Watercolor and Pastel Techniques for Light Filled Paintings

This demonstration is a larger piece done on an A3 size watercolor paper. It is standard 300g cellulose watercolor paper. Slight tooth to it. It does also show that you do not need very expensive cotton paper to create these paintings. The goal is to produce a warm, sunny atmosphere with a strong focal point. This means a bold counter-change between light and dark areas. I have added a resource photo and you can try this one out for yourself if you like.

What we will cover in this course.

What are the benefits of adding pastel media to your watercolor painting?

My materials are not the most expensive, but good quality student materials that you can use confidently. You do not need to break the bank on materials when learning these techniques. It does pay however to get a couple good mop brushes for watercolor. They last forever and make life a lot simpler too.

I take you through the typical techniques that I use in my paintings. This includes watercolor washes and pastel technique. I cover the methods I use to paint seawater, shadows and how to add depth using watercolor's transparency.

This continues the techniques in stage 1 where I can start adding layers to the first wash of watercolor.

Adding more layers and alternating between watercolor and pastel.

In Part 2 I am looking at adding watercolor layers in loose washes. The idea is to create depth, interest and richness using the transparent nature of watercolor. Once these layers are dry I can start refining shapes with pastel.

Now to finish the painting with pastel layers. Each painting has its own requirements. Some more pastel and others less. It is a balance as I do not want to lose good areas of watercolor. The pastel is there to enhance and work with the watercolor.

In this demonstration I am aiming for a strong painting. This comprises:

• a simple composition,

• Strong light and dark contrast,

• prominent complementary color scheme of yellow/purple and blue/orange.

• Multiple layers of pastel over watercolor

• Additional watercolor glazes where required.

The painting continues with a steady build up of layers of color.

Re-establishing darks, adding texture of the wall, road and complex color layers make this a challenging painting.

In Part 1 of this painting I follow the process you would be familiar with by now. Compose around the focal point and start building up washes. The foundation of the dark shadow is all important. But remember that it is the soft distance and hard light in the foreground that make this painting work.

A big section to develop the body of the painting. Sometimes I come back in with watercolor after the pastels. You need to stand back and look at the painting as a whole. Often pause and take a look the next day. You may then spot the weak spot that needs tweaking.

The concluding touches to bring it all together. For this lesson simply try to get the overall look of the painting pulling together. Often a few details like dark accents in the light sand, a spark of red in the shadow and so on can add that missing element. Plus a little figure can round it off.

I could not resist adding this new lesson I did for my you-tube channel. It is about pan pastels and pastel sticks combined. You can add watercolor first and then go over with these pastels too. Something to consider.