How to Paint a Raindrop on Leaves
Create raindrops like magic with a paintbrush. Painting raindrops on leaves in watercolor paintings of flowers is often perceived by many beginning artists as difficult. Many avoid such things in their work, but for a working artist, sooner of later a project may come up that requires such a skill. The mystery of creating realistic raindrops in art can be uncovered by learning a few simple techniques. These techniques, along with much practice, can lead to mastery of painting the subject.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Paint your leaf shape in watercolor and fill with color. Before it can dry, apply water with a clean brush to the leaf in the areas where you want the raindrops to be. Move the brush in circular motion to create a proper raindrop shape. Continue to apply water until the leaf color is lifted out and the white surface of the paper is visible again. These areas of white will serve as the basic shape of the raindrops.
-
2
Apply a mix of color, consisting of the original leaf color plus a complement, at the bottom in front of the raindrop. This will create a cast shadow for the raindrop. A color plus its complement always equals a darker hue which can be used to represent shadows. Using green with its complement, red, produces such an effect.
-
-
3
Stroke the mixed color of the cast shadow away from the raindrop and into the leaf to blend the shadow with the leaf surface.
-
4
Apply a line of the mixed color at the top of the raindrop, inside the white area, following the form to create a three-dimensional spherical look. Make sure to leave enough white space between the cast shadow and this new shadow area so that it does not all blend together and flatten the image.
-
5
Add a reflection on the top of the raindrop by lifting out color with a small brush or the point of a knife.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit Raindrops image by Digital Photique from Fotolia.com
