Not only children dream of learning how to draw, especially since many adults have talents that have remained unrealized. There are various easy techniques that allow you to make drawings with paints for beginners. The easiest way to learn creativity is with gouache, you can also use watercolor or oil paints, but certain skills are needed to work with the latter.

Artist's Kit - Components

To learn how to draw, you can not do without paints. It is better to buy high-quality paints right away, because too cheap ones fit worse, therefore, the learning process will be less productive. A beginner should not spend money on a professional set: to start drawing from scratch, it is enough to have basic colors:

• titanium white;
• yellow (lemon, medium yellow, yellow ocher);
• red (carmine, cadmium);
• blue;
• emerald and light green;
• black.

The easiest way to work with gouache, but an adult or a schoolboy can easily cope with watercolor. The ideal option is not an ordinary nursery, but a watercolor for artists, which has the best quality. Budget sets of 24 colors cost 400-500 rubles. In principle, five tones (red, blue, yellow, white, black) are enough for the artist, and the rest can be created by mixing. To combine paints, you need to immediately buy a palette. Form, material can be any. On sale there are round, oval, square palettes, wood products, plastic. The size of the palette is also left to the user's choice.

It is equally important to choose a good brush. For beginners, three brushes of different sizes are enough. You can also buy an additional thin brush for bitmaps, small details. Squirrel brushes are the most popular - they perfectly absorb water, give it longer, therefore they paint without spots, stripes. This brush is good for glazing or creating clear contours.

Suitable for a novice artist and kolinsky brush - round, with a sharp tip. It is also convenient to work out thin contours, elegant details in the technique of watercolor painting. Be sure to include a flat wide brush for pouring. She performs the background or stripes over a large area of ​​the canvas, sheet of paper. Over time, fan, linear, and retouch brushes are usually added to the collection of brushes. It is important to inspect the brushes for the reliability of the connection between the pile and the handle - it must be very strong.

Other accessories in the artist's kit:

1. Paper. For watercolors, you should buy a special paper with low absorption, which will not allow water to wet the sheet until it is completely dry. On plain printer paper, watercolor tends to bleed. The best option is hot-pressed paper, which additionally has a very smooth surface.
2. Thinners. Special solvents will be required to dilute oil paints. Usually linseed oil or turpentine is used for this. Organic solvents are not recommended - they spoil the structure of the oil paint, remove the beautiful shine. However, to clean paint from brushes, you need to buy turpentine, white spirit.
3. Canvas. Usually used for painting with oils or acrylics. The stores have ready-made canvases in stretchers made of linen, cotton, synthetics. Natural fabrics are dense, sag a little, drawings look more beautiful on them. You can also make a canvas yourself. To do this, you need to buy a stretcher, cover it with a cloth, then prime it. As the primer dries, pull the canvas a little tighter.
4. Easel. It is recommended to purchase it if you plan to take drawing seriously. The easel is placed at eye level, which gives an excellent overview of the picture, helps to work correctly and quickly look for flaws. For small canvases, there are mini easels on sale.
5. Protective varnish. It is advisable to cover the picture with varnish, this will help protect it from ultraviolet radiation, make the colors saturated.

Also, to compile an artist's kit, you need to buy jars for brushes, wet wipes, cotton rags. To work with oil, you will need a palette knife - a spatula for thick paint, removing dried material and applying beautiful strokes. Another option is to buy clip-on oilers (single or double) that contain paint and are easy to attach to your palette.

Watercolor painting techniques

You need to learn different ways of drawing in stages, moving from the easiest to the most difficult. At first, most artists use sketching, then they begin to show imagination and create their own masterpieces. It is recommended to start learning how to work with watercolor with the techniques described below.

Flat brush painting

If the drawing is invented, you should follow these steps step by step:

1. Draw a square, a rectangle to indicate the beginning, end of the layer. With a dark shade, draw a thin line from the upper left corner to the upper right corner.
2. Wet the brush with watercolor. Run the second stroke from the bottom edge of the first line, covering the accumulated paint below. You need to work quickly so that there are no streaks of watercolor or gently wash them with a cloth.
3. Repeat this action again with the next line. It is better to use the flat edge of the brush for strokes, which will make the bottom of the stroke more even. Intermittent strokes must be immediately redrawn.
4. Completely fill in the intended contour, repeating the steps in the same way. It is important at the same time to observe the evenness of the tone of the paint, not to change the brand of watercolor. On paper that is too thick, the strokes may be uneven. Then it is recommended to slightly sprinkle the sheet with water, get wet, let it dry, and only then start drawing.

At the end of the work, it is necessary to rinse the brush, squeeze it dry, remove all the clots of paint at the bottom of the last stroke with it, preventing the picture from discoloring. To give the picture texture, you can leave it to dry at an angle.

Gradient

First, you also need to work out a square, a rectangle (in the future, this will be the drawing required by the artist). Then the following steps should be taken:

• dip the brush in a dark shade of the desired color, draw a vertical or horizontal stroke;
• wipe the brush with a cloth, paper towel, dip in a lighter shade of the same color, draw a stroke overlapping part of the previous one;
• rinse, wipe the brush, make another stroke (lighter, darker or a completely different color);
• repeat until the shape is filled;
• rinse the brush, dry it, pick up the remaining paint.

With the help of a gradient, you can create very interesting transitions that form the basis of the future picture.

watercolor glaze

The glaze technique requires the imagination of the artist; with its help, the landscape, the image of autumn and summer, the landscape come out well. Description of the technique on the example of the landscape:

• complete the sky above, the river below with blue watercolor;
• dilute the paint with water, draw a waterfall;
• make pink clouds in the sky;
• draw the bottom of the picture and the mountain in yellow;
• let all layers dry well;
• using dark blue to shade the horizon of the mountain and its top, they can also beautifully decorate the waterfall;
• make the banks of the river orange, shade the sky a little;
• as the drawing dries, draw bubbles on the waterfall in purple;
• you can draw trees along the banks of the river - the trunks are brown, the leaves are green;
• shade blue sky, water;
• draw grass in blue, green;
• you can depict trees and fruits under them.

The meaning of glazing is that all layers of paint interact with each other, overlap one another and, when overlapping, give even more interesting effects.

"Wet" technique

Before drawing, you need to moisten a sheet of paper with water. Of course, the paper needs to be thick, not sagging. Wetting is done with a sponge, after squeezing it out. Moisture should be evenly distributed over the sheet and not shine, otherwise there is too much water on it.

• first draw a background, choosing any light shade;
• make a drawing of a vase;
• draw leaves in a vase using yellow, red, orange;
• apply each new shade after partial drying of the previous one, the vagueness of the lines creates very interesting effects;
• at the end of the work, you can place accents with brown, dark brown, burgundy, make shadows;
• with a wet clean brush, do some blurring of the borders, but do not overdo it to eliminate the sloppy look of the picture.

You should not combine cold and warm tones in one picture, this will give a visual dissonance.

Dry brush drawing

It is easy to draw in this technique. The paint must be taken on a dry brush, then a stroke on paper. Preliminary it is recommended to sketch with a pencil. At first, the sketches will be quite rough - for example, the outlines of the sky, trunks and branches of trees, a river. After the first layer dries, details are added, shadows are created, texture is drawn. Then they make a background around, place the necessary accents.

When drawing, you need to change the pressure on the brush, which will add or remove texture. It is important that the brush does not remain too wet after rinsing and blotting. Otherwise, the paint will not give the effect of texture, it will look flat.

No excess moisture

The technique is well suited for drawing clouds, streams of light. Before starting work, you need to prepare a few sponges or sponges for the face. First, strokes are made with a dry or wet brush, then they are rubbed with sponges. It is important not to rub the sheet hard so as not to damage the paper. Highlights can be done with paper towels. After, if necessary, the contours of the drawings and accents are drawn with a thin dry brush.

Discoloration of dried paint

In this case, the already dried drawing is clarified. Moisten the desired areas with a cloth, gently wipe with a dry brush. It is best to use brushes with stiff bristles, which can scrape off the paint a little. Actions must be careful, otherwise there is a risk of damaging the paper. Instead of using a rag, it is acceptable to spray paper from a spray bottle, and then moisten the moisture with a paper towel. Another option is to gently rub the pattern with sandpaper, then you do not need to wet it first.

Gouache for beginners

Usually, learning to draw with gouache is recommended as early as childhood - from 4-6 years old. It is very easy to apply, does not float, and is much easier to work with than watercolor. Gouache drawings can be very diverse - nature, animals, flowers and trees, fruits, etc. Adults paint real landscapes with gouache.

You can make drawings not only on paper, but also on canvas, plywood, wood, fabric, even on stones, pebbles. For this purpose, it is better to purchase not children's, but artistic gouache, which is of high quality. First, a sketch is made with a pencil, after which it is painted over. Start with dark colors, gradually moving to light ones. Mixing paints must take into account the color wheel, otherwise the result will be a gray tone.

Features of oil paints

Experienced artists greatly appreciate oil paints, which are available in a wide range in specialized stores. The paints contain mineral substances, organic and synthetic components. They are diluted not with water, but with linseed oil, which gives brightness, richness of tone. Paints dry for a long time, but the drawing can be corrected for a certain time. To dilute dried, thickened paint, a special oil is also used, which is sold in the art departments.

Types of oil paints

There are three types of oil paints:

1. Highly artistic. Usually they are used for professional painting. The price of the material is high due to the excellent quality of the components. For decades, paints do not lose color, do not fade.
2. Sketchy. Suitable for beginners, inexpensive, can be used in different techniques.
3. Studio. They have an intermediate price between the two listed options, suitable for artists and beginners.

Also, oil paints are transparent, opaque. The latter are denser, do not transmit light. If the packaging is marked with a “*”, such material is very resistant, it lasts a long time. The more stars, the higher the quality of the paint.

Rules and drawing techniques

The oil painting looks very beautiful. The strokes look each on its own, although it is rather difficult to achieve such an effect. There are two main techniques: in one coating (alla prima) and in several layers. For a multilayer overlay of paints, you will have to try - work quickly, do not dilute the material, know its properties and how one tone will look over the second. Oil consumption for multilayer application is usually high.

Single-layer drawing has its drawbacks. So, over time, strokes can crack due to paint shrinkage, so most professionals dry the first coat and apply at least one more. Thus, material costs can be reduced.

• the lighting should be good, otherwise there is a risk of making unnecessary shadows in the picture;
• first you need to draw a contour, then make oil strokes along the lines;
• colors can be mixed, knowing the basic principles of combining tones;
• usually they paint pictures, starting with bright elements, highlighting the darkest and lightest points;
• after completing the sketch, outline the contours and details, make the necessary accents;
• the finished picture must be allowed to dry for three days, but on the second day you can make some edits;
• the canvas after drying can not be rubbed, touched with hands.

Acrylic paints combine the properties of oil and watercolor, they do not fade, they are not afraid of water. You can apply layers directly on the previous ones, without waiting for them to dry. To begin with, it is better to buy a set of 6 colors, then expand to 18. Acrylic painting is on paper, canvas, fabric, glass, plastic, stones. Dilute the paint with water, solvents. The following techniques are used:

• dry - on paper, canvas;
• wet - on a dampened canvas;
• glazing - applying a thick layer and its subsequent shading;
• impasto - drawing with clearly distinguishable strokes.

To give the picture a complete look, you can apply individual strokes with felt-tip pens, markers, pencils, pastels. At first, simple pictures are performed, then they move on to still lifes, views from the window, and portraits. For training, it will be useful to apply the technique of abstraction - to make spots and add details, giving them an image.

Tips for working with acrylic are as follows:

• nearby it is necessary to have a spray with water to moisten quick-drying paints;
• when adding water, you can make a more transparent material from acrylic paint;
• it is impossible to introduce too much water, after drying the paint may crumble;
• before wetting the brush in the paint, you need to dry it;
• to slow down the drying of the material, the addition of not water, but a solvent will help;
• to preserve the pattern, it is varnished.

Drawings on fabric

It is quite difficult to make fabric drawings, it is better to practice on a different basis. With experience, it is quite possible to draw on silk, synthetics, natural fabrics. First, the fabric must be washed, ironed, pulled onto a frame or placed on a flat surface. Place an oilcloth under the fabric, make a drawing with a special felt-tip pen for matter. After doing art painting. The easiest way is to work on ready-made stencils, but you can make a drawing yourself. After a day of drying, you need to iron the product with an iron, after 2 days it can be washed.

Paintings on canvas

For acrylic, canvas is the ideal base. Paints must be prepared in advance, diluted with water. If mixing is planned, it is better to use a special solvent, otherwise the material will dry quickly. The palette should be periodically sprinkled with water. They begin to draw the largest details, as they draw smaller lines, they change the brushes to thin ones. The rate of dilution of paints with water to create more transparent tones is less than 20%.

Drawings on paper

For the first time, it is worth trying drawing on paper. Since the structure of the paints is dense (it is, in fact, liquid plastic), ordinary thin paper will not work. It is better to take cardboard or special thick paper. Also, drawings can be done on paper wallpaper that is already pasted on the walls. This is a popular design technique that allows you to decorate plain material and give the room an original look.

glass painting

The pictures on the glass look very beautiful, reminiscent of a finished stained glass window. The contours of the future drawing are made with a thin marker according to the sketch, which is placed under the glass. After that, paints are applied in layers, forming the desired combinations of colors, accents, lighter and darker zones. At the end of the work, acrylic varnish is applied to the painting.

Paints give endless scope for imagination. Learning to draw is easy. Even without talent, you can make beautiful drawings with sufficient diligence and perseverance.

What can you draw when you're bored? The question for which the site site actually has a hundred answers, but let's talk about everything in order.

The easiest ideas for beginners

Not all of us can draw well, and even bother with complex drawings in those moments when it’s just boring, you don’t really want to. I offer a whole range of cool and interesting drawings that you can draw for those moments when you or your child really want to do drawing to kill boredom:

More ideas

What else can you draw when you're bored? Let's fantasize.

1. Comic . Surely funny stories happened to you not so long ago that you told your parents or friends more than once. But what if we draw them in the form of a comic book? It is likely that your story will hook many, and you will even become famous! You can find examples of comics on the Internet - today you can find almost anything on the net: how to call a life operator, how to make crafts and how to fly an airplane.
   
   
2. Your character from the game . If you are a fan of any computer toy, be it minecraft or League of Legends, you definitely have a favorite character that you would not mind drawing. Try to portray him in battle or, on the contrary, in some unusual situation - for example, as if your character were in our world;
   
   
   
   
3. You yourself . Drawing yourself, though difficult, but very interesting! Try to draw your own portrait in your favorite style - maybe you will not only find something to draw when you are bored, but also get a unique and unusual avatar!
   
   
   
   
4. Idol . If you have a favorite actor, singer or just a cartoon character - why not draw it when you're bored? Drawing a loved one from the world of show business or just a fictional cartoon character will take your time and leave a great result in the form of pumped drawing skills and a cool drawing!
   
   
5. Your girlfriend or friend . This is a great opportunity for you to practice your drawing skills and keep yourself occupied when you're bored, and just imagine how nice it will be for the person you drew!
   
   
6. Relatives . Mom, dad, grandparents, sisters and brothers - all these people very close to us always support us, no matter what situation we find ourselves in, and, of course, it will be very nice to draw a beloved relative with a pencil on paper or digitally.
   
   
7. pet . If you have a favorite animal, then this is a great chance to learn how to draw an animal from nature. Of course, you need to persuade your pet to pose quietly for a long time, but if suddenly you are lucky and the kitty curled up to take a nap - do not waste time, grab pencils, paper, eraser, and start drawing!
   
   
8. Something wonderful. Think about what causes you the most emotions? Maybe a bright rainbow after a rainy day, sunshine in your mother's hair, some landmark, a graceful butterfly, or just something ordinary at first glance, but insanely dear to your heart.
   
   

I leave you cool drawings for inspiration - if you still haven't figured out what to draw when you're bored - just take a look at the gallery and choose what you like!

To learn how to draw pictures with paints, it is advisable to study at an art school, during which you will acquire skills and techniques for working with paints. You will learn what paints are, the technique of applying color to canvas, etc. You will also learn how to paint on canvas, on fabric. You will learn that they paint on paper only with watercolors and gouache paints, and paint with oil paints on canvas, or rather they don’t draw, but write. Without the ability to select colors, mix them, getting the necessary "color", you will not be able to convey the subtle shades of a landscape or portrait. In addition, there are many types of paints, each of which is suitable for a particular drawing technique. Oil paintings require more diligence and patience than a simple pencil drawing. Paints of a certain color must dry in order to continue applying a new color to the canvas, so sometimes artists paint for months and even years.
This section contains drawings painted by me or sent by you for placement in this section.

In this article, you will find many interesting ideas on how to diversify painting lessons with a child and make them interesting and educational.

Eco-friendly paints for children

For children, there are 3 types of safe paints that parents prefer:

• finger
• gouache
• watercolor

It is better to start with finger paints, they are suitable for younger children. You can learn more about them from the article. Gouache and watercolor for older children.

The child is interested in exploring something new, but over time he may get bored with the monotonous procedure for painting a sheet with paint. To prevent this from happening, parents need to show the child how to draw more.

There are many ways to paint with the above paints. Various techniques will not let your child get bored and show him a lot of new and interesting things that he has not seen yet.

Finger painting for kids

This is the most interesting activity for the crumbs, because the paint must first be felt before learning how to draw with it. Dip your index finger in the paint and put spots on paper with them, draw a flower or a caterpillar with them. Draw lines with your finger, make rays near the sun. Show your child that you can draw like this and let him create on his own, let him draw what he wants.

Drawing with a brush for children

When the child can already hold a brush in his hands, show him how to draw with it. Explain to the child that before taking a new color, it needs to be washed. Take the paint on a brush and apply it to a piece of paper. Try to draw with brushes of different sizes and shapes, see what kind of pattern you get.

You can draw with a brush in the following ways:

Dot painting for kids

Show how you can draw with dots, for this you can use a brush, a finger, and a cotton swab. Dip your tool in the paint and quickly touch the paper with it. You can decorate simple pictures with this technique, the kids really like this activity, besides, it is very useful for the development of fine motor skills of the hands.

Drawing with stamps for children

Apply paint to the stamp and attach it to the paper, press down. The imprint of the picture will remain on the paper. Show your child how to work with it. Stamps can be painted in different colors, instead of ready-made dies, you can use homemade ones. For example, to make circles with a straw, you can use figures from sorters, parts from a designer, and even cut vegetables and fruits.

A very interesting texture is obtained if, instead of a stamp, you use an ordinary napkin with pimples. Dip it in the paint and, as if blotting, walk it over a sheet of paper.

foam drawing

Cut off a piece of foam rubber and dip it into the paint, then press it against the paper and put it away. You can draw lines, paint over some shapes. Show your child how to draw. Also, the child will be interested if you make different geometric shapes from foam rubber. You can attach them to a pencil or stick and use them as stamps. So you can, while playing, learn not only colors, but also shapes. Then complicate the task, try to draw ornaments, first of two shapes, then use more shapes.

Drawing on wet paper

Dampen a sheet of drawing paper with water. Now paint on it. The contours of the lines blur, become fuzzy, smooth transitions and haze are excellent. Just do not overdo it with water, it will be better if you wipe it with a damp cotton swab. This technique is good for paintings with rain, images of fog, flowers behind a curtain.

Blotography

Teach your child to put blots, because then it's so interesting to guess what they look like.

Take a sheet of paper, fold it in half, unfold it and put a few blots on the fold, you can make them in one color or different. Fold the sheet along the fold line and run your fingers from the center of the pattern to its edge. At the same time, you can say something like "sim-salabim."

Unfold the sheet and show the baby what you got. When the child grows up a little, you can ask him what he sees in the picture, what he reminds him of. When the drawing dries, you can draw small details with a felt-tip pen or circle the outline. It develops imagination and abstract thinking very well.

Threadography

To do this, you will need a sheet of thick paper and woolen thread. Bend the sheet in half and unfold, lower the thread into a jar of paint, then put it on paper and fold it. Move the thread, pressing the leaf with your palm. Expand and see what happens. You will see chaotic strokes of paint, examine them with your child, maybe you will see some familiar objects in them, circle them and finish the details, say what they are called. The combination of creativity, mental and speech work will help your child develop intellectually.

Wax drawing

This is a very common and interesting technique. Draw a picture on a piece of paper with wax crayon or a piece of wax candle, and then paint over this sheet of paper with paint with your child. Since the wax is oily, its paint will not paint over and you will see your drawing. Using this method, you can also make secret notes or write congratulations.

Waxing and painting technique

Put something under a sheet of paper, such as a coin or other embossed object, and rub the sheet with wax, paint over it with paint and you will get an image of the object.

Salt drawings

Sprinkle the finished drawing with salt. When the paint dries, the salt will remain on the sheet and give an interesting texture to the drawing. In this way, you can make a three-dimensional drawing, for example, highlight stones or a path in the image. On blue paint, salt will look like snowflakes, if you sprinkle green leaves with salt, they will become like living, translucent.

Drawings with masking tape

Molar tape sticks well and peels off paper, so it can be used in drawing and get interesting effects. For example, you can make a birch forest: cut tree trunks from adhesive tape, you can stick knots and branches from the remnants, stick adhesive tape on a sheet of paper. From above, paint everything with paint, when it dries, remove the adhesive tape, white stripes will remain under it. it remains to add details and the forest is ready!

You can cut out something more complicated, such as houses and draw a whole city. Scotch tape is good in that it can be used instead of a stencil, but paint streaks are unlikely to fall under it, and you don’t need to fix it additionally.

You can also use the tape as a frame for the picture, when you remove it, the edges of the picture will be clear and it will be neat.

Drawing pictures with cling film

Yes, yes, with the help of cling film, you can also make amusing drawings. Lay it on a sheet of paper covered with wet paint, and move around a little. When you remove it, you will see interesting abstractions that resemble crystals.

Blowing paint through tubes

Dilute the paint with water to make it thinner. Take one or two colors. Drop the paint on the sheet and blow into the tube, directing it in different directions at the paint. The drawing will resemble the interweaving of tree branches, or you can add a face and it will be hair - let the child dream up.

Painting over drawings

Draw some animal on a piece of paper and ask the child to hide it, but first show how: paint over it completely with paint. At the same time, you can tell a fairy tale, for example, that there was a mouse, she went for delicious cheese, and a cat was waiting for her, who wanted to eat the mouse. And ask the baby how you can help the mouse? Of course, it must be hidden. And ask him to do it.

leaf pattern

Very interesting way to draw. To do this, you will need leaves from trees. Apply paint on the leaves, you can paint with different colors, attach a piece of paint to the paper and press it, then carefully remove it. You can make such a beautiful forest.

If you turn on a little imagination, you will come up with a lot of new ideas with which drawing will be not only fun, but also informative, educational and useful.

In addition to paints, there are also other drawing tools. Your baby will definitely like wax pencils, felt-tip pens, crayons. More details about visual and other types of creativity are described in the article.

VIDEO: Let's paint with paint! drawing games

This tutorial shows working with color and brush techniques, as well as step by step work on the background, middle and foreground.

For beginners, it is best to use inexpensive acrylic or oil paints. For example, acrylic paints "Sonnet"

This picture was chosen for the lesson. A simple nightscape with some brush work on a thistle in the foreground.

This is a sketch. The horizon is below the middle, two mountains, an area with waves and a sand dune in the foreground. Sketch casually, as you see in the photo.

Mix some cadmium yellow light with white and start painting the sky.

Add dark cadmium yellow and more light cadmium yellow to get that color.

Apply paint where I am in the photo, and stretch the color accordingly.

Add cadmium red light and black to the last color to get the color in this photo.

Fill in the color behind the mountain.

Add cadmium red light and blue for the next color.

Paint another mountain as you see in this photo.

Add the same colors for the horizon.

Fill in the back section with paint as you can see in this photo.

Add black, light cadmium red and blue to get this color.

Make a mixture like for mountains or use some of what is left and continue writing.

Mix blue and red until you get that color and fill with paint where you see in the photo.

Here, more black, red and blue are mixed in to get a darker color. With strokes upward, blend the paint on the canvas to create fluffy outlines of soft grass.

Here I used a fan brush to add fluffiness. A fan brush is very good for this process. Now you need to wait for everything to dry before continuing.

Make sure the surface is dry before taking the next step. For the main color of the foam, mix blue, a little black and white.

After the main wave and a few behind are painted, I add a foam pattern in the foreground.

This is how your underpainting should look like. Leave to dry before continuing.

Use a flat brush to mix black, phthalocyanine green, and cadmium red to create a dark green color. Red dampens the brightness, but leaves a green tone.

Draw the lines as you see in this photo. The trick is to make them look more natural, they need to be placed at different levels. Try to avoid strongly curved and strongly straight lines. Practice on a separate canvas if you're unsure.

We begin to paint the base of the thistle, moving the brush from the bottom from the middle to the side.

Now mix Neopolitan Yellow with Light Cadmium Yellow to lighten the dark green mixture. We will use the resulting color to highlight the lightest areas in the foreground.

Add the thistle stems as you can see in this photo. Let them overlap each other at different angles to achieve the most natural effect.

In the same color, bending and turning the brush, paint the leaves with strokes. This takes practice, so practice on a different canvas to get the right effect in both directions: right and left.

Here I used Alizarin Crimson to change the color of the leaves. This adds interest and play to the foreground.

Mix in a light blue color for the thistle flowers. Use blue or phthalocyanine blue.

We write with sharp movements from below, so that the flower seems to dissolve in the darkness. Wipe off the brush and repeat so you don't get a dark color on top. Use white and yellow to highlight highlights.

The lesson is over.

You may need several times to get the strokes right. Don't back down, keep going. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, because you will make them anyway. Write this picture 3 times and the fourth time you will get it right. Use art panels, they are inexpensive and good for practice.