Painting Light in Watercolor: a Tutorial
Jun 03, 2024I was out for a walk in my neighborhood and I saw this lovely evening scene and the light was hitting the side of this house. So I stopped and took this photo.
And today I'm going to tell you how I was able to paint the light of this scene and make it feel believable.
So if you've ever struggled to capture light in watercolor or recreate a luminous feeling within your paintings, then today's video and blog are for you!
Fill Your Watercolors with Nature’s Light
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When it comes to landscapes, the natural light source can be a fascinating subject. It can bring your scene to life. However, it can be tricky to depict. Here are some tips to create alluring light and my step-by-step painting process I used to create the light play on this house.
Watercolor Painting: Light and Shadow
A really helpful way to think of painting light is thinking in terms of the shadow side and the light side of objects. In the scene I’m painting, you can see both these sides on the figure, the chimney, and the tree.
A painting has a nice richness and complexity to it when you that contrast of values is used to define a shape and place it in the context of the scene.
In the first wash of your painting, you want to apply the light side, because this is when you’re able to paint the lightest values. Any space that you want white, you’ll want to avoid painting altogether. This allows the white of the paper to show through. Of course, you can also use some gouache for little highlights at the end of your painting process.
In the second and third washes, you’ll focus on the shadow side of objects. Often, I paint one shadow glaze in the second wash and - when necessary - darken it in the third wash.
3-Step Process to Paint Light
I explain the complete 3-step process of painting this scene in the video at the top of this blog. I go into greater detail there, but let me give you the down low here also.
1. I draw my picture and then wet down my paper on both the front and back.
2. Then, working wet into wet, I paint my lightest values, preserving the white of the paper where I want white or highlights. At the end of this wash, I have a very abstract-looking impression of the painting.
3. My second wash is all about finding a large, connected shape and applying the middle values of the watercolor scene. I am starting to think about my shadow areas here.
4. The third wash is all about those defining darks and details that will complement the light values I’ve already painted.
Don’t Judge Your Painting Before the Third Wash
The light in your painting is not going to sparkle and dazzle until you have a complete range of values on the page. This means, after that first and second wash, you might feel underwhelmed with what’s in front of you.
Don’t fret. While it is often the details of your painting that get the most attention, what you’ve done up to this point is absolutely essential. Even though what you have in front of you may not look defined enough to you or impressive in any way, hold off on judgment until you get that last wash in. It really isn’t until that moment that the other values pop.
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