Transcripts
1. Intro: Hi, my name is Julia. I'm an artist and
an illustrator. And in this Skillshare class, I will show you how to draw and paint some magical secretures. I work you through all
the materials you need, how to sketch the illustration, and how to paint it
using watercolors. You can follow my step
by step instructions. I'll introduce some basic
watercolor techniques and guide you through some
quick and easy exercises. As I am passionate
about art supplies, I will share what I know
about the materials that you need so that you can
start painting right away. I'll provide tips and insights for every stage of creating
the illustrations. Then I guide you through
some basics exercises to learn the basics
of watercolor. I'll show you how
to create a sketch, how to find unique
detail for the subjects, how to arrange the
different elements of an illustration
in their space, and finally, how to
use watercolor and pencils together to
create magical secatures. This course is perfect if it's the first time that
you're using watercolor. But if you already painted
or draw it before, this can give you
an inside look of the whole process of
creating an illustration. I will share with you my
favourite tips to get an illustration polished,
personal and professional. I'm so happy to have you here. I hope you will
enjoy this course, and I can't wait to see
what you will create. I'll see you in the
next video where I will tell you more
about the project.
2. Class Project: For your project, I would like you to paint two sea creatures, incorporating all
the exercises and techniques that you will
learn throughout the class. I chose to paint two fishes, but you can paint
any animal you like. I suggest you follow me in the step by step process because I really cover in depth the sketch and the
creative process. You can pause the class and draw or watch first
and then create. You can check all the materials
that you need in the art supplies lesson so that
you are ready to start. You will find a list
of everything you need to start with
watercolor and also suggestion
of other supplies if you want to experiment
with other media. You will find it in
the resources section. I will then guide you
with some exercises. Take your time to practice and then upload them in
the project section. If you have any
questions or doubts, please feel free to ask. I will share with you some
of my favorite techniques, some personal tips, and some interesting techniques
that I developed over time. All you need to do is follow along with the lesson and then upload what you created in the project section as I'm
showing you on the screen. Is going to be a great exercises to get confident
with watercolor. Don't forget to upload your
exercises and final work. Just click on the
upload button in the project section to share your work with
me and other students. So follow me in the next
lesson where I will tell you more about the art
supplies that you will need.
3. Art Supplies: Let's start with
all the material that you need for this class. You need watercolors, I
will use this palette. Next, I'll use brushes
of different sizes. I have another ceramic
palette for mixing colors that I might need
in larger quantities. You'll need need a bull razor, a pencil, any kind will do. I'll use this mechanical
one and a watercolor paper. I will use loose sheets, but you can also use
paper in blocks. Watercolor paper can be found in more or less white
or yellowish shades and in different textures, rough, cold press,
and hot press. You will also need sketch paper, and printer paper works fine. As for the colors,
I will use pans, but you can also find
watercolors in tubes. Another material that I like
to use is carbon paper. You will also need
watercolor pencs. I like to sort them by color to find them faster
when I need them. Get some cardboard
like the back of an old sketchbook
and some paper tape to secure the paper
when you work. Lastly, two cups of water, one for dirty water,
and one for clean one. I've included a document in the resorts section listing
all the materials I used. To summarize in the skirts, I'll use a watercolor palette, three baahes of different sizes, a mechanical pencil,
Nita ball eraser, and two cups of water,
smooth watercolor paper, a cardboard support,
and paper tape. In the next lesson,
I will tell you more about the idea and
the composition.
4. Idea and composition: Before starting with the actual composition and actual drawing, we need to make some attempts. Before starting the actual
drawing on final paper, I need to make some
attempts to make mistakes, to try and understand the best combination of the elements of my illustration and which
composition I prefer to use. To do this, I make
these small attempts, which I call thumbnails, where I begin to understand
how many elements I want in my final illustration
and how I want them to be arranged within
the space of the sheet. For example, I try placing
two fish one above the other. In the second thumbnail, I try placing the fish
closer to the central line, both going in
opposite direction. In the third thumbnail, I arrange the fish so that
they both face to the right. Then I make another attempt where I add another
smaller element. I go back and I
return to two fish, which I want to rearrange
slightly differently. In the last thumbnail, I draw two fish of more or
less the same size, but of slightly
different shapes, each occupying half of the space and facing in
different direction. Now I proceed to define the shape of the first
fish in more detail. Here too, I make
several attempts. First with a more rounded shape and then with a
slightly elongated one. I redraw the fish a bit
larger so I can add more details and understand where to place the
various elements. This is the perfect
moment to experiment, so I try adding details
like circles or small line. When I have some doubts, I zoom in on some points
where I think I want to add details such as the
fins, eyes, and mouth. I move on to the second fish, which will have a more
rectangular shape. I want the lines to be
straight and not rounded. Again, I make several attempts and zoom in on the eyes, mouth, and maybe the fins to try and have elements
that resemble each other but are not exactly the same as if they were fish
from the same family. I. I like to draw a clear line that defines the head from
the rest of the body. So I make a very
angular decoration and start doing some shading tests, establishing the
tunnel values and how the shading will be
in the final project. It's important to make
these tests and sketches, especially when it comes
to very small details. In the next lesson, we will
start drawing the sketch.
5. Sketch: Once we've decided
the composition of all our elements
in the illustration, we can proceed to draw
them on sketch paper and then transfer them
into watercolor paper. Once the composition and the elements of our
illustration are established, I proceed to draw them
on the sketch paper and then transfer them
to the watercolor paper. I show you how to
do this in a bit. I start by sketching very
light and free shapes, adding the various parts
like the tail and the fins. As you can see, everything
is very loose right now. I will refine everything
in more detail later. I follow the small
thumbnails I made earlier to make the process
more enjoyable and smooth, adding one piece at
a time and moving the lines even by
a few millimeters. I still need to be careful to achieve our bonus
results that I like. As you can see, the first
line is never the final one. I start with a very
light mark and then intensify as I get lines that
I'm more satisfied with. This fish is a fantastic animal that doesn't exist in real life. So I adjust the
lines as I see it. Doesn't have to reflect the
anatomy of the real fish, but it needs to look harmonious
and still cute to me. Thanks to the detailed sketches I made in the previous step, I already know precisely where all the
various details go, like the decoration on the
fins or the body of the fish. I move on to the second fish, which will have a
slightly different shape, and I follow the same
process as the first one. I follow more or less the shape
I traced in the thumbnail first with very
light lines and then going over them to get
the shape I prefer. Here for the part that
defines the head, I want to be a bit
more imaginative. I create a line that first curt and then it
goes straight down. I add the fins and all
the various details. Again, if something
doesn't convince me, I make the line lighter with the Nab eraser and I go
over it with a pencil. I add various details on the
fins and the body just as I studied on the subject study we did in the previous lesson. I show you all the steps I took. I won't cut too much on
this footage because you need to see how many tries and layers of pencil
I need to make. I start with lighter lines and then the ever ones to
get the desired result. In the next lesson, I
will show you how to transfer these pencil lines
onto watercolor paper.
6. Copyng on Watercolour Paper: I'll show you how to transfer the illustration onto
watercolor paper to minimize errors and leave as few marks as possible
on the watercolor paper. In this way, I keep
the illustration as clean as possible. I show you how to transfer my sketch to watercolor paper to minimize errors and leave as few marks as
possible on the paper, keeping the illustration
as clean as possible. First, I secure the
watercolor paper to the cardboard using
the paper tape. I like to put it
in the center and ensure that paper
is well stretched. First, I test to
see if the size of my transfer paper is suitable for the watercolor
paper I've chosen. I start arranging my
composition on the paper and realize that the fish are too far apart, which I don't like. So I take the sketch
paper and with scissors, I cut out the two subjects
and place them on printer paper to create the composition the way
that I like the most. I try to keep everything
centered and harmonious, always keeping in mind the watercolor paper on which
I paint the final work. It may take some
adjustment to figure out how to move the paper and
find the best solution. Once I confirm the
ideal composition, I place the transfer paper
under the sketch paper, being careful not to send the watercolor paper underneath. This is a really
delicate operation, and with colored pencil, I trace the outline. A colored pencil is very sharp and I check from time to time if the pressure I apply is right or if I'm drawing lines
that are too thick. I do the same with other fish. Once I've traced
all the details, I remove the transfer paper. At this point, I use the Kitab eraser to
lighten the lines. To avoid using the details, I keep the sketch
paper closed and trace the entire drawing with a pencil that has a
very thin light point. I have a clear vision of
everything that I draw. And in case I've
missed something. For the details, I refer back to the paper with
all the studies that I did and complete my drawing
by adding all the details. Once again, I lighten
the lines with the Nab eraser to be
ready for painting. If necessary, I add
other small details. Now before starting to paint, I show you the basic
watercolor techniques.
7. Watercolour Basic Techniques: In this lesson, I will show you the basic watercolor techniques. I'll begin on a piece of
300 grams watercolor paper. First, I wet half of the paper. I wet a section of the
paper when cling water, then mix some color
on my palette, picking up a good amount of it. I want to demonstrate
the difference between wet and wet and
wet and dry techniques. I make a single stroke. As you can see, where
the paper is wet, the watercolor
spread unpredictably and follows the
water on the paper. Whereas where there is no water, the line is much sharper. I can use these
characteristics of the wet and dry
techniques for details and for a painting style that is less loose and
more controlled. In the next lesson,
I will show you two ways to blend colors.
8. Watercolour Blending: Now I show you two methods
for blending colors. For the first method, I apply color onto the paper, and then with a clear brush, I pick up clean water and
drag it over the color that I already applied until it
becomes almost transparent. The second method to achieve a gradual gradient is to dilute the color directly
on the palette. I first apply almost pure
color onto the paper and then gradually add more water to the color that's
prepared on the palette. This way, the brush
picks up a color that becomes progressively
lighter as I add more water. With this method, I can achieve a more controlled
gradual gradient compared to the one that
I showed you earlier. In the next lesson, I will show you how to create a flat wash.
9. Watercolour Flat Wash: Sometimes achieving a flat wash with watercolor can
be challenging. In this lesson, I'll show you the technique that I use and
I'll give you some tips. The first tip I give
you is to choose a brush size appropriate for the area that
you need to fill. It shouldn't be too small or it will take too long and
will cause tricks, nor too large, or
you won't be able to control the water and
the color effectively. Prepare a good
amount of color and saturate well the
bristles of the brush. To achieve a flat wash, it's crucial to tilt the paper. I lift the support
and start painting. As you can see, a bit of color
forms and moves downwards. And then I will guide
this bed with my brush. The color is not enough, I pick more from what
I've already prepared. You should not add more water or pigment as it would
alter the gradient. If there's excess color left
on the paper at the end, I dab the brush on a cloth to remove the last
bed from the edge. In the next lesson,
I'll show you how to achieve more intensity
through layering.
10. How to Use Layers: Let's see how to achieve more intensity using the
transparency of watercolor. Let's explore how to achieve greater intensity using the
trasparency of watercolor. As you can see, here is a flat
wash that I just created. For these steps, I
always recommend securing the paper on
board as I've done here. I will use the same color that I used for the first layer. Before moving on
to the next layer, I need to ensure that the
first one is completely dry. It applies in every
step of this process. Simply paint a second layer,
stopping a bit earlier. The transparency of
watercolor allows the colors to intensify
with each layer. It's like stacking layers of transparent
paper one on top of the gradually increasing
the color intensity as we add more layers. Therefore, the more
layers we add, the more intense
the color becomes. I'm using the same color each time without changing
the amount of pigment, but simply taking advantage
of the transparency and layering of watercolor to achieve four
different colors, four different shades
of the same color. This allows me to
modulate the intensity while using the same color
from the single paint. In the next lesson, I
will show you how to modulate color using
this same technique. E.
11. Create colour with Layers: In my palette, I prepare
a really nice quantity of color because I will need it to create all the next layers. I prepare some
yellow, and then I start to paint going again on the first flat wash. And I stop one quartet before the
end, approximately. Once the second layer is dried, I start to paint the third one. This color is really light, so it will take
more than one layer to get a noticeable
change in you. But even if the color is
really, really light, I can still achieve a movement in the color and a variety of. I managed to change the color and obtain four different es that goes from yellow orange to red orange using
only two colors. Now it will take some time
to practice with gradients. I will show you
different options to do that in the next lesson.
12. Watercolour Gradient: I will now show you
three different ways to create a gradient. These techniques are
the ones that I always use and that are good to
keep in mind when painting. Before starting a project, it's always good to
do a bit of a warmp. I start with this red orange, and as I showed you before, I blend the color with
a clean brush and water until the pigment
fades on the paper. In this way, I can
achieve a nice gradient. I let it dry, and
in the meantime, I create another one. I try to make it identical to the one above, but this time, I add water to the
palette to achieve a color that gradually
becomes lighter, creating a gradient that moves towards the
white of the paper. For the third option, I
will start with yellow. I take the color from the pan and I put it on the palette. This will be my
color number one. Since I need to create
a gradient towards red, I take a tiny amount of red orange and mix
it with the yellow. Before the drop
dries on the paper, I blend this new color
and continue taking another tiny drop of red orange and mixing it with
the first color, which is already
changing and starting to resemble the second
color red orange. I continue this way,
gradually adding more red orange to my
original yellow mixture. In this way, I
achieve a gradient that always contains
a bit of yellow. Now, let's return to the first
gradient that I show you. I clean the palette
and the brush, take some yellow again, and
place it on the palette. This time, I flip the
support and create the same gradient I
made with red orange. But starting from
the opposite side, and making the colors meet
at the lightest point. This gradent is great when working with complimentary
colors that mi meets in the middle and create a dull color tending
towards gray or brown, like a combination of violet
and yellow or red and green. Now that you know all the
basic watercolor techniques, I will show you how to
use colored pencils.
13. Coloured Pencils Techniques: I show you how I use colo it pencils in my artworks
with different techniques. Technique one, try gradient. By simply changing the pressure of the pencil on the paper, I can achieve a gradient from a very intense color
to a very light one. Technique two, cross
etched gradient. To achieve a strong
color intensity, instead of pressing
hard with the pencil, I overlap strokes using
a hatchi technique, similar to what is often
used with ink or fine liner. Technique three, wet gradient. Like the dry gradingt technique, I create a layer intensifying the color more in
the first part. Then I take a clean brush with water and
blend the pigment, which activates with
water to achieve a very smooth and
controlled gradient. Technique four, color layering. Using the aching technique
from the second method, this time, I use two different colors to obtain a third one. So I create two layers and I blend the colors
to get a third one. I use one technique with
pencils and another with water. For the dry blend, I use
the varnishing technique, pressing to blend and
merge the two layers, achieving a slight
tunnel variation. For the wet blend, I go over the layers I created
with yellow and blue, activating the pigment with a wet brush and let them blend. Technique five, create
unique textures. I like to create backgrounds or unique textures by
wetting the paper with clean water and then scraping the color pencil pigment
onto it with sandpaper. Pigment spreads on the water, creating interesting textures. For more intense effect, you can add more water
or more pigment.
14. Create a Colour Palette: You can use all
the color that you have your watercolor
palette for this work. But in this lesson, I will
show you how to create your own color palette using only the primary colors
yellow, red, and blue. This will give us the chance
to review some color theory. As you can see, I'm
not using pure colors. Instead, I'm using shades that suit my taste a Windsor yellow, a cadmium red with a
bit of permanent rose, and a Windsor green with
some French ultramarine. From these three colors, I
start developing my palette, creating colors that range
from orange tones by adding water for lighter shades or add more pigment
for darker ones, bearing the use and adding different shades for a
more interesting palette. By mixing red and blue, I obtain shades of
purple, violet, and lilac, changing
the density and w to create different gradients. For green, I mix
yellow and blue to get various shades to find the
most interesting ones. Remember to rinse your brush well when switching
between colors. So far, I've created colors that closely resemble
the primary, secondary, and tertiary
colors of the color wheel. These colours are very
saturated and intense. However, I also want
to create more muted, softer, less vibrant
and desaturated colors. I use the color theory
to achieve this. For example, to make a
desaturated blue green, I will use its
complimentary color red I experiment by
trying to replicate colors on my palette using complimentary or
analogous colors to obtain more muted tones. Simply adjust to your taste
when creating palettes. I usually use more desaturated
color as part of my style. By diluting the colors, I can see different options available. Experiment with adding
violet to green or red to green to find
your favorite colors. This exercise is much fun
and highly creative for me. This exercise it's
super creative for me. Now that we've
prepared and learned everything that we need
to create illustration, let's go back to our sketch.
15. Red Fish: Now that the sketch is ready, we are ready to paint
the final illustration. I prepare a good
amount of color on the palette to cover the
entire surface of the fish. I keep a small piece of paper
nearby for color testing. Here I'll overlap colors and see how they
interact and appear. I start from the top as I
show you with a flat wash. I leave the support with the paper and begin from the top, tracking the drop of colour. If the color runs
out, I pick some more from my palette
and continue painting. I'm now filling all the space using the flat wash technique. I'm tilting the
support with the paper to encourage the
water to flow towards the bottom of the page and directing the drop with
the bristles of my brush. If I find the brush
using too large, I switch to a smaller brush for areas that require
more precision. I always try and create a good amount of
color that covers the whole section so
that I can achieve a flat color with not
so much variation. This is just a
preference of mine when working with this
kind of illustration. But there's no right of wrong. If you prefer a more
loose and textured gosh, you can increase the quantity
of water or pigment in your paddle or even try and mix other color
in the same wash. I paint another swatch on my due piece of paper
where I'm testing the colors so that I can have a lighter variation
of the first swatch. After the first layer, I paint a second layer to
slightly change the hue using a colour with
more yellow to create an orange hue when this
is blended with red. I always test colours
on a small piece of paper to see how
the project evolves. As you can see, when
layers overlap, the color resulting is addiction of the two
colors in this case, red and yellow orange. I proceed in the same way
as the first flat wash. You still using the
flat wash technique until I cover the old section. Once the yellow layer is dry, I start intensifying some
parts of the fish like the fin and the tail using layering as I showed you before. I keep painting
each section using a smaller round brush
for more precision. I keep going this way, filling each section with color, keeping in mind that the
more layers overlap, the more intense the
color is going to be. I use the same brush
and color to define the head and to start defining
some volume on the body. I let each layer dry completely
before moving on to next. With a smaller brush, I add details and work on
finer gradations. I use the darkest color
I created to paint the eye and leave a small
area for the eyelight. I carefully paint
the edge and give some three dimensionality
to the fish. Imagining how the volumes work since I don't have
a reference image. It's time to add details
with colored pencils. I choose some from my
collection and test them on this watch paper until I find the ones that suit
my illustration. I want to use complimentary
colors for these details, so I found some wind pencils. I also look for a white
pencil for eye light. I start with the
white emphasizing the highlight on the eye and the reflection on
the fish's forehead. With colored pencils,
I add texture by crosstching strokes or increasing intensity
in certain areas. Drawing details with
a pencil allows me to be more precise and quick in
this part of the process, since usually the party
takes me more time. Not having to worry
about the brush stroke, make things easier and make the whole process of
creating more enjoyable. H I proceed with red pencil and white pencil, using them both to define the
parts of light and shadow. Using this white pencil, which is quite
choky and covering, I decorate the fins with
some white thick lines. This is going to be a white
base for my blue details. In this way, the red colour doesn't pass through the blue, creating a darker color. Now since I have a white base, separating the red of the fish and the blue
of the decoration, the second color remains
bright and saturated. Please keep in mind that this process takes time
and various attempts. You can see me going back and forth with different colors, adding more red or more blue
in a calmns low manner. That's a way to
understand what's the level of detail
that I want to achieve. I work towards the final idea of the illustration one
little step at a time. This consists of adding
few strokes at a time, doing microvations, and
taking time to step back and look at
the overall feeling of the illustration
that I'm working on. I repeat the same process
on the other side. This time, I make the red a bit darker using the red pencil. Then with the white pencil
and the blue pencil, I keep decorating the fins as
I did on the previous one. A Before I move on to the next fish, I gather all the pencils that
I used and secure them with a rubber band so that I can keep them separated from the
rest of my pencils. I usually do this for every work because this helps me
keep the color palette clear and it also
makes the job easier in terms of finding a
specific colored pencil.
16. Blue Fish: And the second fish, I use the same technique that
I use for the first one. But this time, the main
color will be a shade of blue to complement the
titil of the first fish. To understand better the
undertone of the color, I dissolve some pigment
from the green pencil that I use on the first
fish on the test paper. Then I mix watercolors
on the palette, starting with green and adding a bit of yellow and
making adjustment until I achieve
the desired color that resembles the
one of the pencil. Once I have a similar color, I paint as watch and I'm ready to start
painting the fish, preparing a bit more on
another palette if needed. I fill the section with a flat wash. After the first layer, I dry it with dryer and
apply a second darker wash, avoiding areas I
want to keep light, like parts of the
fins and the head. I continue this way,
painting layer by layer and letting each one dry completely
before adding the next. With a smaller brush, I
add shadows and details, giving volume to the subject. I use a very dark color, the same for the first
fish to paint the eye, again, leaving a highlight. I add titles with
colored pencils, ensuring the white pencil
is opaque on this hue. Oh. I add texture and details, sharpening the pencil with
some paper for a finer point. This way I ensure my
pencil lasts longer, it can be used more efficiently. I use the pencil for the planted decoration
with complimentary colors, red for the complimentary
details of the orange red, and a very dark blue pencil to gotect the eye roundness and the darkness tons of the illustration, even
on the first fish. This steps should be done
at the end to adjust the overall tonal values and contrast of
the illustration. Ideally, you should create
several illustration in a series to get comfortable with both the subject
and your style. Follow me in the
next lesson where I show you how to
correct mistakes.
17. How to Fix Mistakes: I will now show
you two different ways to correct mistakes. How to correct mistakes. It can be tricky,
but we can do it. I have two squares here. As you can see, the red goes slightly outside the
pencil line I traced. I explained two
techniques to correct mistakes when working
with watercolors. Technique number one,
lifting the color, using a clean wet
brush, lift the color. This technique
doesn't always give the desired results and
doesn't work 100% of the time. It depends on the pigment and the color used and
the type of paper. You need to experiment,
ideally test this technique with new colors and see how they react to lifting
with a brush. Technique number two,
using a white gel pen. My preferred
technique is this one using a white gel pen to simulate the paper's texture by making tiny dots
close together. I do this other alpha of the arrow so you can
see the difference. The coverage is in
total, but it's effective for correcting
small mistakes. But remember, mistakes are
always part of the process. As you can see, the
coverage is not total. You can still see some
pigment and some stains, but I think it's effective to correct tiny mistakes that
are part of the process.
18. Final Thoughts: We've now reached the end
of this Skillshare class. I look forward to hearing your feedback and to
see what you created. So don't forget to upload your artwork in the
project section. You can follow my
profile on YouTube and Instagram at
Julia Watercolor. And if you enjoyed this course, you can share what you
created with me and tag me in your stories or posts. If you want to keep painting
and creating today, you can have a look
at the other classes that I created here
on Skillshare. So thank you again for
being here and I'll see you next time. M
Giulia D'Andrea, Illustrator - Artist
