How to Sketch People with Watercolor! STEP by STEP Tips

[Music] hello there and welcome to another Sketchbook session in this video I'll share how you can paint people using only three colors and I'm going to focus and show a technique similar to the one you see here in a previous Sketchbook I did we'll go over composition as a whole and how to assign colors to make a dynamic spread and that's right we'll only be using three colors here's another example that I did with markers but for today's Sketchbook spread I'll be sharing tips for paint and specifically layering watercolor beautifully so let's Jump Right In and go over the supplies this Sketchbook I'm using has 300 GSM or 140 lb watercolor cold press paper it can hold quite some water which is important for watercolor I'm also going to be using a 2H pencil for my sketch so that the watercolor doesn't smudge that's my little tip and the painting medium for today is watercolor and I'll show you the variety you can make with just three colors the ones that I decided to play with today are perene green pyro red light and titanium gold ochre feel free to pick any you wish as you'll be able to apply this technique with any colors and for my palette I'll be mixing on this little porcelain palette that I've just recently found that I've been liking so far brushes depending on the size of your sketches I like to pick something that comes to a nice point and is is versatile like a good round brush but anything you have that you love to use will do just fine I also prepare a little rag to dab off any excess water and I like to place it right beside my palette and also two cups of water having everything set up and having the little Sanctuary ready to go to paint is super important to have a nice smooth painting session I picked out four references to apply the technique with today and I picked a variety of a walking pose a sitting pose and some fashion outfits that really drew me in there are many components to picking a reference but my top two favorite tips are just pick something that really really draws you in and that you would love to paint or draw and also references with great lights and shadows lighting is key and will help you create Dynamic pieces now that we have our references let's begin our sketches the sketch phase is quite important as you're laying in your bare bones and your foundation to your piece whenever painting in watercolor I like to use this 2H pencil because it doesn't actually smudge when I begin to use water and paint on [Music] top now there's also an art to composing a Sketchbook spread when practicing people and figures there is a reason why I chose to place certain figures in certain places I'm a big believer in practicing variety so I wanted a walking posee to lead us on to the next page and to show some atmospheric perspective I played place a figure just a bit smaller kind of looking towards the left in that direction I also wanted to have a sitting pose and a main figure in the foreground that will kind of introduce the whole Sketchbook page over on the left even when practicing you're still telling a story and you're still practicing to compose a page so why not take those into consideration right I made some figures a bit larger and some a bit smaller and as I lay in the pencil sketch let's quickly talk about about the next step and how we're going to do these in only three colors and what we're going to do to apply the colors to all of the parts of our people so I wanted to have an accent color throughout the whole spread and that's going to be our pyro red light I'm also thinking it can be cool to Accent her shirt and that's going to be the next step is to plot and plan which color to apply to which part of our figure let's take a look at this color wheel the colors I prepped are analogous colors or in other words color families that are next to each other on the color wheel I have a feel feeling these three will be a very interesting combo and it'll be fun to play with the endless variety of just three [Music] colors something I began implementing more and more in my art practice is taking some time to Swatch play and mix your paints before beginning painting not only will this help you learn how they perform but you'll also be able to see the endless variety you can make with just three pigments I love a great bright red or orange so I chose those two and I really loved the dark and warmth you can get with the green mixture and just how beautiful and dark this perene green can go one of my favorite Shadow mixtures is also mixing in the red and the green together and if you mix a little bit of yellow and layer on top it can do a beautiful little midtone layering light values can also be called glazing and I'll share that along as we go now setting your references in black and white can be really helpful when choosing your own colors and seeing how you can get creative with it and now that I have the swatches I'm thinking I'll have an accent color for the hat and maybe the sneakers and then my darkest Shadow will be the dark green so with whatever colors you chose think about which color will be your darkest tone which one will be your accent and which one you can actually create some mixtures with the final step that I like to do before starting with paint is take a moment and clean up my sketch and just make sure that all the shapes are exactly how I want them to be and then I like to take an eraser and a needed eraser to lift up any extra pencil I lightly run over my sketch where I can still see it but it just lifts up any extra pencil so that it doesn't show through with the watercolor on [Music] top once we're ready to rock It's Time to mix in the lightest mixture for our layer number one and I'm mixing in the lighter yellow with a little bit of red with a lot of water because with watercolor we work our way from light to dark and we're going to work in layers to build up our color build up our values so don't be afraid to take it slow and take your time [Music] here after filling in the skin tone I begin with the bright red which is going to be our accent color and then I start with laying in the colors of the shirt and I make sure that I cover the whole shape and you can also see that I'm leaving certain areas white I'm doing that intentionally to leave the white of the paper as our highlights when switching colors and shades I'm making sure to wash my brush completely and for layer number one we're just filling in the shapes and making sure that all the spaces are covered except our highlighted areas a little trick I like to do is add in a little bit of red and mix that into the shadow tones as it creates a little bit more Dynamic and a little bit of fun to our sketches while layer one is drawing I'm going to start working on these other sketches to see if I can get the first layer in there [Music] what makes something look Dynamic and appealing to the eye of course color can play into the mix sometimes pattern sometimes it's the relationship of two colors and the way they sit next to one another green and red are actually complimentary colors they're opposite each other from the color wheel but they do look quite good together when they're on a page this specific pigment has a little bit of different undertones to it and it's also much darker but the beauty with watercolor is that you can always mix in a little more water and it'll appear just so beautiful and light perfect for transparent layers and glazing [Music] techniques once each layer of color dries you can begin layering more color on top and seeing how different mixtures blend with one another and show through from the layers underneath after our initial first layer I then mix a little bit more mixture of a darker tone little bit of red and a tiny bit of green and that I use to create all the folds and Shadow tones in the [Music] sweater once the first layer of our first figure is dry I like to go in with a second lighter layer for some warmth in the face remember that when you lay down a pigment you can always use a little bit of water and blend it [Music] out when bringing the details and features to life a great tip is to use a warm mixture and pretend you're just drawing with a brush while we continue chipping away I want to let you guys know that this video is sponsored by Squarespace thanks to Squarespace I'm able to Showcase some of my tutorials my shop and share my sketches over on my website I'm grateful to say they've been a supporter of the channel for a few years now so thank you so much this all-in-one platform allows you to build a website from scratch it's super userfriendly and what makes it that easy are there award-winning templates that can allow you to fully customize your site I've recommended Squarespace to all my family members and friends and whether you're just starting out or you've got a few years of experience just in case they have 24/7 customer service they got you covered definitely go ahead and give it a try by going to squarespace.com and once you're ready to Launch head over to squarespace.com jarp for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain watercolor allows you to create so many different mixtures and layers with the paint so for each layer of the shirt I would add and deepen those Shadows always think about where the light is coming from and always think about how much you want to push those Shadows it's your artistic choice and you can always make the decision if you want to keep them a little bit lighter or push them to be just a bit darker [Music] I know a place where we can go and be a so Come Away With Me nobody has to know where we going to [Music] go I was just calling to see if you're free R [Music] away for this next figure I really played around with different opacities of the greens to see how I can Implement them into the stripes of the shirt with the first layer I started off with the light skin tone and then I added a little bit more red to the shadow tones this specific reference had beautiful Shadow shapes and it definitely made it easier to translate that into my painting whenever using references I still like to try and bring my own spice and personality into the sketches and with every time I come to practice I think about how I can push the shapes a little more differently and just continue to experiment with designing a character to run away with me to run away with to take it a step further I always like to make a connection to the character and maybe give them a story give them a name and build a relationship and connection to them I find that this helps create a sense of life to the people you're painting and when given meaning will immediately translate in your art so just something to think [Music] about [Music] with I've got to admit that these were so much fun to paint definitely a great challenge to paint in the shoes the clothing and just the simple action of somebody walking it's all a really delicate process but I truly fell in [Music] love when using only three colors having one color designated to a little accent can be really helpful to create a cohesive Dynamic Sketchbook spread it's something so simple yet very effective even if it's a little headband [Music] [Music] for the last figure I decided to create the accent to be the pants and flip the dark shadow to be the shirt I also switched things up a bit here and played around with a weton wet technique and look at the Beautiful Textures it created in the shirt while that was drying I was starting in with a little bit of glazes and getting in the fabric Shadow shapes of the pants and just beginning in my first layers of the hair and the rest of the figure I wanted a little bit of a gold Golden Glow here so I ended up mixing in the red and the yellow tone to create this kind of coffee is color then it was super fun to play around with the shapes for the pants and creating more layers and more glazes to create a very vibrant [Music] look of course there are many different techniques and ways you can work with water color but something that I learned over time is that you have to let it do its thing and working in really light layers and building it up is one of the best things you can do and look at the amount of variety that we're able to mix with just three colors with the help of playing around with different mixes different values using some colors with a lighter opacity the possibilities are endless one last important element in the Sketchbook spreads is to have a moment to wrap it all up and bring it all together although you're practicing and completing a figure one at a time it's important to take a moment and work on them all together because at the end of the day they're all existing on one page together so I take that last bit of moment to wrap it all up and do a final pass with a shadow shape that unifies it and makes it all as one and although it could be the finest little detail or the smallest Shadow shape I still think it takes it that one step further and sort of like links it all [Music] together now every figure had a different drop shadow but I decided to play with little artistic muscles and see how I can add a little bit of Shadow shape to connect them all together in a way to create a cohesive page as well and after the last little glazes and mixtures and Shadow shapes our Sketchbook spread full of people is finally complete [Music] all right everyone that's all for today I really hope you enjoyed this one feel free to drop a comment and say hello and subscribe to stay in the loop of new videos and if you want to keep on staying creative I'll have another video up on the screen for you I'm sending you love and light wherever you are and I'll see you in the next one [Music]

Channel: Jess Karp

Views: 20,852

Keywords: how to paint, painting tutorial, easy painting, painting people, how to draw people, how to create, art video, watercolor tutorial, drawing tutorial, how to draw, sketchbook session, sketchbook time, how to sketch people, how to paint people, portrait painting, watercolor techniques, how to paint a wall

Id: kwZvg5XdJPU

Length: 17min 17sec (1037 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 29 2024