairytale look. It's glowing I'm not sure if you see it on camera, but the glowing and shimmering, is here, if you put another layer, the shimmering will glow. It will intensify the previous layer. The particles will create even more glowing. A few strokes here and here you can leave some space blank or just try various marks. Now let's try it on toned paper it'll be hardly seen. But still very beautiful effect. I lead the stroke to the side. The shining is very beautiful, not like in the movie shining, of course. Let's try ruby. All these paints are based on titanium white. If you layer them a lot, they'll become opaque. This is the base for almost all the iridescent paints that I use from Daniel Smith. Here is the ruby swirl. I love to combine various colors. You can also mix it with usual watercolor and invent your own hues. Let's see the toned paper. Everything looks very elegant and subtle. That's right. Let's try a few more and more like this. You can see the shining again with metallic paints, with parallel colors. It's a bit different. I use them for fine lines. The color is more intense. The pigments are mixed with metallic particles I think. It allows to work on a very fine lines. Even on the darker surfaces. Do you remember the splatter technique from the first two videos? It looks very impressive. With effect paint I love it even more. You can combine various colors. I love have to use metallics. In real life, this shimmering splatter looks absolutely stunning. I also want to show you another example. I want to add a pearlescent feel to this marine study I created following one workshop. It will add magic to the water. I want to combine a splattering effect, we just tried with very light guardic washes. Let me show you. I need a lot of paint. This is arctic fire. Probably it's just titanium white with metallic particles to self splatter right near the waves. I'm not sure if you can see it, but the result is very beautiful. Let me change the brush, I think for washes, I will use very large, very wide strokes. The paint is diluted with water so it doesn't look too bold. I want to add the magical transparent field to the water and splatter. I splatter on the light surfaces. There is no interference with the main scenery. A bit here only on light areas. Very loosely. A bit here, when the water dries everything will look very unified, Some more sparkles here and near the stones. We are almost ready to move to the next part. But just a second, a bit more magic here, this is it. A beautiful shining effect. Now I think we are ready to move to the next video, where I will show you something you've probably never seen before. Let's move on.
17. Charcoal Bird: Welcome to the new chapter. This time we'll work with charcoal in the pretty much unusual form. Well, this one you've seen before, it's a normal charcoal pencil like a stick. This one is a liquid charcoal. Let's explore the difference. This one works like a usual pencil. This is very illustrative tool. You can control the intensity. It's a matter of how hard you press. You can also add water on top, creating a smooth matte texture like so and you can see the marks underneath. This is very expressive graphic tool with the usual brush. Now the liquid form. It looks like a watercolor paint, but the substance is very different. There are various tins, and mine is peach stone black, but it doesn't matter right now. I just wanted to show you the texture of the paint of the charcoal. Just looks like that. Few strokes. You can see it looks like a charcoal, but I apply it with a brush. It looks like dry brush. Great for texturing. Again, diluted in water to create softer washes, and you can achieve the full range. You can see add a bit more water, and the gradient will be very smooth beautiful monochrome gradient so there are so many options. Let's see what can we do even more. What are the textural effects can we get. The thing I love about viscosity of the liquid charcoal is that you can lift up the color easily. Let me show you how it works with some water. A few drops of clear water, and now I can lift up a charcoal easily. With a few depth. You can't do that with watercolor. You will need more water, more tubs, and now this is very impressive graphic reach, tone. The effect will also try is adding color. I will add intense wash of some color, and blend it with charcoal. Getting a smooth gradient. You can see we can blend the tones effortlessly. With a pencil, it looks a bit different. If you put a wash, the particles will interact differently, creating a darker effect, and you will still be able to see the marks. Let us try this too. I will put a wash over the pencil, charcoal. If you use charcoal in sticks, it'll be almost the same so let me choose the angle water mixing. You can see the wash is getting darker, the particles are mixed, and from this side, even if I take more intense color, it's getting darker, and this is very beautiful, muted tone, but it depends on whether you want it or not. These are the effects that we can create with charcoals, and I think we can discover how it looks on the real illustration. I've sketched a bird. It's a bit in Japanese style. You can find a sketch in class materials so if you want to work over my sketch, it's totally fine, we're learning, and this can be a great exercise. I begin with a black charcoal, starting with the face of the bird. If I may say so. I usually begin with the face to have a better connection with a character. That tiny bird, I'm using small synthetic brush over the eye. The bird won't be very detailed. I want to show you the combination of the black textured charcoal, and watercolors. It's a bit like ink, but still much more textured. I put some marks. Any of the others. You can also use the pencil. If you feel more comfortable with pencil, form or the charcoal. I know many artists prefer the sticks for their expressive qualities, but it can be a bit messy, and I really love to use the wood around the charcoal. Now let's work on feathers in a bold series, strokes. Confident, great lines. If it's too wet, you can always replace some charcoal using the paper towel? Feathers. Yeah, this looks a bit in Japanese style for sure. I don't close the outline free strokes. If I handwriting so you will have your own pace with it. A fly go away. I don't know. The fly probably loves the stone peach tone on my charcoal. The tail, more feathers. This part, and also here. I think I will add a few marks on top of the wings with pencil. It's easier to draw some dots. You can actually combine drawing, and painting in one piece. I love to work with mixed media. A few dots here and here, and now let's put a wash over charcoal. I'm using violet or a septal. Probably two septal. The water will cover the charcoal so we will have a beautiful blending. I will use a [inaudible],it's more intense. I will mix it with ultramarine ride on the wing. Sometimes we can work in a very expressive manner so we don't have to worry about being too precise or fill-in the wing completely. If you feel that something is too bright, you can always replace to wash with water. Ultramarine on top of the wing, and we will have a beautiful gradient later, closer to the wings, and working on tail. Even more pigment. It mixes a bit was charcoal, and I get unexpected color, which is really awesome. This muted tone is very enchanting, eyewash, some hard edges, here and here. Now let's work closer to the head. I don't want to make it too heavy, I work with fringe brush, and wash the edges, and with here, this will look lightly, and without any dark areas. Now I think we will need a bright, contrast on top. We are ready to add it with a small brush, so let me show you. I think you can see, right, cadmium orange, right on top of the head of a smart lion fell right on top, and I think we should add a brighter essence right on top with a few drops here, or here, and here. Maybe here. This will unite the painting. A few drops of water to most of the borders. We won't have any contrasting lines here, carefully working near the face, and the contrast with the red right on top. But don't feel the whole head with it. You can see there are a lot of white borders around so I carefully blend it with orange, creating a rich tone right near the eyes, our attention is drawn to the bird's face. Let's intensify the black. By the way, the liquid charcoal dries really fast so here is the thing to keep in mind. Well it's really hard to stop, think I need to add more color now that I have this intense red, I want to contrast it. Well, not to contrast, but to support it with darker tones. I'll add metallic, violet on the wings, and I think I will also add ultramarine on top. The watercolor is getting very light when it's dry. That's why using a few colors, even on very expressive work makes sense. Let's add it. I'm using my usual synthetic brush number six to add few strokes of ultramarine. Now I feel that a few feathers are missing, I will use them as a balancing point here. You don't have to feel the shapes perfectly. We're working in expressive, illustrative style so this is very fluffy feather. In the next video, we'll explore creative mark making with walks, pencil, and even more. Let's move forward.
18. Wax & Acrylic Marker: Welcome again, and here's the small but super-helpful wax crayon, or a chalk. I also have these fellows. These are oil pastels, they're actually based on wax too, so they have the same effect as the chalk. I also have white acrylic marker. This is very opaque marker. Let's see how it works. I put some marks on paper just randomly. You can't see them, but you will see it in a second. Here might be a line and if you can just draw with it, and then let's put some watercolor wash on top, any color. You can see the effect of the resist. Even with the second layer, the wax still protects the paper and it repels the water so you will see the marks underneath. I've accidentally discovered that it works with oil pastels too, so you can play with color. Let's try the blue one. The color is very intense so you can use it as a paint. The red one just random strokes, very random mark-making just to see how it works. Then we will put a wash on top, like so yellow over blue. You can see that color is very intense, but it doesn't mix. Even yellow over blue didn't result in any tint of green. You can add another layer of another color and see how they'd interact. You can control the watercolor, like you usually do on paper without any wax resist, you can turn or angle the sheet of the paper a bit to control the flow, but the wax is there and you will still see it after the paint is dry. I want to show you how it works on the illustration so we can paint a beautiful butterfly together. Let's move to another sheet of paper. Here it is. So if we pair the sketch of a butterfly, you can find it in class materials if you want to work over it and I make some random marks with a white chalk, creating a wax resist. On the wings here, just dots and marks, if you have some idea in mind, you can even make tiny drawings with the wax chalk so they will reveal after you add a watercolor wash. It's grateful altering and other special effects. I put some dots closer to the butterfly's body, closer to the edges in a very random manner. Yeah, I think that's enough. Now I'll prepare the wash with yellow, you will see it and I begin with a top left wing with yellow right here and I can already see the result of the resist. So I'm surrounding the shape of the butterfly. I want to create a smooth gradient, so I will add more colors in a very diluted wash. How about a bit of red? Like carmine red, maybe, not so bright but it will be lighter when it's dry. I'll leave the white of the paper untouched so we will have an airy butterfly. There will be a few patterns with green as a contrast but you will see it at the end. I've also attached the scan of the butterfly in class materials so this may be very helpful. The gradient is getting dry and I plan to add ultramarine as a contrast closer to the butterfly's body. Ultramarine will create a beautiful gradient, it will organically mix with other colors, so I don't even have to do anything, when the paper is wet, it will happen by itself. My plan is to work in the same manner with the rest of the three wings of the butterfly. Now it's time to paint a small body of our beautiful insect. Let's mix a dark color with red and blue hues and start with the eyes. Well, this will be symbolic eyes. I paint the body. Just a hint, I'm using only the side of the brush to define the shadow and antennas. I need to be very precise here, they are very thin. Something like this. Just a few strokes will be enough, we don't want to have very detailed work because we are working very expressive style. Let's support the shadows here and what else? What else will we do? I think it's time to add contrast with solid green. We left the white of the paper for these circles, like so. Please notice that I don't fill the whole whitespace, there is a lot of white around. It helps the paint to pop on the paper so it looks like we'll have imaginary border, which is a nice effect too. This green needs to be contrasted with orange for sure. I'll add a few strokes on the wings, I think here, I need to soften them up with a brush. The cadmium orange is super bright and it's a great contrast to the green we've used. Whoops. It's not scary for my tiny mistake. I need to try the butterfly first but before that, why don't we add some blue in the middle of the pattern? Almost forgot a few dots and the pattern is complete. One more dot and we can use a hairdryer to save some time. It's dry and it's time for acrylic marker. I add some white dots on the dry watercolor to support the wax effect that we used earlier. This way we will have a varied pattern of white marks and it's very unique texture. As unique as every butterfly. I can also add a few marks on the body, outline the wing. You can also correct some mistakes with white marker. Of course with acrylic one because it's opaque and it can cover a lot of layers. A few dots here and here. You can group them together if you want a more intense impression. If you want finer dots, it's better to use a white pen. It has a very fine tip, so you can work right close to the butterfly's body and make a fine tiny textures. I think it works great. I hope you'll try it. For now, see you in the next video.
19. What is Granulation?: It's time to talk about granulation. This effect is getting more and more popular in watercolor painting. What is it exactly? It's a special property of the pigments, to a cluster on paper, creating a unique texture. There are many ways to encourage this effect. Let's take a closer look and explore some options. Basically, there are two options and we'll explore both. Some colors have a tendency to naturally granulate. You can clearly see the particles of the pigments right on paper. For example, this lunar black, which consists of granulated pigments like Mars Black. The same works for French Ultramarine for example or this Indian red. Like some other Earth stones, it has natural tendency too. But what if you're using normal paint and want to add this textural effect? There are these special sprays and mediums that help to imitate it, but honestly, I don't use them much. This one should be diluted with paint. I don't use it either, but it may be nice. The only thing I'm using is this spray, which I'm going to show you. It's an alkyl granulation spray, a small bottle that contains ethanol. Now, let's see the first example with Lunar Black. As you've probably guessed, Lunar Black is a brand name for Mars Black. Nowadays, most paints are made from synthetic pigments, so they granulate less, that's why the same color from different brands can have different properties. The French ultramarine I've mentioned, it can be so granulating and it can be very smooth. This Lunar Black is a magical color. I love the tone, the texture. You can see it is very granulating, the texture is seen right away. You can add water. The quantity of water is also important as well as quality. Use more water if you want to increase the effect. You can also use water with minerals and not just still water, it also increases the effect. You can see the particles are moving and the paint has a wonderful effect. Another color is Indian red. By the way, the type of paper is also important. The effect is better when you work on cold press paper or rough paper. For example, I'm using cold press paper here. If you work on torsion or any other texture, you may have even better results. Let's put a lot of water and see how pigments are moving right from the left to the surface we've prepared. Beautiful, textured effect. These are natural ways of granulation. You see this tiny dot of water, so beautiful. Beautiful effects, even accidentally. Now, let's see how the spray works. I will prepare a very smooth cadmium red wash. This color is so beautiful. To better understand the effect of the spray, let's contrast it with something from the green or blue part of the palate. How about we will choose turquoise? That's pretty intense. Let's mix them both to create a beautiful gradient. I will show you the spray I am using. It's advised to use it from some distance, but I use it pretty closely. I slightly dub it. You see, the effect is appearing instantly, very interesting texture. It's only imitation. The particles are pushed away, so the texture is very different from natural granulation. But I still love this effect. If you spray the real pigment, nothing happens, real granulating pigment. Here we have a very intense effect. You can apply it to landscapes, texture still live, skies, abstract work, various patterns to print on fabric. I'll see you in the next video. We will explore a bit similar, but still a bit different effect you may have never heard of. I can't wait to show you another version of this type of unusual special effect in a watercolor.
20. What is Flocculation?: Now that we've learned a lot about granulation, let's talk about flocculation. What is that? This is another special property of pigments to clump together into a floc. The most flocculating pigment or color is ultramarine and some oxides. Let's check it out. We'll start with ultramarine, which tends to nature the flocculate, of course, depending on the brand. You can see it right away. There is a big discussion on non creatives and chemists about this process. If it's a part of granulation or not. Well, in theory, flocculation is a mutual attraction of pigments on paper, which makes it a fundamentally different process. You can see I've added a bit of water, and you can see how pigments are pushed into tiny flocs. This is how the process is characterized. Let's explore how ultramarine reacts with oxides. I'll take ultramarine and the Venetian red. Venetian red is super intense. You will see the reaction. Yeah, it's happening in a second. The mix becomes very uneven right here. You can already see the muddy tiny flocs. It will happen with any oxides. You can dilute it with water and mix it in any combination. The pigments are clustered together. This muddy mix may look a bit dirty to you, but if you use it for a special project like landscapes or rusty old objects, maybe you're painting a desert. It will look fantastic. This uneven effect looks great on almost any vintage looking artwork. You can see the flocs here. You can see how uneven the mix is. I hope you will try to apply this combination to sell very special project, maybe an old lamp, some magical objects and textures, mainly brick textures. There are so many possibilities. You can try other oxides. Again, try sepia, Van Dyke brown. The results will be very interesting. Now make yourself a cappuccino or green tea and prepare to join me in the next video for the big botanical project. But it won't be very difficult, I promise. See you there.
21. Flower Art: Sketch & Swatches: Here we go. Before we start, I wanted to show you that I'll use walk's chug, and watercolor pencil, the dark gum line, and walk you through some colors so you will be better prepared. Of course, you can use any colors. I will just show you my choice. For painting flowers, I have this special vivid color I love to use it's called quinacridone rose. It has a very vivid hue that I love. Even in subtle washes, it plays a role. Then I will put it on paper to show you, then I will use cadmium orange. Together they make a beautiful tint with an orangey beachy heel to it. Lovely color for fruits and vegetables. Then madder lake, also known as crimson. It has a great option to be mixed with cadmium. This is it for the flower and for the leaves I will use yellow and cobalt green. You can use just green. It's absolutely up to you. This is the mix. I'm using yellow and green. It creates a lighter green and cobalt blue for the sky. I will work in a splatter technique on wet paper. You will see it as a very, very subtle background idea. I will also use a specialty paint, Arctic fire. Your descent sandstone, and I have this cage underneath. Here it is. Oh, and one more thing before work on this cage. Here's how I'll work on the petal. I will use the mix I just made. Let's imagine it's the petal of the rose. Very, very lovely. I will paint a shape of a petal, and I will use a watercolor pencil to add texture right on top when the paint is still wet. Here's the petal, here is the dark combine pencil, and I make the marks right on top supporting the shape of the petal like so. This is the idea of our work. It's the sketch. It has butterfly, a lot of details. You'll find that bolded in the course materials too. Usually, I don't make such a bright sketch so it won't be visible under the paint, is just only to show you. I will need to lighten it up with a kneaded eraser, and then I will work with watercolors. Sometimes I use various titles cage, so I don't even need to erase it afterwards. Join me in the next video, where we'll start to work on the beautiful painting.
22. Flower Art: Bud & Shadows: I begin with making marks on leaves all over here. I'm not touching the petals. Just use the outlines for the leaves here and here. If you've seen the sketch, you know that these areas will look very textured when we're done so a bit here and here. I chose to work only on leaves so they will look differently than the petals. I think I will add a few dots on the butterfly too. By the way, you can use walks to support the edges and for example, outline some areas if you don't want to paint over them. The edges of the butterfly, you can even draw some figures or ornaments. Let's prepare the mix for the petals. I am making a mix of cadmium orange and madder lake. I already have this quinacridone purple on the left. With a very soft wash with a orange feel, I paint over the first petal. I smoothen the edges and then add brightness with this purple. You can see that even a tiny bit of such intense color makes it different. I want to create a very tender and septal artwork, but the watercolor will dry and it will be very light so even for such style, we will use a few layers. But I have to be very precise, but it's too sharp. I want to lift up the paint a bit. We can do it with clear water, even more water, and lift it up. Let it breathe. Let's let the light in. I always try to support the shape of the petal with the right direction of the brush stroke. The second one, I'm using the same mix in a very subtle manner and wash the edges if I feel they're too sharp. The beautiful transition from purple to crimson and orange. This is a lovely mix. I need to lift up this. It's too intense. Let's support the edge by intensifying this part. It feels a bit like sculpting and this is the thing I love about paint, that you can actually remove it while it's still wet if you feel that something is not quite as you wanted it to be. Then smoothing it up. This is very imaginative work also. We're not concerned with any particular light source, or we don't have to be realistic or symbolic. Now the top, it's always very challenging. I'm using the same mix, working near the edges, but I don't cross any of the borders. Smoothen things up and supporting the value. To do so, I'm using the darker color near the borders. A bit more of orange brightness is needed here for sure. Maybe even here. I carefully build up the shape and here we'll have a very startled petal. It's slightly seen. That's why I want it to be a bit more orange. By the way, the first layer is almost dry. When we want to work with a second layer on top, we can do this right away. Now we should support the bottom part of the bud and the edges over here. Maybe it's too bright, but I think we will unify it. Let's make a brighter mix and begin with a second layer. It should be a bit more intense like so. With a bold stroke, I'm covering the surface of the petal and adding bright spots with purple. We need to blend it a bit here and here. Slowly our beautiful rose is getting more and more real so we don't rush and blend the pigments so they can work their magic. The second petal, I support the radial by increasing the shadow areas. Notice that I don't cover any edges completely so we should leave a lot of white, orange on the side and blend it. You can use other colors of course. Blend it even here. You can see only the highlights and dark parts so there is a difference. Now time for the watercolor pencil. Like I showed you before, I will use it to add hedging and texture like so. The paint is wet so the watercolor pencil lines are naturally blended right away and we don't have this sharp or two craft lines. Sometimes you can see when working with pencils. We can blend them even more. I think it's even too intense. If you're working on a very wet surface, you can even paint with this pencil. I can work on edges, support some shadow areas, creating interest and direction of the petals. You can also correct mistakes with pencil. It's great for adding the radial on top, very slightly. Maybe here, just a bit. I'm working all over the board so there won't be any uneven parts. Let's water it a bit, it's too concentrated here. Now closer to the shadow part, more hedging. It's getting a three-dimensional feel very quickly while you work with pencil. Maybe here and also on top. I'm jumping all around with the pencil not to miss anything or to be too dedicated to one particular area. I think it's almost enough. We should let it dry and then we will be ready for the next part. I think it's enough. Let's leave it for a while and move on.
23. Flower Art: Leaves & Color Accents: Our rose is dry and I start working on leaves. I begin with yellow, right closer to the flower. The beautiful wax resist, we've prepared earlier, reveals yellow here, and then I will add green right away. It's a cobalt green so it has a bit of a blue tint to it. Of course, you can mix yellow and blue and you will get your own beautiful green. This time, I decided that cobalt green works perfectly in combination with the mixers that we use for petals. The green goes here, we need to smoothen the border, so we will have a beautiful botanical illustration. The wax resist works perfectly so we don't need to think about texture, it's everywhere. It really adds this botanical feel, small parts and blending yellow with green to create transitions. Another wonderful effect is that a bit of red on top of the greenery right here. This will unify the whole artwork, and here, and a bit here. This will harmonize the artwork, petals and greenery together. By the way, if you use red on top of green, it can make a beautiful shadow and it won't look muddy or dirty. Now the bottom leaves, I'm using the same mix of yellow and green, working in very, very soft of strokes. Now the right part here, we will have another bud come in to live soon, but it should be also smooth. We don't want to have any borders on the artwork, I'm not sure if I want to use it on the postcard or somewhere else. I want to be able to use it as a standalone image, that's why I'm not using any borders in this moment. I leave a lot of white to suggest the volume, yellow. The works create the texture of your strokes and a red. You already know what I'm doing with smaller brush, works better here. Here, let it blend, let's hope it blend. I'm bit deeper here. I think we should add red here and on the left side too so it will harmonize the composition. Right now we have three points that are too sharp, they look a bit like a narrow so why don't we add red over here. There's a very subtle mix, it's not very high pitch, if we were talking about music. Shadows over here. [inaudible] the things up. Green. The second layer of the same color will intensify the shadows so we will use it too under the petals and to support and separate one element from the other. Our rose is getting three-dimensional feel, but let's balance it with red and smoothing things up to balance everything. I think we need to add another layer on the petals, the same mix, French brush, and we add another orange layer on top with intensity of purple, even more over here. Now we're walking over watercolor pencil and everything is very connected, so we will get a beautiful result with a bit of vintage feel. Of course, you can add more layers and you can actually draw with watercolor pencil first. I encourage you to experiment and try what you love best. Let's support the edges and increase the value over here. The most important is to leave the highlights untouched, this way we will still have the breathe and the air in our painting, and it's very, very important for the perception of botanical illustration. I smoothen things up and prepare all the details for the next part, where we will work on beautiful butterfly and add shimmering details. Join me in the next part.
24. Flower Art: Butterfly & Final Details: The painting is dry and we can continue with the butterfly. I want to protect the painting from skin oil, so I will put a sheet of paper underneath my hand. I begin with a subtle yellow wash over the wings. After that, I will add a bit of purple and create a beautiful color transition. Yellow is very bright, so I dilute it with water. I dip a brush into the paint just a little bit and it's enough for the rich pigment to cover the whole surface of the butterfly wing. Then I will add purple. It's the same color we used for the rose. Let's put it here and then I will blend them together. Don't forget there are four wings of this butterfly and we need to separate them. Even though we don't paint with natural history accuracy, still, we want to create a very convincing artwork. I gently blend the colors following the shape of the wing, like these and also here. The technique is very flexible. If at some point you want to change anything, maybe the whole color, it's totally possible. Meanwhile, I'm supporting the shape of the wing. Carefully spreading the pigment all over the surface. We don't need very smooth gradient here. You've seen butterflies, their mean, their wings are so enchanting and there are many, many textural, tiny elements. I use cobalt blue for the back wings. Yes, this butterfly is imaginative so we don't have to follow any rules here at all. Let me fill the shape. Do you remember we also used a wax resist on the butterfly? So now I meet these marks and they create wonderful edges. Purple here for the transition and, of course, I will need to soften the whole situation over here. The cold combination of cobalt and purple helps to add variate to the butterfly and we see it as a three-dimensional object. My next plan is to prepare the darker mix for the small body. We will use the same mix we did for the shadows on the petals, except for the green. It's always a good idea to use the colors from the mix. A small head. I'm using the finest brush, purple with ultramarine. This is super dark and I paint just a few strokes to define the body. Of course, antennas. Two dots, and super thin line like so, like so. You can notice that the lines don't touch the head so it adds the lightens to the whole artwork. Now I think we should add even more volume with shadows. I dip the brush in purple and create a few strokes and then we'll wash it with fringe brush. This is it, we sculpt the shape of the wing. On the top wing the same process and blend it afterwards. We blend the transition and it'll create a smooth gradient right to the cobalt blue, and then let it dry. The artwork is dry. Using the same mix and fine brush, I paint tiny dots on the wings of the butterfly. These tiny markings will add interest for sure. I slightly change the angle of the dots to support the three-dimensional feel of our character. Next, I'm going to use the same mix to define the veins on butterfly's wings. Like so, very very slightly with very diluted dark wash, I paint fine lines on the back wing and a bit on front. Note the angle. They're not straight, but a bit curved lines. Right here. Now, it's almost ready for the final touches and we will bring the secret weapon soon after we smudge some tiny elements here. I will add dots for the three-dimensional feel also. I often work in a very intuitive manner. Just feel that I need to add something darker here and here. So let's move to the secret weapon, which is our specialty paint. I will use these two fellows like I showed you before. This one is a sandstone, which is actually gold, shimmering gold and the next one is going to be arctic fire, which is actually shimmering white. I had that palette from the previous demo that we did earlier and I will mix just a little bit to add final touches to the artwork. I use gold to add on the petals. It's very, very diluted. The gold shimmer will support our previous color choice and make it more enriching. Make sure not to cover the whole petal otherwise, the artwork will look too heavy. Just a few brush strokes all over the petals but not to cover everything. A bit on green. When you put the gold on green it creates a stunning effect. Just don't cover the full surface either. Only some parts, only partly to complement each other. The pigments are very, very bright, especially if you're using metallic paint. It's a good idea to test the colors you are planning to use first on some old artwork to cover the surface with few other tins and lay the effect paint over them. On red, of course, it will look beautiful. The butterfly is ready. I slightly touched it. I want to put the Arctic fire, which is actually shimmering titanium white, if I guess correctly, on the cold wing. It's so beautiful already. It's such a magical feel. I feel myself like a magician with not-so-secret powers actually. I cover the wing completely and the second one over here. The paint is almost transparent if you're using one layer, of course, so I put it over here too with tiny dots. Then I will work with acrylic marker on top. Let it dry and get the acrylic marker. You can actually draw the whole edge with opaque marker on top. You can draw almost any pattern on top. I just add a few marks here, a few dots for the interest, for texture and contrast. You can also fix mistakes with it. Have your dots here and here. These can be highlights. You can even add hatching or cross-hatching with a white marker or a fine pen. I can remove it while it's still wet and that's enough. What's next? I've prepared a sheet of paper to protect our artwork and soon you'll learn why. I will need a lot of clear water. I put it all around our flower and around butterfly. It's a clear water without any pigment. I have put it here and here. I don't touch any border, especially the red color or any part of the petal so it's very, very subtle background. I secure the paper, like here, and with a subtle wash of cobalt blue, I spatter the paint carefully avoiding the butterfly. You may secure some paper on top of it too so it won't be so scary. Using wet-on-wet and splatter technique helps to make very, very subtle, beautiful, and organic look. I will add it here and here. We have wonderful artwork and I don't want to spoil it with too heavy background. Still just wide one seemed empty to me. Let it dry. It's almost ready. We just need to remove the paper tape. I will quickly do it and here it is. We created a lovely botanical painting. We used washes and splatter on background, colored pencil on wet paint. We used wax crayon and specialty paint. We've worked a lot and I really hope you've learned something new. Now when you have the idea, you can re-watch some videos and begin working on your own painting, and of course, show it to me. I can't wait to see.
25. Your Task: It's great to see you're still here. I'm so curious to find out if you followed my demos or did you work on your own piece. Your assignment for this class is to create a watercolor painting and include at least three effects that we've learned in this class. Please upload your work in the project gallery. You will see a green button saying, create a project. You can also post it on Instagram. Just don't forget to tag me right on the image so I could find and feature your artwork. There is one more video left in this class.
26. Final Thoughts: Thanks so much for joining me. We have discovered so many magical effects and textures together. You're going to apply them to various genres like traditional landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes, and still lives, and even some experimental portraits of people or even better animals. The techniques that we explored show you what is possible, but it's your unique vision that brings the artwork to life. If you liked this class, you can check out my other classes. For example, on botanicals, I share my very special almost secret technique there. There is class on colored inks, watercolors secrets, line card, and more to come. Don't forget to follow me here on Skillshare. Of course, follow me on Instagram too, where I share some inspiring insights. Please do share your artwork, especially if it's your first project on Skillshare. I always give very inspiring feedback regardless of your style and level. I really can't wait to see what you create. Thanks again, and see you next time.
Anna Sokolova, Berlin-based Artist
