Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Hello Bear

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