How to Paint a Watercolor Night Scene using ONLY 2 COLORS

Painting a night scene in watercolor is a very challenging prospect. At the same time it is very rewarding too, as the medium when approached correctly, is excellent in creating a sense of mood and light.
In this video, I introduce you to the basic principles of how to approach and prepare for painting a nocturne. I use the same approach whether I am Urbansketching outdoors or sat at my desk.
The materials I use in this demo are as follows:
Paper: Lanaquarelle hot press paper, 300gsm, A4.
Paints: Azure (White Nights), Pyrrole Orange (Rembrandt), A small touch of Quinacridone Violet Rose (White Nights).
Assortment of 4-5 round brushes.
I upload full-length watercolour tutorials on Skillshare. Use my link and get 1 month free: www.skillshare...
Instagram: / line.wash.birb

[@Neorhim]

Night scenes are almost a complete genre of watercolour to explore in itself. It is a rare topic. Please do some others, you are clearly good at it. This is beautiful and I wonder what it would be if it was not, as you said, a study.

[@linewashbirb1]

I did attempt a bigger, full colour version. But it didn't go as smoothly as this one.

[@andercoyote4170]

Very instructive! Thank you. Wonderful night scene

[@linewashbirb1]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@engelabothma182]

This is absolutely stunning and it was amazing to watch!

[@linewashbirb1]

ty! glad you enjoyed it.

[@claudyjansenvanhetlaar3285]

Hello, I saw your work on youtube for the first time today. Love how you work with colors. I immediately subscribed. Thank you for sharing your work. Greetings from the Netherlands.

[@linewashbirb1]

Thanks for subbing! ... and greetings from India :-)

[@shirleykwan5270]

Thank you so much for the amazing artwork show to us 🙏🏻

[@linewashbirb1]

You are most welcome!

[@Neorhim]

A night scene, different and nice. Thank you.

[@linewashbirb1]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@benjaminmeacham7318]

Epic stuff !! You earned my subscription

[@linewashbirb1]

Thankyou and welcome aboard ❤️

[@shirleykwan5270]

Thank you for the awesome tutorial❤

[@linewashbirb1]

You're welcome! ☺️

[@chetloggins8203]

Well explained and well done!

[@JohnnyB-art]

Hey buddy,, this is so good, how your painting is so loose and the darks so dark and the contrast of the light areas is amazing it really works so well and looks amazing. 😊👍

[@linewashbirb1]

Thank You! When its just 2 colours, a small paper and low expectations, it gets a lot easier to enjoy the process and not fuss over little things.

[@JohnnyB-art]

@@linewashbirb1 yes that’s very true my friend.. well I look forward to seeing more of your beautiful paintings ❤️

[@jeannes]

Thanks so much for showing this process, I learned some stuff! Really beautiful results you got, and I love how it's just 2 colors. If you find a good reference picture, could you do a low-contrast nocturne, perhaps a landscape that's lit by moonlight? Just a suggestion, whatever you post is always great!

[@linewashbirb1]

You're Welcome! I'll keep you in mind if and when I paint something of that nature. It doubt my approach would be much different. In the meantime, might I suggest checking out Liron's channel? I'm sure I've seen him do a few evening scenes.

[@jeannes]

@@linewashbirb1 I was thinking that a low contrast scene might be a little different because in order to convey it correctly and with interest, you might need a larger range of values. That might mean more than just 3 washes. I tend to do 4-5 washes on each painting but that's because I need practice simplifying.

[@linewashbirb1]

@@jeannes The range of values is always the same, it's only the way they are distributed that changes, right? I always stick to 3 washes, 3.5 is the most I'll go.

[@Rene974]

Beautiful artwork. New subscriber.

[@linewashbirb1]

Thank you! Welcome aboard :-)

[@thewildadversary]

Wow it’s so impressive you managed to paint this on hot press 😂 I find it’s sooo difficult to get any smooth washes on hot press it’s a whole different experience than cold or rough press. I’ve been painting in watercolor for a number of years but I just recents switched from “painting in the lines” like a coloring book to painting 3 large connected washes and boy is it a learning curve! I can’t seem to make a single painting like that without panicking and making a mess of my painting but I’m still practicing.

[@linewashbirb1]

Thank-you. Look closely though. None of my washes in this piece are smooth. There are 'cauliflowers' everywhere, especially in the sky. IMO, the imperfections caused by flowing water is what give a watercolour piece its charm. When you try to 'fix' and 'control' things, you're asking for trouble.

[@thewildadversary]

@@linewashbirb1Thank you! I’m a bit of a perfectionist and it’s an important reminder for me to surrender to what the paint wants to do sometimes 😁

[@TheNeedleneuk]

This is another great demo. It looks like a monochrome painting. Is hot press watercolor paper similar to multi-media paper?

[@linewashbirb1]

It is a smooth watercolour paper. So you might say its texture is similar to what many brands call mixed-media paper. Unlike mixed-media papers, this one is 300gsm and 100% cotton.

[@kiranp2325]

wow!!!

[@karenfox9982]

❤

[@ErikvanSchaaik]

Thanks. Great tutorial. Forgive me, but the music is getting on my nerves. I’d rather just listen to you talk and the sound of the surroundings.

[@linewashbirb1]

Noted! Thankyou for the input.