watercolor painting 101: getting creative with paint and pens

Watercolor Painting 101 is a place to learn about the art of watercolor in a relaxed, non-threatening way. (I'm as non-threatening as they come) To see earlier lessons, visit the WP101 page.

Did you follow last week's lesson? If not, hop over because it's a two-parter and this is part two. Part one provides the base for the next step.

What You'll Need for Part 2:
• your flat wash from part one
• black pen
• your paints and brushes
• jar of clean water
• paper towel


The brighter, colorful blobs will become your "flowers" and the darker blobs will be your "leaves". For the flowers, draw very loose circles. Remember, it's better if you're loose and not worried about being exact.


Try a leaf. Be loose. Have fun!



Takeaway Tip: Your paper towel is your best friend! I kid you not. It really is. Dab it directly onto your painting and, if you have too much water or paint in your brush, touch it to the paper towel before hitting the paper.


Specifically DRIED, sharp paint edges...






Continue adding darks to your background, especially concentrating on areas against lighter edges such as the upper left corner and lower right corner shown above. Doing this helps to make your flowers pop.


Now, go have yourself some fun creating flowers (that sorta, kinda look like berries floating in outer space) Shhh....

Be sure to come right back here when you've finished this exercise and link up! We love sharing with the rest of the class.