Watercolor Still Life Painting: Grapes

1. Introduction : Hi there, My name is Michelle and I'd like to welcome you to this class. We'll be painting grapes following a reference photo. And I'll be guiding you from start to end. And so even if this class is ideal for those who have basic knowledge of watercolor painting, even beginners will be able to paint along. Some of the techniques that I'll be teaching in this class would be wet on wet technique. Negative painting, tonal values, dry brush technique, as well as scrubbing and lifting. I'm so excited to share with you my process for painting this particular artwork and what I know about watercolor painting. So that you too will be able to paint beautiful still life paintings like this one. So without further ado, let's start with a class. 2. Reference Photo: Before we start painting, let me first show you the reference photo for this particular session. This photo was taken from unsplash.com, and it's a copyright-free image. I enhanced it a bit to brighten it up and further highlights the contrast between light and shadow. 3. First Layer: Grapes (Part 1 of 4): We'll start by adding the first layer of colors to our grapes. And for this particular lesson, I'll be using my flat brush. But feel free to use an angled brush or a round brush. If this is what you have or prefer. I'll be painting the grapes one by one. And I encourage you to have a copy of the reference photo so you're able to capture the colors more accurately. Now let's start painting. The first tolerate that I'll be adding would be yellow. Tea consistency. Now, while we're adding the colors to each grape, keep in mind that we want the first layer to be light. So mostly tea consistency for everything. Now while this color is still wet, I'm going to add magenta so that we don't create any hard edges. Now let's add a couple more colors onto this portion, beginning with bread. And then later on, I'm going to add some purple again and adding all these colors while the colors are still wet so that we don't create any hard edges. And let's add some red onto the bottom part. Grade. Again, I want to encourage you to constantly look at our reference photo while we're painting. This would make it easier for you to see why I'm adding whatever color that I'm adding onto my artwork. Because you'll be able to notice the values, colors within each grape from the reference photo. Now I'm looking at this particular grape and comparing it with the reference photo. And I don't quite like how it is looking because it's much darker than what I intended it to be. So at this point I'm going to lift some of the colors just to make it a bit lighter. Okay. So what I did prior to lifting is I just rinse my brush and then dabbed it onto my tissue paper to make it a bit drier. So with a thirsty brush, I'm able to lift the colors. All right, At this point, I'm already happy with how this group is looking. And so now we can move on to painting the next grade. So I'll be doing the same process onto this one and the rest of the cluster. And I won't be, I'm discussing each and every color that I'll be adding. Okay. So we'll be applying the same process as we did with the first grade. Okay, again, I want to to constantly look at the reference photo and observe what colors you see and use those colors. Take those colors and put them onto your artwork. Now, this lesson, along with the other lessons in this class, are all filmed in real time to give you a more realistic view of my process. But if you feel that you want to speed this up a bit, feel free to do so. There's a feature on this Skillshare class where you can actually speed up the video, okay. Good. Hello. Thank you. Good. Good. Hi. But they can come in. Now for this grade B will notice that white small life. Abortion. And I won't be painting anything on it. Okay, So this would be the whitest white part of my artwork. And there's going to be a few more of this eventually. Now, why are we doing this? This is to show the white color of the paper. And this would be actually the highlights. We have the highlights and the shadows. So this is going to be one of the highlights in our artwork. Now at this point, I'm going to skip the grapes on this side. And I'll start painting the grapes here. This part, because these are light-colored grapes as well. If you go back to the reference photo, you'll notice that the grapes that I skipped, or actually of a darker shade. Okay? So we are going to paint the lighter colored grapes first, and then paint the darker ones last. Okay. Good evening. We're going to do it. 4. First Layer: Grapes (Part 2 of 4): Good. Hello. Okay. And this is important. Good, good question. This is a good thing. Okay. You can work with okay. The search results. Good. Good. This is a good thing. Okay? Good. Good evening. Hello. This is good. Okay. Good. But this is a good thing. Okay. 5. First Layer: Grapes (Part 3 of 4): Okay. Hi. This is a good thing. Okay. Okay. Good. Now let's start painting the darker colored crepes. These would mostly be a mix of your violets and some magenta or bread or so the same process, or just using different colors. Good. And each period. Good. Okay. Good evening. This is good. Hello. Good. This is a good thing. Good. I'm good with that. Good evening. This is a good thing to do. Good. 6. First Layer: Grapes (Part 4 of 4): Great work. Taking a look at that. This is a good thing. Good. To begin with. Good. Good. A good thing. Good. This is a good time. Good. Okay? And you are done with the first layer of the grapes. I'll see you in the next lesson. 7. First Layer: Leaf and Linen Plus the Background : In this lesson, we'll be painting the first layer of the leaf and the melanin. And we'll also be painting the background with a round brush. I'm going to add a very thin layer of sap green onto the leaf. We won't be adding any details yet, just this base color. Now before we proceed to the linen, let me just make a quick correction on this part because as I was looking at the reference photo, I noticed that I actually sketch this part. Get a correctly. Okay. So you'll notice that the outline, sketch of this artwork is actually very light. And so this is actually something that I would highly recommend. Okay, so when you're doing the outline sketch, make sure that it's light because it will allow you to make corrections eventually without leaving any mark on your paper. Now that we're done with the corrections, we can now proceed to painting the curved parts of the linen with shadows. So the shadows are actually just a mix of burnt sienna and cadmium yellow. Okay? So if you don't have these colors, you can use a brown that you have and add it with yellow, orange, okay. Now, even if we're adding shadows onto the linen, we don't really want to overpower these portions with very dark colors. So be sure to add the shadows in a thin consistency, more like a milk consistency for this part. Hello. Now, if you look closely at the reference photo, you'll notice that aside from the shadows created from the folds increases. You also see darker parts of the linen. Okay, so these are more of a grayish color. And so we're going to add that onto the lin and right now, okay, so for this one, I'm actually using a very dilute and indigo, but he can also use Payne's gray. Okay. We're going to do Okay, that's it. We're done for the first layer of colors for the linen. Now, I'm going to grab my flat brush. And with a clean flat brush, I'm just wetting the background area. Now, when you're wearing the background area, I want you to make sure that the entire area is actually you bet. Okay. It's not just damp, but it's wet. Meaning when you tilt your paper, you can actually see the water flowing a bit. Okay. But not wet, not dripping wet that it actually overflows to the other parts of the paper. Okay, Now why are we going to do this? This is so that when you add the color for the background, the color will actually flow nicely towards the outer edges of the paper. Okay, the background area is now ready to be added with our color. Okay, So for this one, I just loaded my brush with indigo straight from my pan. So the color is very concentrated. And as you can see, because this section is actually very wet, the color is actually flowing very nicely towards the outer edges of the paper. Okay. Now, if you're wondering if my paper is at an angle. No, it's actually just laying flat on my table. Now, as you're adding indigo onto the background section, I want you to just concentrate on adding color onto the outer the line of the lemon. So don't try to control the color that it just nicely, because this will allow you to have a much softer effect for your background. We're going to do and we're done. I'll see you in the next lesson. 8. Second Layer: Linen (Part 1 of 2): In this lesson, we're going to add a second layer for the linen, and I'm going to use a flat brush for this. Let's begin by adding a very light yellow onto this portion and j. So this is cadmium yellow and it's a very diluted color. I just added a lot of water to it, so it's very light. Now this is what they call glazing pay. So basically we're just adding color on top of the first layer. Already painted a y, the goal. And when you're glazing, you have to make sure that you're brushing over this very lightly so as not to disturb the previous layer. Now I'm going to darken this shadow a bit by adding a tea consistency of burnt sienna. Some of that shadow over here as well. This is going to be a very light. Now with a more concentrated burnt sienna. Let's add a darker tone over here to reinforce that. And then a folded. And I'm lifting some of that color that has bled through to this part. We don't want that over here. Let me just dab to clean this even further. And now I'm going to add some indigo mixed with a little brown to further deepen this fold. Now I've just rinse my brush and dab it on the tissue to have a damp brush. And with this brush, I'm actually just softening the edge over here. Okay. Very good. Now I'm seeing this needs to be a little darker, so let's add some more of that indigo. Now let's also add some shadows onto this folded portion over here. Again, it's just a mix of burnt sienna and a little bit of indigo. Okay, Now here, following the reference photo, I'm just adding some shadow here as well. And I'll be softening the edge with a damp brush. Let's add indigo to this fold to deepen it further. And I'm just going to lift some of that shadow right there so that it looks soft. Okay? We don't really want hard edges here because we're coloring Lenin and we need to create softness as we paint along. Let's do the same process over onto this fold. Again, introducing indigo onto the line fold, and then softening it with a damp brush. Now let's add a dark brown shadow over onto this portion. Just to add greater depths onto this brown shade is also a mix of burnt sienna and a little bit of indigo. Let's also add a bit of grayish shade onto this portion. So again, this is just a very diluted color. Indigo for this. Okay. So for the next portion, I am going to glaze over it with a very light yellow color, similar to what we did previously. So it's going to be eight leasing of this section before we add some shadows or deepen the shadows of the folds. 9. Second Layer: Linen (Part 2 of 2): Next, let's add a very light gray shadow onto this portion. So it's a tea consistency of indigo. And while this portion is still left, suddenly brown shadows answer this as well. Let's also add a darker indigo shadow just beneath the crepes to create a more deaths. Now as I'm looking at the reference photo, I notice this portion also needs to have a darker gray shadow, so that's I bet. That's add some of that yellow color out of this portion. That's glaze over here as well. Again, make sure that you're brushing over this portion very likely so as not to disturb the previous. Now let's deepen this crease a bit further with a darker shade of burns, Hannah. Okay. Hi. Be a grayish shatter over here, just beneath the gray. Then after that, let me just add a shadow onto this portion as well, using the same color. Checking on the reference photo, I see that I need to add this line over here as well. And again, we don't want any hard edges, so let's soften those with just a damp brush. Now let me just add a darker brown onto this portion. And I'm going to quickly rinse my brush and dab it on tissue. And with a temp brush, I'm going to soften this edge. I'm just rubbing it and spreading the rest of the color onto the lower portion of the paper to have a more smooth effect and not a hard edge. I'm going to add a bit the life ground shadow onto this portion as well, and then some more grayish shadows onto the rest of it. Good. Okay. We're going to do it. Thank you. And that's it. I'll see you in the next lesson. 10. Second Layer: Leaf: In this lesson, I'm going to paint the darker tones of the leaf. I'm going to use my angled brush rhythms. And I have mixed indigo with hookers green to create this very dark tone. This is a very thick consistency. It's about 80 percent pigment and 20 percent water. Now, I am very carefully adding the sort of outline for the shadow on the right side of the leaf. And I'm very careful not to go beyond the ground. The crepes. We're doing a negative painting here. If you look at the reference photo, you'll see that some of the veins are still evident despite. So I'm gonna leave. So we're actually keeping the first layer of light green color and letting it show as we paint around some of the veins. So here you can see that there are a few, a couple of veins that I've already painted around. And then after that, I'm just going to fill in the rest of this part. The rest of this right half of the leaf with this dark. We're going to do next the left half of the leaf. Still we will be applying some negative painting here, but this part will not be as dark has the right half k. So again, there will be veins that you'll be painting around. And these will actually show the first layer which has a lighter green color. Every once in a while you'll see my hand pause for a few seconds. That's because I'm constantly looking at the reference photo to see which parts of the leaf will have to be left blank for the second layer so that the veins was actually shown. Now, while we're not actually aiming to copy the reference photo in its entirety, we want to capture where the light and the shadows are. We're going to do. Good. This point. Let me just rinse my brush a bit. I've tapped off the excess water. And now you'll see me sort of pulling some of the colors away from those darker parts of this left side of the leaf. Now let me dab my brush a bit onto some tissue and lift some of those colors as well. To further lighten this part. Let's apply the same process onto the lower half of this part. And as you can see in this left part of the leaf, we've actually create even three tones. The very light tone from the first layer, the mid-tone, as we pulled the color from the darkest tone. And of course the Vargas two of them. So that's it. We're done with this leaf. I'll see you in the next video. 11. Second Layer: Grapes (Part 1 of 3): In this lesson, we're going to paint the second layer of the grapes. I'm going to use my smaller round brush. And basically we're just going to add darker tones onto each grade. We're going to add darker tones of the same color, the reds, the magentas, the purples. To add further depth and dimension onto this bundle. And how are we going to do this? By adding more pigment to our brush and less water? We have a thicker consistency as we add these darker tones. Now, at this point, be sure to constantly look at the reference photo to see where these darker tones are. We're not going to paint all of the crepes in their entirety. Just those parts that need to have darker tones. Now as we're adding dollar terms, be sure to soften the edges as doing wet on dry. So to prevent NHS marble, you see my brush off this screen. And that's when I rented my brush, tapping it on some tissue and then going to soften them. Hello. Hi. Thank you. Now I want to keep this particular spot. And so I've actually just trying to lift my brush a gas to a tissue paper. Okay. Good. Okay. In this example, hello, good. This is a good thing. Good. Good. Okay. Hello. Good. Thank you. So what? This is? Good. Good. Okay. We're going to do. 12. Second Layer: Grapes (Part 2 of 3): Let's continue adding darker tones to the grapes. You'll notice that the grapes that are underneath the other grapes are actually darker compared to the ones above them. So basically we're trying to show the contrast between the grapes that are exposed to light compared to the ones that are actually away from the light. Good evening. If you have injuries. Scripts that are more of a solid dark color. And this is one of them. So we're actually going to add a lot of purple on to this, okay, So it actually seems to be a solid purple color. Also be a very dark grape as well. Most topic would be covered in purple. Okay. But here's another one at the bottom of the bundles. So it's also going to be very dark purple color. Good, good. And that's what this is. Good. That would be good to go. Good evening. I think. We're good to go. Okay. Good. Each period. Good. Okay. Good question. I think this is a good thing. Good or not yet done with our second layer. I'd like you to proceed to the next video for the continuation of this particular part of our process. 13. Second Layer: Grapes (Part 3 of 3): We're almost done adding the second layer for the crepes. Later on we will be adding colors to swell. Good. Good. This is a good thing. Okay. Good. Okay. This is a good thing. Hi, good. We're going to do. Now let's start adding the first year of colors to the stems. This one, I just mix some cadmium yellow with some burnt sienna. The cadmium yellow. You can do it. Now let's add burnt sienna over to the darker parts of the stems. I'm still using the same size of brush. Just very lightly adding this darker accent or in detail. But if you're not comfortable using this size of brush, you can actually grab a smaller brush for this to make it easier to add those very fine by us. Good. Okay, we're going to do good. After I'm done painting the stems and most of the grapes, I see that some of the grapes still need darker tone, so let's add onto those. There are some white spots within the bundle, so let's fill those spots with some color. Let's add some more darker tones to some of the grapes over here. Good. With. That said for the second beer, I'll see you in the next lesson. 14. Details: Linen : In this lesson, we're going to add the details of the fabric. You're going to need a rigger liner brush for this. And we're going to use a dry brush technique for this particular process. So basically, I just added some indigo to burnt umber to form this darker brown color. And I'm using a very thick consistency for this around 80 percent pigment and 20 percent water. And before I even brush over onto the linen part, I make sure to take off the excess water by dabbing my brush onto tissue for few times. It would help for you to hold the brush midway along the handle so that you're actually able to make very light strokes. Now ask for the direction of the lines. I'm constantly looking at the reference photo to guide me as to how to add these lines. Okay. You're not actually just adding plaid lines onto the linen randomly, but instead you're actually looking at the reference photo every once in a while just to make sure that the angle or the direction of the fabric details are sort of similar to what you have on the reference photo. This is good. Good. Okay. In this example, good. Good. Okay. This is a good thing. Good. Good. This is a good thing we're going to do. And I'll see you in the next video. 15. Last Step: Highlights: We're almost done with our painting. We just need to emphasize on the highlights of the grapes. And for this one, you will need a filbert brush or any flat brush that has very stiff bristles to help you scrub of the colors. You'll also need some tissue paper to lift these colors off. Okay? So basically just look Here, reference photo. Check where the shiny parts of the grapes are. And this is where we will be scrubbing. So basically just wet your brush with clean water, tap off the excess water, scrubbed the parts that need to be highlighted, and then get rid tissue and dab the tissue onto this parts so that the color is shifted. Good evening. This is a good 2. Good. Okay. Good evening. I think. This artwork is finally complete. These head onto the next video for some final words. 16. Final Thoughts : I'd like to thank you for joining this class. I really enjoyed preparing this class for you and so I hope that you also had fun learning my process. I would also like to encourage you to share your projects here on my Skillshare class so that I can give you some feedback. And if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask them in the discussion portion of this class. Again, I thank you for being in this class and I hope to see you in succeeding classes. Bye for now.