Hello everyone this is my first video tutorial so I hope you will find some of the information helpful.

This tutorial is divided into 4 basic parts: Tools, basic watercolor techniques, tips on painting skin while using watercolor and how I paint using watercolor. I have also included a bonus tip at the end.

This tutorial is long and detailed. Feel free to read or watch the videos in the tutorial in order or jump to whatever section that interests you. Thank you!

 

Tools

Before we begin, I will be using the main watercolor brushes from the latest update (at the time this tutorial is posted) of Clip Studio. Everyone should have access to these brushes. I will also be using the “Watercolor Maker and Texture set,” this is a free downloadable set (at the time this tutorial is posted) and you can download it at the “Clip Studio Assets” section.

 

The main brushes used throughout this tutorial are:

1.Wet wash (Clip Studio brush)

2.Wet blotting ink (Clip Studio brush)

3.One of the watercolor markers (download brush set)

4.One of the watercolor triangle blender (download brush set)

 

I use these brushes for many things but I find that wet wash brushes are excellent for things like gradients, such as painting skies. While, thicker (or dry) water color brushes are best for details like skin or hair, like the "Watercolor marker" brushes.

Note: that all the tools used are in the original setting. I did not change the setting of any of the tools used.

 

Basics of Watercolor

Watercolor is a very soft, pastel and desaturated medium. One reason artists love watercolor is because it is very easy to blend, build and gradients are easy when using watercolor.

 

 

watercolor is on the left and oil is on the right

Other paints such as oil you can add darker tones or mid-tones first but with watercolor you must paint from light to dark always. The color is less intense when you first apply watercolor, especially wet washes which makes it easy to blend, build and add more intensity.

So instead of doing the typical mid-tones, shadows then highlights like with other paints you will do the reverse. Start with light colors (it is best to know where your highlights will go beforehand in many cases), then apply mid-tones and last shadows.

 

Also don't mind the cast shadow in this piece because the light source is facing in front at an angle lol.

Note: Most artists (like me) like to leave line work with watercolor but this is not necessary. In the video I will demonstrate that you can remove lines if you choose for a line free look, especially if you want to do something that is more realistic. Also I will demonstrate in more detail watercolor basics: such as layering, blending, watercolor on textured paper.

Notice in the video I discussed watercolor paper. Some artist make their own paper textures, Clipstudio also has built in textures and other textures are available for download as part of Assets. The texture I am using in the video is my favorite. The texture is called "Thick Watercolour Paper" and it is available for free download (as of the time of this tutorial) in Clip Studio Assets.

Also it is important to have a limited palette when it comes to watercolor. If you are not really experienced with watercolor then this is very important. When I started using watercolor, I started with only using 1 color monochromatic palettes such as 3 shades of blues. Then I tried other color schemes with 2 or 3 colors. Water color blends easily so it is very easy to get a muddy look when paintings with a lot of colors.

 

This image is an extreme example of muddy colors. As you can see blending to many colors has not produce a harmonious look in the center. However, the colors on the edges blend nicely because they are not that many.

Skin and Watercolor

So let’s apply what we have just discussed to painting one of the trickiest things: skin. When I started with watercolor one of the main things that intimidated me was skin but it can be surprisingly easy to paint natural looking skin with watercolor. You can use one color for skin or more with watercolor.

These were all done with the watercolor brushes that I listed above

Painting skin with watercolor is not that different from painting skin with flat brushes or oils, except I have found that you want to be mindful of texture of the watercolor brushes when you add details. Also you can use less colors as well (sometimes the colors bleed and blend into each other so sometimes its not necessary to use many shades).

Important: When painting darker skin shades the contrast in the skin occurs between the highlights and the mid-tones. That is why darker skin seems to have more of a shine to it because the mid tones and the shadows have less contrast.

 

The dark skin ball on the left is blended with a blender but the one on the right is not. Both were painted with Clipstudio's "wet wash'" brush. 1 skin color was used.

The tan skin is also done with the Clipstudio "wet wash" brush. Notice how many colors are in the tan skin ball but they seem to seamlessly blend.

Note: I added warmth or blush to the tan skin to show you skin being painted with watercolor using multiple colors. Warmth or blush is often added to make skin look more alive and natural when you use other painting mediums. However, if you add warmth or blush in watercolor you may need to make it more saturated and intense color so it can show, especially with wet wash brushes.

Important: When it comes to pale and tan skin tones the main contrast occurs between the mid-tones and the shadows. The highlights and the mid-tones have less contrast so it is the opposite of darker skin tones.

 

 

Saturated vs Desaturated (Soft vs Intense) colors:

 

Many artist state that in watercolor one should only use very saturated and intense colors because watercolor is such a light and soft medium but this is not always true. Like many things in art it depends. Using intense colors or not just depends on your goal.

 

Notice how all the skin palettes (except for the warmth/blush) are very desaturated and have less intense colors. Even with the soft "Wet Wash" brush the colors are still desaturated. The key to watercolor is to build so you don't have to use very intense and saturated colors if you don't wish to.

 

Texture and Details:

Notice how the pale skin ball has freckles. Always add textures and details last. You can add them with a drier watercolor brush and set the size to small or you can use another brush with your desired texture (or one that is made for creating small details).

 

Important Note: Textures show themselves in the mid-tones. So place textures on the mid-tone values of an object not the highlights or shadows.

The "Kneaded eraser" is great for erasing watercolor. You can also erase some tones to add highlights and lighten certain areas of your art if you do not wish to go in with another brush. You can also adjust the opacity and texture density to erase and get texture effects on skin and other objects.

In the video below, I show you my process for painting skin and how I lay down the colors. Also, I discuss topics such as saturation, blending and layering skin with watercolor.

I have created a skin color palette that includes all the colors that I have used in the tutorial and more. This palette is made from a lot of skin tones aids throughout my art journey and my own experimentation with skin colors. The guide is free for download.

Applying watercolor to a painting

I will show you how I apply watercolor to a full scale painting. I am using all the brushes that I have listed before. The methods I am using are the ones that I have discussed in the previous sections.

 

So we are starting out with a piece I did a while ago in Clipstudio. I used mainly the "Real Pencil" and the "G-pen" to create this.

My main light source is coming from the top and the secondary light source is coming from the front of her.

 

I first lay the base tone with the "Wet Wash" brush and then use the "Watercolor Marker" to paint the remainder of her skin. I only use the "Wet Wash" brush for the flowers and the animals. The "Triangle Watercolor blender" is mainly used on her face.

I discuss the details of how I paint and show you the process in the video below. I also show you how I add details to a watercolor painting and ways of using white when color is already there.

This is the end result

I added the "Oil Paint" texture that is built into Clipstudio. Go into the materials section then click "monochromatic" then go to "Texture" and the "Oil Paint" texture is there.

Bonus Tip!: Using white and black with watercolor

White:

I touched on using white with watercolor in my video but I will discuss it here as well in more detail. With most watercolor paints you cannot use white because after applying any color it will not show easily unless you plan ahead with using white, or use another type of paint and apply white after. However, some watercolor dry brushes and markers allow you to use some level of white but most wet wash brushes do not allow for this.

 

1. I advise to test out your water color brushes with white on a black background to see how the pigmentation is.

2. You can leave the areas where the highlights are placed light in color if you wish to add white with watercolor later.

3. Use dry watercolor brushes because they are more likely to have more of a rich pigmented color

4. If all else fails incorporate other types of brushes like "Flat brush" or the "soft brush" for using white.

Black:

Many people still say not to use black with watercolor because it will muddy your artwork. However, I have found if black is used correctly this will not happen.

 

1. If you wish to blend colors with black then use only a few colors (I like to limit to one or 2 but it is your preference) and set the brush (with the black color) to a lower opacity.

2. Use a little bit of black in the composition, especially if you do not want to blend (this depends on your goal of course)

3. Use black for monochromatic pieces that have only one other color.

Example of black not muddy vs muddy

In this art piece, I only used black as the color. I used the "Wet blotting ink" and the "Wet wash" brush to get this look for more monochromatic color scheme.

Overview

1. Watercolor is great for blending and gradients and more

2. Always start painting from light to dark

3. Limit your color palette

4. You can use a few colors for painting skin or just one

5. The main contrast on dark skin is between highlights and mid-tones. Main contrast on pale and tan skin is between mid-tones and shadows.

6. You can use a watercolor paper to add more texture to your art

7. Your color palette does not have to have saturated and intense colors to get the most from watercolor. Pastel and soft colors are okay to use.

8. To get the most out of using white, use the correct tools

9. Black is fine under certain conditions

 

 

 

Thank you very much for your time and I hope this really long tutorial was helpful :) .