Watercolour Leaf Design…

Try sketching some Organic Shapes…

Leaves!• Look at real leaves to observe the shape or

outline;• Think about what kind of line will help you

draw the shape (Curvy? Angular?);• Practice sketching the basic shape of different

leaves on newsprint or in your sketchbook;• Include some detail, such as lines to show the

veins in the leaf.

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Planning Your Design…

Choose one leaf ‘style’ from your sketches, to use in your watercolour design.

Lightly draw your leaf shape using pencil onto watercolour paper, and remember to try:

• Vary the SIZE (large, medium, small…)• OVERLAP• OFF-THE-PAGE• Use of space… Balance the design

Next, trace over your leaf shapes with a waterproof marker.

This is just part of a leaf design to show the black outline…

Introducing Watercolour• A watery medium (the Prang ‘pan’ watercolours

require lots of water to be added!)• Watercolour brush – holds lots of water! (Tip: Hold

the paint brush just like your pencil in your printing hand!)

• Watercolour is transparent (can see through layers!)

Try a small ‘wet-on-wet’ sample first to practice the technique…

Wet-on-Wet Technique1. Wet the paper/shape (use clean water!);

2. Apply the first colour to fill in part of one leaf shape. (Wash = even area of watery colour);

3. Apply a second colour (wash) to fill in any remaining areas of the leaf shape.

TIPS… Use the brush to guide the paint; when the two wet colours touch, they will ‘run’ together, creating interesting blends. … Know when to stop and let the paint blend end and work its magic! (Don’t

‘over mix’!)

Wet-on-Wet Technique

After a practice/sample, start filling in each leaf shape using the wet-on-wet technique.

TIP: Work around the page so that one leaf has time to dry BEFORE you paint any leaves touching it so the paint doesn’t run.

Wet-on-Wet Samples

Watercolour Leaf Design

• Paint each leaf shape using the ‘wet-on-wet’ technqiue

• Limit colours: 2 colours per leaf works well for wet-on-wet

• Use imaginative colour combinations if you’d like!

• Next day… Paint the background using only 2-3 colours with the wet-on-wet technique