AUTUMN LEAF

As the seasons change from hot summers to blissful rains and the through the beautiful foliage of autumn to the chilled winters. All of them have its own charm and beauty , leaving us mesmerized with its wonder .Today, we are going to learn a watercolor painting of a simple autumn leaf ,a leaf with beautiful combination of colors folding into one another.

So, friends lets make this beautiful but simple watercolor painting celebrating the season of Autumn as it passes by keeping us wondering about the beautiful creations by our Almighty.

ART SUPPLIES USED ARE AS FOLLOWS :

* Windsor and Newton Watercolors.

*Round Graduate Daler Rowney Brushes.

*Camel Photo Ink

*Handmade Paper / 220GSM watercolor sketch book.

**Drawing AUTUMN LEAF step by step ** 

Lets begin drawing the sketch first, as shown in the fig above , draw the sketch on your paper . Always try keeping the sketch as light tone as possible since we are using watercolors.While sketching understand the source of light and the leaf folds so that you know where you need to add dark or light tones to depict shadows.

As, shown in the figure ,now start your first wash of watercolors . I am using transparent photo ink colors as i like the vibrancy it gives to the painting ,you may also use regular colors for the same.Starting from the top , I have started with green color wash with approximately 10% color and 90% water.As you proceed downwards start adding orange,blue,red and yellow color.Since the wash contains more of water content it will be easy to mix colors as they flow downwards.After which now I turn towards the area of high tone or where you need to show shadow (bending of leaf ) ,here i have used persian blue color .

Let this first wash dry completely and then proceed second wash ,if you do not have patience use a hair drier for the same .

Moving ahead after the first wash has dried completely ,now we have to use more of color than water we used earlier .Always try and play with colors to get the right shade you desire ,as that is how you learn to get to understand your color palette in detail (always note down the color combinations or prepare a color chart for your reference later).Just enjoy and try different shades of colors for your autumn leaf . Start adding some green color from top and drag your brush down and repeat the colors you added in your previous wash slowly .Add a darker tone of persian blue to your parts of leaf showing shadow so it gets a darker tone. for the stem please use a thinner brush and steady hand add color to the stem( if little nervous that the colors will mix ,first complete the lighter tone part let it dry and then do the remaining part).

Moving on to the last layer ,i have just added the same shades in similar manner just varying the color to water ratio on the brush (so I have taken more of color and less of water ) to enhance the color of the painting to darker tone. Remember to add small details of folds and shadows to make it look more realistic. And that gives you a beautiful Autumn Leaf .

Always give a try in the hope of learning new details as you practice .Everyone has a different way of using colors and adding effect .So enjoy painting and refresh yourself by doing what you love …