Winter in Japan | Simple Watercolor Landscapes

1. Intro Jap: Japanese woodblock prints inspired me to carry this snow scapes, and I am happy to share with you how to paint the white of the snow. My utilizing negative painting and strong contrasting colors and knit trick on how to cover a large area even with a small brush. How to maximize a limited palette. We will also have lots of opportunities to practice controlling brush pressure and painting thin lines. And we'll have fine finishing off the paintings with the splattering technique. Hi, I'm Bianca, loose Gerais a lot their colors from the Philippines with 40 years of daily painting experience, who also loves to teach. In this class, we will paint three Japanese Inspired winter scenes, starting from the easiest line down to the most, the failed one. These landscapes are inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, create them by Hiroshima and a key away artist and is considered the last great master of that tradition. You can do all three paintings in one sitting or in bold yourself with the story behind each snow escape as you work on it and come back sometime later to complete the project. Watercolor beginners, hobbyists, and enthusiasts are encouraged to give this a try. And even those who have adequate experience are welcome to join the fine. You'll find a scanned copy of mice catch and the finished artworks in the projects and resources tab. So feel free to download them. As your reference. Once you've completed this class, you can now paint others no escape series by applying the techniques that will be discussed and practiced throughout the class. Prepare your watercolor materials, including paper, brushes, paint, pen and eraser, masking day, water jar and be wary towel. And let's get started. 2. Project 1 Seki: Let's kick off this class with our first project showing the village of psyche. The original woodblock print shows the village and it's easy shrine, which lies submerged in snow chimps. The spatial depth is suggested by using a delicate blue shading. I will only be in the right side of this reference photo, painting the people and the tare gate and include on the two trees. So in my version that people have already left E6 shrine. Here's my sketch of the scene and you'll find a copy of this in the projects and resources tab. Feel free to download and use it as your reference. For this painting. I will use a mixture of royal blue and carboxyl violet for the sky, and a watered down version of it for the soft shadows. Ultramarine blue for the window, the hard shadows and the lamb. Burnt umber. And ultramarine blue for the house and outlines. The white of the paper. For the snowy chlorides and white paint for falling snow. I'll start with the shadows. I want a soft transition for these Bart's. So I will wet this area first with clean water and draw my shadow color, which is blue, violet. And let us spread on its own and work on the other part. Shot. But I'm being careful so that the shadow color will not read the edge of the wet area. These is to prevent hard edges. If you've noticed, I also avoided wetting this area where the snow heel and the sky meet so that I can work on the background without waiting for the soft shadows to dry. Now here comes the fine but challenging parts. We will negatively themed around the houses, trees, and heal. To prepare this area for the background color. I will use a watered down version of the background color to show you how I do it. But usually I just fainted. Clean water and tilt might be bird to see if I have covered the whole area. Quick tip. If you find negative painting challenging and the one to avoid it, especially with organic shapes like these trees. You can try and paint the whole background. Wait for it to dry. Then use white paint, watercolor or gouache, whichever you may prefer to paint the trees offered the battleground. Here's a quick demo. These trees there I were negatively big bed. Now let's try painting another one using pure white pigment. Over the dark background. You will see the difference between the two, and I'll leave it to you to decide which technique you will use. As you work on these complicated shapes. Depending also on the weather and the humidity of your room. Some parts may have started to dry already and go ahead and we read those areas. So you see me doing here. And then we can finally draw our background color. If you'll also notice, I am using a smaller brush for a large area. But it didn't give me a hard time since I am doing this and we've the wet on wet technique. Just make sure that when you drop the background color, there is less water in the mixture as the paper is already wet. If you load your brush with your background color that is very watery, then you might end up with a pale background. And with a very wet paper. We want our background to be dark and strong for this node to be noticeable. Once you're satisfied with this, we can now move on to the hard shadows. As long as the lower part is already dried. This same color, ultramarine blue, is what values for the base color. Often the lamp and the window of the house. These are just random shadow shapes that follow the slope of the hill. No need to overthink this bar and I know you can do it. And remember, you don't necessarily need to produce a replica of an image that inspired you to paint. So if in case you're watching this class and painting along and suddenly realized that your painting is different from mine. Don't feel blue, own European thing. It's your very shot, your interpretation. So be the first line to appreciate it. To finish this off, we will be adding our darkest dark using our neutral mixture, ultramarine blue and burnt umber to define the house and some twigs, defining the lamb falling in shadow. And the overall outline. I'm using a round brush for infrastructures. So I find that easier to use comparing to a mob round our flat brush. I am being careful in this part, but not so much that I am pressuring myself in painting perfect shapes are getting it right the first time. Honestly. I hate fainting structures like these houses and the lamp, but they can avoid them forever, can i? So you might have observed that compared to organic shapes like the trees and the twigs, I am painting a bit slower this time, carefully filling in mice catch and dark colors. And I hope you do the same, enjoying the process and not getting so stressed and bending the perfect shapes. I've heard Guide to AI add shadows on the roof. So I'm doing that now. This should be the most fulfilling barred for me. Adding details and finishing touch for a debate thing. It completes the story and gives that feeling of satisfaction. As a new art Doric comes to life. So really immerse yourself in the process and see where Lindsay you. If you wanted to change a few things here and there, feel free to do so. This is your fainting, so own it. Let's splatter some white paint for in the snow. Quick tip and splattering. He again tap beer brush against another brush or lightly tap it with your finger. I recommend using a smaller brush, rinse blathering, and not a big thirsty brush like a mop brush up these for art breaks this size. Convenient doing this until you're satisfied. Just make sure that your gadgets or away from your painting area when doing this part. Or you'll get a snowy screen to and to be safe. We can also cover your table with all newspaper or scrap paper for ISI cleaning. Flattering can be addictive that you might not notice if you're doing it too much. Talking from experience. Finally, for the outline and using light pressure on my brush to achieve thin lines. Based on my teaching experience, thin lines are really challenging for those who are just starting with library colors. If you want to skip this bar, no pressure, or if you prefer using a gel pen or a marker instead the four brush for the outlines. Please do so. It might seem easy for me, but that's just because this is my second time being thing the same piece. So it's a lot easier this time round. If it's your first. Don't be too hard on yourself aiming for a very thick art work. But the approach of this with a growth mindset. If in case you made the mistake, ask yourself, what did I learn from this? What should I do next time? What do I need to improve on? Instead of blaming it on your hands, on your materials and your skills, or even on yourself is all part of the learning process. And if there's one thing that I hope you do during this paint along class. That is for you to enjoy painting. Okay, Here's our first project. How do you feel about their own very shine? In the next video, we'll work on our second beam thing. Put a little bit more details. We'll use the same techniques like negative paintings, splattering, wet unless, and painting thin lines. To further practice these techniques. Cf. 3. Project 2 Kiso: The next project is based on the woodblock print entitled mountain and the river on the key cell. This no scape is actually divided in three and was created shortly before he wrote, she gets death. The artist, it birthdates deep seriousness and great serenity. I will only be focusing on the left side of the woodblock print and use that as my reference photo. Also skipping bean thing, this mountain at the background to give more space for the sky. Here's my simplified sketch for our disciplinary. I will add the details neither as I paint the colors to be used on this project, our ultramarine blue and burnt umber for this guy. Or you can some Situ black if you want to. The same color goes for the outline and the details. Card, Brazil violet and royal blue for the river. A watered down version of that for the shadows. The white of the paper for this snowy mountains. And the white paint for snow. We approach will be pretty much the same as the first project, except that there will be more details and we will cover it zoo large areas with a single color, the sky and the river. Let's start by coloring in the sky. Once again. I will wet this area with water and drop my new chiral mixture. Ultramarine blue and burnt umber must have been my favorite combination when it comes to mixing graze. The upper bar, it should be darker. So I'm tilting my VBR this way and letting most of the pigment settle at that area. We can do the same with the river, like the paper first with water, then Java doc collars. But if you're confident that you can cover this area by directly painting on it, then do so. Just make sure that you have already prepared your mixture before the wing it I will directly faint. My river while waiting for a disguised to dry. The key here is not to get too conscious. And negative painting, especially the area where the rocks are. As long as it looks like a river. Even though the shapes are not perfect, that will do. If you make a mistake, just let it go. I'm also leaving shapes for a small rocks here and there to add interest to our painting. After completing this, we can work on our soft and hard shadows. Quick tip in covering larger areas like this, I make sure to load my brush with more paint and water than usual. It might bowl somewhere, but that's what they want. Also, make sure that your pigment is ready before I covering large areas. What you see here, I'm also working fast. And since I'm using the same color, no need to rinse the brush repeatedly. Next, I will recreate the same shape. Load my brush with less paint and water. You should see the difference when starts to dry. Of course, the size of the brush also matters. If your brain being on the large shape with the same color, make sure you use a big brush. In this quick demo. I'm painting a small one, so I don't need to switch to a bigger brush. You should see the difference already. The one at the bottom has a more even color compared to the line at the top. If you feel that you can't work on the river as fast as you see me during the demo. You can do wet on wet. The same approach that we did for the sky. Also. I didn't mention earlier, and at most dirty river and the shadows use car, Brazil, violet and royal blue mixture. But I added more and blue for the river and more violet for the shadows. You may change the proportion as you see fit. That's continue. The river is still wet, but I can work on my shadows now. I'll start with the soft ones. 4. Project 3 Kameyama: Last and most exciting project. This painting is based on the woodblock print, clearing, whether after snow, I call me on my station. The original print shows a diamond or a feudal lord procession moving on a clear afternoon after a heavy snowfall up this deep timeline, mountain Snow did call me on my castle. You can see the hats off the beach ball peeking through the foliage. An element of surprise used by the artist. And the picture is also cropped in an oblique way where the top part of the castle has been caught off. This is my version, which only shows the upper right part. Here's my sketch, which can be found in the projects and resources tab. The most complicated one so far. But I believe he can do it. For this artwork. I'll use ultramarine blue for the thought part of this guy. Burnt umber with a bit of ultramarine blue for defense. An equal mixture of those two colors for the outlines and darkest bar, it's our blue violet mixture for the shadows and the bottom gradient in the sky. The white of the paper for it is snow and white paint for defaulting ones. Let's start with the sky. If needed, you can rotate the beeper, foreign ACB or angle to work with. This barred surrounding the bushes and trees is a little more complicated shape, but it gives opportunity to practice our negative painting further. I will wet the sky shape with clean water first and then dropped car, Brazil violet and royal blue are blue violet mixture at the bottom. Rinse my brush, loaded with ultramarine blue to bake the thought Bart. And then lightly makes the area where the two colors meet using only the tip of my brush to create a gradient. Or if your paper is wet enough. We can also try tilting it instead and let the colors bleed with each other. I've learned a simple composition principle where you can place your horizon either above or below the center of your bean thing. For the horizon is where the land or sea and the sky meet. The same goes for the two previous paintings. If I wanted to show more of the sky, then I'll move the horizon lower than descender off my Bieber. But if I want to do the opposite, then the horizon should lie above the center of the painting area. On to the soft shadows. I'll wet this large area on the lower right with clean water and drop colors at the bottom. To give it variation, I'll make some my car puzzled violet and ultramarine blue. We want the bug and Bari to be slightly darker. So I'll drop my ultramarine there. I really love with unwed technique. It's so helpful in creating misty effects in landscapes. Delicate flowers, soft backgrounds, and smooth transition of callers and value. I hate it The first because I cannot get the right. But the key really lies on the paper. And good water color. Bieber, which is almost always a 100th person caught done. Bieber produces an excellent wet on wet bloke. On your paintings. I will also give this little behind the tree some shadow colors and work around this challenging shapes. Since there are lots of organic shapes in this composition, built worrying, making mistakes. It won't be that obvious compared to making a portrait of a person or effect. So take your time and the GI painting. Next, let's define the castle, their roof, and the windows, and where it stands. As usual, I will use my favorite neutral mix of ultramarine blue and burnt umber for these parts, this mixture has less water to make it stronger and darker. Dark for a strong contrast. And for this node can be very visible, which is actually the white of the paper. This part is a bit tricky. But with patients, you'll surely be able to do this. Since I am right-handed. All work from left to right, top to bottom so as not to disturb the areas that need drying. The foliage that surrounds the castle are mostly done through that technique called scumbling. You will see me repeatedly dabbing my brush to create the shape using only the tip of it. And doing this, make sure that your brush is loaded with enough paint to do it continuously. Scumbling is really useful in adding details and texture on the painting. And I personally find it relaxing. Well, as long as you're not in a hurry to finish an artwork, if you start getting confused, please remember to refer back to the finished artwork also found in the projects and resources tab. As your guide and painting this shapes. I am now working around the rock shapes. Negative painting again. It can be done thing a first. If you look at the whole thing, thing. But if you focus on working on it section by section one, at the time, he'll be surprised when you finish. So don't give up and continue working on this project with a growth mindset. Next, we can work on the fence. I mixed a bit ultramarine blue with my burnt umber. Since burnt umber straight from the tube is still saturated to my liking and painted defense directly. Now I'm adding more ultramarine blue back to minute chiral mixture to continue working on the foliage surrounding the castle and defense. That, to continue dabbing and scrambling to her aid, pad CI shapes that make up the foliage. Mind you though, just like during this can be very a day thing that you might not notice if you've been scumbling too much. So why isn't a while? Stop. Observe your painting if it needs more of those shapes or it's better do it alone. Remember to leave some white spaces to make the foliage shape more interesting. I'll move down Lorentz and continue adding details using the same color. I am also starting domain this Snopes visible by being thin, hard shapes along them. With the same color. I will paint the leaves and the trunk of the tree. Switching from scumbling to direct painting, as I see fit, adding splotches of grasses. And to make the smoke more visible. I'm not just painting them with vertical strokes. Or a day will look like they're floating in the air. I am connecting my grasses when the Snopes and varying their direction for complexity. Some are being done in groups, some are painted individually. Our brains will automatically complete the picture event. If we can only see small suggestions like lease. So don't stress too much in painting the foliage and the grasses and the bushes exactly as you see it. Now back to very keen around the fence. Make sure that it has already lead dry first. Before adding more foliage at the right side and some shadows surrounding the fence. Use the same blue violet mixture to add a bit of a shadow on the castle and around it. And we're ready for the last step. Finally, let's work on the outlines, our final details. When I also beginner ident avoiding paintings with so many details because I don't know how to do them. And I am pressure and if I can create a credible replica of the reference or not. But it doesn't have to be that we're not machines. So we have the free will to use the reference image to our liking. And we don't need to make an exact copy of what we see. Instead, treat painting as a tool in expressing how you feel about something and giving others a glimpse of that. What do you think about that thought? Great day? When working with thin lines, you can either use a big brush with a nice point like this so that you won't have the loaded with paint every now and then. Or you can use a smaller brush with, you will need to reload it every so often. However, if using a brush is stressful, our pressure see you at the moment. Then makes your media and goal for append a regular pen, a marker or a gel pen, and draw those names. You can also try working with brush pens. They have a beautiful tip like this and perfect for details. Even for calligraphy. I forgot to remove the water inside. That's why the lines I'm producing are slightly paler than the first lines. Either way, whatever is comfortable with, you go with it. Come back with more details. He can stop now if you're satisfied, are continue adding just a little bit more. If you're enjoying the process just like I am. And finally, snow splatter for the reference shows a clear afternoon. But I'm liking how it looks with the additional snowflakes and how cold it feels when I'm looking at this painting. So a little more snow and we're done with you believe it finished all projects with the same thing using a limited palette and water color techniques. Here are very Shaun of the clearing, whether after snow, coming out my station for ideas on what you could do. A next and a quick recap. I'll see you in the next video. 5. Outro Temp: Hey, we've finished, how do you fail? And by completing one or all of our painting projects, which one's your favorite? Since we've practiced allied of wet on wet technique, negative fainting. And they are recommending splattering. Using the white of the paper for dismissal and strong contrasting colors to make it the fear. You can now go ahead and create another when their escape on your own and apply what you've learned in this class. I do hope that the quick tips also gave you new ideas to help you with your painting process. And with that, I'm really excited to see your artwork, so please go ahead and share them through the projects and resources tab and to further improve my future classes. I appreciate your class review too. I hope to see you on my other classes and together, let's make this world a little bit more colorful with our creations. Happy painting. Hi.