Sometimes a little detail turns a painting from good to WOW! and adding water drops, rain drops or dew drops to your work can be just such a detail. The other thing is that they are a brilliant way of practicing tone and shadow control, which was the subject of last week's tip. They are simple, but so effective! You can paint a realistic droplet in just a few layers.

So in this film, I will show you the anatomy of a water drop, how they are lighter than their surroundings and bend the light. We will then have a practice on white paper, but more importantly go through different ways of painting them on a background. By trying different approaches you will have one up your sleeve for every eventuality. If you plan ahead you might mask your highlights, but if you add one at the end you can lift out and add in highlights with gouache or ink.


If you enjoyed this, please like, subscribe and hit the notification bell. I try to do a film each week. I concentrate on tips and techniques I wish I had known ages ago...


If you missed last week's film on tone, volume and shadow you can find it here:    • How to paint tone and shadows in wate...  



Here are the chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:58 Anatomy of a water drop
6:16 How to paint the first layer
8:30 How to paint the second layer
12:30 Adding in the shadow
16:08 Adjusting the highlights


#lizchaderton #watercolour #watercolor