Watercolor Succulents, Color Mixing Greens for beginners, by Shana Circe on YouTube. 33 min 2 s.
- Video length
- 33 min 2 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Squeeze phthalo blue, quinacridone magenta and diarylide yellow into separate wells of your palette, plus a small dot of black. Keep each color clean.
Mix a starting green by picking up yellow and touching it into a puddle of blue. Add more yellow for a warm yellow-green, or more blue for a deep blue-green.
Brush a small stroke of each green on scrap paper and let it dry. Watercolor dries lighter than it looks wet, so adjust the ratio now.
Dull a green that looks too bright by stirring in a tiny touch of quinacridone magenta, which sits opposite green on the color wheel.
Darken a green with a speck of black or extra blue for shadow leaves. Mix it on the palette, never straight on the paper.
Draw a small rosette in pencil: a tight center with leaves fanning outward, about 3 to 5 cm across.
Paint the leaves from the center outward in a mid green, leaving a thin gap of dry paper between each leaf so the shapes stay separate.
While the first layer is still damp, drop darker green at the base of each leaf and let it bleed upward for depth.
Let the rosette dry fully, then paint a second smaller one beside it and a third overlapping slightly to build the trio.
Finish with a pale yellow-green wash on the leaf tips and a soft grey-green shadow under each plant.
Tips and common mistakes
Keep a scrap sheet beside you and test every mix there before it touches your painting.
Rinse your brush between colors, or a dirty brush will turn your bright green muddy.
Let each layer dry before adding the next one, otherwise the leaves will blur into one shape.
Stop touching a damp leaf once it looks right. Watercolor keeps moving and overworking kills the shape.
Questions
Do I need the exact three paints she uses?
No. Any cool blue, a magenta or red and a yellow will mix greens. Phthalo blue, quinacridone magenta and diarylide yellow just give clean, bright results.
Why does my green look muddy?
Too many colors on the brush or a dirty water jar is the usual cause. Rinse the brush, use clean water and mix with no more than two pigments.
How do I make a darker green for shadows?
Add a little more blue or a tiny speck of black to your mixed green. Test it on scrap paper first, since black is strong.
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.
