Step By Step Watercolor Demonstration : Green Bell Pepper

In this step by step watercolor demonstration, you will learn several essential watercolor painting techniques. I use these techniques to paint just about every subject.

You will also get a glimpse at how I preserve light area without having to resort to masking fluid. With my method, you won't have to deal with the hard edges left behind by masking fluid.

Here is a photograph of a green bell pepper that is lit from two directions. For my painting, I will recast it so that the light is coming from one side only. Thus, the shadow will be distinctly slanted to the opposite side.

I start by creating a drawing of the pepper with a number 2HB pencil. No harsh or heavy lines here; the highlights and some bright lit areas are outlined, but not emphasized, as I like to leave some room for artistic expression. Photorealism is not my goal.

Step by Step Watercolor Demonstration

1. Wet The Highlights
   I use a No.10 round brush loaded with clear water. Here I have tinted it with a little bit blue so you can see it more easily. I preserve the highlights this way instead of using masking fluid.

   

2. Mingle Colors and Paint From Dry To Wet
   When the water settles, I use a No.12 round brush to mingle colors on the pepper toward the wet highlight areas. This way I will ensure a soft edge around the highlights. I alternate the colors on the dry paper using ultramarine blue, sap green, thalo green, and cadmium

   

3. Paint The Shadow
   Continuing to mingle the colors, I blend ultramarine and cadmium red deep for the cast shadow underneath the bell pepper.

   

4. Add Strong Darks
   Now while the body of the pepper is still somewhat damp, I take a flat brush either to add more ultramarine blue and phalo blue. I can tilt the brush to define the outlines of the darks. The timing is always tricky when it comes to adding more colors into an already-wet area.

   

5. Add Volumes
   I adjust the tonal values of each mingle color, controlling the amount of water and pigments as I go, to cover all the areas. The middle tones are built up, and the stem of the pepper is also covered.

   

6. Acceuntate The Lights
   I mingle some sap green and cadmium yellow medium on the light area. I also glaze the outer part of the light area of the pepper with more green to intensify the colors. Most of the areas are a little damp, so this is a good time to add more accent darks as well.

   

7. Finish It Up
   Viola! And here is the finished piece. No need to keep going, or I might overwork it.

To summarize this step by step watercolor demo,

• Wet the highlights and light areas
• Work from dry areas toward the wet highlights
• Depending on how hard or soft you want the edges and transitions to be, work on the darks while they are dry or damp.
• Add sharp accents when the area is almost dry.

Practice the above steps often. You will be amazed at how fast you will master the watercolor painting techniques presented here.

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