The ultimate WATERCOLOUR TUTORIAL | For beginners | Drawlikeasir

Summary

In this engaging tutorial, Marcel introduces viewers to the art of watercolor painting, sharing his passion for its versatility across various styles. He discusses essential supplies, the importance of choosing the right paper and paints, and covers basic techniques like wet on dry and wet on wet. Marcel provides practical tips to avoid common mistakes and emphasizes the unique properties of watercolor, such as its low opacity and the ability to create natural-looking colored shadows. The video includes a step-by-step guide for beginners to create three different watercolor artworks, from simple cel shading to more complex landscapes, encouraging practice and exploration of this expressive medium.

Takeaways

• 🎨 Marcel introduces a watercolor painting tutorial, emphasizing his love for the medium and its versatility for various art styles.
• 👨‍🎨 Marcel is not a professional artist but has gained experience using watercolors for about 9-10 months and is eager to share his techniques.
• 🖌️ The choice of watercolors is crucial; aquarelle watercolors with better pigmentation are recommended over opaque watercolors.
• 📄 Watercolor paper selection is important, with cold-pressed offering texture and hot-pressed providing a smooth finish, both having their own advantages.
• 🔖 Marcel suggests using 300gsm paper for its durability and recommends specific art supplies through his website.
• 💧 Water management is key in watercolor painting; using two glasses of water helps in maintaining clean and dirty water separation.
• 🖼️ Wet on dry and wet on wet are fundamental techniques, allowing for hard strokes and soft blending respectively, similar to brush settings in digital art.
• 🌈 Watercolor's low opacity, or constant multiply property, is both a challenge and a strength, enabling natural-looking colored shadows.
• 🎨 Color mixing should be done carefully to avoid muddy results, with a preference for colors adjacent on the color wheel.
• 📝 Marcel provides a checklist of do's and don'ts for beginners, including sketching on separate paper and being mindful of water application.
• 🌳 The tutorial concludes with a practical session where Marcel guides viewers through three watercolor exercises, from simple cel shading to a landscape.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Marcel's video?

The main focus of Marcel's video is to teach viewers how to paint with watercolors, including techniques and tips for beginners.

Why does Marcel prefer watercolors as a medium?

Marcel prefers watercolors because of its versatility, allowing him to create a wide range of art styles including portraits, landscapes, anime, and manga.

What are the two types of watercolor paints mentioned in the script?

The two types of watercolor paints mentioned are opaque watercolors, which are cheaper and have less pigmentation, and aquarelle watercolors, which are more vibrant and have better pigmentation.

Why is the choice of paper important when working with watercolors?

The choice of paper is important because it can affect the final appearance of the artwork. There are cold-pressed papers with texture and hot-pressed papers which are smoother, and the choice depends on the artist's preference and budget.

What are the two main watercolor painting techniques Marcel introduces in the video?

The two main watercolor painting techniques introduced are 'wet on dry', which creates hard strokes, and 'wet on wet', which creates soft strokes.

How does Marcel suggest avoiding muddy colors when mixing with watercolors?

Marcel suggests using a larger watercolor set that includes both warm and cool shades of each color to avoid muddy colors, and testing color mixes on a separate sheet of paper before applying them to the artwork.

What is the 'constant multiply' property of watercolors that Marcel discusses?

The 'constant multiply' property refers to the low opacity of watercolors, which allows the background color to show through even when another color is painted over it, similar to the multiply mode in digital art.

Why does Marcel recommend using a palette when working with watercolors?

Marcel recommends using a palette because it allows for easy mixing of different colors to create a wide range of shades without needing to purchase additional colors.

What is the purpose of using tape when working with watercolor paper?

Tape is used to fixate the watercolor paper and prevent it from bending or buckling as it is painted on, especially since watercolor paper is susceptible to warping when wet.

What is Marcel's advice on sketching the artwork before applying watercolors?

Marcel advises against sketching directly on the watercolor paper, especially for larger motives, due to the paper's sensitivity to erasing. Instead, he suggests sketching on a separate sheet and tracing it onto the watercolor paper.

How does Marcel suggest practicing watercolor painting?

Marcel suggests practicing with simple motives first, such as cel shading with 'wet on dry' techniques, then progressing to more natural looks with 'wet on wet' techniques, and finally combining these techniques to paint a landscape.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Introduction to Watercolor Painting

Marcel introduces a new video series focused on watercolor painting, expressing his passion for the medium and its versatility across various art forms. He admits his non-professional status but shares his experience gained over 9-10 months. Marcel emphasizes the importance of practice and previews future content, including digital art and a potential color theory video. He also mentions his new artbook and invites viewers to a 'paint along' session at the end of the video.

05:02

🛠️ Essential Watercolor Art Supplies

The video delves into the crucial art supplies needed for watercolor painting, highlighting the differences between opaque and aquarelle watercolors and the importance of choosing the right colors. Marcel discusses the significance of paper choice, with cold-pressed and hot-pressed options, and suggests 300gsm as the ideal thickness. He also recommends affordable brushes and additional supplies like tape, palettes, waterproof liners, and the use of two water glasses. An insider tip about the masking marker is shared, along with a resource link for further information on art supplies.

10:03

💧 Understanding Watercolor Techniques: Wet on Dry and Wet on Wet

Marcel explains two fundamental watercolor techniques: wet on dry and wet on wet, comparing them to hard and soft brushes in digital art. He illustrates how dry paper allows for hard strokes, suitable for anime-style shading, while wet paper creates soft strokes, ideal for gradients and portraits. The video stresses the importance of painting order and planning due to watercolor's unique properties, such as the constant multiply effect, which prevents overlaying lighter colors over darker ones.

15:06

🌈 The Power of Colored Shadows in Watercolor

This section showcases watercolor's unique ability to create colored shadows, enhancing the immersion and realism of artwork. Marcel demonstrates how to use watercolor for natural-looking shadows and discusses the ease of shading with watercolors. He also mentions a color theory video on his German channel and invites viewers to subscribe for future content on colored shadows and watercolor techniques.

20:11

📝 Watercolor Do's and Don'ts

Marcel provides practical advice for beginners, including avoiding direct sketching on watercolor paper, understanding watercolor's transparency and fading over time, and techniques for correcting mistakes. He advises against excessive water application to prevent color from swimming and emphasizes the importance of even wetting to avoid stains. The video also touches on color granulation and the benefits of mixed media, particularly colored pencils, to enhance details in watercolor artworks.

🖌️ Step-by-Step Watercolor Painting Guide

The final part of the script offers a hands-on guide to painting with watercolors, starting with simple cel shading and progressing to more complex wet on wet techniques and landscapes. Marcel provides a downloadable motive for viewers to practice along with the video, explaining the process of transferring the sketch to watercolor paper, mixing colors, and applying washes. He also covers shading, highlighting, and the importance of letting layers dry before applying new colors, concluding with a call to action for viewers to share their artwork and engage with his content.

Keywords

💡Watercolor

Watercolor is a painting medium in which the paint is made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble binder. It is known for its versatility and the ability to create transparent and luminous effects. In the video, the artist emphasizes the love for watercolors as their favorite medium, highlighting its use in various art forms such as portraits, landscapes, and anime. The script discusses the importance of choosing the right type of watercolor, differentiating between opaque and aquarelle, and the vibrancy they bring to artwork.

💡Aquarelle

Aquarelle refers to a type of watercolor paint known for its high pigment concentration and transparency. It is preferred by artists for its ability to create vibrant and luminous colors. The script mentions that aquarelle watercolors are the 'big boy watercolors' with better pigmentation, contrasting them with the cheaper, opaque watercolors that were commonly used in primary school art clubs.

💡Opaque Watercolor

Opaque watercolor, as mentioned in the script, is a type of watercolor paint that has less transparency and tends to be less vibrant than aquarelle. It is often the cheaper option and is not recommended for artists seeking high-quality results. The video advises against using opaque watercolors due to their lack of pigmentation and vibrancy.

💡Cold-Pressed Paper

Cold-pressed paper is a type of watercolor paper that has a noticeable texture or pattern, which is a result of the papermaking process. It is one of the two types of watercolor paper discussed in the video, with the other being hot-pressed paper. The artist notes that cold-pressed paper is less expensive and can sometimes be preferred for its texture, even by professional artists.

💡Hot-Pressed Paper

Hot-pressed paper is a smooth-surfaced watercolor paper that lacks the texture found in cold-pressed paper. It is more expensive than cold-pressed paper and is chosen by artists who desire a pristine, smooth finish for their watercolor paintings. The script mentions that the artist used hot-pressed paper for artworks in the artbook to achieve completely white pages without texture.

💡Wet on Dry

Wet on dry is a watercolor painting technique where the paint is applied to a dry surface, resulting in hard-edged strokes. This technique is likened to using a hard brush in digital art and is suitable for creating sharp lines and details, such as in cartoon or anime-style shading. The video explains how to use this technique for cel shading and provides a practical demonstration.

💡Wet on Wet

Wet on wet is a watercolor technique where the paint is applied to a wet surface, allowing the colors to blend and create soft, diffused edges. It is compared to using a soft brush in digital art and is ideal for painting softer elements like portraits, backgrounds, and gradients. The script includes a step-by-step guide on how to paint using the wet on wet technique.

💡Colored Shadows

Colored shadows refer to the use of colors other than black or gray to create shadows in a painting, adding a sense of depth and immersion. The artist in the video demonstrates how using watercolors allows for the creation of natural-looking colored shadows, enhancing the realism and visual appeal of the artwork. This concept is showcased through examples of a character sitting in a red environment with red shadows and a landscape with blue shadows.

💡Granulation

Granulation is a property of some watercolor pigments where the particles clump together, creating a textured, grainy appearance on the paper. This effect is not a mistake but a characteristic of certain colors, as mentioned in the script. It adds a unique quality to the artwork, although it may not be desired for all styles or subjects.

💡Mixed Media

Mixed media refers to the use of various artistic techniques and forms in a single artwork, combining different types of media. In the context of the video, the artist recommends using colored pencils for adding details to watercolor paintings, as it can enhance the final appearance. This approach allows for greater flexibility and creativity in the artistic process.

💡Color Mixing

Color mixing is the process of combining different colors to create new hues. In watercolor painting, understanding color mixing is crucial to achieve desired shades and avoid muddy colors. The script explains the importance of using colors that are adjacent on the color wheel to mix a cool or warm shade and warns against mixing colors that are too far apart, which can result in unappealing muddy colors.

Highlights

Marcel introduces a different approach to art by teaching how to paint with watercolors instead of drawing.

Watercolors are Marcel's favorite medium for their versatility in various art forms such as portraits, landscapes, and anime.

Although not a professional, Marcel shares his 9-10 months of experience with watercolors, emphasizing the importance of practice.

The video offers to teach everything needed to start with watercolors, acknowledging that perfection is not expected on the first try.

Marcel's artbook featuring his watercolor artworks is available for pre-order, with a promise of more painting videos if this one is well-received.

A 'paint along' session at the end of the video invites viewers to engage in the painting process together.

The importance of choosing the right art supplies for watercolor painting is stressed, as they significantly affect the outcome of the art.

Opaque watercolors are discouraged in favor of aquarelle for their better pigmentation and vibrancy.

Watercolor paper choice is crucial, with cold-pressed offering texture and hot-pressed a smooth finish, both having their own advantages.

The video suggests 300gsm paper for its durability during watercolor painting.

Inexpensive watercolor brushes are recommended for beginners, with the emphasis on learning rather than high-priced tools.

Extras like tape, palettes, and waterproof liners are suggested to enhance the watercolor painting experience.

The 'wet on dry' and 'wet on wet' techniques are fundamental to watercolor painting, allowing for a range of styles from hard strokes to soft gradients.

Watercolor's constant multiply property is likened to digital art's multiply mode, enabling natural shadow effects.

Colored shadows created with watercolors add depth and immersion to artworks, enhancing the overall visual appeal.

Avoiding muddy colors is crucial, and a bigger watercolor set with a range of warm and cool shades is recommended for beginners.

A checklist of dos and don'ts for watercolor painting is provided to help beginners avoid common mistakes.

The practical demonstration of watercolor painting includes simple cel shading, wet on wet techniques, and a landscape painting exercise.

The video concludes with an invitation to follow Marcel on social media for more artwork and a reminder of his Patreon for additional support.

Transcripts

[music]

Hi guys. My name's Marcel and we're gonna do something different today,

because you're not exactly going to learn how to draw like a Sir as usual.

Today, you're going to learn how to paint like a Sir,

because, my god, I love watercolors.

Meanwhile, it's my number one medium to color with and I've used it for pretty much everything.

Portraits, landscapes, anime and manga, and lots of other stuff.

I just love how versatile watercolors can get.

I'm not a professional by any stretch. I've only used watercolors for 9 or 10 months now,

but people have been asking not only how to draw like a Sir,

but also how do you paint like a Sir, how do you color?

And today, I'm going to show you my favorite medium to color with -- watercolors.

I'll teach you everything you need to know from the very start, but please be aware that nobody is perfect.

After you've watched this video, you have to practice this yourself to get the hang out of it.

Don't blame yourself if it doesn't work immediately with your first try.

Also, if you like this video, I'll make more videos about painting too.

Maybe a video about digital art, if you're interested.

It all depends if this video is something people are willing to watch.

'Cause it was a lot of work.

Also, almost all of these artworks you see in today's video are in my new artbook,

which you can preorder right now, if you want to.

And at the end of the video, there's a little paint along where we do some painting together.

And with that out of the way,

we can start from the very start -- with our art supplies.

Let's go.

[music]

I hate to break it to you, but your art supplies are very important when it comes to watercolor.

It's not like drawing where you can just grab any pencil and any paper.

When it comes to watercolor, your supplies decide if your art looks like

this or like that.

I'm going to show you what I personally like to use

but of course, there are a lot of more things that you can use as well.

The first thing everybody thinks of are, of course, the colors.

It's incredibly important that you pick the right colors because there are two kinds of watercolor.

There's opaque watercolor.

That's the cheap stuff your parents bought you for art clubs back in primary school.

And there's aquarelle.

Those are the big boy watercolors with better pigmentation.

It means they are a lot more vibrant.

Basically, no one uses opaque watercolors.

Don't get fooled by the "premium quality" seal.

The seal is about as trustworthy as Lisa who tells me she lives in my area.

Aquarelle watercolors, however, have many good brands.

I found these colors for like 20 bucks

and with these, I painted all of my artworks without exception.

The brand of the colors is called...

You know what? If you want to know which colors or what paper or brushes are used,

I've linked them all at drawlikeasir.com/material.

Almost as important as the colors is the paper you're painting on.

I almost dare to say it's even more important than the colors.

I know, I was shocked as well.

Just like with colors, there are also two kinds of watercolor paper.

Cold-pressed paper and hot-pressed paper.

However, both of them are fine. It's not like one is superior and one is not.

The difference is easy.

Cold-pressed paper has your typical watercolor pattern or texture.

Meanwhile, hot-pressed paper is nice and smooth.

And if you're not sure about what you prefer, don't worry because your wallet certainly is.

Hot-pressed paper can be about four times the price of cold-pressed paper

and some artists out there even prefer the texture of less expensive cold-pressed paper.

Even I myself like to paint on it once in a while.

I just think it looks neat.

And also, it's a lot cheaper. [coughs]

If the texture doesn't bother you, just go ahead and grab this paper.

I was forced to use the pricier hot-pressed one because I made these artworks for my artbook

and I wanted to print completely white pages without any texture or pattern.

When it comes to the thickness, I would suggest 300 grams.

That's 140 lbs, by the way.

Just for all of you Imperial heathens out there.

If that's too complicated for you, again, I linked all of the paper I use at drawlikeasir.com.

And when it comes to brushes, honestly, I just bought any cheap watercolor brushes.

I painted all of my artworks with them and I didn't regret it so far.

Like I said, I'm not professional by any stretch, but chances are, you are not either.

And I think these cheap brushes are enough to get started for any beginner out there.

There's also some extras I would recommend, namely some tape, palettes and waterproof liners or ink.

You'll need to tape because your paper is inevitably going to bend.

That's why you need to fixate it in beforehand.

At the very beginning, I used duct tape, which is very risky to work with.

That's why I switched to lighter tape I had lying around somewhere at home.

It's not as sticky and it doesn't destroy your paper.

A palette is also pretty much mandatory.

Watercolor has the advantage that you could basically use any color out there.

You want your purple to be warmer? Well, let's just mix in some red and there you go.

You don't have to buy a new marker or colored pencil.

A palette is like two or three bucks, so it doesn't hurt too much.

And if you are inking your drawing, you can use waterproof ink and waterproof liners.

You can use whatever you like. I used liners so far and they worked great

Also, I would recommend you use two glasses of water.

One for the filthy water and one for the fresh water.

And a little insider tip: You can use a masking marker

which you can use to prevent certain areas from getting wet.

Don't worry, you don't need that in the beginning.

I just wanted to make an honorable mention because my bigger artworks

would basically have been impossible without this.

Uh, but-- but where do I get a masking marker from?

Again, if you have any questions about my art supplies,

-you can hop over to drawlikeasir.com -Oh my god, he stabbed me!

-I think you finally understood this. -He stabbed me!

So let's jump ahead to the next step.

Can you be quiet for one second?

[music]

So, now that you have your art supplies, let's start learning watercolor.

There's two techniques that you need to know about wet on dry and wet on wet.

With these two techniques, you can basically paint everything from landscapes to anime.

That's what I just love about watercolor -- you can paint any style with it.

So how do these two techniques work?

I'll just compare it with this.

You know how in digital art, there's a hard brush and a soft brush.

Well, it's the same with watercolor.

If your paper is dry, your brush makes hard strokes -- that's wet on dry.

And if your paper is wet, your brush makes soft strokes -- that's wet on wet.

So, if you keep your paper dry, you can paint with hard strokes only.

It means you can paint in your typical cartoon or anime cel shading fashion.

You only have to wait until every color is dry. Like I said, it only works with dry paper.

Some pros color that way and I can confirm it can look a lot like Copic art if you try hard enough.

If you want to paint softer things, however, like portraits, backgrounds, gradients and so on,

you have to paint while your paper is still a wet.

Using soft color is pretty easy.

In order to paint a gradient, you just wet your paper and paint on it with the two colors you like

Though, I got to admit it's a bit tricky if you've never done that before

because your paper needs to be wet the whole time. It cannot dry.

So drawing portraits can be challenging because you have to know when your paper is too wet,

when it's not wet enough, how long it's gonna be wet for and so on.

So with watercolor, you have to plan ahead.

So typically, you paint the background first where things are more blurry

and then you draw the foreground next.

Your painting order is very important here.

Like I said, there's a lot of planning involved.

[music]

What I'm now going to show you is considered a big disadvantage of watercolor,

but also it's biggest strength.

In my opinion, at least.

It's crucial that you know this property of watercolor because it's the most important one.

Constant multiply.

Again, you might recognize this from painting on a tablet where there's a multiply mode.

With this mode, your background still shines through.

And it's the exact same thing with watercolor.

Watercolor has a very low opacity

so even if you paint with black, the background is still gonna shine through.

This means you cannot just paint everything over an already existing background

because watercolor has very low opacity.

This is only gonna work with darker colors.

That's why I compared it to the multiply mode, 'cause it works the exact same.

So like I mentioned, you need to plan out your artwork first and then you can start painting.

So, no, I can't just for example, paint some green highlights on here

because, well, it only gets darker.

I can't make some brighter highlights with something that has such a low opacity.

Maybe you now think that this is a reason not to get into watercolor,

but what if I'm telling you that this is its biggest strength?

You know what? I'll just show you.

[music]

Let's just say Pep is sitting in a red environment.

Of course, he would need a red shadow, right?

You cannot just use a red colored pencil because it's too opaque.

Its opacity is too high.

But if you use watercolor instead, it immediately looks like a natural shadow.

As you can see, having colored shadows is incredibly immersive.

Just look at this. This was one of the very first watercolor artworks that I ever made.

Once I realized how powerful colored shadows are, I immediately started using it in every artwork I made.

How lame would this artwork look if it would have gray shadows?

It's so much more immersive with colored shadows.

Same goes for landscapes, of course.

I only used blue shadows for the entirety of this artwork and it shows.

Shading with watercolors is so easy, you only need to paint over it.

If you want to know more about colored shadows and how to use them,

I made a color theory video on my German channel.

If you show me that you're interested in coloring, I'll translate this and upload it here on my English channel as well.

So, if you don't want to miss this video when I upload it, just go ahead and subscribe.

You saw how powerful colored shadows could be and you can shade with any color out there

because you can make any color out there.

And even better, you can shade over multiple objects at once.

Look at how I'm coloring a face and hair at the same time here.

You don't need multiple colors or pens for that, just one brush and the color.

I think you can now understand why this is watercolor's biggest strength

because you can also just combine these colored shadows with the previously mentioned wet on wet technique.

This results in soft, colored shadows.

That's how I painted this shirt, for example.

I painted the shadows soft with wet on wet and also I colored the shadows green.

This gives it a natural 3D look, just like with a real shirt.

If you like these kinds of artworks,

I made many more of them and you can find them on my social media or in my artbook.

Anyways, this was a lot of theory now, so let's get practical.

[music]

Now, picture this.

You're someone who colors with markers and instead of a warm green,

you want to use a colder shade of green.

Well, then you'd need to get out and buy it first.

But with watercolors, you can just throw in a bit more blue and boom!

You have a cooler shade of green

But beware. If you don't know what you're doing, your colors can get muddy very fast.

In general, I'd recommend you always have an extra sheet of paper with you,

so you can test out your colors first before ruining your artwork.

That's pretty much the first thing I did when I started out with watercolors last year.

But let's get down to the root of trouble and prevent your colors from getting muddy in the first place.

First thing you need to know: Any color has a warm and a cool shade.

I know. That's a very basic way of putting it,

but I want to keep this explanation as beginner-friendly as possible.

So let's say you want to mix some green color.

Then, you would need a cold yellow and a cold blue since they are both right next to it.

So in order to mix a color, you always need the ones that are right next to them.

Let's put this to the test

And just as I claimed mixing a cool yellow and a cool blue makes nice, vibrant green.

But if you take the warmer shade of blue that's further away in the color wheel,

well, then you get mud.

That's why I recommend a bigger watercolor set just like mine

since it has a warm and a cool shade of every color.

Also, as a little disclaimer, I'm not saying mud is useless.

If you want to paint duller pictures, this might be right up your alley.

You can get mud by just mixing together any complimentary colors.

We've only scratched the surface when it comes to color mixing here.

You could make a whole video about this

but I think, you know the most important thing to avoid -- mixing muddy colors now.

So let's jump to the next step.

So right before we paint something together, I have a little do or don't checklist

that might help you in the future.

Let's go.

[music]

Avoid sketching your motive directly on paper.

Small motives are okay, but watercolor paper isn't made for sketching and especially not for erasing on it.

Use a softer eraser or just do it like me and sketch your drawing out on a separate sheet.

And then trace it on your watercolor paper later on.

Wasting expensive paper can get very frustrating. You may want to avoid that.

Watercolor fades over time.

If you thought, "I don't know what this Marcel guy is talking about.

My watercolor isn't transparent at all." Well, yeah, just wait until it dries.

At the beginning, you always tend to underestimate how much watercolor can fade

so you need to apply another layer and that's okay. You'll get the hang out of it eventually.

You can undo what I color to a certain extent.

Mistakes happen to me quite often, even during live streams

so I was able to save my artworks.

But it doesn't work completely flawlessly.

This method often leaves some stains behind.

Don't overdo it with applying your water.

Having puddles makes your color swim in it.

And believe me, this isn't exactly what you want.

This way, the water isn't even touching the paper,

but you want your water to spread over the paper from the very get-go.

Maybe you used watercolors before and you asked yourself why there are some stains on your art.

I feel you on this. I had the same problem.

If you're wetting just a random area,

this is sadly going to leave a stain behind.

That's why I'm always trying to carefully wet complete areas.

That way there's still gonna be a stain, but since the stain is right on the outline,

nobody's gonna notice it.

This isn't a tip, just a heads up: Some colors granulate.

So they don't look nice and clean, but more grainy.

Don't worry you're not at fault here.

It's just the way the color is.

Some colors just granulate and some don't.

My last recommendation is mixed media.

You can paint some details with a small brush, yes,

but nothing out there beats colored pencils.

It's incredible how much better this looks.

I never regretted using them even once.

This was basically everything I had to say for the beginning

so let's paint out our first little artwork together.

[music]

When I started out with watercolors, I watched a lot of videos about it

but something I always missed in these videos was someone who took me at my hand

and guided me a bit.

So that's why I'm including this part in this video as well.

We're gonna paint three artworks.

The first one is the easiest one -- simple cel shading and wet on dry.

Then, let's try a more natural look in wet on wet.

And if you have this down, let's paint a landscape together.

For the sake of this practice, I'm going to draw a simple motive,

but you don't have to

because you can download my drawing at drawlikeasir.com/watercolormotive.

You know, in case you want to paint along with the same motive.

And you know how things on my channel work.

In exchange for this artwork you can leave a like.

I think that would be it for exchange.

So, I'm done drawing my artwork and you printed out yours.

The next step is to copy it on watercolor paper.

I have a lighting table for that,

but that's just for convenience.

You can also use a window and both of your arms for the same result.

First things first, fixate the paper so it doesn't bend later on.

Your first test is gonna be color mixing.

For painting Pep, you'll need these colors on screen right now.

Use more water for lighter colors and use less water for stronger, more saturated colors.

Also a little disclaimer, if you use hot-pressed paper,

you should apply one wash of clear water to prepare the paper.

If you don't, then your color might not be sticking to the paper.

I experienced this once and I--

Well, I wasn't quite happy about it, to be honest.

You don't have to do this if you use cold-pressed paper, by the way.

This only goes for hot-pressed paper.

Anyway, enough preparations for now.

We'll continue with a dry or dried paper.

Also, if you want to, you can outline your drawing but that's purely optional.

Well, let's go, then. Don't worry, it's easier than it looks.

You now apply the first layer of color.

It's also called a wash.

Don't hesitate to use a lot of water to spread it around.

It's a big area after all.

[music]

After this wash, you can let your motive dry or you can make it dry

by using a hair dryer.

And this way, you apply all the colors

but always keep in mind that your color needs to dry every time you've used it.

Here's what happens when you don't wait for the color to dry --

they start blending into one another.

I'm done with the base colors, so let's start shading.

I'm using red, but I'm going to make it a bit darker with a bit of purple.

You don't have to watch out for anything here.

Like I said, watercolor has its constant multiply mode

so you can shade over anything with just one color.

This is purely optional, but you can also highlight your painting with a gel pen or some gouache.

And we're done. This was our first artwork.

And if you're posting your result on social media,

don't hesitate to tag me in it.

Well, let's continue with our next motive.

So back to the start, I've prepared everything just like I did before.

Let's paint wet on wet here.

This makes for a more natural look.

This is gonna be a tad more tricky. I recommend you watch this part first.

Then, you can rewind and then you can paint along.

Also, you can reduce the video speed if that helps you.

I refrained from using outlines here.

This looks more natural with just a light sketch.

I'm gonna show you how we're painting wet on wet by showcasing it on Pep's wing.

First, I'll wet the complete wing, so there won't be any stains.

In this wet area, I'll add the main color which is, of course, purple.

And then, I'll add an accent color.

I chose a light blue because that has a nice natural look to it.

Let this part dry and then it's rinse and repeat for the rest.

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I know all of this might be a bit tricky if this is your first try,

but that's why we practice it with a simple motive first.

And just like with the first motive,

I'm mixing a shadow color.

This time, I'll shade with a blue color.

And again, I'll make it a bit darker by adding purple.

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Again, you can add details like highlights

and since the blue accent color reminds me of a blue sky,

why not add some grass?

And this was our first artwork made of wet in wet.

Bravo. If you made it until here, let's put your skills to the test one last time

and combine wet and wet and wet and dry by painting a simple landscape.

For this, I pencil in a tree very lightly and very carefully so I don't ruin the paper.

We start out by completely wetting the paper

because we paint the background first.

And since the background is more blurry,

it needs to be painted wet on wet.

First thing I paint with this is a light blue.

Like I said before, watercolor is very transparent

so the background needs to have light colors so we can overpaint it later.

While the paper is still wet, we can paint in some trees in the background.

Maybe even some grass and a small river.

A soft background needs soft shadows,

so let's apply some darker greens.

Since the paper is still wet, the shadows will be soft and blurry as well.

Never shade with black, though.

Use some different shades of green to make the scenery more colorful.

And then, let your artwork dry.

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Now, we can tackle the foreground.

First up, let's paint a tree I penciled in earlier

so we can get a sense of scale here.

And then let it dry because we are done with brown now.

Now, we can add the leaves to this tree.

Get creative and use different shades of green while the color is still wet.

Don't hesitate to make your artwork more colorful.

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And then you can start shading if everything's dry again.

If you now want to shade with darker colors, use less water and more color.

To finish this artwork off, we can add a cliff by making the bottom area wet

and then add some grass to this area.

I know, I should have painted this cliff from the very start,

but I thought doing this artwork one step at a time

could be a bit more helpful to beginners.

And if everything is dry again,

one last time, let's shade this artwork.

Add some darker grass in the foreground,

add some darker trees in the background,

and this was level number three.

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I hope this was helpful to you.

Just like I promised, I'll upload my color theory video very soon

if I see that you guys are interested in coloring.

And in the meantime, you can watch this video right here.

I made a tutorial all about shading.

This could be a very helpful video to you.

Thank you all so much for sticking around so long.

Scripting this video took two full days, it was my entire weekend

and all of the animation and filming was also very time-consuming.

So I'm very thankful if you supported this video by either liking or commenting

or joining my Patreon if you want to go the extra mile.

My name is Marcel and I'll see you guys in my next video.

Goodbye.

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