Instructions for Painting Leaves in Watercolors
Technically adept watercolor leaves are crucial to a forest or garden scene. There are many decisions to be made before you start painting, and once you commit to a style, there’s no turning back. Types of trees, seasons, time of day, color palette and perspective are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself at the start. Get yourself the best quality tools you can afford; then, plan and practice your technique for effective foliage before committing to the final piece.
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Things You'll Need
- Watercolor paints
- Watercolor paintbrushes
- Plastic palette
- Hot press watercolor paper
- Paper tape or masking tape
- Clean water
- Paper toweling
- Leaf
- Flat surface
Instructions
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Get your materials ready. A good quality, hot press watercolor paper should be taped with paper tape to an art board, table or hard surface. Select several different sizes and types of the best watercolor brushes you can afford – real hair is best. Have plenty of cold, clean water in several containers, along with paper toweling to clean brushes and make various effects with the paint.
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Set up your color wheel of paints in a plastic pallet. Ask yourself what season the leaves are in. Fall leaves will be brown, orange, red, yellow and green. Summer trees will be various shades of green with maybe some blue or yellow for shadows and highlights. Basic paint colors, like hooker’s green, Payne's grey, china white, ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow and burnt umber will always come in handy.
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Examine a real leaf in detail. Sketch the leaf lightly in pencil on your watercolor paper. Draw the veins of the leaf with thin lines.
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Put several drops of clean water on paper over sketched leaf.
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Slowly add small amounts of color to the water. Move the watercolor around with your brush.
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Let sections dry in between colors. Re-wet to add shadow and highlight.
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When painting leaves on trees, carefully examine what kind of tree you will be painting and sketch outlines of trees loosely. Fill in leaves on trees with a variety of brushes, or use paper toweling to dab some of the extra water and pigment for a loose-leaf effect.
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Tips & Warnings
Watercolor is about painting with water. Use a lot of it and make sure the water is always clean.
Clean your brushes well between colors.
If you put too much water on the paper, blot it with a piece of clean paper toweling.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
