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Multi-colored days, watercolor and mixed media painting tutorial

How to paint a portrait with watercolor and gouache by Sandrine Pelissier on ARTiful, painting demos
Painting technique / Step by step demonstrations

Multi-colored days, watercolor and mixed media painting tutorial

These days I am feeling like painting a few watercolor portraits again, so this one is from a picture of my oldest daughter, Louise.I used watercolor, gouache, a bit of liquid acrylic, and watercolor crayons, on Arches paper hot press 140 lb. You can read the details with the step by step pictures below or you can watch the time lapse video to see

Watercolor and mixed media painting: Multi Colored Days

drawing before painting

Here is my drawing on the stretched paper with my reference picture.

step by step watercolor painting tutorial

I start with a layer of Da Vinci Yellow Ocher.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

 

Da Vinci Artists’ Permanent Watercolors, 292 Yellow Ochre, 15 ml

Da Vinci paints are exciting, intense, and rated among the best in the world for quality. The paints are permanent, with the highest tinting strength and pigment concentration available, and a creamy consistency for smooth, easy dispersion with water.

learn to paint watercolor by layering colors

When working with layers, I always try to paint the background at the same time so it is well integrated in the finished painting even though at that time I am not sure what will go exactly on the background.

watercolor painting step by step , red layer

Now working with 2 shades of red, one more orange and one more pink, looking at my reference picture to see which one should go where.

using watercolors to paint portraits

I also paint the background with a layer of red,and start to introduce some blue. I have my painting at a 30 degree angle that makes painting washes easier.

watercolor painting techniques, layering colors

Still adding more colors now, oranges and browns.

lifting up colors with a stiff brush when painting watercolor portraits

I lift up some paint in areas I want lighter with a stiff brush and lots of water.

adding mixed media to watercolors

I paint the background with a mix of gouache, liquid acrylic and watercolor.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

Holbein Acryla Gouache, 152 Chinese White, 20 ml

Acryla Designer Gouache is a fast-drying, opaque acrylic based watercolor paint. It’s water soluble while wet, and water-resistant, matte and opaque, even over dark surfaces. Great for grounds and layering.

splashing watercolors with water

I did accentuate some areas with watercolor crayons. Time for splashing, with water, and water mixed with watercolors. I remove unwanted stains with a tissue paper.

watercolor painting video

Multi colored days, watercolor and mixed media on paper

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Comments (5)

  1. silvia

    wow… wish to see a demo in normal time…is it too much I’m afraid…in this way is wonderful…but frustrating..:)

    1. Yes, I understand, but real time is a few days of work, that would be too long to watch 🙂

    2. sarah hedley

      you can slow down the video in youtube. go to the cog sign at the bottom of the screen and in there are speed up and slow down times you can choose from.

      1. Thanks for the tip Sarah, I did not know that !

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