Loose Landscapes
Lessons

Lesson 1 of 4 · 30 minutes · free taster

Materials and first washes

Set up your palette and paint the three washes every landscape in this course is built from.

You'll need

Three coloursUltramarine, quinacridone rose, yellow ochre
Two brushesA size 10 round and a 1-inch flat
Paper300 gsm cold-pressed, a quarter sheet, taped down
At the tableTwo jars of water, kitchen paper, a board to tilt

Step by step

30 min

  1. Stage 1: a flat wash

    1 of 3

    A flat wash

    Mix a puddle of ultramarine, more than you think you need. Pull one stroke across the top of the first rectangle, then keep catching the bead of paint at the bottom of each stroke until it is full.

    Don't go back into it. Let it dry flat and the streaks disappear.

  2. Stage 2: a graded wash

    2 of 3

    A graded wash

    Start with strong yellow ochre. Before each new stroke add a brushful of clean water to the puddle, so the colour fades to bare paper at the bottom.

    Tilt the board a little more than for the flat wash.

  3. Stage 3: wet in wet

    3 of 3

    Wet in wet

    Wet the third rectangle with clean water until it shines. Touch in rose, then ultramarine, and tilt the board so they bloom into each other.

    Hands off while it dries: the blooms are the point.

Lesson 1 done on : its pan is full

Tilt the board more for a graded wash

Next: lesson 2

Finished all three steps?

Mark the lesson done and pan 1 fills in your paintbox.

Your assignment

Nadia's painting for this lesson: three painted rectangles side by side: a flat blue wash, an ochre wash fading to paper, and rose and blue blooming wet in wet

Paint the three washes side by side on one sheet, let them dry, and hand in a photo.

Photograph it flat, in daylight, and hand it in. Nadia writes back within 3 working days.

Hand in your painting

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Lesson 1 · First washes

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Nadia replies within 3 working days of handing in.

My graded wash goes patchy about halfway down. Too much water, or too little?

Nadia's notes

Lovely flat wash, Elaine: no streaks, and that's the hard one. The graded wash goes patchy because the bead of paint dries before you reach it. Load the brush fully for every stroke, add a little more water each time, and tilt the board a touch more. The rose blooming into the blue in your wet-in-wet panel is exactly right. Try one more graded strip before Skies.

Nothing handed in for this lesson yet. Your painting and Nadia's notes show here.

Hand in your painting

You'll need

Three coloursUltramarine, quinacridone rose, yellow ochre
Two brushesA size 10 round and a 1-inch flat
Paper300 gsm cold-pressed, a quarter sheet, taped down
At the tableTwo jars of water, kitchen paper, a board to tilt

Your assignment

Nadia's painting for this lesson: three painted rectangles side by side: a flat blue wash, an ochre wash fading to paper, and rose and blue blooming wet in wet

Paint the three washes side by side on one sheet, let them dry, and hand in a photo.

Photograph it flat, in daylight, and hand it in. Nadia writes back within 3 working days.

Hand in your painting

Lesson 1 of 4 · 30 minutes · free taster

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Materials and first washes: set up your palette and paint the three washes every landscape in this course is built from. Lesson 1 is free.

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New here? Your first sign-in sets up your account, and lesson 1 is free. For adults aged 18 and over.