In this class, you began adding watercolor to the lighthouse landscape you created in Part 1. You worked on the sky, clouds, ocean, path, grass, and rocky landscape while using layers, texture, and color to create depth and atmosphere.

Key Takeaways:

Preparing Your Drawing

Before painting, lightly erase some of the darker pencil marks and clean up any extra lines from your original drawing. The sketch does not need to disappear completely, especially in areas that will eventually be covered with darker paint.

You can also use painter's tape, artist's tape, or washi tape to temporarily cover areas such as the lighthouse and cottage while painting the sky. This helps keep those areas protected from the watercolor wash.

Creating the Sky and Clouds

The sky uses watercolor's natural flow to blend several colors together. The colors demonstrated in class included:

Cobalt blue or a similar medium blue
Yellow ochre or a mustard-like yellow
Crimson or another cool pink-red

Your colors do not have to match these exactly. Use the closest colors you have or choose your own combination.

For the sky:

Keep the paper tilted so the watercolor can flow downward.
Work with enough water to create a moving bead of color along the edge of your wash.
Allow the colors to flow and blend rather than trying to control every area.
Keep the paint wet enough to move across the paper.
To create clouds, use a slightly damp, crumpled tissue to lift color from the wet sky. Vary the size and shape of the areas you lift rather than making every cloud look the same.

Helpful perspective tip: Make clouds larger closer to you and smaller toward the horizon. This creates atmospheric perspective and helps the sky feel deeper.

Adding Texture to the Path

Instead of painting the path one flat color, leave some areas lighter and others darker to create texture.

Add water to selected areas rather than wetting the entire path.
Tap color into both wet and dry areas.
Leave some white or negative space showing through.
Layer lighter and darker earth tones for variation.
Don't worry about adding every detail yet—you'll build on this in Part 3.

Painting the Ocean

The ocean begins with a light wash of blue and gradually builds in darker layers. Using a blue similar to the sky helps suggest the sky's reflection in the water.

Remember:

Keep your brushstrokes horizontal to help the water look flat.
Start lighter and gradually add darker color.
Leave some lighter areas showing through for variation.
You can add additional detail later rather than trying to finish everything in one layer.

Painting Grass

For the grassy areas, use a variety of greens rather than one flat color. The class demonstrated combining greens with warmer colors such as yellow ochre to create more natural variation.

As you work:

Use different brush sizes for different areas.
Keep distant grass smaller and less detailed.
Make marks larger and more noticeable as you move toward the foreground.
Allow colors to mix and overlap naturally.

The goal is to suggest grass and texture rather than paint every individual blade.

Building the Rocky Landscape

Use layers of earth tones to begin creating the rocky cliff and landscape. Let lighter and darker areas sit next to each other to suggest uneven surfaces, shadows, and natural texture.

You don't need to complete every rock or detail in this stage. Think of Part 2 as creating the foundation of color and texture that you'll refine later.

Don't Overwork It

Watercolor often looks best when you allow the water and paint to do some of the work for you. You won't have complete control over every blend, edge, or mark—and that's part of the medium.

If an area looks good, give it time to dry rather than continuing to work it. As the Guide reminded learners during class: “Stop messing.”

Helpful Tips

Practice the sky technique on scrap watercolor paper before adding it to your final painting.
Keep watercolor wet enough to flow when creating washes.
Use tissues to lift paint and create soft cloud shapes.
Work from lighter colors toward darker layers.
Use different brush sizes as you move from distant areas to the foreground.
Let areas dry before adding additional layers or details.
Don't worry about finishing every detail yet—Part 3 will bring everything together.

Next: Let your painting dry completely and save it for Part 3, where you'll add shadows, details, and finishing touches to complete the lighthouse scene.