Paint a fall leaf in Watercolour this weekend! {FREE TUTORIAL}
Let's explore the beguiling hues of Autumn
Playing with colour is one of life’s great pleasures. Mother Nature does this so effortlessly and always provides me with endlessly inspiring colour combinations. Autumn is a time to delight in the magic and splendour of walking through a living painting.
You don’t have to be well versed in colour theory to reap the rewards of this sort of play and you do NOT have to be an artist to experiment with PAINT. That said, there are a few rules of thumb to avoid what we watercolourists “MUD”. The result when undesirable mixtures combine to form a brownish grey ewwwww. Don’t worry, I am here to help with all that!
In the following video, as always, I walk you through step by step to learn how to control your paint a bit more and learn when to let go along with a few SIMPLE colour recipes to keep you out of trouble. This video is for ALL LEVELS!
So GO!
Grab a tin of paints, grab a friend or your kids and grab some leaves!
Let’s PLAY!
A bit about my teaching and art background…
I hold a Bachelor of Fine Art and a diploma from the Society of Botanical Artists (UK) and have been teaching art for over 25 years. My own work tends to be a fusion of realism with gestural, painterly strokes but this video will be a bit more tight - with a focus on realism and texture - more along the lines of botanical art. The goal of botanical illustration is to bridge the worlds of Science and Art so this tutorial will hopefully bring a bit more realism to your fall leaf paintings!
I will share with you some simple tips and tricks that will give your fall leaves a bit more of a three dimensional quality. Texture techniques like working on damp paint to "split" open veins, using masking fluid as well as splattering and dry brush which really give that last push of realism.
Check out more my FULL LENGTH TUTORIALS: https://crystalbeshara.com/shopvideos
THE MATERIALS LIST
Below is a list of individual items (you can use any variation as these are just suggestions). You can even SHOP my own private label of brushes or use my AMAZON product links (USA & Canada). These are beautifully curated lists with info and images to make your shopping a little easier especially useful if you’re on a budget and starting from scratch!
AMAZON LIST for beginners (US artists)
AMAZON LIST for beginner (CANADIAN artists)
WHAT YOU’LL NEED MATERIALS:
140 lb Cold Pressed paper, mounted to a board. (I am using ARCHES bright white) For tips on mounting paper watch HOW TO STRETCH YOUR PAPER THE EASY WAY: http://crystalbeshara.com/crystal-beshara/2015/9/20/how-to-stretch-watercolour-paper-the-easy-way
BRUSHES:
1 x #8 or #10 Round Brush (synthetic or sable or a blend is fine. I use my #10 Designer Blend)
1x stiff brush for mixing your paint colours (I use my "Filbert Mixer")
1x #1 Synthetic round or liner/rigger ( I use my #1 Ivory Rigger)
1x #3 Round Brush (synthetic or sable or a blend is fine. I use my #3 Designer Blend)
1 x small fan brush (I find synthetic works best. I use my "FLING")
a bit of hard soap is you're using masking fluid
2 jars of water paper towel or a rag tissue for blotting
a test strip of watercolour paper 1" masking tape
PALETTE with as many wells as you have colours + ample mixing space (see suggestions in amazon links)
MASKING FLUID helps but is not 100% necessary: I have tried many, many dozens of masking fluids over the years. The best one and my fave is listed in the above amazon list.
2H pencil
kneadable eraser
Leafs for inspiration of course or just use my samples
QUESTIONS? Ask in the comments section
DID YOU TRY THIS?
Let’s see it!
SHARE YOUR results with us below!
Warmly,
Crystal Beshara
