Sunset Sand Dunes in Watercolor
Painting Wet on Wet Washes For Glowing Color
Painting A Beautiful Sunset At The Beach
Watercolor is at its very best is glowing wet on wet washes, yet working wet on wet is scary for beginners. Guided practice is excellent practice, and in this lesson, Deb Watson will take you through a simple sunset, step by step.
Included in the lesson are: outline page, written instructions, reference photo, finished painting pdf, video demonstration, and an introduction with tips on wet on wet washes.
Recommended Materials:
Good watercolor paper will 'take' a wash much better than student grade paper, so it's recommended for this lesson - Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper
A soft wash brush also helps a lot in laying down a wash without brushstrokes - a flat hake or large oval (I use 3/4" oval Silver Black Velvet)
Paint - test you paints on inexpensive scrap paper to see if you can make the blends needed for the sky and beach, yellow, orange, violet, blue gray, light and dark green.
Misc. Materials - masking tape, misting spray bottle, liner brush for liners, or you can use watercolor pencils or pen, paper towels.
If you've never done wet on wet washes, start small and repeat larger once you get your sea legs under you. See the Introduction for extra painting tips and student paintings.
Happy Painting!
Your Instructor
Hi, I'm Deb Watson - a self taught artist and long time watercolor teacher
My story is simple.
I loved drawing from childhood, but was discouraged from art as a waste of time. So, I became a nurse, worked at a lot of hospitals and raised a family. But I kept painting.
Over time, I became better at the realism I loved, and just kept working toward improving through painting and self-study. I've always enjoyed painting scenes from my life and small town community (which I call my Small Town America series).
My paintings are not usually famous or majestic subjects, often they're just everyday stuff I see around. But I see so much beauty there, and show it to the rest of the world by painting it.
Now, my watercolors have been in exhibits and won awards across the nation. Yet, it's when my art connects me to other people that it's really done what I wanted, and teaching certainly does that!
Happy Painting.