The blending of colors in watercolor makes my heart flutter.When one color seeps into the other, it’s truly magic that’s created.This beautiful starry night tutorial in watercolor will help you learn the beautiful wet on wet technique.The colors are beautiful, the effect is magical and the process is simple!
A typical starry night will not feature as many different colors as I’ve used here. But there isn’t any harm in taking a bit of creative freedom.This starry night tutorial in watercolor will help you learn the wet on wet technique. In this post, I’ve explained very briefly about a few techniques that you can use in watercolor.(Please excuse the horrible photos.It was one of my very first posts).
The process of letting the color mix on its own on paper while it’s still wet is called “wet on wet technique”. I love the process when one color bleeds into the other.The results are not typical and is different every time. That’s the beauty of this technique.Learn more wet on wet techniques in my blending techniques post.
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Materials you’ll need are :-
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolor paints
- Watercolor brushes-Flat brush size 18 ,Round brush size 8,Spotter brush and a Mop brush
- White acrylic ink or white gouache or white poster paint
- While gel pen (optional)
- Black sumi ink or black poster paint
- Palette
Step 1:The first thing you’ll need is some clean water.Wet about 3/4th of the paper with clear water using a mop brush.Make sure your brush is clean. You’ll have to paint quickly in the next few steps before the water dries.As the water dries, it gets difficult for the watercolor to work.
Step 2:Dab a few strokes of “ultramarine blue” as shown below. You’ll see how quickly the paint disperses on the paper since the water is still wet.
To this ,add a touch of “turquoise”. At the bottom part of the wet area, paint with a bit of yellow and orange in a slightly curved manner.
Continue to add “ultramarine blue”,”mauve,”violet,”turquoise” at random parts across the wet area. Don’t worry if the paper starts to warp.It will come back to its shape when dry.If it doesn’t, place it inside a heavy book for a few hours.
Keep adding layers.Dab a few drops of “alizarin crimson” and “mauve”.
Finally add a few dashes of rich “ultramarine blue” to finish.
Step 3:Wait for the painting to dry completely. If you’re short on time, use a hair dryer. Take a flat brush and load some Sumi ink on it. These are great since they are waterproof and dry quickly.You can alternately use black poster paint too.
Paint quick strokes representing the silhouette of a hill. Paint until the bottom half is covered in black paint. Keep a printer paper underneath so that you don’t spoil your workspace.Continue till the entire area is covered evenly.
Step 4:Using a spotter brush, start painting small tree silhouettes on top of the hill.Paint thin horizontal and vertical strokes to capture the shape of a tree.Continue painting all across the top of the hill.
Wait for the paint to dry.
Step 5:Cover the bottom half of the painting using a paper.Now using the same flat brush,take some acrylic ink. With the help of your forefinger, start spraying paint wherever you’ve painted the sky.You can also use an old toothbrush instead of the flat brush.This creates the stars.
Add some more smaller stars using a white gel pen. Keep adding the stars until you’ve satisfied with the result.
And there you have it ! A beautiful starry night painting complete with twinkling stars and pretty trees.
Loved this? Check out these other fun watercolor tutorials
What do you think?
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts about this painting.And if you’ve attempted this tutorial, please tag me with #makeinkstruck on Instagram or e-mail me so that I can have a peek.Have a lovely day ! Cheers !
Wow! This is wonderful! Excellent tutorial. I would love to try this 😀 <3 <3 <3
Thank you so much ! Share it with me if you do. I’d love to have a peek 🙂 Have a nice day!
You reminded me of the REAL beauty of watercolor and these tutorials really make it look so simple try using watercolors.
thank for sharing
That is so sweet of you. I find myself learning new things everyday.I’m far from perfect but I love sharing whatever I know with my lovely readers.I hope you enjoy them and keep creating! x
This tutorial was great! I feel like I’ve mastered watercolours, though really I haven’t 😛 Thanks for sharing
Haha ! I’m sure you have.Thank you so much for stopping by to have a read. Have a lovely day!
WOW! That is absolutely gorgeous!! Thanks so much for sharing your tutorial!! I can’t wait to try it!
Thankyou so much Johanna. I’m so glad that you’re willing to try the tutorial.It is a lot of fun and not to mention quite simple too 🙂
Beautiful!! I would love to try this with my students when we return from break!
Thank you so much Frankie! That would be really amazing. Would you mind sending me photographs? I would love to see their amazing work. Have a lovely day!
Hi, Zakkia! I spent time yesterday painting a couple of wreaths! Now I want to try wet on wet! Thank-you for taking the time to share your knowledge and talent with us! Have a beautiful day!
I’ve been searching everywhere for tutorials like this. I’m so happy right now :))
That is so amazing . I am so glad my tutorials helped you out. Thank you and have a lovely day ?
First, I want to say that your tutorial is wonderful. I learned a lot, and it really helps me as a begginer.
Second..
I followed your tutorial, but the sky didn’t turned out as beautiful as yours. Mine was like.. Blegh. My colors just didn’t spread out as wide as yours. I do noticed that my paper dry too fast.
What should I do? Is it because of the paper? I use Canson for my paper.
I read somewhere that you could use glycerine or honey mixed in the water to slow down the drying.
I’ve only been sketching and drawing before I started learning watercolor. But It’s kinda hard to have a control of the brush. Maybe because I’ve always been using pencil.
Hi Atika. First off, kudos to you for attempting the tutorial. Now, the basic thing about watercolors is that the more water there is, the more it spreads but the lighter it becomes when it dries. If you don’t mind me asking, are you using Canson watercolor paper or regular paper by Canson? The watercolor paper gives a texture and tooth which helps water to adhere to the surface. Another thing to make sure is that the paper is really wet. Not that it should form pools of water but really wet that you can see. The lesser the water, the faster it tends to dry which may be one of the reasons. The fastest way to get enough water on your paper would be to use a large mop brush which holds enough water and has the capacity to cover a large area. I hope this helps and your second attempt will be a success. If you have any questions whatsoever, feel free to ask or e-mail me. 🙂
Thank you and have a lovely day! x
This is gorgeous! I have an ideaa in mind about what I want to make (night sky) and have no idea how to make it. I’ve tried wet on wet before but the paper wrinkled. Do we have to use certain watercolor paper to try wet on wet? Because I reaaallly want to try it. Thanks a bunch for your tutorial!
Hi Okky. Thanks so much for the lovely words. So, with watercolor you need paper that is thick but also has absorption properties. It is important that you get drawing pads/blocks that specifically say watercolor paper. Winsor and Newton Cotman student paper is very reasonably prices and of excellent quality. If you’re okay with purchasing paper of artist grade, nothing can beat the Arches watercolor paper. Never use printer paper or think paper. They won’t work. The paper will get soggy and wrinkle like you mentioned. I hope you have fun and ask away if you have any more questions!
Z, this is one of my very favorite paintings ever, starry night. I have done it in every medium possible that I can recall…–accept for watercolour. (Don’t believe I have the skill for that yet). This post is super helpful! I am ready to try it! Thank you.
PS even though I’ve tried a lot of mediums doesn’t mean results were smashing lol?
Thank you so much Jeanine for the lovely words. I’m pretty sure all your paintings are fab! We are our worst critic there is. I’m so glad you found this post super helpful. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may encounter while painting. Have an awesome rest of the week.
Wow thank you for this tutorial! I’ve just managed to paint a landscape that’s been on my mind for years!
That’s brilliant ! So glad this was useful to you. Thank you so much for taking the time out to comment .x
This is wonderful. Is this “wet on wet” something you can do on a canvas? Thank you so much!
You can buy or make watercolor canvases using watercolor paper but with the regular canvas, you’ll need to treat it a couple of times with gesso and then only be able to use it for blending. Again the blending may not be extensive because of the nature of the canvas surface.