Let's Paint a Snowy Scene with 2 colors! Video Lecture - Master the Art

hi there Lindsay here the frugal crafter
today we're gonna do some painting and
I'm using this brand new brush that I
got this nice big number 30 Robert
Simmons simply Simmons I bought it for
$4 I was a regular price over at AC
Moore and I'm mixing up a bunch of
ultramarine blue making a nice big
puddle we're gonna do a winter snowy
landscape because we're currently having
a nor'easter here in Maine we've got
lots of a lots of snow coming down and
so that inspired me today plus I've had
a lot of requests for it so I'm using
burnt sienna and ultramarine and if you
don't have burnt sienna you could use
like an English red or you could even
use a burnt umber um you're gonna have a
much cooler look with a burnt umber so
just you know just to keep that in mind
so we're just gonna use those two colors
and I like to get a nice big mix going
first now I mix these together I'm gonna
get a nice I'm gonna get different warm
and cool Gray's here see that and I want
to kind of start off I'm gonna need a
cooler gray to begin with for the sky in
our scene and I have two buckets of
water which you can't see there
off-screen I've got one for cleaning my
brush and one for getting fresh water
when I want to do a new a new wash so
keep that in mind
two bucks of water two buckets of water
rather are always a good idea alright so
I'm setting my um palette down I'm gonna
clean off my brush in the dirty bucket
and get some fresh water in the clean
one and I'm going to wet my entire paper
and this is actually the first time I've
used this brush so I'm kind of excited
to see how it works out I am going to
switch to a smaller brush as we get
further along in the painting and um
hoping I start talking a little slower
because I always start off a little
excited
alright so now I'm gonna grab I've got
some one like I've got that mix I made
with it it's a little bit more on the
blue side but it's still quite a grey
and I'm adding it to the edges of my
picture in this painting this is from UM
paint my photo and I'll put a link below
and let me just click on my screen here
so I can see who who uploaded it it is
by Joseph hauntings from paint my photos
so Thank You Joseph great photo here and
I put a link so you can go check that
out
so I'm just pretty much adding it toward
the edges I want it lighter in the
center
so when I go to add more color I'm just
putting it in on the edges now please
remember that your color is going to be
lighter when it dries and these nice fat
juicy brush is um is really nice because
it holds a lot of color and water and
now what I do sometimes if I feel like
I'm getting brushstrokes I just kind of
tap it I'll tip on every way and I'll
tap it and it will get rid of my purse
strokes there we go so it's much more
even and now get a little path kind of
coming in here so while this paper is
still wet I'm gonna plot it a little bit
just on the bottom there I'm going to I
want to get some kind of scruffy um kind
of like a shrubs in there so I've got
more of a brownie mix here and I'm just
going to kind of tap this in I'm just
going to leave kind of like a little
path kind of going in like that so if
you want to watch this all the way
through and then and then paint along
after that's totally fine so you can
kind of see how it's going you can pull
up that photo on your computer and and
see exactly what I'm painting here I
don't I can tell the rights to show the
photo I have the rights to paint from
the photo that's how it works over I
paint my photo but you need to go and
check out the photo yourself if you want
to uh if you want to see it so I am also
throwing in some foreground bushes and
I'm keeping a little bit browner because
they're closer to your eyes so they'd be
a little bit warmer in color temperature
so that's why I'm doing that dragging it
up and this is kind of one of those
pictures that I think is when to paint
itself alright and get a little bit more
of the blue and my mix here and I just
want to define the edge of my path here
and there I think that's nice now while
my paint is still really really wet um
and then add a little bit more some
darks here and there that are a little
bit more blue feel free to go into the
let me show you here feel free to just
kind of get your brush right into the
cake of color if you need a darker color
and like I mentioned snow storm getting
cold cold in the unheated studio and the
furnace is on a
and unfortunately it's not I don't
benefit from it down here it's you
upstairs that does but you know big
snowstorm furnaces on it is totally
feeling like winter even though it's
only the first weekend in November
alright so now what I'm going to do is
I'm going to rinse off my brush I'm
gonna grab my credit card scraper which
um if you know just a cold cut up credit
card and I'm just gonna make some like
little branches here while my paper is
still nice and wet now hopefully it's
not too shiny you can see that move if I
bring this up if I can focus and they're
like give it a second um you see those
little branches in there they you get
these really this really nice detail
when you go in and you do that with your
credit card scraper it's so very easy
putting the branch is a little bit
closer to my little path here where they
would be more in focus just kind of
scraping a few of those nothing too
fancy here now I want to UM I think I
need to fill in that area just a little
bit it's awfully hazy now I'm going to
scrape in some more little little
benches there and I can kind of drag my
paint up and into the path a little bit
so it'll look like little um fuzzy
branches you'll have some lost-and-found
edges and I think I like that look and
try not to be too perfect try to keep it
very random I like to switch around use
a different edge for my credit card and
kind of twist it and hold it strangely
and that just keeps it random now what
I'm going to do is I am going to look
for any puddles that I might have like
right here along the edge and I just
want to take my rag across there and
grab it otherwise I will end up with
what is called a bloom I can set a dry
brush in any puddles and pick up
anything like that that may cause
something that I don't want on my paper
sometimes I like a bloom because it kind
of gives it a little interest but right
now I don't want one and I think because
this is the other one was other
as I grabbed while I was um I'll I was
that a see more I think I'll scrape in
some lighter branches sometimes if you
catch the paper just rake and add in
some lighter branches like I am here you
see that how that I scraped it and it
actually left me a white branch instead
of a dark branch so when you have a more
blunt scraper credit card a sharp and
the end of a brush like this a beveled
edge is more is more blunt and it will
push the paint out of the way instead of
um instead of scratching the paper and
that's you get a nice lighter branch so
that's just a little trick to know there
just want a few of them in there and
then with this brush cuz I do like a
good flat I'm gonna just grab really
really light really look like grain just
add some like a little shadows and paths
shadows and snow shadows I guess into
our little path here now I'm gonna pause
the video while I dry it and we're gonna
come on
come back and paint a nice pretty tree
in there alright I have this mostly dry
there's a little bit of dampness but not
in the area where I'm gonna paint the
tree and you can use what you like for
brushes I here just have this odd number
six round aqua one you could even use a
flat it just depends on what you prefer
and I'm gonna do a little bit more
concentrated color here I'm going to use
since this is a more firmer brush I can
reach right in there and get a much much
thicker more opaque paint and I'm gonna
do the same thing with my ultramarine
over here just two colors we're only
using the two colors here okay guys go
back a little bit more brown because
that's a little too cool bring over to
the side so I can add it as needed and
now we're going to make a nice big focal
point here a nice big tree and so
basically this is kind of tricky because
we're painting everything that isn't the
snow and you know what don't be worried
if you find you don't have as much snow
as you want when you're done because I'm
more about getting you getting the
painting that you want and less about
boring if you're doing it
properly and if it's a proper water
transparent watercolor with no opaque I
tend not to add any white to my
paintings but that doesn't mean that if
you're a beginner and you are you know
you're not happy with the way the
painting came out doesn't mean that you
can't add more to it add some white
paint to it and/or add some chalk pastel
to it or whatever you want to make the
painting look the way you want it to
look so please don't let the rules bog
you down enjoy the process all right now
see that's somewhere I didn't actually
want the dark paint so let me show you
how I'm gonna deal with that I am going
to UM and I really didn't want a hard
line along the edge of the tree so what
I'm going to do is actually just go down
there with a damp brush and lifted I the
nice thing about these two colors that
we picked is that they're very liftable
they're sedimentary colors and that
means that they stand they will hang out
on the surface of the of the paper as
opposed to sinking in like you're more
vibrant transparent colors do so that's
another reason I really like to use this
so I'm just look at how I'm holding my
brush straight up and down like that
I'm just kind of like guiding it along
and letting it make those little
branches okay lost-and-found edges are
fine because as these trees have snow on
some of the edges are just going to
blend into the background so you know
you're just painting in some of the
details your eyes are going to put in
everything else these are going to be in
sharp focus because it's our focal point
versus the fuzzy see all these fuzzy
fuzziness here those are all faraway
trees and shrubs and branches so we're
just throwing in some of the focal point
branches I want this a little bit
thicker there so you have like a more
thick branch coming in it's a little too
cool a little bit warmer it's twisty
tangly tree branches I just want to make
sure I don't put too much detail and you
want to have another tree over here
right next door and don't worry if they
feel stark right now because we'll add
some shouting shade over the shading
into the onto the path and that's going
to help
quite a bit and if you do if you're
watching this and you realize you don't
like these trees at all don't paint him
in helped us have a LOI like a pasture
kind of scene have like a little meadow
and that's fine you don't have to do
what I'm doing just because this were
the tutorials about if you like it you
know three steps back then that's what
you do I had a comment the other day on
my birch tree tutorial blue skies and
birch trees and this person's like why'd
you do I liked it the tutorial until you
ruin it at the end with all those paint
splatters well you know that's my
artistic license I like paint splatters
but if you don't like them don't put
them in
that's that simple as that you know what
one person thinks is ruining a painting
another person will really like and I
would rather show it to you on my
painting and have you decide whether you
want to do it or not then have you try
it on yours and decide that you hate the
look of it and ruin it so taking one for
the team but I actually I like a more
loose look and it's just not for
everybody so so there you go I'm sure
she's I'm sure it wasn't it wasn't
intended as religious and it you just
can never tell when you're when you're
writing or reading a comment sometimes
it just kind of comes out funny um I
want a little bit of a tree over here
I'm just gonna drag that up there I'm
not coming I'm not done with those but I
know that this is a sedimentary color
I'm going to be able to lift those up
later so I'm not worried about I want
some kind of gnarly branches over here
again I have a link below to the photo
I'm using so you can check that out as
well there and sometimes if I feel like
all of my my branches are starting to
look the same what I'll do is I'll
switch brushes and that will help keep
everything kind of random so I think
what I'll do actually grab a little fan
brush and kind of flick some of this up
so it looks like I've got some brush
happening there
and then what I can do to get a little
kind of
little details towards the outsides of
some of these uh it's gonna tap a little
that on there you'll see what what I'm
doing here you probably thinking I'm
lost my mind don't worry you're gonna
see what I'm doing in just a second I'm
just adding some of those really fine
branches out into the sky if you're
looking at the photo on paint my photo
you'll see what I mean
about those really fuzzy little branches
right now probably looks a little scary
I'm talking to the sky yet actually I
think what I'm gonna do is just give a
little spritz of water to some of those
and let the color just kind of seep
around up there I'm doing it with a
little bit more Brown okay and then as I
drag out my little bristles the the
water that I sprayed on there is kind of
helping them flow now again this is not
a technique for everybody but I think
you try different things even if it's
out of your comfort zone especially if
it's out of your comfort zone because
then you will you might find something
that you liked about the technique it
may not be your favorite technique it
may not be something you want to do on a
regular basis but maybe a time when
you're painting something you're like I
just need something that's scruffy that
gives me that spidery look and then you
can remember oh yeah if I paint and I
spray some water and then I paint those
little little hairy lines then it's
going to give me that spidery look that
I want and then you can you can draw
from that experience so even if it's
technique you don't like it's not a
waste to try it and it's only a piece of
paper I mean there are much more
expensive pastimes to spend your time on
I'm using Strathmore 400 series
watercolor block it's not a super
expensive paper but it's um it's a nice
I would say you can find it in most
craft stores it's a nice easy to find
consistent quality paper
I really like it for these tutorials
because it's not very expensive I feel
like most people could like a four pad
of this I'm adding some more detail
branches in here with my credit card
scraper and with this you can both
scribe the paper and you can also drag
branches through drag details out
I'm keeping it very random and
natural-looking imagine you're outside
it's a cold day and you're trying to
capture this and you're really cold and
you don't want to be outside any more
than you have to so using an efficiency
or an economy of brushstrokes that's
kind of what I'm doing here alright I
want to finish these trees up front and
nothing is really pure white when you go
and you're in you're looking outside
it's like shades of grey on little bits
of blue in there you know that's what
you really see go outside sometime when
it's snowing and take a look you know
it's a that's what it's what you have
that really it's almost monotone the
world becomes monochromatic almost like
an old black-and-white photo all right
so now if I want to bring back some of
the brighter whites on the trees which
we know aren't really white I'll go in
with what is like a hog bristle brush
and you want a paper towel rags don't
work quite as well I go put a shelf
behind my table so I can always have a
paper towels there um so what you want
to do when you want to bring back some
white so I've got some areas over here
where I really want to white trunk we go
you brush back and forth that is just
water on here and this is a hog bristle
and doesn't fancy about that you get it
for 99 cents at a lot of craft stores or
even at like a dollar store sometimes
but look at that all of a sudden now I
have a nice snowy tree trunk or maybe
it's a birch tree it's lost its its
leaves but it really carves out that
shape and that's because we're using
sedimentary colors which are very easy
to lift know you always blot never rub
your paper if you rub your paper you're
going to damage it and then if you try
to go over it with another color it's
going to grab into the paper and it's
gonna be a lot darker than anything else
I also find that the side of this paper
that I'm using the Strathmore 400 series
has a decent amount of sizing in it so
it makes lifting quite easy which is
nice if you're a beginner now I think
the the water pump is probably going to
turn on so let me just apologize in
advance for that now if you want to have
it kind of like a bird street you can
kind of scrape over some of these um
some of these lines that's not what I
see in the in the photo babies when I
kind of show you that in case that's
something you want to do I stop down
here still at first day of daily savings
time here Eastern time zone and so I
think probably people are waiting to hit
to take showers and like oh she's doing
a video if I turn oh like Victor no the
water she's gonna have to be so glad
down there hope they consider people I
live with I have to say alright so and
then maybe just pull up a few more
branches cuz I'm about ready to call
this picture about done we just remember
as you get closer things closer to you
in your picture are going to be are
going to be bolder sharper brighter
warmer and color and things further away
are going to be fuzzy now I do want to
add a little bit of a shadow across the
path from these trees maybe a little bit
from these little branches not a lot you
know just a little bit to give it a
little bit of a little bit of something
there just draw your eye into the into
the picture and maybe just a little bit
of warming up on the path with just a
little bit of the of the brown maybe
with my bigger brush so there you have
it guys I hope you enjoyed that uh that
quick and easy fall fall well fall in
Maine toriel remember you can lift out
more white if you want on your branches
I hope you try it if you have any
questions just go ahead and leave a
comment and thank you so much for
watching please give me a thumbs up and
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of my other watercolour painting
tutorials because I think you'd enjoy
them they're all geared to beginners or
people that just want a basic knowledge
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always happy crafting