Community Week
Heya people! I'm back with another part of watercolor guide for beginners in traditional art
So from the last editions of this series you might have got a basic idea of how to start off with watercolors. In this edition you'll be learning how to actually start painting and make rough sketches! (I know that I promised some shading art too, but then due to lack of time, I'll put it up in the next edition) The index is as follows :
- Watercoloring Checklist
- Making a rough sketch
- Base painting
- Some Precautions
- A word of THANKS!
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SO LET'S GO!
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Introduction :
From the earlier issues of this series, you have learnt about the basics of watercolors in theory. But when we move from theory to practical, you experience a whole new varieties of terrors and mistakes..from which we need to learn and improvise. While painting with watercolors, you need to understand that achieving the adeptness of professionals doesn't come with the first steps! The key to success is hardwork and practice! Therefore, I present you some steps in easy, clear and concise manner so that you can understand the basics of painting more efficiently! So let's do it! Let me remind you that I'm an amateur just like you people and I'm sharing my bit of knowledge that I've acquired overs these years!
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Watercoloring Checklist:
Ok, so before telling you the procedure of painting, lets have a checklist of necessary items prepared:
I'M FOR SURE!
So now that we have our materials ready, we can start making the ROUGH SKETCH!
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So basically, for making a painting with watercolor, you first need to make a rough sketch with the HB pencils. Why the HB pencil? We generally use the HB pencils for smooth and light pencil marks because generally with the regular 2B pencils, there comes a specification of eraser shavings spread all over your workspace. Hence, I recommend the HB pencils for a smooth and easy experience! So coming to wards the procedure;
First of all use you sharpened HB pencils to make a small figure on the page, say like a tree as shown in the example done by me:
So now, you've got frame like thing on the sheet composed of shapes similar to that of the tree. Please take to not drag your pencil too hard and dark over the surface for the frame. It needs to look light and mostly translucent. Then, apply a bit more pressure over the surface and make a more detailed sketch outta the rough tree. Take care that this new layer also shouldn't look quite mangled or untidy!
Now, erase the older layer of rough shapes to get a final sketch, which'll look something like this:
So now, our rough sketch is ready an we move towards the base painting mode!
Before starting off with the base painting, let me tell you exactly what a base layer of a painting is. A base layer or simply a base is the initial-most layer of a painting that comprises of faded colors of light shades (sometimes dark shades are also used). It is used to make the basic foundation of a painting that will, in the end enhance the shades of the painting. A base can be identified by the use of a lot of water with a little amount of paint on paper. Take care not to use much water else the page will blot up. So, in order to have a clear idea of base paints, I recommend you to watch some time lapse videos of agnes-cecile or MyPetiteCakes on Youtube where they show a brief step on how a base is made! So coming back to our sketched tree, we start making a base coat of it! The procedure is as follows, illustrated with images :
And TA DAA!
You've successfully made your first watercolor painting, that too with shades and good blending! Now, to further beautify the painting, you can use a black ball pen to outline and define some areas on your wish! If you're unable to reach to the final stage, don't sadden yourself, do practice and see the wonder! Now lets move towards some precautions you need to consider while painting:
So these were some of the main precautions to remember! And this brings us to the conclusion of this article! Thank you soo much! Oh wait....there's more!
The next issue will cover the following topics :
- Paper (more than 120 gsm)
- Brushes of varied sizes (according to your choice)
- Separate water containers (probably two)
- Some tape
- A set of HB pencils
- A spare cloth
- A newspaper(old ones)
Now we are ready for rocking!
I'M FOR SURE! So now that we have our materials ready, we can start making the ROUGH SKETCH!
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Making a Rough Sketch:
So basically, for making a painting with watercolor, you first need to make a rough sketch with the HB pencils. Why the HB pencil? We generally use the HB pencils for smooth and light pencil marks because generally with the regular 2B pencils, there comes a specification of eraser shavings spread all over your workspace. Hence, I recommend the HB pencils for a smooth and easy experience! So coming to wards the procedure;
First of all use you sharpened HB pencils to make a small figure on the page, say like a tree as shown in the example done by me:
Now, erase the older layer of rough shapes to get a final sketch, which'll look something like this:
So now, our rough sketch is ready an we move towards the base painting mode!
Base Painting:
Before starting off with the base painting, let me tell you exactly what a base layer of a painting is. A base layer or simply a base is the initial-most layer of a painting that comprises of faded colors of light shades (sometimes dark shades are also used). It is used to make the basic foundation of a painting that will, in the end enhance the shades of the painting. A base can be identified by the use of a lot of water with a little amount of paint on paper. Take care not to use much water else the page will blot up. So, in order to have a clear idea of base paints, I recommend you to watch some time lapse videos of agnes-cecile or MyPetiteCakes on Youtube where they show a brief step on how a base is made! So coming back to our sketched tree, we start making a base coat of it! The procedure is as follows, illustrated with images :
- Step one, hold your paintbrush, dip it in water and then take some prussian blue (or dark blue) out of your palette or tube and in an open cube of the palette, mix the two thoroughly. The product obtained is a translucent liquid of the bluish shade.
- Step two, on the sketch of the tree, put some water as a pre-base layer to avoid some outrun of paint. Take care to spread water in the borders of the sketch to maintain neatness. This might look a bit intimidating, but with time, you'll overcome this little fear.
- Step three, paint the translucent color liquid over the wet tree sketch and again, avoid the outrun of paint. Paint it thoroughly and evenly. The product obtained will be the sketch of the tree painted with a pale bluish coat. Please let the base DRY for some minutes! This is a very serious matter because it affects the progress of the painting in adverse ways. BE PATIENT, AND LET THE BASE DRY.
- Step four, take some brown paint and paint the bark/ trunk of the tree. Use a thin round brush for the purpose.
- Step five, Take some light green paint, and paint over the leafy part of the tree. Again, avoid outrun of paint and use a thin round bush for this purpose.
- Step six, after painting the trunk and the leaves, you've obtained the second layer or the basic layer of paint that includes plain paint and no shading.
- Step seven, for the trunk, take some dark brown paint or the black paint, dilute the edge of the paintbrush and paint over the crispy edges of the bark of the tree as illustrated in the following picture:
- Step eight, use some dark green paint + dark blue paint and paint the shadows of the tree leaves that make them look distinct. This may take time with the varying intensity of complexity in the sketch.
- Step nine, let the second base of dark shades DRY. Observe the mixing and blending of the paints till they dry up. Observe the fine lines of the paint track and enjoy the beauty of the blended colors!
- Step ten, take the light shade of yellow and paint the upper edges of the leaves on the upper hemisphere of the tree foliage. Let the southern foliage be shadowed. Then using a fine round brush, and white paint, make some reflective edges on the leaves to add the beautifying essence of nature! You can also use some black ball pens for highlighting the edges and some more details as I've done
And TA DAA! You've successfully made your first watercolor painting, that too with shades and good blending! Now, to further beautify the painting, you can use a black ball pen to outline and define some areas on your wish! If you're unable to reach to the final stage, don't sadden yourself, do practice and see the wonder! Now lets move towards some precautions you need to consider while painting:
Precautions:
- While sketching, take care for dark lines and eraser shavings!
- When making the second rough sketch, carefully erase the earlier pencil marks of the initial sketch.
- When spreading water on the rough sketch, take care that the water doesn't outrun the sketch bounds.
- Don't let the water dry up fast!
- While painting the first paint base, take care for the spill of the watercolor and take the color in a fixed ratio.
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So these were some of the main precautions to remember! And this brings us to the conclusion of this article! Thank you soo much! Oh wait....there's more!
Glimpse of the next issue!
The next issue will cover the following topics :
- Shades
- Some little tricks
- Resources
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For more info and questions, you are free to note me up! You may also ask in the comments if you have any queries! 
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I thank all of you, my friends, the editors, the advisers and all the other staff people for helping me out in bringing up this article! If you hadn't been there, this article wouldn't have been a successful one! KEEP BEING AWESOME!
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article written by Tudalia-Hex for projecteducate's Community Week
All the images of resources were presented to you by Tudalia-Hex
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A word Of Thanks!
I thank all of you, my friends, the editors, the advisers and all the other staff people for helping me out in bringing up this article! If you hadn't been there, this article wouldn't have been a successful one! KEEP BEING AWESOME!
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article written by Tudalia-Hex for projecteducate's Community Week
All the images of resources were presented to you by Tudalia-Hex
Thank You
