How to Paint Street Scenes in Watercolor

Hi, I'm Darren from Watercolour Mentor. In this class, you'll learn how to create fresh and vibrant street landscapes by following my two-step layering process. You'll build your confidence by using strong and vibrant colours. By learning to be deliberate in your brushstrokes and colours, you'll create some beautiful impressionistic street scenes that you can show off to your friends and family!

Many beginners often paint too light, too dark, or in the same tone. This can lead to flat paintings that lack character. Colour also plays an important role. Using complementary colours, or more simply, warm/cool colours next to one another, creates stunning compositions that demand attention!

I'll be covering:

• Sketching - how to reduce a photo or scene in front of you down to essentials and pick out elements and objects of focus.
• Layering - learn how you only need 2-3 layers in order to complete a watercolor painting.
• How to use colour effectively to create areas of interest of portray the mood of a scene.
• How to use tone, or light and dark areas to create depth and richness in your paintings.

I'm excited to get started, so let's get painting!

Included Demonstrations:

For the class project, follow along to the sketching and painting demonstrations. There are 6 unique street scenes with a pencil sketching and watercolour painting component. It's important to complete the sketching exercises in each scene, as this provides you with an opportunity to practice composing your painting. This will increase your confidence in completing your painting and more importantly allow you to plan.

If you have finished the 6 street scenes featured in this class, pick a royalty free photograph or perhaps one of your own photograph of a favorite street. Using the process and techniques described in this class, create your own unique painting.

Finally, upload your painting(s) in the project section! If you have questions or would like feedback on your work, let me know and I will get back to you.

Note: Scanned images of my final paintings, as well as the original (royalty free) reference photographs are included below.