It’s too hot to paint for long! July and August are tough in the northern hemisphere when the heat starts rising. But for dedicated students who want to make progress, daily splashes in your watercolors are essential. So we’ve put together half a dozen short and sweet video tutorials that you can do in ten minutes flat, then give yourself permission to flake out beside the pool (even if it’s only the kids’ paddling pool!)
Oh, and we’ve included direct links to each of the FREE sketch downloads so you can save time on the drawing stage too!
A Poppy in 9 minutes
Here’s a simple wet in wet poppy for you to try. Would make a lovely birthday card for a summer born friend! Or take another five minutes and add a second poppy or more to create a lovely bouquet! Two colours of paint needed, or three if you want to push the boat out – cadmium red, olive green and quinacridone gold!
Here’s the FREE Poppy sketch download.
A Duck in 10 minutes
Here’s a fun subject to practice your layer techniques. Pick up the sketch from the page on here and all you need are three colours – cadmium yellow, cobalt blue and winsor violet.
A Bumblebee in 6 minutes
Simple, fun and effective! Get your free sketch from here and you only need Quinacridone gold, lemon yellow, and black. This quick tutorial only shows how to paint the bee, but if you’d like to do the lavender too you can learn how here.
A Rainbow Tree in 10 minutes
How about this beautiful rainbow tree? Practice your random splashes and brush control and dash off this abstract version of an everyday object. Cobalt blue, pthalo blue, winsor violet, permanent rose, alizarin crimson, quinacridone gold, lemon yellow, sap green are your colors. You don’t even need a sketch for this one. Ready steady go!
A Lakeside Sunset in 12 minutes
Slightly over our 10 minute target, but it needn’t take all day to paint an evocative sunset. Neither do you need amazing drawing skills! Great practice for putting in washes and getting a realistic sky, as well as grasses – and just three or four colors.
A Hummingbird in 8 minutes
Finally a cute little hummingbird! Hovering as he collects nectar, this fellow is adorable and wants to be painted! Get the sketch here and the colors you’ll need are phthalo blue, Winsor violet, cobalt blue, lemon yellow and phthalo green.
That’s it for today. For more handy tutorial collections like this one, direct to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter below. And new tutorials go up on YouTube daily, so make sure you’re subscribed to Diane Antone Studio too!
Happy Painting!