Watercolour Seascape & Boat Painting: Sail Boat: Sea and Sunset Sky for All Levels | Carrie McKenzie | Skillshare

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Watercolour Seascape & Boat Painting: Sail Boat: Sea and Sunset Sky for All Levels

teacher avatar Carrie McKenzie, creating painted visions

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      SAIL BOAT INTRODUCTION

      3:25

    • 2.

      Materials, Drawing, Masking to reserve white paper.

      4:25

    • 3.

      Paint the Sky and Sea - 1st Layer wet-on-wet

      2:58

    • 4.

      Sky and Sea - 2nd Layer. Paint the distant hills and reflections in water.

      12:39

    • 5.

      Paint the Sail Boat and reflections in water. Bleed colours, Lift off Paint, Blending and Softeni

      13:07

    • 6.

      5. Recover Highlights. Strengthen Tones. Add Rigging and Birds. Use Sandpaper for glistening highlig

      8:39

    • 7.

      SAIL BOAT FINAL THOUGHTS

      1:48

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About This Class

Why take this class: You're going to love painting this lovely Sail Boat silhouetted against a glorious sunset sky. This watercolour painting course is packed with exciting ideas and techniques. I will show you exactly how to paint the Sail Boat from start to finish - you’ll get a real glimpse of what goes into my painting as you work alongside of me up-close and personal. I will remove the mystery of watercolour and show you how to discover new ways to unleash your creativity as you join me on this inspirational journey of start-to-finish demonstrations and techniques. As the video unfolds, you will see how colours work together, how to step into impressionism and push colour to capture the mood and essence of your subject. This class will inspire you to use watercolour in a range of different ways. Best of all, you’ll gain a real sense of accomplishment by creating your own beautiful, evocative Sail Boat and Sunset painting.

Is this class for me? Absolutely, 100% yes! All are welcome. If you are a complete beginner, then this course is for you. There are also techniques and ideas for those who already have some experience but want to loosen up a bit, become more expressive, and enhance their watercolour skills. You don't need to know how to draw, as I provide a template of the drawing for you to download and trace - so you can just concentrate on the fun of painting.

What will we explore? This course is packed with:

* Start-to-finish demonstrations so you can see first-hand how to build up the painting every step of the way I have verbally explained the entire process in a friendly and easy-to-understand manner.

* Step-by-step guidance and best practice for a range of creative watercolour techniques - I'll be guiding you gently through the whole thing (eg, simplify a subject, add reflections, wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, layering colour, blending and softening, adding depth and contrast with tonal values, using masking fluid to preserve white paper, using dry brush strokes to create broken waves, to name but a few!)

* Some of my favourite studio tips and techniques for successful working practices and saving time (eg, lift off colour with magic sponge, use sandpaper to create sparkling highlights on the water, layer colour, avoid washed out paintings)

* You will be ‘learning by 'doing' rather than by lecture (you can paint right alongside me, up close and personal)

What do I need? A selection of watercolour paints (at least one red, blue and yellow): a few watercolour brushes, paper, palette, water sprayer, paper towel, pencil, rubber, water pot - you'll probably already have some of these items in a cupboard somewhere.

Alright, let's do it! Come join me for a fun, creative class! Let's get going. Just follow the video boldly along, and you’ll soon have the knowledge and confidence to produce your very own gorgeous seascape painting that zings with colour and energy. 

I can't wait to see what you create!  

My Artwork: I’ve been teaching people how to paint with watercolour for many years - you can see more examples of my artwork on my website: http://www.carriemckenzieart.co.uk

Meet Your Teacher

Teacher Profile Image

Carrie McKenzie

creating painted visions

Teacher

I am an artist and tutor who believes everyone can create meaningful art.

I design my Skillshare classes to be clear, approachable, and encouraging--so you feel supported every step of the way. I truly believe art grows best in a positive, welcoming environment, and I'm always inspired by my students' creativity and progress.

My goal is to help you build confidence, develop your own style, and fall in love with making art again. Join me in class, try the projects, and share your work - I can't wait to see what you create!

Alongside my online classes, I run regular workshops for all abilities, exhibit my work across Yorkshire, and give demonstrations for local art societies. Teaching and connecting through art brings me huge joy - especially seeing confidence... See full profile

Level: All Levels

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Transcripts

1. SAIL BOAT INTRODUCTION: Hello and a very warm welcome to my online watercolor class. My name's Karen Mackenzie. I'm a professional artist, author, and art tutor living in the beautiful countryside of Yorkshire. Today we're going to be painting this lovely sailboat silhouetted against a glorious sunset. It's jam packed with watercolor techniques, tips and tricks, and I know you're going to find it really inspiring. It's suitable for all levels. If you're a beginner, I'm going to guide you every step of the way. Or if you're an experienced artist looking for something a bit different. I've included a copy of the drawing in the project resources section so that you can download it and trace it and then not worry about the drawing because this is a painting class. In all my classes you can follow along in real time as I share the techniques that I use in my own professional work. I've got a lot of classes now on skill share in a range of beautiful subjects where I show you how to keep your work loose, fresh and spontaneous, without over fussing. And you'll gain the confidence and knowledge to incorporate everything you learn into your own artwork. Best of all, at the end of this class, you'll have your own beautiful painting to be very proud of. I've discovered lots of tips and techniques and shortcuts over the years. Just as in my in person face to face classes, I'll be sharing these so that you too can get the same benefits and joy from painting that have helped me. I'm a big believer in learning by doing, rather than reading lots of written theory. You'll be painting right alongside me in my studio as I demonstrate each process step by step and make your learning a happy, smiley and practical experience. If you prefer, you can watch the video the whole way through, then have a go at the painting afterwards. Of course, you can pause and rewind it at any time. You can see examples of my work on my website. My style leans towards impressionistic and contemporary rather than photo realistic. I like to explore loose approaches that bring out the color, light, and essence of my subjects. I'm delighted to be able to share with you my experience, tips and techniques that I've learned along the way in my own art journey. Importantly, the most valuable asset is your own time, patience, and enthusiasm. There's no such thing as right, wrong, or failure in art. It's all about learning and growth. Learning what worked well, practicing what you need to improve on, and moving forward with each step. Please don't worry if your painting doesn't look exactly like mine. Lowry. Never worried whether his look like Angus or Picasso's. We all have our own unique style just like our fingerprint. And with that understanding, it's time to get on with the painting. 2. Materials, Drawing, Masking to reserve white paper.: Hello and a very warm welcome to my on line watercolor class. My name's Cary Mackenzie. I'm a professional artist, author, and tutor living in the wonderful countryside of Yorkshire. I'm going to be sharing my favorite techniques and lots of tips with you, such as how to create a lovely, soft, dramatic sunset sky. How to paint the reflections in the water, and how to silhouette our little sailboat. Now some of that might sound a little bit tricky, but it's a lot easier than you think. And I'm going to show you how step by, I think you're really going to love painting this little sailboat. You can either watch the whole video through and have got the painting afterwards, or you can paint right alongside me as I guide you through it. Now, regarding my materials, these are the ones that I'm using. But if you have different colors, then don't be afraid to use the ones that you've already got. Most of my paints are either transparent or semi transparent, which will allow the white of the paper to shine through. This is what gives water color its wonderful radiance. Tend to keep opaque paints when I want to cover up the underlying paper or layer of paint. Now you can see that I've kept the drawing very simple, minimal detail, so that we get a nice loose free flow painting. And I've included a copy of the drawing in the project resources section so that you can download it and trace it and then not worry about the drawing, because this is a painting class, you can apply masking fluid to the shapes where you want to reserve the white of the paper, either for highlights or to paint over by hand. Later on, you do need to wait for the fluid to dry fully before applying paint over the top of it. When it is properly dry, you can just rub off the hard gum either with a clean finger or with a putty rubber. And you'll see that it leaves behind crisp, defined white shapes. If the white shapes are a bit too stark, you can soften them with a damp brush or you can even paint over it. Now, don't use your good brushes for this because the gum will spoil them. Use an old brush or even the handle of the brush. I also use rubber tipped applicators because the gum is very easy to clean off them. You can get a rolling pen, which varies the thickness of the line, but I tend to use an unwound paper clip for very fine lines and dots. As you can see, that's exactly what I'm using here. I've applied a very fine line of masking fluid along the horizon that will just help to separate the sky from the sea. I've also added a little sliver just immediately beneath the hole of the boat. I'm now applying it in fairly random horizontal strokes, where I want to reserve the white of the paper for ripples in the water. When it comes to actually painting this little seascape, I want to keep the area around the boat both above and below the horizon. The lightest. I'm concentrating most of the masking fluid for the ripples in that area below the boat where the water will catch the light. As you can see from what I'm doing, there isn't really a precise method for doing this. You want to keep it very random, so don't make all your strokes the same ***gth, make a few that are thinner than others. Very importantly, remember to keep them horizontal because water is level, with a few little dots and splashes here and there. This bit is done. 3. Paint the Sky and Sea - 1st Layer wet-on-wet: I'm using the wet on wet technique to paint the sky because that will give me a lovely, soft b***ded appearance. Wet on wet just means applying wet paint on wet paper. I've wet the whole of the sky area thoroughly with clean water. And a large brush, I've got a watery mix of handsome yellow light, you could use al transparent yellow or even a cadmium yellow light. Also got ready some watery permanent rose. First of all, I'm applying the yellow color now. It's b***ding nicely into that wet under wash. So I'm getting some really nice soft edges. Note that I'm keeping the area around the boat sails very light. I'm not applying the paint over the top of them when I add my little touches of permanent rose because everything is still very wet. You can see that, that pink color is diffusing softly into the yellow under wash. Again, I'm keeping everything nice and soft and b***ded. If it's a bit sluggish, do what I'm doing. Lift your paper up and give it a really good shape to get those colors moving. The paper is starting to dry now, so I'm going to stop to paint the reflections in the sky. We're almost going to repeat the process, except we're going to reverse the positions of the colors so that they are mirrored below. Just as I did with the sky, I'm thoroughly pre wetting the paper with some clean water. It sounds very obvious to say it, but water is wet. We do need p***ty of water to paint the sea. Now I'm applying the yellow paint roughly in the places which are mirrored below the sky and also underneath the boat itself. While that yellow paint is still wet, just as I did with the sky, I'm dropping in the permanent rose over the top of it. I'm making a mental note of where the pink is in the sky and then adding that in the water in a position that mirrors it. It doesn't need to be absolutely precise because the waves in the sea will distort it a little anyway. 4. Sky and Sea - 2nd Layer. Paint the distant hills and reflections in water.: If we mixed pink, blue and yellow together in our palette, we'd end up with a muddy brown or gray color. There's a danger that that could also happen if we mix them on the paper. That's one of the reasons why it's very useful in watercolor to build the paint and color up in layers, letting each layer in between. For the second layer, I am wetting the paper, just as I did with the first one. Before I apply the color, I'm using a large soft brush, although you can't see it very clearly from the video. I am brushing on the water very carefully and gently so as not to disturb the underlying colors. I still want an area of lightness around the boat, but I don't want any hard edges. I am wetting around it even though I won't be painting or allowing the paint to run into that. The two colors that I'm using for this second layer are ultramarine on its own, and ultramarine mixed with some permanent rose to give me a purple color. I'm applying the ultramarine on its own first, just as before. You can see that that is diffusing and b***ding nicely into the underlying wet wash. I'm using the tip of brush to encourage the paint to run down over the top of the yellow and the pink. Being careful where to apply brush strokes because I don't want to cover up those two colors completely. It's important to consider that skies tend to take on a personality all of their own. It would be really difficult to copy exactly what I'm doing here. In fact, if I was painting it again myself, my sky certainly wouldn't look like this again. Whilst I'm encouraging you to follow this process, do give the water color a little bit of free rein and let it do its own thing. If you can loosen up a bit and go with the flow, you will be pleasantly surprised at the results that appear. If anything occurs that you really don't like, you've got your paper towel to hand and you can just simply block that off. As I mentioned when we did the previous lay, whilst the paper is still wet, you can keep working into it, but as soon as the paper starts to dry, you really do have to stop or you'll get some unsightly marks and it won't look very sky like. Don't be afraid to tilt your paper. Move it from side to side, give it a good or shake. If needed, you'll find that the colors will b***d much more effectively than if you try and do it with the brush. Now, my blue paint is still very wet. I have no problem. Now, in going over with my dark purple color, this is going to add a real good bit of contrast in the sky. If we paint everything in the same tone, we would have a rather bland and uninteresting painting. We do need those darker tones to go with the light ones, to give the painting some depth and that little bit of pizzas. But use your own intuition here, your own judgment, to see where is the best place in your painting to add these darker tones. Remember that I've pre, wet the whole of the sky. Wherever I position this darker color, it's going to b***d and diffuse into those underlying colors. But I can also leave gaps so that those other colors also shine through. And I'm still getting the soft transition between one and the other, keeping my eye on that central area that I want to keep light. I've got my paper towel, just taking any paint away that's run a little bit too far. You can also use a thirsty brush, that's a damp, clean brush to lift off any little tiny areas of paint too. I'm in danger now of fiddling and overworking it. So I'm going to move on to the reflections. Painting the reflections for the blue and the purple that I put into the sky is no different, really, from when we did the pink and the yellow colors I am putting on the. Clear water, first of all, over the whole of the sea, just like I did the sky. First of all, I'm using ultramarine. I'm painting it on using horizontal brush strokes, just as I did before. Making these go in and between the pink and the yellow. We're painting water. Remember to keep it all very watery. You don't want really thick paint going over here. Again, I'm making a mental note of where the blue appears in the sky and trying to mirror it below in the water. Do note as well that I've left an area of relatively white space below the horizon because that is where I'm going to be painting the reflections of the hills when we come to paint them. I can paint right over the masking fluid because that dried quite some time ago. No fear of smudging that. Now, I'm going to start breaking up the blue a little bit with that darker purple color that I also put in the sky. Although we used some very directional brush strokes when we painted the sky. Notice that I'm not doing that when I paint the sea. I am still keeping my brush strokes level because that's how the color will appear in the water. Even though we've put some masking fluid on to reserve the white of the paper, you can still leave some little gaps of white or pale color. In between these horizontal strokes, I've mixed up some more purple color with the ultramarine and permanent rose. I've got quite a lot of water already on my brush. The paint is much diluted when I'm applying it to the paper. I'm using the flat of my brush against the paper and almost dancing across it, really, to create some interesting shapes across the top of the hill, instead of just one straight line, I'm using my paper towel to just dab some of that color off where the hill starts to go into that area of light. Then I'm doing exactly the same for the hill that's coming in from the other side. But you want to just try and vary the shape of it here and there. You don't want these two hillsides, either side of the paper to look like book ends. They don't want to match each other exactly. Don't get too caught up in defining what the little shapes are Along the top, the viewer's eye will fill them in and they might see a church or a clump of trees or something. Again, block that color off where the hillside is diffusing into the light. Then with not as much color on brush, I get a stronger darker color. I'm going in just above the horizon, stroking that darker color along there. I'm using the tip of my brush to just drag that color upwards and outwards, creating some more shapes this time a little bit darker in tone that will push the ones that we've just painted further back into the distance and give the painting some depth. Working my way along, adding little random shapes here and there, joining some of them up again, I shall blot it off with my paper towel as it lightens towards that light area. Then I'm repeating that again over on the other side of the boat. Again, remembering to just keep those shapes different from the right hand side so that we've got some variety and interest going on now. I didn't need to wet the paper when I painted the hills in the last step. But I do need to wet the paper when I'm painting their reflections. Because once again, this is in water. The reflections need to have a nice watery feel to them. And the color needs to b***d in softly to those previous colors that we've painted in the sea. Because I have pre wet the paper, the tone of the purple color is fairly light. It's mixing in with that water and diluting it. Then as you bring it down, it's just diffusing gently into those other colors that we painted on previously. Exactly the same process at the other side. As always, if we do get any hard unwanted edges, we can soften them off with our paper towel or with a damp brush before the reflection dries completely. I'm adding some more color just below the horizon line. And that's just giving us the extra bit of contrasting color above and below. I've only added a small amount of paint because I don't want it to go right down to the bottom of the reflection. 5. Paint the Sail Boat and reflections in water. Bleed colours, Lift off Paint, Blending and Softeni: I want to paint a sailboat very dark, but not quite black so that it's in silhouette from the light background. But in my experience, painting a subject with a black or a very dark color can make it look a little bit flat and dull. Also because the boat is, IE, the light is coming from behind, there will be some color reflecting through from the sky for those reasons. First of all, I'm painting over the whole of the boat and the sails with the yellow color that we used for the sky. Then working quickly, while the yellow paint is still very wet, I'm dropping in some permanent rows over the top of the yellow and letting those two colors mingle and b***d very much as we did with the sky and the water. I'm using the tip of my brush to fill in the shapes of the sails and the boat and to encourage those two colors to b***d a little bit more together here and there. But you can see that there are still areas of definite yellow and some definite pinks, as well as the merged orange color between the two. Don't forget to paint the little flag at the top, which is also going to be in silhouette. I've got already mixed some of the dark purple, to which I've added a little bit of Mars black to make it even darker. One of the reasons that I use Mars black is because it granulates. We will get a bit of a mottled effect with this pigment. But if you don't have it, use the black that you've already got. That will be fine. I'm continuing to work very quickly because I don't want the yellow and pink paint that I put on to be dry. When I apply this darker color, you can see here how this darker, black, purple color is bleeding in to those colors underneath. The overall impression that we get is that although the sale is very dark in color, now, there is a glow coming through it. If you're not a fast worker, I would suggest that you do the sales first and then do the boat afterwards, or you could even do one sail at a time. I've got quite a good point on the large brush that I'm using, but if you find it easier, switch to using a smaller brush where you've got the straight lines. Moving on to the second sail and repeating exactly the same process. And you can see still how wet that yellow and pink paint is because the dark color is bleeding into it again and spreading quite nicely. Paying special attention to the edges of each shape, making those darker than the central areas and also smooth. I'm remembering that watercolor dries about 20 to 30% lighter than when it's wet. I've got to have a think of whether I've put enough dark paint on and what it's going to look like when it's dry. I'm returning to the first sail and dropping in some more dark color over the top. Moving on now to the little boat. I'm applying the same dark color over it. Giving a little bit of attention to the different shapes within the boat, but not too much because it is in silhouette. It is important though, where there are straight lines to keep them straight and not have wibbly, wobbly edges. Then I'm going to use the tip of my brush again to paint in some of the rigging. Now, the rigging, of course, doesn't need to be quite thin lines. We don't want them looking like planks of wood. Again, switch to a smaller brush if you need to, or even use a watercolor pencil or pen. Having said that, the central flagpole does need to be a little bit thicker in width than the rigging. Standing back and having a look at my boat color, it seems to me a little bit too brown and not on the blue side. I've mixed in some more ultramarine into my mix whilst it's still wet, which it is. I'm going back over and dropping in a more darker blue color to enhance that silhouette appearance. There's likely to be some people on board of and also a few other ships. But it's too small a distance for me to try to put them in, in detail. I'm just scribbling, dibble, dabbling in with my brush to create a few odd shapes here and there. The viewer's eye will fill them in and work out what they are. There's no need to fuss with too much detail. I mix some more blue into my dark purple black color. And adding this now to get an even stronger and more intense silhouette. I want it to really stand out against that back lit light area. It might be that yours is absolutely fine and you don't need to add any more dark color. That's really a judgment call for you to make a bit like the sky that were painted earlier. As long as it's still wet, you can keep working into it, but there is always that fine line about overworking it. I just switched to a much smaller brush to paint that very fine rigging line that's running alongside the flagpole or the masters I should call it. Then ironically, after putting all that paint on, I'm going to use a thirsty brush. That's a clean, damp brush, to just lift a few areas of paint where there might be some highlights on the boat and on the sail. Nothing too stark or drastic, just a few subtle highlights here and there. I'm ready now to move on to paint the reflections. Now on your drawing, I have indicated where the reflections will go with some dotted lines. Although I'm painting this quite freehand because we are going back to painting water, I'm now painting with clean water, some horizontal lines, where those dark reflections are going to go. What you don't want is solid blocks of color, because the waves in the water will break up and distort the reflections. I am leaving p***ty of gaps in between those horizontal brush strokes because the reflections in the water not back like the boat and the sails. I don't need to paint with the yellow and the pink. First of all, I can go straight in with my dark color, just as I did with the hills when we painted them. I mirroring the shapes that are above in the water below. But of course, with the boat, we've got a little bit more detail to put in than we had with the hills. As the reflections get further away from the source, they will get more broken and they will not be as strong in color. You don't need to worry us much now about getting those straight lines that we have to get on the sails or the top of the boat. As long as we've got the overall shapes in the right place, they can be much looser and impressionistic. I've also still got the masking fluid on. We won't get the full impression of what this looks like until the paint is dry and I remove the masking fluid will also break up some of these horizontal lines that I'm painting in. Now, I'm going to add a little bit darker color in the reflection immediately underneath the boat. That does need strengthening up a bit because it's nearer to the source. Wherever I've pre wet the paper before applying the paint, those lines will be softer and b***ding into the underlying wash. But there are some areas of the paint that are going onto dry paper and that's resulting in hard edges which doesn't have a watery appearance. We need to use the b***ding and softening technique to fade them into the underlaying water. This is where the b***ding and softening technique comes in, where you simply use a damp brush to pull the paint away from the hard edge. B***ding it softly until the color disappears into the underlaying wash or white of the paper. It might sound like a relatively simple technique, but it is actually quite a difficult one to master thoroughly if you haven't already done so. I do suggest that you practice this technique because it will make a massive difference to all your paintings. I have just used a damp brush to soften some of those hard edges that have occurred at the ends of my horizontal reflection strokes. As I've got the dark color to hand, I'm using dry brush strokes at the very front of the water. If you look closely at watercolor paper, you'll see that the surface has a rather dimpled effect, like a series of small peaks and valleys. The dry brush stroke lets the color catch the peaks, but miss the valleys so you get a broken texture effect. You need to work on dry paper for best effect, And the paint shouldn't be too watery, the brush shouldn't be too overloaded with paint. And it is useful to keep some paper towel handy to remove any excess moisture from the brush or excess paint from the paper. The appearance of the brush stroke is determined by the speed of your stroke, the amount of paint on your brush, the surface of the paper, the wetness of the paper, the amount of pressure that you actually apply, and the angle of your brush. If you want to depict rigging lines on boats or telephone wires, then use the brush tip that produces a sharp, thinner, broken line. Whereas if you scuff it with the side or the belly of the brush, you will get wider marks. That's very useful for creating waves in the sea, glistening highlights on a lake or snow on mountain tops. If you splay the brush bristles, the marks can resemble weathered wood grain tree bark or even foliage on trees. 6. 5. Recover Highlights. Strengthen Tones. Add Rigging and Birds. Use Sandpaper for glistening highlig: I've removed all the masking fluid, now I want to recover some highlights in the painting. And I'm going to use some magic sponge. Although you can use a brush and some water to lift off paint, I want to introduce you to magic sponge eraser because this little tool works miraculously to remove unwanted paint, you can use it to lighten an area that is too dark or even strip the color right back to white paper, depending on which color you've used. Because some colors do stain in the paper more than others, just tear a small piece of the sponge, dip it in some clean water, then squeeze it to just damp and rub over the unwanted paint until the color is removed. Use a paper towel in between to blot and get the last bit of paint off and keep rinsing your sponge out during use to keep it clean or even throw it away and use a fresh piece. If you accidentally get a blob of unwanted paint in the middle of your painting or you just want to lighten the tone of an area, give it some highlights. This little piece of sponge will become your best friend because it's normally sold as an abrasive household cleaner. It does tend to rough up the paper a little bit. Take extra care if you're painting over the area that you've sponged with another color. As you can see, I've sponged away and lightened the tone of a blob of yellow and pink color the top right hand corner of the sky that I really didn't think went well with the rest of the sky. I'm much happier now with that lighter tone, but it's still looking a bit too stark. I've painted over the whole of this area with clear water, Now I'm adding on top of that wet, clear water wash some of my ultramarine blue. This is quite a good example of how you can recover and alter something that's niggling you. In one part of your painting, I have heard it said many times that you can't alter or cover up your mistakes in watercolor, But in natural fact, I have found there are quite often lots of tips and tricks and methods like this that you can use to work your way around them. The important thing to remember here where you are adding paint to a sky that you've already painted, is to apply that wet under wash a lot further than the area that you are actually going to paint by pre wetting the area of paper that you're going to paint with clear water first gives that paint room to travel before it reaches the edge. The layer of paint that you're putting on now will soften and gently b***d into the previous layers of color that you put on earlier. You'll avoid getting those unwanted hard edges that you don't want in the sky. Now, if you are quite happy with the sky that you've already got in your painting, don't do this just for the sake of it. Instead, why not practice it on a spare piece of paper just so you master the technique? Here's the before and after comparison of the difference it's made to my painting. I've gone back to my dark black, purple color because I want to add a few extra tones. Just darken those horizontal strokes immediately underneath the boat itself. And a few of the ripples around and about working wet on dry, wet paint, on dry paper. Because of that, I'm going to have a few little hard edges that I will need to use the b***ding and softening technique that we use before just to soften the edge of those ripples into the underlying wash. I'm also using the dry brush technique that I get a broken line in some places give me that rough texture to look. I'm just re, establishing some of the little shapes that have perhaps lightened a little bit too much on drying when you're almost at the end of a painting as I am now. There's always this fine line again between doing the little final details that need to be done. And overworking and fiddling and fussing. The best thing to do is to walk away. Leave me painting alone. For a few minutes or an hour or so, Come back to it with a fresh eye. And then analyze and make a judgment of what does need to be done, but what is best left alone and not tampered with. Now, there are a few more rigging lines that I want to put in on the boat, but I'm going to use a pencil for these because I don't want them to be too dark and overpowering. Make sure that your pencil has got a nice sharp point, and if necessary, use a ruler to help you with some straight lines if you don't have a very steady hand. I'm also going to use my little pencil to add a few birds in the sky. Using the pencil first before painting them means that you can adjust them, change them around, or even remove them altogether. If you want to do, it's very important to keep the size of the birds relative to the other subjects in the painting, particularly the boat. We don't want any big albatrosses flying overhead. Keep your birds quite small. Make sure that they are in different positions of flight. Make sure that you're happy with where you've positioned them. Before you add a little paint, these birds are in the far distance. I've got quite a watery mix of my dark color. I'm literally just going over my pencil lines with this darker tone. For some reason the eye does like to look at groups of odd numbers rather than groups of even ones. It's actually called the rule of odds. So I've done five little birds and I'm going to add another two to make that up to a little flock of seven. Finally, I want to show you how easy and quickly you can create a few more glistening highlights in the water just by dragging a piece of rough sandpaper across it. As with most of these little tricks, less is more. Don't overdo it. On that note, I'm going to say the painting is finished. I do hope you've enjoyed painting this lovely sailboat in the sunset. It'll look, even in a frame, really love to see your own finished painting, which you can upload to the your project section. If you could just take a moment to leave me a short review, that also would be really great. I do hope you have enjoyed this video and it's encouraged you to have a look at some of my other classes in the meantime. Thank you for joining me, and I look forward to seeing you next time. Happy painting. 7. SAIL BOAT FINAL THOUGHTS: Well done on completing the class and also the painting. If you've been painting alongside of me, we've covered quite a few different techniques. We've simplified the drawing from the reference photo. We use the wet on wet technique. Wet paint on wet paper to create a beautiful soft sunset sky. We looked at how to paint reflections, the water, using directional brush strokes. We learned how to bleed different colors into each other to create a back lit glow. We used the b***ding and softening technique to soften any hard edges that were in the water. We also looked at how to lift off paint and recover light areas. I would really love to see your own finished painting, which you can upload to the your project section. If you could just take a moment to leave me a short review, that also would be really great. I do hope you've enjoyed this video and it's encouraged you to have a look at some of my other classes in the meantime. Thank you for joining me, and I look forward to seeing you next time. Happy Painting.