Line and Wash Watercolour Tutorial for Beginners - Step by Step Urban Sketch

Summary

The video script offers a step-by-step guide to line and wash sketching, a technique that combines ink and watercolors to create dynamic sketches. It emphasizes the importance of starting with simple shapes and loose lines, which not only allows for spontaneity but also makes it easier to correct and incorporate mistakes into the artwork. The process is broken down into five stages: beginning with a loose sketch focusing on shapes, applying a watery wash of color, adding bolder tones and shadows, introducing punches of color, and finally, enhancing details with ink. The artist encourages viewers to experiment with the medium, highlighting that watercolors have a natural flow and that overworking a piece can detract from its charm. The guide is suitable for beginners and experienced artists looking to refine their line and wash skills.

Takeaways

• 🎨 **Start with the Basics**: Begin with simple shapes to build up a sketch, which helps in creating a foundation without worrying about perfection.
• ✍️ **Use Waterproof Ink**: Utilize a fine liner or fountain pen with waterproof ink for the initial sketch to ensure the lines remain intact when watercolors are applied.
• 📒 **Sketchbook Choice**: An A5 size moleskin watercolor sketchbook is recommended for its portability and ease of use, especially for beginners.
• 🖌️ **Brush Selection**: A small round brush and a Chinese style brush are suggested for their versatility in handling different areas of the sketch.
• 🧻 **Utilize Absorbent Materials**: Keep kitchen roll on hand to help with controlling water and achieving desired textures.
• 🌈 **Limit Your Colors**: Stick to a limited color palette (around five or six colors) to prevent overworking and maintain a harmonious look in the artwork.
• 💧 **Water is Key**: Remember that watercolors are designed to work with water, so use it generously to allow the colors to blend and create the desired effects.
• 🚫 **Embrace Mistakes**: Treat errors as opportunities to add interest and character to the sketch, rather than striving for a flawless representation.
• 🏙️ **Focus on Focal Points**: Develop certain areas more than others to create visual interest and depth, leaving some parts less detailed.
• 🌟 **Bold Touches**: Add bold, bright touches of color and deeper shadows to enhance the sketch without overcomplicating it.
• ✅ **Review and Revise**: Periodically step back and assess the progress of the sketch to avoid overworking and maintain a balanced composition.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The video focuses on line and wash sketching, which involves using ink and watercolors to create an interesting sketch. It is designed for beginners and those looking to understand the process better.

What type of sketchbook is recommended for line and wash sketching?

An A5 Moleskine watercolor Sketchbook is recommended as it provides a good size to start with, is portable, and allows for experimentation without the need for perfection.

What are the essential pen requirements for this type of sketching?

The pens used should be waterproof, with a fine liner of 0.1 to 0.3 millimeters being suitable. A flexible fine liner or a fountain pen with a fine nib can also be used to create a variety of lines.

How many colors are typically used in a line and wash painting according to the video?

The artist typically does not use more than five or six colors in a painting to avoid getting messy and overworked.

What is the importance of being loose with the lines when sketching?

Being loose with the lines allows for spontaneity and fun, and it makes it easier to correct mistakes. It also helps to imply texture and makes the sketch more interesting.

How does the artist approach mistakes during the sketching process?

The artist embraces mistakes, stating they can make the sketch more interesting and are not a problem. They may correct them or work them into the sketch in a way that makes sense with the overall composition.

What is the key to creating texture with watercolors?

Creating texture with watercolors involves using a loose line and allowing the water and colors to blend naturally. Overworking or trying to control the watercolors too much can lead to a loss of the desired texture.

How should one start with the watercolors in line and wash sketching?

One should start with a wash of water and then drop in colors, allowing the watercolors to blend and move on their own. This approach lets the watercolors do their work, creating a natural and less forced look.

What is the significance of leaving white spaces in a watercolor painting?

Leaving white spaces is important as it allows the painting to breathe and prevents it from becoming too busy or overwhelming. It also helps to maintain the lightness and transparency inherent to watercolors.

How does the artist suggest enhancing the final sketch?

The artist suggests enhancing the final sketch with bold touches of color and shadow, careful not to overdo it. They also recommend using a smaller brush for finer details and shadows, and adding a signature as a finishing touch.

What is the advice given for avoiding the overworking of a sketch?

The advice given is to periodically step away from the sketch and consciously check the progress to ensure it is not being overworked. It's important not to try to continually improve to the point where the sketch loses its initial charm.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Introduction to Line and Wash Sketching

The video begins with an introduction to line and wash sketching, a technique that combines ink and watercolors to create dynamic sketches. The host emphasizes that the process is suitable for beginners and those looking to understand the artist's techniques better. The setup includes a sketchbook, specifically a moleskin watercolor sketchbook in A5 size, which is recommended for its portability and ease of use. Various waterproof pens are suggested, including a fine liner and a flexible tip pen that allows for more expressive lines. The artist also discusses the choice of watercolors and brushes, highlighting the importance of a few selected colors and a couple of brushes for the sketching process. The introduction concludes with a reminder that mistakes are part of the process and should be embraced for their contribution to the sketch's character.

05:00

📐 Starting with Shapes and Embracing Mistakes

The artist dives into the sketching process by emphasizing the importance of starting with basic shapes to outline the scene. Using a flexible pen, the sketch begins with the identification of shapes such as rectangles and parallelograms that make up buildings in the chosen reference image. The summary acknowledges that mistakes are inevitable and can be easily corrected or incorporated into the sketch due to the loose line style. The focus is on the spontaneity of the sketch, with the artist demonstrating how to adjust lines and add details like doors, windows, and roofs to build up the scene. The summary also touches on the concept of treating every element, regardless of its complexity, as a shape, which simplifies the drawing process.

10:02

🖌️ The 'Wash' in Line and Wash: Watercolor Application

This section focuses on applying watercolors to the sketch, with the artist explaining that the key to watercolor painting is working with water. Using a large amount of water in a jug comparable to the sketch paper size, the artist demonstrates how to create a wash that allows the watercolors to blend naturally. The sky and pavement are painted with broad strokes, utilizing the watercolor's self-blending properties. The summary also covers the use of shadows to add depth to the sketch, with the artist using colors like Payne's gray and ultramarine to create a sense of three-dimensionality. The artist reiterates the importance of not overworking the painting and leaving areas of white for a more natural look.

15:05

🌈 Adding Bold Colors and Impressive Shadows

The artist proceeds to add more defined shadows and pops of color to the sketch. Windows are highlighted with darker shades of blue to create contrast, and the artist plays with the idea of reflecting the sky in the windows. Bolder colors are introduced, such as red for the rooftop, to draw attention and create visual interest. The summary discusses the artist's approach to adding details like colorful posters in the windows and enhancing shadows for a more dramatic effect. The artist also shares tips on how to build up color variation in the wash and encourages experimentation with color placement and shadowing.

20:07

✒️ Final Touches and Signature

In the final stage of the sketch, the artist goes back to ink to redefine certain lines that may have faded under the watercolor wash. Details are added, such as brick patterns and signs, which were not included in the initial sketch due to the uncertainty of the final color intensity. The artist also emphasizes the importance of stepping away from the artwork periodically to assess progress and avoid overworking it. The summary concludes with the artist signing and titling the piece, providing a step-by-step recap of the process, and encouraging viewers to practice the outlined technique at home or on the go.

Keywords

💡Line and Wash Sketching

Line and wash is a technique used in sketching that combines the use of ink for outlining with watercolors for adding depth and color. In the video, this technique is used to create an interesting and detailed sketch of a street corner, emphasizing the importance of loose and spontaneous strokes to capture the essence of the scene.

💡Sketchbook

A sketchbook is a book made of paper used for sketching, drawing, or taking notes. It is an essential tool for artists, as it provides a safe and convenient space to experiment and create without the pressure of perfection. In the video, the artist uses an A5 Moleskine watercolor Sketchbook to start the line and wash sketch.

💡Waterproof Pen

A waterproof pen is a type of pen that has ink which is resistant to water, making it ideal for use in techniques that involve watercolor without smudging the ink. In the context of the video, the artist emphasizes the importance of using a waterproof pen to create the initial sketch, which will later be washed with watercolors.

💡Daniel Smith Watercolors

Daniel Smith is a brand known for its high-quality artist-grade watercolors. The artist in the video uses Daniel Smith watercolors to add color to the sketch, noting that a limited palette of five or six colors is often sufficient to avoid overworking the piece and to maintain a harmonious color scheme.

💡Brushes

Brushes are tools used in painting and sketching to apply watercolors, inks, or other mediums. The video mentions the use of a small round brush (size six) and a Chinese style brush (size 12 round) for applying watercolors to the sketch. Brushes are chosen for their ability to hold water and color, and their shapes affect the strokes and textures created on paper.

💡Kitchen Roll

Kitchen roll, or paper towels, are used by the artist to manage the water and color during the sketching process. They can be used to dry brushes, soak up excess water, or wipe away unwanted color. In the context of the video, the kitchen roll helps the artist to control the application of water and maintain the desired effects in the watercolor washes.

💡Shapes

In the video, the artist breaks down the complex scene into basic shapes such as rectangles, squares, and triangles to simplify the sketching process. This approach allows for a more manageable way to represent complex structures and is a common technique in line and wash sketching to help artists understand and depict the form and perspective of objects.

💡Mistakes

The artist emphasizes that mistakes are not a problem in the sketching process but can add character and interest to the artwork. By adopting a loose and spontaneous approach, any errors can be incorporated into the sketch, contributing to its authenticity and charm. This philosophy encourages beginners to be less intimidated and more expressive in their work.

💡Textures

Texture in a sketch refers to the visual and tactile quality of the surface, which can be suggested by the way lines and washes of color are applied. In the video, the artist uses loose lines to imply texture, such as the roughness of bricks or the fabric of clothing. This technique helps to create a more realistic and visually engaging representation of the scene.

💡Washes

A wash in watercolor painting is a broad area of color that is thin and transparent. The artist in the video uses washes to establish the background, such as the sky and pavement, and to create shadows. The use of washes allows for the watercolor to flow and blend naturally, which is a key aspect of working with watercolors and contributes to the overall aesthetic of the sketch.

💡Focal Point

The focal point in a sketch or painting is the area of greatest interest or detail that draws the viewer's eye. In the video, the artist identifies a window as the focal point of the sketch and adds more detail and color to this area. By focusing on the focal point, the artist creates a sense of balance and visual hierarchy within the composition.

Highlights

Introduction to line and wash sketching using ink and watercolors for a unique sketching style.

Emphasis on the suitability of A5 size sketchbooks for beginners in line and wash sketching.

Recommendation of waterproof fine liners for sketching, ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 millimeters.

Suggestion to use a fountain pen with a fine nib for additional line variation.

Importance of starting with ink for spontaneity and embracing mistakes in the sketching process.

Technique of using simple shapes to build complex structures in a sketch.

The concept of treating every element in a scene as a shape, regardless of its complexity.

Advocacy for loose line work to allow for mistakes and imply texture.

Demonstration of how to create the illusion of bricks using loose line work.

The philosophy that mistakes in sketching can add character and interest to a piece.

Explanation of how to use watercolors effectively, allowing them to blend and create their own textures.

Technique of using a large amount of water with watercolors to let them 'paint themselves'.

Approach to leaving white spaces in a sketch to maintain balance and interest.

Use of bold, bright touches of color to draw attention to focal points in a sketch.

Inclusion of shadows to add depth and dimension to a line and wash sketch.

Strategy for enhancing shadows and adding final touches without overdoing the sketch.

Advice on periodically stepping away from the artwork to assess progress and avoid overworking.

Encouragement for artists to sign and title their finished sketches for a personal touch.

Summary of the step-by-step process for beginners in line and wash sketching, broken down into five stages.

Transcripts

[Music]

foreign

[Applause]

sketch and thank you for joining me for

this which is all about line and wash

sketching so using ink and watercolors

to produce a really interesting sketch

we're going to do it absolutely step by

step from what do you need through to

every step to get you along the way and

this is designed for people new to line

and wash sketching or who are looking to

understand a little bit more about my

processes take a little reference up in

the top here this could be any sort of

street corner and these same techniques

are great for Rural scenes for

Landscapes whatever we're just going to

use this because it's got nice things

that we can talk about

so what equipment are we using well I've

got a Sketchbook and a Sketchbook is a

really safe place to start

um it's uh you know just a nice place to

experiment it doesn't have to be perfect

it's much cheaper than buying loose

paper often just to buy a big Sketchbook

and sketch away in there

um this is a moleskin watercolor

SketchBook

and it the size is a five which um I

think it's a really nice size to start

with I certainly wouldn't go much

smaller it gets very fiddly and

difficult to create nice drawings and I

wouldn't go much bigger than A4 for

example because uh it gets too big and

there's too much space to film so A5 is

a really lovely size to carry around and

use when you're learning to do this kind

of sketching techniques we've also got a

couple of pens and it really doesn't

matter what pen you have except that

it's waterproof so I've got here a fine

liner 0.3 millimeter for me anything 0.1

to 0.3 millimeter is good I often use a

fountain pen as well in fact I've got my

Phantom pens off to the side here and I

just use a fine nib with waterproof

inking again

you can check out Urban sketch.com UK

and I've got a supplies tab there where

you can see all the inks and things I

use

and then something else which is fun is

you can use different pens so I'm going

to use this one today which is like a

fine liner but flexible so we can create

a bit more variety of line it's

something like using a a fine liner

which acts a bit more like a fountain

pen but anything is good

watercolors nothing special here these

happen to be Daniel Smith they happen to

be the colors I like but just having a

few colors and I've got 14 here but we

won't use more than five or six and I

never really use more than five or six

in a painting because then it gets messy

and overworked and brushes again doesn't

have to be clever I like using a couple

a small one got a size six round it's

quite small I am certainly quite small

for this size of paper and then this is

actually a Chinese style brush but it's

about a size 12 round brush so having

two brushes is a great place to start

and then don't forget little things like

a bit of kitchen roll I've got a really

big tub of water all of these things

really help to ensure that you create a

really lovely sketch and get lovely

textures and colors afterwards

so without further Ado let's start so

we've got our reference Factory and like

I said I'm going to be using this

flexible feudible

um and how do we start we can start with

pencil if you want um and if you're

really worried then by all means but

what I'd say is you get much more

spontaneity and uh fun from just going

ahead with an ink sketch straight away

and what I'm going to show you is that

mistakes don't matter I will make loads

of mistakes some by accident some on

purpose some will do on X by extent and

I'll claim they're on purpose and you

won't know the difference because

mistakes make your sketch really

interesting they're not a problem we're

scared of them but they're not a problem

um so I say just go for it go straight

away with ink and get that spontaneity

and the first step is to get shapes so

if we take this middle building the one

which says Mumford on it what we can see

is we've got basically a a rectangle

or a parallelogram

or a rhomboid isn't it anyway we've got

basically a square with warped sides

and then down the other side we've got

the same so all we've done to get that

building is two simple shapes the

building here the clothing shop in front

well that's easy that is just a square

and you see how I'm being really loose

with these lines they're not straight

they're not rigid they're not hard

they're gentle and loose and that means

that we are implying a bit of texture

also means when I make a mistake it's

not going to be a problem

talking of mistakes so let's say I make

a mistake here so this building is

actually it's another rhombo isn't it

but I'm going to draw it as a square

which is wrong but you know what it's

loose so we can just come in and we can

just add some details so we've got the

door which is just another shape just a

rectangle

and then we've got this which should be

angling down

but we can just find it again

and then we can add the roof on top and

the roof is basically this is a

parallelogram

now we can't see the top of it but if we

want to we can draw the top of it anyway

we know it's there

so we can draw it if we want

and we could consider that another

mistake if we wanted because we've

actually got these windows in front we

might have not been thinking just done

it but you know what it's not gonna not

gonna matter so we just draw these

windows and we find them again they are

rectangles just shapes right

they have to be rectangles which you've

got triangles on top

which happened to have parallelograms on

top which haven't had a triangle at this

side and you see that now we've sort of

built up pretty good pretty good job of

these windows and we can then add the

sort of window shapes in and I say

window shapes because they are they are

rectangles they're just shapes it's it's

only when we try and draw a window we

try and draw a house with a load of

Windows that we get stuck instead of

going right what shape do we have we've

got

a rectangle got a long rectangle it's

got a flat rectangle

and you see how none of these shapes are

perfect they're wonky they're not all

perfectly in line with perspective but

if we just keep going

and I keep going in my little loose

wonky Style

and we can find

everything's a shape it doesn't matter

how complex it is it's still basically

all shapes people are shapes dogs are

shape ice creams are shapes

and I keep going in my wonky shape base

Style

do you see how it it now just deciding

to work

it's just starting to work now you just

put the other mistake I've missed out a

door

doesn't matter that's the secret right

so mistakes just don't matter

especially little emissions you know

let's uh

let's add a chimney you see

I bet even the person who lives here who

owns this shop doesn't know exactly how

many chimneys there are so it doesn't

matter if we make these little mistakes

and we can keep going we find our shape

here

a little sort of rectangle this is a

triangle right

and we go to this wall and this is where

we can start

seeing The Importance of Being loose

with our line so this is a just a on the

face of it it's like a rectangle isn't

it going off the side

but it's also got these kind of big

Bricks now if we just loose with our

line and we make it jotter in and out a

bit do you see how we've drawn those

bricks already

so by being loose with online not only

can we make mistakes

and get away with it but we also can

cheat our way to having drawn textures

do you imagine if I just want a really

straight line if I've done a perfect

line really tried really hard

can you imagine that we would have just

lost all of that beautiful texture

we'd have to draw in all the Bricks by

hand and it just wouldn't work the same

way

okay so we're almost there they aren't

we we could just continue this off and

finish it and I guess this is this is

the sort of next step of the drawing

we've done that one I guess is our

equipment step two is finding the shape

step three is finishing off the little

pen sketch and

the the thing I'd stress to you here is

don't worry about finishing it do your

focal points or focal point is what

probably this window we can add shapes

of these like models in there

front it's got lots of t-shirts and

things we've got all these fun Windows

this this is kind of a focal point and

then here we don't need to finish it

I'll leave this undone I'll leave this

undone so don't worry about finishing it

get to a point where it it looks pretty

good and leave it you can always come

back and add more

we'll add this little

pavement and suggestion of a pavement

there and here as well

that's I think all we need to do always

find something I like this tree in the

background as well

um

that that's a sketch effectively done so

we can now move on from our sketch

that's our line bit we can do the wash

and say line and wash watercolors now

the the keyword there is wash isn't it

so we're not painting like an acrylics

oils we're not putting down brush

Strokes with paint without washing the

watercolors on and just look I've got A5

paper and just look at the size of this

jug basically the same size as my paper

so it's about a liter of water here

um and that's really important because

the the Clue's really in the name water

colors they're designed to paint with

water and what no one tells you the

secret no one bothers to explain is

watercolors want to paint themselves so

if I just add a wash of water with my

size 10 to 12 round brush

and I just drop in my colors

now we have a sky look at that

that's not effort that's uh that's

watercolors doing what they do we can

Splash on

and they look great already the

watercolors have just done what they

want to do

and it looks amazing and I didn't have

to really

try we can drop down out the pavement

maybe and what we've got is a lovely

sort of purpley gray so we can find that

I should have said this is a Cobalt Blue

by the way then in the front I'm going

to use see how the tarmac's almost

purple so I'm going to use a a

paralleline violet

and we can basically do the same thing

just drop it in and then move it around

a bit

up here you see it's a little less

purple a bit more neutral so we can just

take something like I've got Indigo but

maybe a Payne's gray or even use a bit

of ultramarine and we're just getting

these subtle changes and you see how the

they're blending together

so what I've not done is gone ah let's

paint my numbers

what I've done is I've gone right let's

make it neat in a couple of places

but the rest of the colors are really

lovely and loose

and then that's really important as we

go to the side you see how this is all

shadow

so we can actually just add our shadow

if I take

a nice shadow color again this could be

Payne's gray it could be in a mix of

ultramarine and uh burnt umber it could

be uh

even just like a sepia I happen to be

using uh moon glow

um if I touch a little bit of indigo in

there as well just to make it

interesting

now we've got this the shadow again

blending and moving here

we didn't have to do anything clever or

challenge ourselves in particular

we can keep this Shadow going up into

the roof because that's also in Shadow

but the next key bit to notice is do you

see how we didn't have to paint

everything

this is a wash this is a loose washable

color we don't have to paint the whole

page there's lots of white still left

now the White's important in some places

isn't it so here this is a white

building so we'll leave it white but the

the shop window is dark so we'll give it

that shadow color we're not going to

fill it we're not going to worry let's

let's make another mistake it pulls down

here it just looks like the shadow is

pooling it's lovely

we can do the shadow under here as well

then we can move on to these other walls

now what color are they it's really hard

to pull out isn't it there

neutrally sandstoney color the you could

say they were yellowy brownie

I'm sure some people can see Reds or

purples in there as well for me you know

they're that kind of non-specific

Sandstone color

um doesn't mean they have to be in our

painting there does it so I'm going to

take something warm I'm going to take

this is a quinacridone Sienna uh you

could use a burnt yeah burnt sienna

burnt umber uh any use of

warm color and even a raw rum or a

a ocher or anything it doesn't really

matter you could do yellow

I'm using this color because it's what

I've got and it's what I like and it

doesn't have to be the color in the

picture

I'm just going to paint it over and it's

not paint by numbers so it's not staying

in there

it's not staying in the lines it's going

to blend let's see how it's blending

with that sky

it's great I love it you know it doesn't

have to you see I've gone over some of

the windows you see I've left some of it

white you see how it's spilled over here

these are all what I'm sure you could

label mistakes

or you could label it letting the

watercolors do their thing

we can just drop bits of color in as

well and get a bit more variation in

that wash and that's a really key

part of learning watercolors is to allow

that variation to build up

and not feel the need to control it but

understand how to just touch in colors

and get lovely variation

and now we've kind of you see how we've

got all these you know these shapes

these big shapes we found they are full

of color or we've chosen to leave them

so that's your indication that you can

put your big brush away

and get your little brush up so now

we're moving on to the Bold touches

these bold bright touches of color but

also these uh more impressive touches of

shadow

and what I'm going to start off with is

some of those shadows in particularly if

you look at those windows you see how

the window is really dark

almost everywhere the windows are dark

but the windows tend to reflect the sky

so I'm going to take that cobalt blue

along with some

some of my dark color

um so I've used Indigo here if you

remember there so I'm going to use my

Indigo again

along with the cobalt blue and I'm gonna

touch in these windows I'm going to just

apply a bit of Shadow and again you see

it's not paint by numbers remember it's

not paint by numbers it's a wash of

color this is our second wash

so it's going to go where it wants to go

um

we're just giving it a little bit of a

nudge in the direction we think it

should be and everything else is up to

the colors we can give that um roof a

little extra Touch of color as well if

we want we can go totally off-piste and

just you know because we want to pull

this out as a roof

why not make it red so why not put some

red in there just to show us

that is different from all this Shadow

color underneath there's literally no

reason we can't

and we'll get this

uh lovely doorway we get the shadowed

deeper Shadow under the pavement that we

sort of half invented lots of Shadows in

these windows as well we can just touch

them in they're not as dark

so we can just touch in little bits of

shadow

and you see how there's some really

bright Reflections in in different

windows at the back there

well just touch in little bits of red

and I know I said I wouldn't use one

five or six colors but we can always

you know just touch in little bits of

other colors

just to to try and get that like

interesting variety

so we get some cream we get some blue we

got some red now we've got this idea of

like little bits of colorful posters or

whatever in the in the window use that

green to get our tree at the back and

then we can use these same colors again

at the front

so I'm gonna have to double check how

many colors I've used now so I've got

my cracker Dome I've got a perylene an

indigo I've got my red

I've got my moon glow so I think I'm on

six I think I'm on six kind of some I'm

still saying I'm doing what I said and

that's even with just using some of the

colors just for little dots here and

there

I would I would say this is this is

pushing the number of colors you should

use just start really

simple really really simple

because

more colors tend to just make it messy

and challenging

so what you can see I'm doing now is I'm

still sticking with that idea

of just deepening Shadows so we can go

back over some of our shadows make them

a bit more impressive we can find

Shadows we missed like you see down the

side of this chimney I missed your

shadow

do you see how darn this side of the

building actually this whole building's

in Shadow isn't it well I can just come

in and create that two-tone feel

I can drag some of these colors around

and I can reinvigorate Shadows do you

see how this Shadow because it was so

soft it's kind of disappeared so we can

get a bit far

same Shadow color and just

bring it down we might even just want to

start from the floor this time and work

backwards and just see how it feels

maybe we need even more than that we

need a bit more

and there we go

and we're almost there aren't they so

what else could we do what else could we

do to enhance this but not overdo it

well little touches of bold we've

already done them here but chimneys they

love being red so

especially when these chimneys actually

are red in places let's just

give them what they want

what else can we do this is kind of um

we don't wash one we've done washed two

which is these Bowl colors this is

finishing touches so Finishing Touches

for me includes

bold touches bold tiny touches these

windows probably count

it also involves little splashes so take

your brush and if you're worried about

how to do it so take us another bit of

paper

what I might do is I might take this

side of my sketch because as practice

and experiment so if I take a really

watery wash of color what happens okay

it's quite quite pale if I dry my brush

off and I take much more color what

happens obviously it's much smaller dots

much bigger dots if I take loads of

water bigger dots still okay so we're

starting to understand and all I'm doing

is tapping with one finger the other

thing you can do is hold it and tap with

the other hand

and you can experiment with your

different colors over here

so that you can then come back and be

sure what's going to happen or it sure

is watercolor ever is because as we said

at the beginning watercolors

paint themselves the only thing we can

do is prevent them and make things more

rigid and less interesting

so with this last lady's final touches

a couple of little things that we can do

is

again just enhancing some of these

Shadows just a couple of places

and really just careful not to overdo

things because this is where we can

actually ruin things is by

trying to improve it and improve it and

improve it and suddenly

it's gone

and then the last bit the last bit

come back with your come back with your

pen

and you could find some of these lines

again do you see how some of the lines

have faded a little bit you can find

them again you can find details like we

might want to put

little signs in

and this is your time to do it not at

the beginning when you don't know how

intensive colors are going to be you're

not quite sure what's going to be

important because you haven't done the

sketch you haven't done the colors yet

but now we can come in we can add little

suggestions of bricks and you see how

these loose colors now they're kind of

building up to something aren't they

it's gradually building up

to this really interesting sketch see

all we did was really gently find shapes

gently add colors

and we got there

and again you could keep going with this

you could keep going and going and going

and eventually you'd do too much it's

really important to

have a little look

step away oh maybe maybe it can take one

little bit more so we we come back then

you step away and just make sure that

you consciously

check your progress a few times so

you're not going to risk overdoing

things

that is the biggest Peril of lovely line

and wash sketches is

trying too hard and overdoing it

so I'm going to leave it there

and the last stage the last stage

pop your little signature on the side if

you want you can title it so I'll let

you know that this is from the aisle of

silly

and it's Saint Mary's

on the Isle of silly the the main

village town from those little Isles

south of England

and that's my sketch done so just to

like rethink through everything we've

done just a little bit of revision

we did it essentially in five stages so

stage one that first loose sketch we

don't worry about mistakes we're just

getting shapes big shapes and smaller

shapes step two is a wash of color what

does a wash of color mean it means I

washed I mean through loads of water

step three coming back in with a little

bit more paint still plenty water and

still remembering it's not paint by

numbers and we're getting those bold

tones getting those Bolder Shadows step

four is now we get these punches of

color before step five this last little

bit of ink so

in five stages there is my little liner

wash for absolute beginners step by step

process that you can take away and enjoy

and do at home or out and about or

wherever you want to sketch now if you

enjoyed that do let me know in the

comments let me know your thoughts your

questions and do like and subscribe so

you I can bring you more things that

hopefully you'll enjoy again in the

future

a little easy to touch