I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but this site now has a convenient “how to paint” page where all the step-by-step demos are listed by category.
You can also find the link on the top tool bar and/or on the right side under “pages” listed as “learn how“.
So far, this site is 1 year old and there are 25 step-by-step painting demos!
Thank you!
The day I went hiking and discovered the phoebe nest with babies, I also found this guy beside the stream:
It is a Comma Butterfly sitting on the mud next to the stream, and that is exactly where my, “Butterflies of North America” book, by Brock & Kaufman, said I can find one! Why is it named Comma? It is named appropriately for the white comma mark he has under his wing. You can not see it in this photo.
So let’s have some fun painting our new little friend with some watercolor paints…
Step 1: Make a butterfly sketch using graphite on hot press 140lb. watercolor paper. Next, apply masking fluid (orange spots) to the areas you want to keep white and clean. If I know I am going to mat this painting later, I make brackets so that I can keep track of what will be showing and what will be hiding under the mat.
Step 2: I decided to start with the background this time. I wanted to keep the painting true to what I observed, but I know a background of mud and rocks might be a little too overwhelming…so I know I have to keep it relatively simple but show texture at the same time. Don’t worry it’s not too hard, we can do it! First wet your background. Paint the background brown, while wet drop in some indigo blue, sap green and yellow green gold. Stand your paper up while dropping in your color so that the color drips down.I LOVE THAT!
Step 3: Texture time!!! While my background was still wet, I took a Q-Tip and soaked it in rubbing alcohol. Then I touched the wet paint. This process creates “fish eyes”, perfectly round white circles or bubbles, you can see them in the upper left hand corner of the painting against the green paint.
Next, I sprinkled salt on the lower right hand corner against the blue paint. This will create tiny little “stars”. Don’t brush off the salt until it is thoroughly dry. Fish eyes and stars are fun and easy ways to create texture, but don’t over do it! Too much texture and our little friend, Mr. Comma Butterfly, will get lost.
Let your painting completely dry, then load your brush with a dark brown/blue mixture of paint and flick it on your painting. I covered the butterfly with a small piece of paper so I would mess it up. Flicking paint is really, really, really fun. Your hands get dirty with paint and you feel like a kid again making a “mess”! It is great therapy. Speaking of mess, at this stage you might start to worry and feel like your painting looks like a gigantic mess. Don’t worry, I promise in the end it will all come together.
Step 4: We are going to work on the butterfly. First I laid down some yellow, followed by red brick. I let them touch each other and they start to melt. I did not pre-wet the paper.
Step 5: I took the darkest brown I had and painted the lower half and around the tips of his wings.
Comma Butterfly by the Stream - Watercolor
Step 6 Final: First, after the brown lower half dries, make a darker mixture of brown by mixing it with indigo blue. Paint the lower half again. When dried, take a wet clean bristle brush and scrape out the inner wing next to his body. This is where the light was hitting his wing, making it a little shiny.
On the upper half, I made a diluted wash of water and country red brick. Lightly go over the top half, calming the colors down pulling everything together.
Let everything dry.
Take the masking fluid off by rubbing it with a rubber eraser or your finger.
Let’s make some fun spots. Here I used light brown, med. brown and dark brown.
Make some shadow color out of cobalt blue, paint under his wings. Don’t forget about his little antennas. If you forget to paint in the shadow, he will not look like he is resting on the mud, but floating around.
And for the grand finish, I took a black Micron pen and went around his body, wings, spots, and gave him some antennas.
“Butterfly by the Stream”
original watercolor
image: 6.5×4.5
mat outside dimensions: 10×8
$30
(includes shipping & tax in US)
click here to purchase, it will take you to the site of available watercolor paintings.
I hope you enjoyed this step by step demonstration on how to paint a butterfly using watercolors!
This one is for all my nature lovin’ friends….
I stumbled upon the greatest site, it allows you to make your own combination of nature sounds – FREE!
The site is called sound sleeping and it gives you a ”Drum Sleep Aid / Relaxation tool”, with this, you can have several sounds going at once. While I do not care for the drums (just don’t turn on the first option [select music]), I sure do love the other sounds!
I have this site on my computer while I’m at work, and for hours I can hear a soothing creek, bonfire, rain, thunder in any combo I want!
I even used this site while painting one day, so that I could feel like I was really out in the wild! It works!
Try it out and let me know what you think?
I have decided to join the group, Wilderness Painters of Chicago! It is a group of artists that meet at different locations once a month in the Chicago area, to do a little “en plein air” (in the open air) painting. How exciting!
Anybody can join, there are no fees, and the people are super friendly. Hot dog!
My first outing with the group was yesterday. We met at Elawa Farm in Lake Forest, IL. What a beautiful place! A little bit of a road trip for me, but not too bad. I really need to practice my en pein air painting and wean myself away from being locked in the studio (my dining room) painting from a flat photo.
Here is what I chose to paint. I had many options: creek, forest, wetlands, building, garden, bridge, but I chose the savanna (field with few trees). You know how much I love the structure and character of a tree!
So let’s get going and learn how to paint a savanna with an oak tree in pastel paints!
Step 1: I am using a white Pastelbord by Ampersand Art. I like to create a very wet underwash using watercolor paints before I apply pastels and the Pastelbord is perfect because it will never warp. With a piece of charcoal, make a loose sketch of the horizon line, tree and field. Next start with the sky. I use cerulean blue and painted diagonal strokes. For the furthest row of trees, I mixed indigo blue and a touch of sap green. The tree is a mixture of alizarin and indigo. I am not worried about getting the exact shape. That will come later with pastels. The field is a big mess of sap green, ocher, and alizarin. Remember, the pastel will cover most of this so I’m not stressed out about being perfect.
By the way, I LOVE drip marks. I love to not cover up the drip marks so that I can give the painting another bit of dimension…however you will see in the end I got carried away and covered these lovely marks. I will remember next time not to do so, painting is a process of learning. I will not develop as an artist if I do not recognize mistakes and remember not to repeat them. I will not know what my mistakes are unless I practice my painting on a regular basis. Practice, practice, practice…
Here is what my layout looked like. I have to thank my good friend Sharon, for letting me borrow her field easel. I don’t even have one!
Step 2: Let your watercolor wash completely dry. Now we are going to apply the pastels. I started with the tree using a sky blue for “tree holes”. A tree holes is the negative space of the tree, where you see the sky in between branches and leaves. Next I used the darkest unison blue pastel I had for the trunk, branches and deepest shadowed leaves.
Step 3: In this step I used the darkest unison green pastel I had and made leaves on the tree. I also used the same dark blue as in the trunk for the shadow of the oak tree. Maybe I should have used a dark purple…I’m not sure.
The one thing I learned about using pastels is that certain brands can get darker than others. I also have Rembrandt pastels, the majority of my pastel supply, but the darkest color is not really dark when you use it. Unisons get really dark and that’s what I need for contrast.
Step 4: Add a little highlight to the oak tree and work on the field. It is really hard for me to tell you why every color is in every spot. With a kaleidoscope of colors in a field, I grab what color I see and if I’m wrong I just work with it. If I try to be exact, I will pull all of my hair out until I am bald. I choose to keep my hair and not worry about the the small stuff.
From now on, I am using Rembrandt pastels. I see a lot of reds in my field scene so I work with it. There is also a tiny bit of a wetland spot in the foreground.
Step 5: Highlight the oak tree trunk, remember the morning sun is coming from the east (right side). Highlight the red grasses using a lighter red/yellow pastel. All of the lightest colors are coming from the right side. We are almost done.
Here is the final layout. I love comparing the real thing to the painting on the spot. You can’t do that from your dining room table!
Step 6 final: Right now I am noticing a lot of purple/Burgundy weeds popping up. They are beautiful. When I have more time I will research what they are exactly. For now, I added just a few to the foreground.
Using watercolor as a wash and pastel paints on top, it makes it really easy to create an effortless 3D painting in a matter of a few hours.
Speaking of hours in the sun…I am supporting a really fashionable farmer’s tan right now!
I enjoyed my first road trip with the Wilderness Painters of Chicago and look forward to the next month outing! Why don’t you join us? Just keep checking their web site for the next date and location!
I hope you enjoyed this step by step en plein air painting of how to paint an oak tree in a savanna!
Pine Tree by Work - Watercolor Sketch
I park in front of this tree every single day at work. It is one of several professionally manicured landscaped pines. Professionally landscaped…reminds me of a golf course. Uggh. I much prefer the rugged woods, natural and wild. I have omitted several business buildings in the background, by the way, who wants to see an industrial park? Not me.
Never the less, wildlife abound. I have spotted robins, house sparrows, cardinals, juncos (in winter), and the ever happy goldfinches, resting in this very tree. Not only do the birds love it, but a family of rabbits do as well. How cute the babies (3) are in the morning hopping excitedly by mom under this tree, not even concerned that I pulled up in my car. They make my day at work almost bearable.
Anyhow, on this day the atmosphere is changing…rain is coming. I love a rainy day…I don’t even know why. Sometimes, when we have several days of sun in a row, I feel crabby. In contrast, I admit, to normal weather reactions. The rain, mist, and or storms comfort me. What is it about a disturbance in the air?
Something wonderful.
Posted in art, Artwork, Landscape, nature, Nature Sketching, sketchbook, storm, weather
Tagged Christine Kane Art, ckane, watercolor pine tree, watercolor sketch, watercolor storm sketch
Verse of the Day
