Learn to Paint! A French Street Scene in Watercolor for beginners and intermediate level painters.

Join me in sketching and painting a street scene from France. I show how a complex photograph can be reproduced in loose watercolor.
The video is both real time and fast-forward. I have the original photo on my web site, available for download. Download Photo website: shirleypeters....
I’ve painted this scene twice now, and I think I’d do better a third time! But in the end, I need to move on. I mention at the end that I saved this painting by using white gouache. Let me know what you think in the comments!
AND... apologies for my production fail! It seems that sometimes my music is drowning out my talking. I can't fix this video, but I'll make an effort to ensure it doesn't happen on future vids. Cheers!
MY MATERIALS:
Paper: Arches Cold Pressed (artist quality.)
Paint: Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolours
Brushes: Watercolour Mop, Chisel Flat, Round Sable, Rigger.
MUST HAVE BASICS that I recommend for starting out.
Lemon yellow
Permanent Orange
Alizarin Crimson
French Ultramarine
Cobalt Blue
Green Apatite Genuine
Purple
Burnt Sienna
Burnt Umber
Lamp Black
Download Photo website: shirleypeters....
Website: www.shirleypete...
Facebook Page: / shirleypetersart
Twitter: @shirleypeters
Prints of TDF paintings: fineartamerica....
Full List of Watercolors in my current palette
Lemon yellow
Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue
Aureoles
French Ochre
Permanent Orange
Perylene Red
Quinacridone Magenta
Alizarin Crimson
Moonglow
French Ultramarine
Pthalo Blue
Indathrone Blue
Cobalt Blue
Manganese Blue
Cobalt Teal Blue
Undersea Green
Sap Green
Green Apatite Genuine
Perylene Green
Burnt Tigers Eye Genuine
Transparent Red Oxide
Burnt Sienna
Burnt Umber
Sepia
Paynes Grey
Lamp Black
Music: Epidemic Sound Kim Aspen “Nora’s Doorstep”
Trevor Kowalski “Firefly Trail”
Cody Francis “Ros in the Garden, “Mountain Air” “I’ll be Alright”

[@antonellamurello4764]

What a nice music....it completes the beauty of the artwork

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you

[@Orlando584]

Very nice painting

[@IshtarPainting]

Lovely painting!

[@shirleypeters]

Thankyou.

[@carolwellein7108]

So glad you let us watch you draw and listen to your thoughts. We don’t very often get to see this in a video. I like how you let the colors mix on the paper. They really came through when you began to paint the buildings. Your demonstration reminded me to simplify and to use line marks to show details. Thanks for sharing your talent with us.

[@anabellamaldonado9617]

Love your watercolor painting

[@wieswarnders6501]

Very understandable as you explain it! thank you Shirley!

[@aayeff]

Excellent painting skills demonstrated in this video. Terrific harmony of colours. Looks simple, but its not. Thanks!

[@cathyjoerger4676]

I especially LOVE that you include the drawing part and share how you make your drawing decisions. I like how you share your "thoughts" throughout the video. I just discovered you and your videos and I'm so excited to see how you structured this complicated French street scene. We have lived and continue to travel in France and now painting from my photos is a challenge! This REALLY helps me!! And your music choices are perfect!! Thanks again!

[@shirleypeters]

Thankyou for your comment. I’m glad you find the videos helpful. Lucky you travelling in such a picturesque country!

[@wilsonbethlehem3101]

Love Gouache part. It brings out the whole painting into another level

[@hassanmarhoum6501]

Généal ce que vous êtes Vraiment magnifique

[@z.z.1205]

Very good video. The painting itself looks beautiful but quite complex. Have to watch your other videos now. Thx alot

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you. Glad you liked it. I’m planning on doing a new one each week.

[@franceslazu1784]

I’m new in watercolor painting. I’m being washing others watercolor artist and you are the first one that in my opinion are not afraid at all of using vibrants color in the painting with so much natural to the point that it feels and looks so easy even though it is not easy. Great job!! Love it!!

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you Frances.

[@paulbleichner3514]

Thank you Shirley. I needed that.

[@K.art.egyRus]

Wowwwww❤❤❤

[@hosseinesmaeilisohi5472]

Espectacular🍀, thanks

[@bosechotka]

Please keep on uploading more vdos. It is fantastic.

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you. I will continue to upload videos. Atm one a week. I’d like to do them more frequently, and I’m working towards that.

[@afaelnar]

That's a beautiful painting. Your colors and technique are magnificent.

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you so much 😀

[@barbaraverser1056]

I LOVE that you're showing the drawing portion of the painting!! Only 2 minutes in, I just got so excited! So many artists go right into the painting with an underdrawing that is hardly visible. Thank you.

[@pharanaiarts1068]

Very Very nice!

[@driesketels]

What a lovely instructional video and a great way of presentation. You come over as very natural in front of the camera. Amazing studio as well with all the natural light coming in. Stay connected Shirley.

[@shirleypeters]

Thankyou! Yes I can work without having to turn on the lights! I’m very lucky.

[@woraluckrattikarnchalakorn9925]

Very beautiful painting , thank you so much .

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you too

[@wolfgangflink8546]

Wonderful painting. Thank you for showing. It was very usefull.

[@triciat-b3972]

Fun watching you paint this, and how you changed it and improved it ! Always amazed at how these paintings come to life by initially painting the shadows. And glad the music stopped ! I'd much rather listen to the brush noises if there are any or you, even if you're talking to yourself, always seems so much more personal - like sitting in the studio with you, whereas the music is distracting and most of the time I turn the sound off ! Thanks for sharing. I'll be back to watch some more.

[@shirleypeters]

Yes. I made an error with the music drowning out my chatter. I do have lots of birds here, and they are definitely an option for my future videos. Thanks.

[@annalaurahurt]

Love watching you. Better with no music!! Could not hear you for the loud music.

[@shirleypeters]

annalaurahurt Thankyou! Yes, apologies for that music! I’ve had other people say that as well. My recent videos are better!

[@louisedwyer9225]

I love your painting style Shirley.

[@LunaSmithArt]

Gorgeous art, love your technique 👍 Big Like 👍 Stay connected 💙 Have a lovely day 💙

[@sallyreff2574]

Beautiful! I love your talent!

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you!

[@jefffawver3389]

Awesome work Thank you for sharing your incredible talent absolutely Beautiful.

[@IshtarPainting]

Such a beautiful painting !! I enjoyed watching the video step by step. Will try a cityscape one day too.

[@shirleypeters]

Thankyou

[@billdux3271]

Thank You.

[@shirleypeters]

You're welcome

[@JohnArnoldPhotography]

No apologies needed on the production - it is a learning process I am sure with video. Great job. Thank you for creating this. I like the angle of your camera so we can see a lot of what you are doing. I always like to see the colors the artist is using when mixing. I prefer real time myself, but understand why you sped up in places. Another point you made which is really helpful to a beginner like me is if the paper is wet or not when you lay down the colors. Sometimes that is hard to determine by the viewer. Love the music choice you made - very calming and inspiring. I hope you make more to help us all learn. God bless.

[@gingerbuchanan2795]

That's a lovely rendering. I love the colors and composition too. Thank you for sharing your talent and time with us.

[@shirleypeters]

My pleasure 😊

[@irenefung3082]

Thank you so much! I'm re-learning water colour painting and this really refreshed my memory of art classes 10 years ago. Also love your painting especially the details at the end :)

[@shirleypeters]

That's great. I'm glad the videos are helpful.

[@tanyaw5059]

Just stumbled upon! I'm a new ISO painter and it's so referring to find a fellow Aussie on here :) Really enjoyed this video and look forward to trying out one of your tutorials myself. Thanks Shirley

[@shirleypeters]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@shedriver23]

Fantastic, Shelley!

[@marymikel9193]

I really really like that you show the drawing and painting together. With a perfect blend of sped up footage while knowing when to stop it to show in real time. ♥️ Really enjoyed this and learned just from watching you. I also really like how calm you are about the mistake you made, I'm sometimes very frustrated about mine. 😅

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you Mary. Bit late replying to your post, but I've been away from the channel. Back now though. Cheers

[@dailtotelesfilo9258]

Incrível! ❤️

[@rikardogibola1312]

Hi Shirley, I've just came across you. Very exciting to watch - thanks. Glad the music has been mentioned x

[@bettyballantyne9659]

Richard Gibbs ".

[@watercolourkeyes]

Fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing.

[@StarsailorStan]

I enjoyed this one as well Shirley...thank you...

[@shirleypeters]

That’s great Stanley. Thankyou. I’m uploading a new one now. Hope to click publish soon.

[@wood2be]

I really enjoy watching you paint. Very entertaining and instructional for a beginner like me. If I may make a suggestion, either go with no music or reduce the volume so that you can be easily heard. Trying to hear your thoughts over the music is very difficult!

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you for watching. And yes, my earlier videos have technical issues. More recent ones have no music!

[@ermajaramillo7815]

Wow, very nicely done!,

[@dvjai]

Very nice 👌video

[@barbaramunford5472]

I really like watching you sketch out the composition. It helps me see how you think the process through. The fast-speed painting is hard for me to follow since I'm such a beginner but I just play it over a few times until I get it. Really enjoying your videos! Do you have any tutorials showing your acrylic and oil work?

[@shirleypeters]

Hi Barbara, thanks. I’m glad you can learn from them. No, I have not done any other media yet. They will come soon!

[@Lance2094]

Just guessing, but most beginners are going to take able to make this sketch.

[@sassycat378]

Subbed. Am no way at your level of painting but am enjoying watching and listening. Maybe some of what you teach will absorb into me via osmosis.

[@shirleypeters]

I agree. Watching someone paint can be helpful, especially if you ‘have a go’ yourself, and don’t be too worried if it’s not great at first.

[@davulcu64st]

Hi Shirley excellent video thanks alot. However using a ruler is not something I see when drawing (except you are nor an architech ect ) I think it is very unusual

[@shirleypeters]

serdar tibet Thankyou for your comment. yes. Its unnecessary for lines, in fact it can spoil a drawing. I only used it (in vain) to find a horizon.

[@tmikeporter]

Nice demo. I recommend spending a lot less time on showing us the pencil drawing. Say a few words about what and why you draw what you do then show the finished drawing and get to painting! You really made a good point on now wc lightens as it dries!

[@shirleypeters]

Thanks for the feedback. You make an interesting point! I’m not interested in showing the drawing as much, yet I’ve had requests for it. Maybe I’ll make it a separate video, that people can choose to watch if they like.

[@rameshwortandukar]

............ had you lowered down the volume of the background music ..

[@shirleypeters]

Was it too loud? I’ll work on that for future vids. Thanks.

[@rameshwortandukar]

@@shirleypeters Yes, it was. We would love to hear you talking. Thank you for great videos.

[@helenem4586]

I enjoyed this very much. At the point at which you started in with quite thick gouache I thought uh oh, you've lost it, but it turned out quite fine. Apart from possibly too much on the cyclist's shoulder, but what do I know.... anyway, I like you, (stress on the word you and not on the word like to get my attitude), so I'm going to watch whatever you've done and will do.

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you Helen. You are right, as when I played it back I wish I had been less heavy handed with that white! We learn with every painting! I’ll be doing one a week, so I’m glad you’re on board!

[@yama39kun]

I enjoyed very much. Thank you for this movie. I like the drawing till the time 19.28 before the white gouache.

[@francinetjones1814]

music very distracting; could not hear you at times. lovely painting

[@shirleypeters]

Yes! I've been told its a problem. So I'm not using music anymore except at the end. Glad you like the painting.

[@ElleVancouver]

I would love to paint this but it is far to detailed for a beginner who is just learning to draw. Can you please simplify your tutorials? I think you would get a lot more followers if you did. Experienced artists don't need tutorials, us beginners do but this is just too complicated and intimidating for me.

[@shirleypeters]

Noted. Have a look at my earlier landscape videos. I have some very simple ones there.

[@louloukroon-zitko5760]

certainly NOT a beginners scene, too complex!

[@shirleypeters]

loulou kroon- žitko I agree that a beginner would find this hard to paint, but they can watch and observe how the paint is applied. All a part of the learning curve. And thanks for your feedback.

[@deborahgoodwin3426]

Lovely painting, but far too much speed painting and no explanation of what and why you are doing what you are doing. The only time I hear you speak is barely audible and sounds like you are talking to yourself and not to us. Not my cup of tea, thank you. But a lovely painting nonetheless.

[@shirleypeters]

Thank you I appreciate that feedback.

[@markwrightutube]

cannot hear what you say for the aweful loud music shame really

[@shirleypeters]

I have been on a learning curve! My more recent vids do not have music. Thanks for watching.