Cherry Blossoms in Watercolor tutorial Video Lecture - Master the Art

hi there Lindsay here the frugal crafter
I'm ready for some spring how about you
I'm gonna draw some I think these are
cherry blossoms or maybe apple blossoms
I'm not absolutely a hundred percent
sure but I found this beautiful photo
after searching the word spring over at
paint my photo and um this photos by
Andray van de sandy I do believe in I
will put a link below in the video
description so you can find the exact UM
photo I am going from and I am just
drawing here some petals that's all kind
of little bit of a branch there and I'm
just gonna gonna put five petals around
these little stamens that I just
sketched on I am telling you what oh my
goodness we had so much snow on our roof
and we got metal roof and the reason we
had a metal roof put on is because
raking roos stinks and if you have metal
roof the snow melts right off of it and
it has worked very well like that for
the past few years since we got that
roof but we've had so much snow this
year that um it just and it's been so
cold that on the front of the house the
UM the snow did melt so we had like I
don't know two feet not in fact two feet
of at least it was at least up to my
knees I had to climb on the roof and
shovel it today it was so awful and I
was just thinking you know it's gonna
warm up it's gonna melt and um my
parents you know always worked in the
construction industry they um they had
stopped by and my mom was like you've
got way too much snow on that roof that
is not gonna melt off you're gonna
damage your home and I'm like aw it's
gonna come off it's gonna come off and
then it hasn't so she actually surprised
me today and um motivated me to get up
there and do some shoveling so yeah we
had the roof rake out and I was on a
roof very very snowy roof I'm gonna feel
it tomorrow I'm gonna feel I'm feeling
pretty sore right now actually make sure
you make sure you realize how out of
shape you are but now that
my studio and I am doing some painting
I'm feeling much better I was feeling
quite sorry for myself well this whole
this whole process was taking place and
you know it's a good thing mom came by
she's my brother-in-law my sister's
husband he came by two and he did a lot
of the work and it was it was very very
thankful for that not what I plan on
doing today but uh as I mentioned before
my blog I'm just behind I I'm behind in
everything it this winter and I guess
you know at least my house won't cave in
you know just have these behind times it
needs folks usually I catch up
you know usually February's like when I
catch up do you in February but not so
this year oh my I'm using a this is just
you can use any sort of permanent pen
you have this is a paska pink pen which
came in my art snacks box um that they
send me to try out back in December I
think and I just um I was curious about
them because they had I'll put a link
below if you want to go check them all
but they do like a monthly subscription
box for art supplies um and I think it's
probably pretty cool if you don't have a
lot of supplies already but since I have
so many supplies I don't think it would
be right for me just because it's going
to be duplicates of things I already
have in a lot of cases so I decided that
it wasn't for me but it was kind of a
neat little needle program they have
there alright so I just wanted to put a
few flowers in here and even though I am
looking at a reference photo I'm kind of
like eyeballing it and um kind of just
do my own thing as well because you know
I just I bought a gab and catch up with
you guys I feel like I've been um I feel
like I've been so absent lately
you need something right over here there
are some flowers in the distance over
there but I think I want to put like I
know maybe a couple little buds or
something there that's and I'm keeping
this very sketchy so um so you can be a
little more refined if you want to but I
think once we get painting we're really
not going to need it and I feel like I
want a
a flower right here it's a little bit
more full and then we're going to be
doing like a wet into wet background and
it's really gonna be nice I think gonna
be fun gonna be springy where it is it's
pretty colors gosh darn it cuz if I see
any more white I think I might I don't
know what need an intervention
need some I need some something I don't
know get a trip to the Bahamas alright
so there oh maybe it's not a little bud
here that just kind of big thing that
alright so you know you know it's a
great paint my photo is a really fun
website cuz you have so many um so many
beautiful photos to pick from and you
have permission to paint all them and I
threw my bathrobe on over Michael I was
so cold and change my clothes ever came
in from shoveling I was just freezing
and back alright I didn't actually spray
my water hopefully all that ink is dry I
don't think it is there but actually
kind of like to look it looks kind of
like a sumi-e so this is a great way to
wet your background if you don't feel
like using a brush and I don't have any
my real big brushes up here so this is
gonna work I'm tolet telling ya and
that's the other thing I think it's been
really bugging me lately is that I just
I'm working upstairs so you know I'm
like any other woman that gets
distracted when they see messes in their
house and then they don't feel like they
can create for themselves because they
see all these messes in their house they
feel like they ought to deal with first
before they even attempt to do anything
that they enjoy and then to add to the
ridiculousness you know you look or
anyway because if I'm downstairs in my
studio I just in my studio I'm
surrounded by my supplies and my
projects I'm working on and it's
wonderful but when I'm working upstairs
I'm distracted by all look there's a
laundry there's a sink full of dishes my
living room is a mess the kids left this
out the kids off that out and it's
really it doesn't make you feel like you
want to create an almost feel it makes
you feel guilty for creating and then
and then sometimes you know you might
not just have the energy you just don't
oh my gosh it does I don't want to deal
with that and then you end up wasting
time doing something else or just
feeling so hopeless that you feel like
you're never going to catch up and then
you end up not doing anything it's like
a self-defeating prophecy whereas if I
was down
there's all morning in my studio working
even if the house is a mess well I came
upstairs you know I put the tea kettle
on in that time I had the tea kettle on
I could actually like make progress on
things does anybody else feel like that
but then but if I'm upstairs in it and
I'm just feeling defeated by it you
don't get anything done and you end up
wasting so much time and it's just
they're wasting it just like sucks your
energy on anybody else feels that way
maybe I'm just whining I don't know but
um but if you do feel like that please
know that you're not alone oh my gosh I
get so overwhelmed with house stuff I am
kind of going around the flowers even
though the vapors wet and it's gonna
flow I just want to try to keep them a
little bit lighter because I'm gonna do
them with some pink I'm using cobalt
blue you know what I need to do and look
at that my palates a mess I'm gonna
clean house out really quick just by
wetting them and yes I'm using a water
brushing yes I'm using a bucket of water
because like I said before I don't have
all my supplies upstairs and I just some
feeling very lazy and I don't want to go
downstairs no I do live in downstairs
but soon cold down there just make me
depressed technique and um so I have
over the years or yeah years you know as
I've run out of paint in this little
Cottman kit I have replaced it with
other colors so like I this is um Kruk
where I'm not gonna stay right quince
quince acrid own cruel quinacridone rose
thank ya listen to me but you'd butcher
some lovely paintings I'm gonna put some
right on top of those flowers too
um I prefer that to alizarin crimson
actually so that's why I put in my
palette I'm just I feel like splashing
some beautiful bright colors around I'm
so sick of the snow oh my goodness we're
almost and we're almost to March
February is the shortest month because
it feels like the longest month oh my I
need I need springtime to a Roth 'if
it's been a rough winter I don't know if
anybody else is feeling this but like
yesterday I mentioned on my blog got a
car stuck in a snowbank luckily it was
my very own snowbank and not you know
out in the world and I didn't have my
kids with me already dropped them off at
school but it was just like one of those
are you kidding me
come on no give me a break here
and I usually start I try to be upbeat
but the cold and the snow and just so
much of it I've just boy it's taken its
toll on my mental help I've gotta tell
you that it really is I've got quite
cranky quite cranky with the weather all
right okay now I like this it's gonna
dry a little bit lighter but that's okay
I think I am gonna want some yellow in
this composition I'd even want some nice
bright um
cadmium II like that now if I on a
different day that wasn't so snowy and I
hadn't been spending old some kinds of
time outside I might have chosen yellow
ochre but I'm just thinking you know
what that's right
so that's what it's gonna be now think
about what wetting your brush your paper
with a um with a spray bottle rather
than a brush is that you're going to
miss miss spots here and there so the
way your colors blend like I've got some
hard lines over here friends some
sparkle which is farkles nice when you
have that white paper because it um it
makes it kind of have that I don't
sparkle is what it makes ahead it looks
nice and bright and fresh but then
you've got these areas that are blending
it'll look really fun like right there
where I hit it with that with that
yellow so it's kind of fun to do that
once in a while and you know I'm just
I'm using my water brush just as if it's
a regular brown paint brush and I do I
fill in some little spots here and there
but then I'm gonna take my hairdryer
actually my daughter's hair dress I
don't want a hairdryer and I'm gonna dry
this up before we go on to the the end
I'm just gonna let this go as long as it
takes I'm not going to try to rush it
and fit it into 20 minutes I'm not going
to I'm just gonna it's going to take
however long it takes you know to get to
the point where I'm happy with it um
without speeding it up or anything
so so there and then if I get like a
puddle like that I can just set a tissue
in there now people would ask me about
the buckling of paper and stretching and
what-have-you I want to show you that
I'm working on there Strathmore block
but it
has I don't know if you could tell I
think you can if I tip my paper and you
see the reflections it has a little
buckle in the middle but once this dries
it's going to be flat again sometimes it
happens and it's not a big deal and it's
not going to be it's not going to be
buckled when it's dry but sometimes it
happens and you just have to watch out
that you don't have puddles because if
you have puddles they're gonna dry as
blooms and you might not like that which
is kind of like a roughly edged
watermark um so to keep that in mind and
you can like lighten areas too and just
kind of tap it and the reason you get
blooms in the background is because some
areas of the paper is Right quicker than
others and you can kind of see what
happening right there if you see a
little ruffly edge there that's the same
thing right there's one so you know I
think it looks kind of cool sometimes
but sometimes you don't want it so it's
just good to know I'm gonna dry this and
we're going to come back and we're going
to paint these lovely cherry blossoms
okay does it look any lighter it's
something tired for me to tell but you
could probably tell a little bit better
going right from like wet paper to dry
paper I'd also just wanted to mention
how much art can refresh you if you're
feeling down in the dumps
if you're feeling bummed out just taking
15 minutes even just a paint can make
you have a whole new perspective on the
world I think I'm gonna start by wetting
the petals in this flower here I'm gonna
wet um I'm gonna wet a couple of them
you can see I'm really looking the
yellow there because it is a because it
is a water color and I think that's a
little too much yellow so I'm gonna
block that you can see how easily it
lifts that's because cadmium is a
pigment color I mean not pigment I'm
sorry it is a pigment it's a organic
pigment
my goodness gracious in organic it's a
mineral color I'm telling you what I
should probably not attempt to like
teach you guys anything today um but
because it is a sedimentary mineral
based kingman it will lift up really
easily because it stays the pigments are
so large a pigment particles is that
they stay on top of the paper instead of
sinking in like a dye based pigment or a
pigment that may be organic in matter
like coming from a plant or whatnot and
they also tend to be the most stable of
colors the mineral pigments so I'm just
going to wet these petals I think we
know why each one of them now that I've
actually gone around and
and the thought my process through a
little bit the brush I'm using is you
could use around I'm using a cat stone
because it's up here at the very
versatile brush and I'm going to go
ahead and add some of those that pink
color in there I think it's these aren't
really dark flowers so I that's one
reason I've wet the of what the paper I
want to keep it kind of kind of soft
there we go just kind of let it flow I
know if I want that paddle though there
we go you will have to take a little
time for ourselves even if the house is
you know haha falling apart you know cuz
you'll be much more productive in the
the rest of the day kind of like when
you're they do the airplane
demonstration they say put the the mask
on yourself first before you try to help
anybody else you get to take care of
yourself first I'm going to make myself
a little bit of gray I'm going to take a
little bit of that blue that I've been
using and I think I've been used some
burnt sienna because I know I'm going to
want some actually I'm used burnt umber
just goes a little bit cooler and I'm
going to add a little bit of that into
my cold ball I'm using cobalt instead
ultramarine we could use algebra if you
want in this put that a little bit more
blue in this project I just thought it'd
be a little bit lighter and fresher to
give the crinkly texture to my my
flowers and I should going to take this
paper towel and crunch it up and just
kind of don't or do this just a couple
times and then you get kind of that
crinkly Ness and I think I've got my
credit card stripe or too old here I can
use so I've got such a mess over here on
my desk I'm going to pause it and find
that sucker well no luck on finding the
the credit card piece I'm just he's just
toothpick to scratch in some texture and
veins this works pretty good
I'm now I'm just gonna make these oh
yeah I like that
so that's gonna dry before I add any
more layers I'm gonna do the same
technique on other flours that I have
here that kind of tone them and give
them some color
I actually really like how the the
stamen lines and they're kind of blurred
because I didn't let them dry completely
because it isn't a curler based pen but
you could use any sort of um any sort of
permanent pen for a pen and ink
technique I just really like that Posca
plus card I think you call it pasca pen
I think I'm going to go a little
brighter with the colors I want to make
sure they stand out from the background
a little bit of that bluey gray
everything you can go in and add more
details and shadows later I said to get
nice bass tones or a little crinkle
crinkle here and not scraping noise he's
kind of remember the crab apple blossoms
they're crabapple trees here Maine which
MC sometime the future hopefully I felt
that needed a little bit of yellow cuz
the other blossom heads a minute and our
little like close buds can be a little
bit darker I need these little closed
but here needs a nice bright color nice
bright springy color and I like working
on the wet paper like this when I just
went a little area because you you can
get some really nice areas where it will
fade and some areas where it's just
going to be bold and then just kind of
like that a little bit of a mystery but
you know you don't know exactly what's
going to happen I just I like that can't
even go in here if I feel like going a
little bit more and it's still wet
enough to blend but I mean I just love
what happens there when it just kind of
kind of swirls around a bit alright
we're going to
with this flow over here it's a lot of
the same thing it's kind of repetitive I
guess you know you probably don't even
watch the whole thing and you get the
gist but I do like hanging out with you
even though it probably feels like
one-sided because I'm doing all the
talking
but well not really no because when you
guys talk to me in the comments it's
always it's always nice and I was are
getting some good conversations down
there it's fun
Oh got this little guy there we go I had
a class at the local library and the
librarian went to uh put the note on the
reminder up on Facebook she wrote she
was think happy little trees happy
little trees come paint or something
like that I was so cute that's like yes
little trees pay no attention to the
negative 10 degrees out there and come
paint at the library it's so hard to get
motivated to go anywhere when it's cold
I don't know if you guys feel the same
way but I'm so lucky that I work from
home and I don't have to go out too much
but it's it's just it's so much it's
like it's traveling living in Maine in
the winter is like having newborn twins
and I can you know I can really say that
with truth because I had newborn twins
and a one-year-old at the same time and
it's like any time you want to go
somewhere or do anything you have to
plan so much you have to make sure that
you have this knew of that because you
could go off the road or you could you
know kid you have to make sure you're
wearing snow boots are and you have
blankets in the car and I mean it's just
it's an ordeal it is in luckily when I
left when I went to take kids to their
well checkups I didn't take the
interstates I don't hold first of all
I'm not a big fan on the interstate and
secondly especially in the city and if
the weather's bags I tend to drive
slower than than most I don't like to
feel like I'm being pushed down the road
but there was like a 40 car pileup on
i-95 between Bangor and Newport and how
scary
I mean to see that especially you've got
kids in the car and notice there's a lot
of little you know slips and slides off
the road as it was just
you know just taking the you know the
regular city streets can't imagine that
it was hopefully everybody is safe
because that's uh it was very deceiving
because hardly any place canceled school
and I was really surprised I just think
it's because the we've missed so many
school days already that the principal's
don't want to have them in I'm gonna
want the kids to be in school all summer
but man keep them home and keep them
safe so like if you have to go to school
next your day in the summer you know I
don't probably have like you know a
couple couple years with no snow but man
usually it's one of the other you get
the snow or you get the cold but this
year it's been both it's been it's been
brutal and I've lived in Maine for 38
years and I can say that this is I think
this is the worst winter we've had Oh
right now let's say I think I'm gonna
put my branch in and I'm gonna use my
you know what just occurred to me that
my palate small enough that I could
probably put that right over there you
could see it um I'm gonna use Oh burnt
umber I'm so used to grabbing that brunt
see enemies burnt umber though cuz
that's the Brad I've already used and I
like to limit my palette because you
tend to get a much more harmonious color
when you do that oh did you hear that
noise you know what that was it was my
computer it's sitting right on the edge
of my desk with the wood to paint my
photo picture open which I will link to
she can go check that out um that's a
good with sound like a fan what is that
it's my computer
it can't be overheating there because
it's not that warm although I did turn
up the heat I was just like you know
what is too cold I need to feel warm I
need to feel like it may be warm huh
there we go
take my little branch in here I feel
like adding more buds anything like that
you go ahead and do that
the nice thing about having a pen and
ink base down is that it gives you a
nice foundation to work from like I can
add some more branches out here my
exactly shorts we're looking at the
photo
kind of looks like the brain just coming
down this way but then I see some of the
some of the blossoms going up the other
way so I'm going to keep it kind of
vague I guess noise I'd be sure like so
when in doubt keep it vague okay I want
to put some of the eaves on so I'm going
to go ahead and use some SAP green and
actually you know I think I'm gonna do a
little bit yellow on the leaves first
like watery yellow that's gonna be messy
you're going to some brown there do a
little bit of yellow just to give it
some warmth then I go in with some SAP
green sup grands my favorite green
sometimes you get a green that's very um
fake looking like I don't like Viridian
that much because I mean there are it
has its uses but a lot of times it just
seems maybe cuz it's minerally or
something it just seems very very fake
and anything with like a sale of cyan
color bass seems also that has to the
same fakeness about it so I like to I
like to use a nice SAP Granite's and
hookers great if I can't find SAP green
and a little bit of that around the buds
I think they're love the way it looks
when it starts to blend around and maybe
just to give the indication of some some
more buds I'm gonna flick a little bit
about put the little bit in there just
gives you the the indication that do
that with a bigger brush till I get some
bigger sprinkles here and you know what
I know some of you guys don't like this
technique don't do anything like it it's
your painting you don't have to you
don't have to do it just cuz I'm doing
that I don't want you to do it cuz I'm
doing it once you do it because you want
to do it or leave it out and you don't
hurt you won't hurt my feelings if you
don't like that technique it does not
bother me one single bit if you get a
swatch where you don't want it or one
that's too dark just blot it it's not a
big deal but you know it's important
that your painting is what you want it
to be not what I want it to be not what
your neighbor wants it to be
now your husband your wife wants it to
be it's what you want it to be I want
some bugs over here so I'm gonna paint
some in I'm just gonna there we go I
love that that's pretty easy huh we're
gonna have this suckers gonna be chocked
full of flowers I'm not fooling around
anymore with another winter you have
some buds on this baby yep I'm probably
gonna go overboard but you know you can
know when to say when
I don't know what to say when but I'm
sorry you - oh my goodness - Sonny - see
something growing we all know those
arrow arrow Gardens for Christmas sound
if you ever heard of those but they're
like these um these called literally
machine they're kind of like you got
this ah I know what you want to call it
it's you have like this um I'm just
tapping on SAP green by the way um it's
a countertop that looks like a lamp but
it's got this base of water in you and
it you put these little pods and
seasoned them in there and we got the
it's like garden kit and so you it's got
like herbs like herb garden kind of and
make in some ways I'm just kind of
wiggling here my brush um and so it's
got basil a couple different ends basil
and oregano and cilantro and all that
stuff and so it grows right it has like
a timer on it and it's got like a
fluorescent light like a daylight bulb
and so you can have wonderful things
growing in your house and I've used sort
of the basil I've made fresh pesto and
I'm luckily not in charge of the up care
and keeping of these plants because I
don't have the gift Jason tends to that
luckily but it's so it's really nice
it's it's nice to get the to get all
those fresh veggies in the mill though
winter even if it's just a few herbs
it's still gosh it's nice to see
something growing I'm telling you
um you know I think it's a beaut I did
an ardent I'll pay for some cherry
blossoms once and I really liked the way
it looked and I think this would also be
really fun of an are gentle I can add a
little more color to this focal flower
here because it seemed
a little bland and I'm really happy with
the way this is turning out I don't know
about you but hey so Chad isn't it
all right good take a sneaky peek here
at my computer screen which is kind a
little hard to see I thought I need some
um some dots and the mill flower that's
a pickle and I'm gonna make them I'm
gonna make a mix of the brown and the
yellow to make those little dots do you
put some right in there this is kind of
really taking on the feeling of that
those Chinese or Japanese calligraphy
like brush paintings and you know I kind
of want try that paint a lot of people
are trying it right now it's I got Zhu
Tom B or I could just be making that up
it sounds something like it looks
something like that I know this several
youtubers are using them and they have
like these uh it's like an opaque
watercolor from Japan and I just make it
look like fun I want to try those I'm
not big on opaque watercolors but maybe
it's just the packaging or real sucker
for packaging and you look really cute
suppose I want I am um I do like to try
any products it's kind of it I'm kind of
at odds because yes I'm the frugal
crafter I want you to use what you have
and and you know what because you know
how about you spend on art supplies does
not correlate with how much joy you get
from them but I do love to try the new
things and I know I'm not alone we all
do don't we it's nice to try something
new I love the experiment and I like
that I like to try to copy some products
see if I can get the same effects with
what I have I just I think it's fun to
you know try some new stuff yeah I'm
lucky I live somewhere where it's easy
to obtain product even if I have to mail
order it it's available it's not I know
it's not the case everywhere I feel like
I need a little more weight up there so
I think a mate put maybe some larger
leaves you even just coming off the edge
like it could be coming from another
plant
some of you have different look at
something abstractly to fill in what you
need and I ever turned my eyeball I am
video going that's kind of long so we're
20 minutes I'm like I like you know I'll
apologize and every time I apologize
I guess people saying don't apologize
you know we love the longer videos so
I'm like refraining I'm holding myself
back from apologizing for the length of
this video and I'm not voicing it over
I'm glad that you guys are so cool with
me just kind of flying by the seat of my
pants here and I'm just so fortunate do
you guys I don't know do you hang out
and that you paint with me and that you
don't mind that I'm a complete uh-huh
disorganized person sometimes I'm just
gonna lighten that up a little bit so
it's not so in the foreground I'm gonna
pause the videos so I can just look at
this and think about it for a second and
then we'll come back and finish it
together okay I look this for about two
minutes and I blessed it with a
hairdryer just a clear to dry up some
areas now any place where I have kind of
morphed shapes like I've got these two
leaves here I'm going to go in and
define a little bit so I've taken this
green SAP green and I'm just going to
kind of paint I'm painting it on the one
in behind hopefully my heads and all in
the way my hair is just like sticking up
in a million different ways it's yeah
it's bad but it's alright cuz I've been
on a roof shoveling today and you know
what glamour is not my thing today blame
is usually not my thing any day unless
I'm going out with my husband I'd like
to be a little glamorous alright and I
want to add may see little bits of pops
of darker red in some of the buds some
of that
it's a good frame we are cooking with by
God oh and I'm standing up I've raised
my my drafting table the other day so
that I could work standing up and like I
do downstairs because I think that it
helps get me in the zone a little bit
better and so I'm like stretching over
just bending forward and I'm like oh my
back that feels good on my back I'm
gonna be a sore person tomorrow
oh just I could just tell I better take
the advil tonight just to kind of
prepare myself having a little bit I
like how like how lucious's I know it's
not everybody's cup of tea but now I
want to try it though if you're if
you're somebody that likes to have
everything super super detailed and um
you might wanna try it it's not for
everybody but I think that there's a lot
you can you can gain from it you know
freeing up having fun it can be a little
scary
because you'll get a couple points in
the course of a painting where like oh
my that's not good at all but it usually
comes usually come through usually works
itself out you can go in and soften
anything - if you have you know just
take a brush add a little bit of water
to it you don't lose your lines you
scraped in which is really nice they
scribe the paper so they're always there
once you put it in there I think that
I'm pretty happy with this soften that
up a little bit maybe um and REITs are
my name and I'm thinking I might even
crop this out a little bit more so I'm
going to sign over here and I want to
sign it with that red because Reds my
favorite color and it makes me feel
happy and I just have been feeling so
blah in this snow and I went to sign my
name with red some people see the sign
their name with tens I could use the
marker if I wanted to that I was
sketching with I like I don't know I
like to make my signature part of the
painting and sometimes big splashy lines
is the best way to do that it's 2015
some people sign their checks wrong for
the first few months I sign my paintings
wrong for the first few months all right
I'm pretty happy with that I hope you
enjoyed this painting tutorial I
appreciate you watching it please give
me a thumbs up and subscribe let your
friends know if they won't learn how to
paint too because I'm happy to teach
everybody who wants to watch my videos
thank you so much for watching until
next time happy crafting