Hi, it's Anna Mason. In this video I wanted to show you how I built up the
layers of watercolour to create this juicy 3D blackberry that's popping off
the paper. Key to getting it looking three-dimensional is to make sure that
the highlights and the darkest areas of shadow are in the right places. So I
worked from a macro photo and I marked both out in my drawing to begin with. The
highlights looked so light that I painted my first layer with a mega
watery grey colour, just a shade darker than the paper. After painting the
lightest tones in the stalk and the other colours to the berry, I wanted to be
able to see the highlights on the berry going forward, so I applied a second
layer of the watery mix to the now dry paper, everywhere in the berry except for
the highlights. With the highlights in the right place, by the end of this stage
the segments of the berry already looked like they have a little bit of form to
them, although they're overall way too light. To ensure that I didn't stay too light
as I layered up I went on to paint the very darkest shadow areas between the
berry segments. Next I used a really thick creamy black mix which was as dark
as I could make it and focused on creating hard lines with my brush along
the edges of segments, but a more textured edge where the dark colour would
need to transition into a lighter one. Next I watered my mix down a little to
work on the next darkest colours in the berry, overlapping into the darkest areas
I'd just painted and leaving gaps wherever I could see a lighter colour. At this
stage the berry looks really disjointed, but that's to be expected when I've only
painted the lightest and darkest parts of its tonal range. Painting the
mid-tones is where the berry comes together, which I did next by again
watering my mix down some, but keeping it darker than the original layer and
applying it everywhere this tone or darker. This creates a colour lighter than
is needed in a lot of places, but that's ok, because by letting the layer
underneath dry first I could continue to build up layers wherever needed
darkening and it was easier to judge which bits should be darker once the
full tonal range of the berry was already painted. After working on the
darker tones again, I shifted to work on the mid-tone some more with that same mid
consistency mix, making sure I created texture when I layered up around the
highlights. With this darkening up done, it was easier to see that I needed to
darken some of the highlights a little more by applying another layer of mega
watery paint once the paper underneath was dry, leaving just a few gaps to the
lighter colour underneath where needed. With the stalk painted it was time to
complete a final round of adjustments to make sure that the tonal balance was
right. Starting with a layer of the thick mix, working on the darkest tones again,
then adding a little more water to work on the darker mid-tones again, using a
smaller brush to add more detail. Next watering the mix down further to work on
the mid mid-tones again, before using the super watery mix again to work on the
highlights some more, adding detail and darkening just a touch until I was happy
with how shiny and 3D the berry was looking. A full video class of this
blackberry is available now in my online School and is also a project in my
latest book. If you've enjoyed this tip video please subscribe to my YouTube
channel and I'd love it if you'd share this video with your friends. And, if
you'd like to take one of my tried and tested video classes for free, pay a
visit to AnnaMasonArt.com where you'll find even more resources to help you
pick up your brush and paint the way you've always wanted to. But remember, you
won't improve your painting unless you make the time to actually paint, so be
sure to schedule in some me time this week and paint something that you love.
Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you soon with another tip for giving
your watercolours the "wow" factor.
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