Whimsical Row Houses in Watercolors

1. CLASS TRAILER : Welcome to my class, guys. My name is Jennifer, and I'm a watercolorist and illustrator. I have a background indigo administration, but I have been painting and drawing since I was a child. For this class, I'll be going over my process of illustrating watercolor romantic style houses. I say romantic because that's the atmosphere. Places like Paris feel like Do the gorgeous architecture in this class. I will show you the process from picking out certain elements like windows and doors from not one but multiple references and how to piece them together into one house or more seamlessly, I will go over to different in the street, in techniques, using watercolors and a combination of watercolors and being. Then we will head over to the final project, where I will show you how I put together my illustration, that grander scale and give you guys some tips here and there. I hope you guys enjoy this class and paint with me 2. Materials: For this class, you need water color paint. I'm used to artist great paint. Professional. Great tends to be a bit more transparent. I find I'll be using my prima watercolors pistol Dream set. Grumble her watercolors and um, though, shouldn't hand premium watercolors, which is supposed to be professional. Great will require a mixing palette because there will be a lot of color mixing paint brushes. If you guys want to know the details about the paint brushes, I use please that you know in the comments section slash review section clean water and for sketching, I generally used pencil crayons as you will seem. You use it in the video, but you can also use fine liners the purpose of seeding time. A hairdryer is recommended, and now let's talk about paper guys. So I'm mainly a Kansan girl. As you can tell, I have a whole pile of them, and my favorite sketch book at the moment is the cans and mixed media sketchbook. It takes watercolor really well. As you can see in one of my sketches here, I have been using the Excel watercolor paper, but I find that it really mutes the color a little too much sometimes. Like that effect. Sometimes I don't. I find that the Excel watercolor block, for some reason gives better results. Trust me, I've been pretty much through all their watercolor and mixed media papers. Speaking of which, there, x l mixed media is very idea for this project ASL long as you watch the amount of water you have on your brush when you're painting. Okay, so now that we have everything covered, let's get started. 3. Preparation Process: Let's get into the three step preparation process for this exercise. I highly recommend that you guys follow it in order to create a cohesive illustration where you have more control over the results. Instead of leaving it to chance, The first step would be to find inspiration and references. Um, if you're pinches junkie like me and get immunity inspired to paint or draw just by glancing at your infantry sport, then this step should be super easy for you guys. I've created an inspiration board that you guys can access and check out. I'm going to leave the link in the your project section. A great free resource is picks, obey dot com and any other websites that offer royalty and subscription free images for you to use. Step two Pig and sketch of the images on your draft paper or in poor Creed. Um, if your iPad user I already found a reference for how I want to draw. One of the windows were taking pieces here and there, but not using the the entire image and copying it verbatim. You can adjust the details to your liking, which I'm doing in my draft. I'm sketching it out with a navy blue pencil cram so you guys concede better on also, I really like the effect and texture it adds to the finished piece. I'm sketching the basic outline of the window as well as getting the frame, details and accents. Another reference by the weight would be to use your own photo was taken by your phone. I forgot to mention that earlier for the next window of using a small balcony like window embellishment. But I'm mimicking the first Windows mainframe to ensure unity in the oval drawing. I'm also adding 1/3 window for variation and interest. I've decided to add some designs to the top of it, which I saw in one of the pictures on my Pinterest board. Next the door, which basically started off within a rectangle. I'm keeping it pretty simple and implement the design I drew on top of the third window. As you can see, after adding some more definition, I drawn a lamp because I feel it really adds to the romantic and classy effect that we're going for. Lastly, we need to figure out the shape of the overall building or house, since I have three different window types. I want to keep it simple once the sketches air done, and I have a good idea as to how I'd like to. I would like my overall image to look. It's time to pick out the color palette. I like the faded paints great or navy blue with pale pink combination. The method of preparing this palace completely up to you. But this is how I go about it. I always lighten the chosen colors with white paint. Then I muted with a little bit of gray. If you don't have great, you can use very diluted black paint. I'm trying to achieve a vintage dusty colored palace, so to speak. I'm also adding a sand colored mix that I created by mixing a dark, cool toned brown that I have. Unfortunately, guys, I'm so sorry I don't have the actual tube anymore, so I can provide you with the name. But I do the same step. I use a lot of white paint and very little great paint to achieve the color that I want and lastly, some pains. Great. I have the grumble, her academy one, which again lots of white, a little bit agree. I swatch the colors on the side of the paper and to show you where I'm going to be using these colors and basically is watching them right on my draft. 4. Exerise 1 - Watercolor: All right, let's dive into our first exercise. I will have a pdf or an image up on the your project section of the image I will be illustrating. I have already redrawn my draft a bit bigger on my cans and water color block to prevent the pages from working. When I put on water and water color paint, I have hot glue gun two sides down. I did make a few changes to improve my draft version. I start off by re wedding my palate and painting in the largest portion of the building. The pink was a bit too strong, so it at some water to dilute the color a bit. I'm using a round size six brush, and I'm working carefully around the windows. I've spent up the video for pretty much the entire time, but just to show you guys how fast or slow I actually pain, I slowed it down for a bit. The great part about these kinds of paintings and exercises that you can either work in one sitting and finish it off, or if you're tight on time and can only spare 10 mins each day, Um, you condone work bit by bit, and you just all you have to do is reread the palate, and you can always go back to it. You can add some more. I paint in the second side and then slowly make my way down, ensuring once again not to paint over the windows. Um, as the frames are gonna be a lighter color. You can also use masking fluid if you like. I generally don't for the roof. I have also done with color with some water. This time I'm going in with a smaller brush round size for so that I can paint more easily around the windows with more procession. Since I already have some of the chalky pains great mixture on my brush, I outlined the roof a little outlining in this method of painting gives the piece a lot more definition for more interest. Don't let the lines connect too much because it was not used. The hair dryer I pain wherever I can tell, painting has dried a bit. I'm so sorry, guys. But while I was painting the door, the camera was pointed at the upper part of the building, and part of the footage got cut off I've painted the door beige. I was initially hoping for more of a cream color, but I suppose I mix too much brown into it. I use it for the window frames, a swell to paint the actual window glass. I mix my beige together with the chalky Payne's gray mixture until I get the tone that I'm satisfied with. I don't recommend testing the color on the actual illustration, though, as against me doing its bit but disastrous. Now I take my mixture and add some great to it to darken it a bit. Using those dark gray mixture, I outlined the windows and the inner frame details. I take some darker beige and outlined the outer window frame details. This step is totally up to you. I generally add details until I'm satisfied with the overall look. But this is your exercise, so feel free to take this method and apply it. However you like last step. I somewhat regret this because the shade of gray is just too dark. I add the balcony frame to the side windows. Some of the final touches, like adding shadows, is really recommended it at so much more definition and interest and you're painting doesn't end up looking to flat, even though this is kind of a two dimensional painting already. So here it is. I hope you guys like this exercise as much as I did and let's stop into the next one. 5. Ink & Watercolor Combination : welcome to exercise, too. With this method we will be implementing are in pence and water colors when using this technique, the major advantages that all the details are being drawn with the ink pen from the very beginning. This method also makes it easier to work street off of the reference instead of going through the whole preparation process and picking up elements. Other benefits are that the watercolor process is a lot like working with a coloring book, and this method is a heck of a lot easier than the previous one. All you have to do is basically paint within the lines. Or, if you're looking for more whimsical look, you can also pain outside of the lines. But why do I seem to prefer the previous method? It's because I really like the soft look what mainly water colored gifts in this illustration. I'm drawing three houses. I've taken a few elements here and there from multiple pictures and piece them together like a puzzle on this page. Once again, I'm using my cancer in watercolor block. I love really unusual looking roofs with unique designs and embellishments. I'm using my pilot high Tech Point V five grip, which I don't recommend at all. I completely forgot that it doesn't contain waterproof ink. I highly recommend checking your pens to make sure that they are waterproof, because if think has dried, there is still the danger of the water on your brush, reactivating the ink and create a rather unwanted muddying, which obviously you've never want unless you know special style that you going for. I start up for the dusty rose hue that I mixed some extra great into. I don't really follow any particular order kind of pain here and there or wherever I like. But if I had to recommend the safest method, it would be to paint from left to right in order to avoid smearing wet paint over the page . All the colors amusing for this illustration are very diluted. I want them to really contrast the darkness of the outlines. I have to admit, I didn't really plan this one out like I did with the 1st 1 I wasn't looking at any references either. As I was painting them in, I definitely left a few things to chance, which can turn out okay, but perhaps not as desired. To make the image a bit more fun. I used a different color for each of the doors. I like the previous illustration. I'm not going crazy with adding definition or extra outlining, although adding shadows would have made the painting look way cooler like the previous exercise, I'm using a little bit that grayish paint mixed to paint the window glass. Towards the end, I felt like the painting was missing something I wasn't feeling the overall look. So I grabbed my bottle of gold acrylic paint and an actual calligraphy sketching pen and start scratching some lines and outlines in gold. Overall, I liked the illustration, but the fact that the ink pen was not waterproof was a bit difficult to work with. An almost borderline frustrating. I almost want to start all over again. But once I look at my painting with fresh ice, the next morning I found that I actually kind of liked it 6. Final Project : Okay, guys, this should be the last time you'll see me painting houses. Welcome to class Project. I'm doing three houses again this time, but I don't recommend illustrating them that big unless you have extra time on your hands. If you are going to pain more than one house, I suggest to keep it small. I drew a large rectangle in landscape size, which I then divided into three sections. They're not 100% equal, and that's OK. No actual measuring was involved in putting together this pencil crayon outline I few some of my own phone photography as references for the elements and design ideas in this illustration. Once I have completed my sketch are we went my palate. Some of the colors I'm using here are from my previous mixtures that I used in the other exercises. I start by going in with a wet paint brush and lightly applied all around the windows of the first house. Then I drop in some of my sandy dark color for the roof and other elements because I already have the color on my brush. I use it for parts in there and on the other two hose If you're not comfortable with going about it the way I am, then I suggest using the hair dryer and working on the first house alone. I didn't bring up my chalky pain scream mixture and pain in the door in the second house and decorative parts of the third house for the center house. I've put together a British plum mixture that is quite muted as you get to see with the Middle House. I've only paid it in half way often. If you have them like that, my pictures board and this design makes a center house done out of it, more from the but 1/3 house of working with a very pale pink and paint around all the windows. If you like, you can use messing food on the windows before going into paint. Because of my lack of hair dryer, I had to work really quickly around the parts that are not wet. I've painted all ministrations in this class with a really tight time limit and had to work really quickly. But careful. I've tried to make the windows of all three houses unique from each other. Once again, I'm going over with more concentrated versions of great and navy blue toe outline all the windows, houses and frames of doors and windows keep adding details until I'm satisfied. I plant this illustration out a lot more than I did with exercise, too, but definitely regret going big because there's way more ground to cover and more details to be added and with a technique I'm using the water colors Onley technique. I like to work in several layers. Working in several layers has its advantages. Of course, you will be able to come back to the peace, and you can use your own judgment to determine how much more details would like to add on if you're a hasty artist who was short on time like new most of the time, working with a smaller image is definitely less time consuming. And like I mentioned before, doing watercolors in technique is so much faster with the old project, please don't feel pressure to mix the exact colors. I mean, if you are able to do that would be cool work with the colors that you're familiar with. That is my biggest recommendation. I speak from experience because I would sometimes trying new colors on a piece that I wanted to be my original and really ended up hating it. It's just not a good idea to experiment when you are working on a portfolio piece or something you would like to put up on Instagram, also with a smaller image. Redoing it is a lot less of a hassle in case you don't like the result, because it's so easy to just redo it and again, less time consuming. Using two of my smallest brushes, I'm going in there for all the details, including outlining, the tiles are lining the window frames, adding some shadows here and there. Next, I work on the inner window frames of the third house. I'm doing each one by one, which is taking a lot of time. But it is a very relaxing exercise, and hence the word art therapy, right? One of the big benefits off keeping this very limited palate is that it is a lot less work in terms off mixing colors. All I have to do is either at White to lighten or at great darken. I'm adding a darker pink to make a frame around the two outer windows of the third house. To be honest, I'm not sure why, but I thought it was a little bit more interest to my piece. And that's about it. The final project is complete. 7. AAAND FINALLY: we finally made it to the end. Guys, if you've managed to watch and sketch a little along up until this video, I'm truly proud of you. Illustrating houses is a very lengthy but satisfying process. It makes for amazing portfolio pieces and allows you to be creative but with a structure in place. If you've come here mainly for inspiration, I hope that I matched delivered because I often watch tutorials or classes to spark some creative energy within me again. I would love to see your artwork in the project section. And of course, Instagram. If you have an account there, please be sure to attack me at at Rosedale East coat and to use the hashtag that I've provided. That way I can provide you with feedback and give you a little special shadowed in my stories. Thank you for watching my class. And I look forward to hearing from you