"Tokyo at Night" 01 Waseda

Something I wanted to try with watercolors for some time now - a night scene. Tokyo is a strange place - there are a lot of empty but brightly lit streets at night and the sky is never perfectly black because of the city lights. Especially the clouds get really highlighted by the glare from the city.
Instead of going for the obvious - cool looking high rise offices I just took a photo while doing some late night shopping and used this as a reference for this painting. I wanted to paint some of the lonely night streets.
I like this idea and how the picture turned out so I’m thinking about making a series of this.
Technical stuff:
* Medium: HOLBEIN Waterford natural 300g/m cotton paper
* Sketch: Mitsu-bishi Hi-Uni pencil grade HB
* Line: COPIC Multiliner SP 0.5mm
* Colours: my main 48 colour Schmincke set
ずっと水彩で試してみたかった夜の風景を描きました。東京は不思議な街で、誰もいない場所でも、いつも明るいです。
街のあかりが空にも反射していて、特に雲は街の光を受けて奇妙な明るさになっています。
そして真新しい高層ビルではなく、深夜にちょっと買い物へ行く時に横切るような雑居ビルを描きたくなりました。
一人で歩くと、すこしこわいかもしれません。；）
出来上がった絵が気に入ったので、これをシリーズにしようかと思っています。
ツール詳細
* 紙：　ウォーターフォード水彩紙　ナチュラルホワイト　300g　
* 下描き：　HB　Mitsu-bishi Hi-Uni　鉛筆
* 線画：　コピック マルチライナーSP 0.5
* 着色：　48色のシュミンケ水彩セット

[@onyana]

You have a beautiful style, and it is so great to see a watercolourist attempt a night scene.

[@mattjabbar]

Thank you! I will be doing more of these!

[@aniqaibu032]

Wait! Which artists do you follow online? Can you say? I think more than one of us would like to see your inspirations! 😊 Also it's amazing how more interesting your painting looks from the source material! seriously! WOW!

[@mattjabbar]

Some I have in my channel recommendations, but I look at the art of tons of people (especially on Tumblr, Behance and Instagram). For example Joseph Zbukvic uses Daniel Smith paints and you just cannot buy them in Japan. Also no M.Graham paints or Mijello :/

[@Lorenzo2DI]

As i said on Instagram earlier, the atmsphere in this piece is really incredible ! You did a beautiful work :) Thanks again for sharing your process with us.

[@Beanie84]

That type of brush is my favorite! I have 3 in various sizes. They hold so much water and pigment, they're incredible. I love the atmosphere in this beautiful night time scene. Thanks, as always, for sharing!

[@mattjabbar]

Thank you!

[@sushiitapun_]

I found your account yesterday and I've been obsessed with everything that you're doing. When I graduate and start earning, I'll buy your pieces.. please keep doing what you're doing. You're amazing! ♡

[@justlunatears]

This is gorgeous.. 😍😍 I forgot to take a breath... breath taking.

[@marylyne971]

This is so beautiful! i dont know why am i crying seeing your drawing style, its so calming and i feel something like close to home😭✨

[@stormysilhouette]

I have watched pretty much all of your videos at this point, and I just want to say that I love them! They are very relaxing and inspiring. I always feel like painting right away afterwards :)

[@mattjabbar]

Thank you, glad to hear that!

[@renovasquez5589]

Really great. I've been working on my watercolor and this video helps A TON. Very instructive and informative. Keep up the excellent work man

[@abigailhayes7910]

I've been the biggest fan of your work. I'm a watercolorist myself and I am so inspired by your artwork, please keep making these videos!

[@mattjabbar]

Glad you like my stuff! I will be making more videos!

[@AA-qm3og]

海外のサイトで紹介されていたMateuszさんの絵を見て一目惚れして来ました！色遣いがとても素敵です。日本の景色は綺麗に描けないと思っていた自分が情けなくなりました、、😭楽しく見させていただきました！🎨😻

[@mattjabbar]

ありがとうございます、参考にしてもらえれば嬉しいです！

[@moonju3695]

wow dis is just beautiful

[@fufufuaru]

I follow a good number of watercolor artists here on youtube and instagram, and you're the first person among the best ones who has said you don't like mixing much, hence you have a lot of colors in your palette. Somehow I feel relieved hahaha because I also don't like mixing much so I have a palette with 40+ colors. If anyone makes me feel bad for having so many colors, I'll just show them your youtube channel.

[@Drumaier]

Hey, i got very adicted to your videos these last few days. Your artist skills, plus the beautiful style, plus the subjects of your painting, plus that the medium is watercolor, plus your nice personality, plus all the info you give are all making a great combo. Was also great to see the photo reference since we can go and check the changes and design and composition decisions you made to make the painting more appealing. Thanks you.

[@Pompom-wi4lw]

So i discovered your channel just a little while ago and i'm actually obsessed by your artwork! i love watercolors and your paintings really inspire me, from the color you choose to your inking process, everything seems to ne calculated to go perfectly together! (I don't know if i make sens haha) I wish you were more famous, you deserve it!! Keep going, i love watching your videos (especially this night scene series) 😊

[@croydd]

Hello! I have close to no knowledge of painting, but I find your videos very well structured, relaxing and overall well made, the camera work and design are also very balanced and almost mesmerizing. I know watch your videos to escape stress, thanks for your work!

[@mattjabbar]

Thank you!

[@linzertube]

You have captured the night shadows and light so effectively! Lovely painting.

[@mattjabbar]

Thank you!

[@mamen9972]

I love your style and your work. Lovely

[@3numa3llis]

Really enjoyed the sketch. It is both relaxing and beautiful. Much appreciated.

[@mattjabbar]

Thank you!

[@animalluuver12345]

I've never clicked faster on a video than I did this one haha! Great work as usual :)

[@capedluna]

You're very talented and hitting all my aesthetic moods.

[@dinakarassane4123]

Yayy thanks for the new vid!!

[@Weath13]

So natural, one of your best works!

[@souri191]

i really like simple art like this, not much on details but really stunning when it's finished :))

[@vfxartds]

Looove going after the night scenes... hard not to go for the heavy contrasts, wow. I hope you felt good about this one. Envious of the materials! That basin is insane. (A friend is trying to get a few things for me from the shop Kiya, in Tokyo... but having no luck with TMK and some Holbein paper blocks... sigh...) Cheers! And thanks for sharing, all of the works...

[@mattjabbar]

Thank you! Try in Shinjyuku's Sekaido main store. They have almost everything there.

[@vfxartds]

You're welcome, and I appreciate all the effort you've put into your art, long before it's shared, too. Great stuff. Wow! Ok that's fun- I just asked if he'd be able to go to Sekaido! His schedule is very busy, but I hope. Thanks again!

[@vfxartds]

Sigh- a friend is at Sekaido 'right now' as I type this (11 AM on the 18th, I'm chatting with him while he walks around)- they are out of the TMK paper and are out of the 40 ml bottles of Nicker, he thinks they will not have it again, perhaps it is no longer produced like that. They also do not have some brushes in stock, was hoping to try the artetje, but they did not have the 9XX series. Sigh. He is looking for a couple of other pads which are also hard to get over here... I still have hope, but it's hard to find things anywhere! ;-) Thank you again!

[@giovannasandovalcortes7746]

Really cool picture! I'am in an art class, and my teacher recommended me this video. Keep with the hard work. :)

[@naul_arts6862]

It is very beautyfull !

[@josuefox]

You really make me motivated to try watercolor and the way u draw ... But I know myself, I give up easily, being 43 yo, I don't have patience anymore ... Tho I am going to try digital. I know it's different, I have a watercolor software called "rebelle 5 pro" ( do u know ?) .. Not sure your lessons (on your patreon) can help for digital (holding a pen is different than holding a brush) but I will try... My final project is to reproduce ukiyo-e style ( rebelle 5 pro have washi texture)

[@NicoletteAileen]

amazing :) i love it to so much

[@Dani-vikingo]

beautiful

[@buhaynimaria]

Soo good!

[@lukedt8489]

Could you send me a link to a list of photos of Japanese storefronts? I cannot seem to find any online, and unfortunately, I don't live in Japan either. Also, I just wanted to point out that you are the one who actually inspired me to draw backgrounds.

[@mattjabbar]

As far as I know there is no list of photos of old stores etc. Most of the times I have to look for them quite hard and my pictures are done from photos I took myself. You can use Google Street View or look for some blogs on this topic.

[@lukedt8489]

I've found one, when I finish my painting could you give me some critiques on it?

[@shraddhafineartshindi]

Beautiful. tfs

[@shraddhafineartshindi]

And which artist do you follow on behance? And are u on behance??

[@mattjabbar]

Yup, here you are www.behance.net/mattjabbar/following

[@shraddhafineartshindi]

Oh thankyou :D

[@mirnagarcia5834]

G R E A T 👏👏👏

[@sqdblue]

Is the poster color similar to gouache paints? Does it reactivate when wet? Thanks for making these videos too! They are very informative

[@mattjabbar]

Yes It's very similar, but cheaper (that's why animation studios used it I guess). It does reactivate when moistened.

[@lukedt8489]

While water coloring, I find it hard to create shading. What I usually do is lay a base color, let it dry, and continue to add extra layers to make some parts appear darker than other parts. Any tips or techniques? I would much appreciate the help! Thank you, Luke

[@mattjabbar]

I know successful artists that use this shading method (Atelier Sento for example) but I don't really like it and try to avoid it most of the times. When painting the light areas and shadows separately I can get more vibrant colours and a nice gradation on both areas, but I guess it's just a preference. Try to paint separately using 2 colours for light area and 2 colours for the shadow and see if you like it.

[@lukedt8489]

Thank you, I'll be sure to try it out and see what I like. When I do, I'll see how it turns out. :)

[@demiska8933]

jak nauczyć się tak ładnie rysować ?

[@upades]

Pewno trzeba dużo ćwiczyć ,i mieć do tego talent , ale mogę się mylić

[@mattjabbar]

Trzeba rysować dużo, nie przestawać i starać się za każdym razem robić coś lepszego niż poprzednio. To tyle w sumie :)

[@mclarenhonda9405]

相変わらず凄いですね！ 描くときに水張りとかしてますか？

[@mattjabbar]

ありがとうございます！ 僕の書き方的に水張りがそんなに必要ないです。３００gの水彩紙を使ってますし、紙の歪みは気にならないです。

[@levinhale8584]

Hi Mateusz, I have been looking into infos about acrylic gouache and Japanese poster colors but I couldnt find much. For me, they behave similarly. Is there any advantages for acrylic gouache than poster paints or gouache? I have seen you use them before, and they dry too quickly so it is hard to use them outdoors. Also, is the reason animation studios use poster paints than gouache mainly because it is cheaper? Thank you!

[@mattjabbar]

Acrylic gouache are waterproof when dry. That means that you can paint over things with no fear of smudging or bleeding from the layers underneath. It's somewhat similar to digital paint - you don't have to think about the order of the layers so much. With gouache or poster colours you can have some problems putting really contrasting colours on top of each other or painting wet washes on top of something. From my knowledge the animation studios use poster paints because it's cheaper and comes in nice jars so you can minimise the waste paint each time (you don't squeeze it from tubes just use the amount you need).

[@WYLTEN]

What brush are you using or what kind of brand/brushes do you recommend??

[@mattjabbar]

I have all my tools listed on my website: mateuszurbanowicz.com/tools-faq

[@JS-nr5wj]

what kind of brush are you using in this video? like what brand?

[@mattjabbar]

I have all my tools listed on my website: mateuszurbanowicz.com/tools-faq

[@upades]

W wielu seriach obecnie są słabo rysowane postacie , to się wcześniej zdarzyło ,ale tylko przy postaciach pobocznych bądź randomowych , a z jakiegoś powodu teraz i postacie pierwszoplanowe na to cierpią, i zastanawia mnie czemu?

[@mattjabbar]

Dużo serii, mało doświadczonych animatorów, brak "młodej gwardii" o odpowiednich umiejętnościach bo pracowanie jako animator jest mało opłacalne. Są inne powody również podejrzewam ale ja nie jestem animatorem i mogę mówić tylko to co słyszałem od innych.