Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Hello Bear
Sep 02, 2021
Watercolors are so fun to use - they allow for a variety of different techniques and today we are going to be trying out one of them: wet-on-wet!
My name is Jamie and I’m an illustrator who loves to paint and share. So let’s create a cheeky little bear who wants to say hello! This is a beginner friendly tutorial where we’ll explore the wet-in-wet technique. Ready?!
Here are the supplies I used [this is just a recommendation..feel free to use what you love]
Supplies
- Paint colors: yellow deep, red, turquoise blue, orange, white gouache
- Brushes: TPL round brush (size 10)
- Watercolor paper: 200g or more
- Water
- Paper towel/rag
- Pencil
- Masking tape
You can also watch and paint along if that's more your thing!
Step 1 : Prepare Paper
Use your masking tape for the outer border. Cut out 2 pieces [mine were 3 inches long] to mask off the middle portion where our word/message will be painted.
Then cut pieces of tape to mask off the remaining vertical and horizontal inner borders.
Step 2 : Choose Four Colors and Your Word/Message
You can do some color tests to see which ones fit your mood. Try balancing 2 warm colors with 2 cool colors. Experiment with muted colors or perhaps analogous colors. When you’ve decided, mix them and set them aside.
For the word/message, I chose ‘hello’ but you have freedom to make it anything you’d like. Just make sure you tape off enough space if you want a longer phrase.
Step 3 : Layout and Sketch
Plan where you want to position your bear. Make it fun and dynamic by placing him in corners and on diagonals. He’s a bit of a mischievous one, ya know. Also, begin to think about how your word/message will sit in the rectangular space.
Step 4 : Pick a rectangle and let’s begin! I’m starting from the top left