Turning Autumn Leaves into Tiny Paintings ✧ Relaxing Watercolor Tutorial, by Nano Art on YouTube. 5 min 58 s.
- Video length
- 5 min 58 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Collect two or three fallen leaves on a walk and lay them next to your paper. Study the outline, the uneven edges and where the color patches sit.
Load a size 8 round brush with diluted paint and paint the basic leaf shape. Keep the wash light and let the paper stay slightly damp.
While the paper is still damp, drop in yellow, orange, red, green and brown. Let the colors blend on their own instead of brushing over them.
Leave the leaf to dry until it is barely damp. Then add deeper shades of burnt sienna and cadmium red to build contrast.
Keep some lighter areas untouched so the leaf still looks translucent and natural.
Switch to a tiny detail brush and paint the stem in a dark mix. Follow the real leaf for its direction and thickness.
Paint thin veins from the stem out to the edges, and darken a few damaged or curled edges. Use a light hand and fewer lines than you think.
Finish with a very light wash of Payne's grey under and around the leaf. This soft shadow lifts it off the page.
Let the painting dry flat and fully before you close the sketchbook or frame it.
Tips and common mistakes
Keep the paper damp, not soaking wet, or the colors will run into each other and turn muddy.
Test each color mix on a scrap of the same paper before you put it on the leaf.
Uneven edges and odd color blends are what make a leaf look real, so do not correct them.
Paint several small leaves on one sheet so you can compare shapes and warm up your hand.
Questions
Do I need special watercolor paper for this?
Cold pressed paper around 300gsm works best because it holds a damp wash without buckling. Thin printer paper will curl and the colors will look patchy.
Can I use a basic pan set instead of single pigments?
Yes. Any set with a yellow, an orange, a red, a brown and a green will do. Mix your own brown from red and green if you do not have burnt sienna.
Why do my colors turn muddy?
You are probably brushing over half dry paint. Drop each color in once, leave it alone, and let the paper dry a little between layers.
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.
