Paint Glowing Autumn Maple Leaves | Easy Watercolor Tutorial, by Brushstrokes with Anne on YouTube. 21 min 52 s.
- Video length
- 21 min 52 s
- Time to do it
- 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Tape or lay your cotton paper flat and set out your palette. Fill a water jar and keep a paper towel handy for blotting brushes.
Mix a bright yellow with a little rose to get a warm orange. Keep the puddle weak so the color stays glowing on the paper.
Wet the first leaf shape with clean water, then drop in yellow and orange while the paper is still damp. Let the colors blend on their own.
Paint the second leaf the same wet-on-wet way, adding a touch of deep red at the tips. Leave a small gap so the leaves overlap cleanly.
For the third leaf, mix rose with a little purple-grey for a deeper red. Keep the edges soft by not letting the paper dry out.
Let the leaves dry fully, then use the rigger brush with burnt umber or sepia to draw thin veins from the base to each point.
Add a light wash of purple-grey under and between the leaves for cast shadows. Keep it pale and soft so the leaves still glow.
Check the dried painting and darken any veins or shadow edges that look too faint. Lift mistakes with a damp brush and blot with a towel.
Tips and common mistakes
Test your mixed colors on scrap paper first so you know how strong they look when dry.
Wet-on-wet only works while the paper is damp, so work one leaf at a time and keep a spray bottle nearby.
Let each layer dry completely before adding veins, or the lines will bleed and look muddy.
Use a heat tool on low to speed drying, but keep it moving so the paper does not warp.
Questions
Do I need the exact Daniel Smith and ShinHan paints?
No. Any warm yellow, rose red, deep red, purple-grey and brown will give a similar result. Mix what you have and test the colors first.
Can I paint this on regular watercolor paper?
Yes, but cotton paper at 300 gsm handles the wet-on-wet layers better and warps less. On thinner paper, use less water and let each layer dry.
How do I stop the leaves from turning muddy?
Use fewer colors in each wet mix and avoid overworking the paper. Let the first wash dry before you add a second color on top.
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.
