Swan scene watercolor tutorial Video Lecture - Master the Art of Watercolour

hi there Lindsay here the frugal crafter
today we're going to paint some swans so
what I have here is a sheet of 9 by 12
watercolor paper it's actually in the
block and I have drawn on a few of the
smaller swans already and together we're
going to draw the big one so we're going
to start by using a pencil to draw kind
of like a rounded triangle for the body
see we've got that nice shape there kind
of looks like a rock we're going to draw
a curved slightly curved line for the
neck and double it up so we get two
lines then we're doing a wing here where
we're just kind of putting another one
of those curvy triangles again and then
we're just putting another curvy line
here to represent kind of the fluff over
the leg and then we've got the pointed
little tail feathers there we go and
we're going to put an oval on for the
head and a little triangle for the beak
so really it's just basic shapes and we
have got a swan all drawn now the
reference photo I'm using I have a link
below the video in the video description
to it it is a photograph by the
photographer John Sullivan and he runs
the website P public domain photo org
it's PD photo dot o-r-g if you want to
check it out and he has a lot of
wonderful photographs there so now what
you need to do is wet the background of
the painting we're going to wet
everything except for the swans with
clear water and a large brush and the
reason we're not wetting the swans is
that the paint is only going to go where
the water is so if you only wet the area
of the picture that is the water that's
where our paint is going to go so it's a
lot easier to handle we're only going to
use four colors in this painting we're
going to use yellow ochre yo ultramarine
blue burnt sienna and SAP green and
we'll be able to mix everything we need
from those four colors so as soon as you
have that background wet I want you to
mix up some juicy puddles of each of
those colors especially the ultramarine
blue there we have it right there a nice
big juicy puddle of that you're also
going to want a nice puddle of burnt
sienna that reddish brown right there
and when we mix it together we get a
nice kind of soft gray you can make it
warmer or cooler depending on how much
blue you add but we want we wanted a
little more cool so a little more blue
and start applying that starting at the
top of your paper and working your way
down this will dry lighter so just keep
that in mind while you're painting so
you want to apply the paint so it's a
little bit darker than what you will
want to end up with just keep bringing
that color down the painting and just
take your take care around the Swan so
you don't you don't cover them up
completely with paint and a little bit
more blue there just to kind of bring in
a little more color and darken it up at
the top this is just a general unifying
wash here it really helps us get all
those get some of those colors we're
going to use in the rest of the picture
too these swans this photo was taken in
Ireland the photographer said on his
blog so it's kind of neat to know that a
little bit a little bit information
there I've never been to Ireland so is
exciting to kind of see them I think
their colors they think their climate
and their colors are very similar to
what we have in Maine and because I was
very comfortable painting from this
photograph the color seemed very very
familiar and notice we're painting right
over where our reflections are going to
be now I'm adding some SAP green on to
my pallet and I'm picking it up with
some of the blue and the reason I'm
doing that is because we're going to
have some grasses and Reed's growing in
the in the water around the Swan so I
want to get that color in now as one of
our reflection colors and notice how I'm
applying the color in back and forth
strokes with a chisel edge of my brush
to kind of start to add that start that
want that on water movement now I'm
lifting up the highlights and
reflections rather from the Swans so I'm
just blotting my brush off and setting
in the paint to soak it up and I'm just
wiping it away just wiping away that
paint that's all there is to it
ultramarine blue SAP green and burnt
sienna are all very sedimentary colors
which means they lift up really easily
so that's a great reason to use it for a
background that's why I love to do my
washes with those types of colors and
again I'm just lifting up that wet paint
and wiping
my paper towel easy peasy lemon squeezy
now in a moment here and during the
video I get interrupted and I paused the
video so my picture actually is going to
dry on me a little bit so I'm going to
show you exactly what to do when you've
got your background wash is dry and you
want to lift up a reflection so now my
paper is dry and on that Swan that's
right close to the right side of the
paper I'm using a wet brush and I'm just
brushing over that dry paint and look
it's just lifting it up it's real iqua
fiying it just like the paint on our
pallets so I'm able to lift up that
paint and just kind of wipe it away just
like I was before I can even dab it up
with a paper towel just make sure you
don't rub your paper never rub it
because you cannot end up pilling your
paper and we went right there I had
splashed some water so I actually had to
blot it off and it it took off so even
some more paint so there I am just still
lifting out my highlights in my
reflections from the water the
reflections of the Swans in the water
really painting a picture is very easy
if you know what to do this is a
beginner tutorial I think it might be
kind of daunting if you're a beginner
and you're trying to paint reflections
in the water this just makes it a little
easier I'm just drying my paper here you
can do it with a heat gun or a hairdryer
or you can just you know let time dry it
I wanted to get on to the next stage of
the painting so I'm just using my heat
tool to dry it up and I noticed my
lighting is a little better now it's
nice and bright and correct I don't know
why it always starts off kind of yellow
huhu one of the great mysteries in life
here is a new paint brush that I wanted
to try out it was a cat's tongue a
number six size I feel like it's still a
little too small for me but I want to
have one that was larger that I really
liked but I couldn't find it so I
ordered that on my last supply order
from blick and I was on sale a couple
bucks but I would just wish it was a
little bigger I'm taking some yellow
ochre and I'm just adding it into the
head neck and onto some of the back
feathers kind of where the Sun would be
hitting them just a very very light
yellow ochre wash in those areas that I
think nice thing about a cat's tongue
brush it's kind of like a flat brush
because you get the width but it comes
to a nice point so you can get in there
some details but because the cat's
tongue brushes generally come to a point
you can go with a much larger brush and
be able to carry more color so that's
going to take a little getting used to
for me I'm not sure if I like that
that's smaller one we'll see I think I
just need to play with play with it a
little more the gray that I'm using is
just the mix of ultramarine blue and
burnt sienna and I am just going in and
adding shadows on the Swans even though
if swans are white it's not just white
that's not the only color we see we're
going to see Gray's we're going to see
yellows we're going to see other colors
that are around the Swans kind of being
cast on to the white feathers so you
want to really be mindful of that and
that's where a good photograph comes in
or painting from life when you can
actually see you know get up close and
see your subject so that's something to
consider always look for the colors that
are unexpected you know a swan is white
you want to look for the other colors
that aren't as obvious now I'm going to
switch to a larger brush here I have a
half inch flat or number 12 flat and
it's either a common or a Lowell Cornell
I'm not sure which they're both very
good brushes and I'm just tapping in
some of these shadows on the the focal
Swan there and since it is closer I want
to use a bigger brush it's a bigger
subject that will just help everything
kind of look a little different from
each other and help give me a little
perspective and just you know it's more
appropriate to use a bigger brush on a
bigger subject and same thing for that
guy behind him just adding a little bit
of a little bit of my handmade gray and
I'm also turning my paper when I need to
so I can get right up against the edges
I want to get to I can keep everything
comfortable to paint don't be afraid to
move your painting around tape your
paper down to a small board or a piece
of cardboard or something you can move
you really want to be comfortable when
you've pinks if you paint in an awkward
position for too long you're going to
feel that your shoulders or your back
and it's just not going to be not going
to be sustainable to do that I've gone
back to the smaller brush and more that
gray that a little bit darker though and
I'm just sharpening up my shadows a
little bit more just getting in there a
little bit with that brush um I am
is to know what you think about the
voiceover I wasn't really happy with how
long the video was so I thought this
would be a great way to UM to kind of
make it go a little quicker and also I
wasn't feeling that coherent today it's
just a really kind of hot humid day I'm
feeling kinda slow and lazy thang is
here I've used a little bit of a more
concentrated mix of burnt sienna and
ultramarine blue to make that nice black
for around the the eyes and beak and for
the beak itself I'm going to use burnt
sienna and yellow ochre and that's going
to be orange enough for our beaks so I
was worried I thought I might have to
add in some yellow or some red or some
orange that I haven't used yet in this
picture but luckily this color was a
beautiful natural orange for this mix so
I could stick to my same four colors
that I've been using the whole time I
really think that makes for a much more
professional-looking composition just
you know you can a mark of an amateur
painting is when you see that they've
used every color on their palette they
haven't bothered to mix anything the
colors are discordant and sometimes you
might want that effect but generally you
don't generally want you know a sense of
harmony and unity in your painting and
by mixing your own colors you get that
so here I've taken ultramarine blue and
SAP green and I am adding some ripples
in the water I'm using the full range of
motion in my hand and my whole arm is
moving from shoulder to wrist I am
sweeping my hand back and forth and
jiggli strokes but I'm only touching my
brush to the painting surface on here
and there so that way my arm is always
moving one and then I set my brush down
here and there and that gives me that
nice choppy water look just those little
choppy strokes that you need but you
want constant movement in your hand and
just kind of tap down every once in a
while they'll deposit the paint onto
your surface boy I feel like I'm talking
faster than usual I'm not sorry about
that I'm just a little um a little
I don't know uneasy not used to doing
the the voice-over so here what I'm
doing is I'm bringing down my strokes
are staying parallel to the top and
bottom of my paper but what I'm doing is
I'm kind of pulling a kind of ve
composition through the picture
your eye is being will travel from the
upper right-hand corner of the picture
down to the center and then it's going
to go down to the lower right hand
section so it gives a little bit of
movement rhythm to the piece and it's
something you don't really think about
when you're painting but I want to kind
of impart those rules to you were those
little suggestions so that when you're
working on a composition you're
sketching something out and things just
aren't looking right or you just don't
feel like it has enough interest to draw
the viewer in maybe you can think of how
you've arranged your subject and maybe
you can add something in the background
or add some unifying marks like these
this ripple of of water these ripples it
ties that this wants together it unifies
the piece it gives a movement it draws
the viewers eyes around so it's not just
random ripples and when you know things
like that you can apply them to your
paintings to make for nice or stronger
paintings and really get your your I
don't know ideas and intent across and
don't be afraid like you can see I'm
moving that painting all over the place
so it's comfortable when I paint it I'm
actually I'm now I'm standing up I was
sitting down at the beginning of this
painting and now I'm standing up so I
can see a little bit better and so a
more comfortable so you know keep that
stuff in mind when you're painting don't
be afraid to get up move around stretch
take a break come back to it you know
this should be fun it's not work it
should be fun you should really enjoy
yourself I think you will once you find
oh it's um once you start painting I
think you're really gonna going to enjoy
it so I'm just deepening up my shadows
here I'm adding some more of the SAP
green and ultramarine have a little
burnt sienna in there too when I want to
gray it up a little bit more I've
switched to a larger round brush at the
bottom because I big err brush will give
me bigger waves and that will help add a
little bit of
perspective having larger things at the
front makes it look closer to you makes
it look more realistic and having the
smaller waves further away from your
eyes back further in the picture makes
them look further away just like the
smaller swans look further away it's all
scale and perspective there's just
adding a little bit of shadows into the
reflections of the Swan since the the
Swans have reflections in their bodies
are going to have
in the water too so you just want to
make sure you kind of that everything is
believable and everything kind of
matches and and harmonizes and goes
together just like when you think about
how the light is hitting and everything
that everything is having light hit hit
it from the same direction and you know
it's just all those little things you
want to you just they come instinctively
when you've been painting for a while
but you have to think about it a little
bit when you begin if you haven't been
painting too long all right now we've
got our swans in there I'm taking a fan
brush and a little bit of ultramarine
blue and I'm just dragging it on the
really the top of my picture which would
be the ripples really really far away so
I could just kind of want to get some
little silvery ripples further away just
to help help you have that a little bit
more perspective a little bit more depth
in the picture now I'm drying this off
because I want to start painting in some
of the reeds and grasses that are
growing around our Swans and I have my
little cat's tongue brush and I've been
getting used to it's a synthetic I think
it's a print it's a Princeton brush I
think it's a neptune synthetic I'm not
100% sure but I think that's I somebody
recommended that I think that's what I
was trying to uh to do there and I'm
using a little burnt sienna at the
bottom just flicking up some little
marks and then I am adding some SAP
green just so I have these kind of like
Reed's of darker at the bottom and
they're more green and fresh as they're
growing up out of the water again using
that smaller brush in back there so that
I'll have finer blades of grass and then
I have larger ones as I come forward
I've got a little yellow ochre in there
too I can see so again we're using the
same colors we're using brand Sienna SAP
green and yellow ochre for our grasses
if you want to darken up the bottoms you
can do burnt sienna with a little bit of
ultramarine doesn't it make it easier
when you only have four colors to worry
about I think so and I'm also
strengthening that V composition that
sideways V kind of zigzag I was showing
you
I'm strengthening that by adding grasses
in those same areas it helps give that a
nice setting for our Swans they're
protected in the little thicket of the
of the reeds in the water and
it's just very calming painting it's
nice I don't see how you could be sorry
about that I just brush the microphone I
don't see how you could be upset when
you're when you're painting something
like this imagine sitting on the banks
fire pretty little swans
I feel like Bob Ross now having a Bob
Ross moment oh my goodness alright now I
get some yellow ochre and SAP green I
want these grasses here at the front
they're coming off the bottom of the
paper you notice I'm starting them right
off right on the edge of the paper here
I want those to be brighter warmer in
color so they'll advance four towards us
and it also helped our perspective look
really believable help this look like a
really believable picture and I'll
strengthen our composition I've just got
some little little bit of burnt sienna
in there too now at this time I'm trying
to decide whether or not I want to put
cattails in this picture because I just
see this and I think you know what
really this would really look good with
some cattails and I'm not sure if they
have cattails in Ireland where this
photo was taken but I guess nobody
really has to know that that that was
done in Ireland um I've got a little
burnt sienna and ultramarine and I'm
just adding little bits of shadow
underneath the reeds here obviously the
water would be a little bit more shallow
here so I'm adding just you know some
shadows matting more grass behind that
Swan because I feel like he was just
getting kind of kind of kind of losing
him in there so I wanted him to show up
a little bit more I got a little on his
head so I was just kind of uh trying to
erase it there there I go again trying
to I had to lift up that colour off his
head because I accidentally accidentally
got some green on there so you know hey
I make mistakes to just fix them no
biggie and I'm dragging in some more
grasses they're still still pondering
the cattail idea and a little more blue
and brown mixed to make that gray
shadows in the water be a little shadows
of the grass that they're really also
anchoring that grass in the water so
they don't look like it's just with
grasses hovering over the lake we don't
want hovering grasses that's not good
we're just kind of giving them a place
to kind of kind of sit and be anchored
also those little shadows right where
that little line of grey where the Swan
touches the water that is a that also
helps the Swan
like it's kind of sitting in the water
and not floating and the wall is
floating technically but you know not
hovering over the water I guess and
again with that homemade gray that we
made with burnt sienna and ultramarine
we're adding a few little more shadows
in there just help help define that
focal one he should have the most
definition and the most time should be
spent on him because that's the one that
is really in front and it should have
the most detail because it's the closest
to the viewer now if I wanted to I could
take an exacto knife and scrape out a
little highlight for the eye but I
really don't think it's necessary I
think that that's kind of nice just the
way it is I decided that I did want to
do cattails so I took Brent Sienna and
I'm just kind of making these kind of
rounded rectangles if you've ever seen a
cattail they kind of look like a corn
dog on a piece of grass I know it's very
appealing isn't it that's kind of what
they look like and then I'm adding a
little bit of ultramarine blue at the
bottom of each of those just and letting
it kind of bleed in for a shadow and
then I'm taking a little bit of yellow
ochre and just dragging up these little
kind of dry grassy bits off the top
that's what they look like I don't know
what you call that part but I walk by
cattails every day and that's stay
they'll look like that trust me and I'm
going to put a few over here just to
balance out the composition a little bit
now if you don't want cattails don't put
them in there you know that's completely
up to you I was just feeling like you
know I'd rather wreck my painting if you
don't you know and if it doesn't come
out good then you know who cares but I'd
rather that way you can see whether you
would like to do it or not
rather than have me suggest it and then
try it if you don't like it I'd rather
you look at mine and say gee Lindsay
that's not good I don't like that not do
it to yours you know rather than you
know you try it on yours and wish you
hadn't so I'll take one for the team
there so thumbs up and subscribe if you
like this video thank you so much for
watching let me know what you think of
the voiceover until next time happy
crafting