WHAT DO I PAINT FIRST? Watercolor Tutorial of Painting Lemons, by New England School of Fine Art on YouTube. 19 min 55 s.
- Video length
- 19 min 55 s
- Time to do it
- 1 to 2 hours
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Sketch the lemons, the bowl and the cloth lightly with a pencil on your watercolor paper. Keep the lines faint so they do not show through the paint later.
Decide to paint the background first. Fix the paper to a board or work on a block so it stays flat while you lay in a wet wash.
Shake the masking fluid well and apply it with a colour shaper to the lemon edges, the bowl rim and any cloth highlights you want to keep white. Let it dry completely.
Wet the background paper with clean water, leaving the masked shapes dry. Work section by section so the water stays even.
Drop in your background colours while the paper is still damp. Tilt the board to move the paint and stop touching it early to avoid blossoms.
Let the background dry fully, then paint the cloth in the foreground. Add the folds with a slightly darker mix while the cloth area is damp.
Paint the bowl with a pale wash, leaving bare paper for the white highlights. Add a soft grey or blue shadow on the shaded side and underneath.
Paint the lemons one at a time. Lay a light yellow wash, then build the shadow side with a warmer yellow or a touch of orange while it is still damp.
Add small dots and broken lines of stronger yellow for the rind texture. Keep the light side clean and leave a little paper white for shine.
Rub the masking fluid off gently with your finger once everything is dry. Soften hard edges and add the cast shadows under the bowl and fruit.
Tips and common mistakes
Let each wash dry before you start the next one, or the layers will lift and turn muddy.
Test every mixed colour on a scrap of the same paper before you put it on the painting.
Blossoms happen when you keep brushing wet paint, so stop sooner than you think you should.
Never leave masking fluid on for more than a day or two, and remove it gently so the paper surface stays intact.
Questions
Why paint the background before the lemons?
Problems like blooms and hard edges are easier to fix or hide at the start. If you paint the objects first, a bad wash later can spoil work you already like.
Do I need masking fluid?
No. You can paint around the shapes and leave the paper white, but masking fluid keeps crisp edges on the lemons and bowl while you work loosely.
Can I paint just one lemon instead of the whole scene?
Yes. Sketch a single lemon with a shadow under it and follow the same order: wash, shadow side, rind texture, then the cast shadow.
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.
