This Simple Trick Makes Sky & Reflections EASY in Watercolour, by Richard Burton on YouTube. 23 min 24 s.
- Video length
- 23 min 24 s
- Time to do it
- 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Tape your paper to a board or use a block so it stays flat. Sketch a light horizon line about two thirds down the page with a soft pencil.
Wet the whole sky area with clean water using the large brush. Keep the water even and stop just above the horizon line.
Mix a pale blue wash on your palette. Tilt the board slightly and lay the wash across the top of the sky, leaving the lower sky lighter.
While the paper is still damp, drop in a warm yellow near the horizon and let it blend upward into the blue. Do not scrub.
Wait until the paper loses its shine but is still cool to the touch. This is the moment to add soft cloud shapes with a slightly stronger blue.
Soften any hard cloud edges with a clean, damp brush. Leave some edges sharp where you want crisp light.
Let the sky dry completely. Then wet the water area below the horizon with clean water, keeping it slightly lighter than the sky.
Paint the reflection with vertical downward strokes using the same colours as the sky, but weaker. Pull the paint down rather than across.
While the reflection is damp, add a few darker horizontal marks for ripples. Leave gaps of white paper for sparkle on the water.
Let everything dry flat, then check the balance. Darken the horizon edge slightly and lift any mistakes with a clean damp brush and paper towel.
Tips and common mistakes
Test the moisture by touching the paper with the back of your hand. If it is still shiny, wait before adding paint.
Mix more wash than you think you need so you never stop mid-sky to remix.
Keep reflections weaker and softer than the sky above them, and make them vertical, not horizontal.
Avoid overworking soft edges. One clean stroke beats several scrubbed ones.
Questions
Do I need special paper for wet-in-wet skies?
Use heavier paper, around 300 gsm, so it can take plenty of water without buckling. Cheaper thin paper will cockle and dry too fast.
How do I stop reflections looking like a second sky?
Paint them with weaker colour and pull the brush downward in vertical strokes. Add small horizontal ripples to break up the mirror effect.
What if my sky dries with hard edges?
Rewet the hard edge with a clean damp brush and blend it while the paper is still damp. Next time, add the paint a little sooner.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
