Hello, all! I thought I would end my unofficial hiatus here with a tutorial, and a promise to share more updates soon. I tend to get a lot of good inspiration from other artists on Instagram, if I haven’t mentioned that before; there is no shortage of interesting artwork in every medium imaginable. I came across an artist who was doing moody abstracts with India ink, and I thought, I wonder if I could do something like that with watercolor. It was a successful experiment and pretty fun to do besides, which is why I’ve done so many of them (as you can see here). I’ve sold several of the pieces pictured already but I thought I’d share a quick tutorial in case you’re interested in trying your own.
I like using a 5×7 watercolor paper block because the small size makes it easy to cover the page quickly and I don’t have to worry about taping down the edges. You’ll also want a couple different size brushes – I used a size 10 round for putting the paint on the paper, and a 1.5” flat brush to apply the water.
- Start by loading up your round brush with the paint color of your choice. I like to use greens, blues, greys, and browns, but you can be as conventional or as creative as you want!
- Using the tip of the brush, paint in your lines. I did two horizontal lines here – one which will be the horizon line, and one the water line for a pond or lake in the foreground.
- Reload the brush as often as needed and be generous with the paint application – the more you apply to this line, the farther it will spread when you add the water. TIP: use multiple colors and let them blend in your line to get a multi-colored scene.
- Once you have the initial lines painted, load your flat brush with clean water. Turn the brush so the long edge is perpendicular to your paint line, and touch the corner to that line. Brush the water onto the paper, following your paint line. The paint will spread into the water and make abstract shapes and waves.
- You can “cheat” and add more paint to the wet patches on your paper before they dry; this technique is called “wet on wet” and gives watercolor its unique blurry, blended look. Remember to leave a few white areas as “highlights;” these are what make the painting pop!
- Once your painting is dry, feel free to add in any small details you’d like to – birds in the sky and trees in the foreground, for example. If you’re using a block like I did, wait until the paper is completely dry before you remove it from the block.
If you decide to try this tutorial, I’d love to hear how it goes! Or better yet, share a pic in the comments below. Happy painting!
Fairy Tree Studios 