This tutorial shows you how to paint realistic sand dunes with watercolors. It covers the importance of shadows to give sand dunes their form. Watercolour painting lesson for all levels.
My PATREON MEMBERSHIP PAGE: https://www.patreon.com/joecartwright - in addition to ad-free content you get exclusive content (new videos will be more in depth than those on my YouTube channel), hi-resolution reference photos, photos of my finished painting, and drawing outlines where available. Other benefits are also included.
My teaching manual: Mastering Watercolors - A Practical Guide: https://amzn.to/3CgYQfB
Why I wet the back of my watercolor paper:
Here is a video I made which explains why I wet the back of the paper. https://youtu.be/f3SlN7jfxRw
⏱️TIMESTAMP⏱️
00:00 Intro
00:08 Key points when painting sand dunes
01:12 The drawing sand dunes
01:51 Mixing the colors of the sky
05:00 Painting the sand and sky
07:02 Painting the distant hills
08:23 Painting plants on sand dunes
15:13 Painting the sand dunes
19:36 Painting the shadows on the sand dunes
29:50 Painting the grasses and birds
Materials used:
Paper:
Eighth sheet, 185 gsm Arches Cold Pressed watercolor paper (Approx. A4 size)
Watercolor paints, all are Winsor and Newton:
French Ultramarine
Cobalt Blue
Cobalt Turquoise
Aureolin or Winsor Lemon
Permanent Rose or Alizarin Crimson
Burnt Sienna
Raw Umber
Brushes:
Size 8 & 12 round watercolor brushes
Mop brush for wetting the back of the paper
Rigger brush
Small Fan brush with stiff hog hair bristles
Other material:
Waterproof backing board, I use 6mm thick matt black acrylic, which I purchased off eBay, held at about 20 degrees