Botanical Art Tutorial - 'Tea Wash'

Visit my websites: www.davidreynoldsart.com.au/
botanicalarttv.wix.com/tutorials
Welcome - This is a brief look at a watercolour technique called a Tea Wash. Here I am preparing to paint three Australian Eucalypt leaves. This technique marks the beginning of most watercolour botanical art pieces. Check out my website for more info. Thanks for watching.
www.davidreynoldsart.com.au/

[@finisterremork]

Thank you for posting this, I'm a beginner and watching you paint I've realised I've let my brush dry out too much between reloads and getting a bit of an uneven mess. This has been a big help!

[@fionak5018]

Thank you David for posting this. Basic steps are just what I need. Look forward to some more.

[@knightdark4371]

Thank you for this wonderful tutorial. Keep up the great work.

[@pri22v11]

Your videos are brillaint please make longer videos. Perhaps you could make ones showing the tool you use, the brushes you recommend and all the steps to complete a simple piece that we could follow? It would be great! Thank you again for sharing!

[@43Rhein10]

Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I've always wondered how this is done! - I'm trying to teach myself ... but complicated people like me ... well, ... are very complicated; these 3mins really helped me.

[@barbaramain6381]

I’ve recently got interested in botanical painting, thank you for this!

[@cinderellapunkdolls]

excellent video, relaxed enough to encourage rather than intimidate the botanical novice!

[@christinelubanski9880]

I like your tip re not lifting your brush. Thank you!

[@sac1303]

Excellent! Love it.

[@krysiabamford1624]

Fabulous! Thank you!

[@loriward6232]

Thank you David! This video is very helpful and answers questions i had about watercolors :-)

[@botanicalarttv]

Hi Heather - thanks for you comments. I mainly use Windsor & Newton watercolours combined with Arches 300gsm Smooth watercolour paper. I find this weight paper pretty tough and it has a beautiful surface for fine detail work. As for the buckling - you might like to pre stretch your paper. This generally stops any buckling when you apply your washes. Lifting paper fibres might be that the paper is soft and there might be too much water worked into one spot. Can you tell me what paper you are using? I hope this info helps you. BTW - nice work on your tutorials as well. Cheers David

[@botanicalarttv]

Hi Marcela - the whole aim of this tutorial is to show how a 'Tea-Wash' is used to begin a painting. It's not about the detail. I have another tutorial showing the detail of the leaf. Cheers David

[@maximme]

Since in this instance, the tea wash is totally covered with a darker layer, why not skip it all together? ie, start straight with the dark color?

[@jimschofield6092]

very interesting and informative . thank you

[@joehobbs9535]

jim schofield i

[@frenchie1146]

Ha, it really is like tea before the milk, isn't it? Your work is very nice, and this tutorial has proven to be quite helpful. Thank you!

[@ineszara6057]

it's stunning but we'd love you to make more details

[@runa1174]

Fantastic. Please tell me what brushes your using? Thanks.

[@HeatherLeBas]

This is an excellent tutorial! I've been meaning to get better at illustrating realistic leaves (its posing quite the challenge for me) What brand watercolors & paper are you using? My watercolor paper keeps buckling and lifting paper fibers. I'm not sure which component is the culprit. Keep up the awesome work, I love your videos!

[@jellybelly1339]

Theres something I don't get. You know how you put that first really light wash, then the second darker wash on top - why not just put the darker wash in to start with since they are exactly on top of each other and nothing of the light wash underneath will ever be seen? is it something to do with lifting parts of the second wash up later to expose the lighter wash underneath?

[@botanicalarttv]

Hi JellyBelly - thanks for your question. Watercolour by nature is transparent and the idea of this tutorial is to show how you can build up the layers to increase the tone or intensity of what you are painting. The technique I show here is about a loose application of the colour first then when it is almost dry I apply a heavier layer but the technique of application is different. I don't lift the brush until I run out of paint, I reload the brush going back to where I lifted off, and continue. The result is a smooth layering of paint with no brush marks. I hope this explains it. Happy Painting...!

[@prashi4peace]

very short video yet nice:)

[@DenyseCohen]

Very nice. Thanks for posting it. Your paper seem pretty smooth, can you tell us what paper do you use? Thanks.

[@botanicalarttv]

Hi Denyse - I use a couple of different papers but this one is Arches 300gsm smooth. It's a really good surface for getting crisp detail into my work. Cheers D

[@artdesign8999]

wooow..!!

[@golonfina]

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. YOU SKIP THE MAIN PART BEFORE to finish tue tutorial!!!

[@UrraSergio]

Not at all. The video shows, as the title says, the "tea wash" part of the process. However, there are many people with reading comprehension problems, even with phrases as short as "Botanical Art Tutorial - Tea Wash". So, you are not alone.

[@COLORPAPERPRINCESS]

do you use a graphic paper?

[@botanicalarttv]

I use Arches 300gsm Smooth watercolour paper. Its the best surface for getting the fine detail.

[@Jenfreva]

who else blew on their phone cuz they assumed the initial sketch was a fuzzy on their screen

[@Art_Kris_P]

Самое главное не показал

[@botanicalarttv]

что это за часть?

[@missiejin]

Wait but you skipped the point in the video!