Watercolor Night Sky 7 Easy Steps Tutorial

Watercolor night sky painting is a great way to start improving your painting skills. If you haven’t tried watercolor night sky painting yet, then don’t worry. We have compiled the most straightforward tutorial for you to begin with. Check them out and learn something new today!

What are the tricks you need to know for a successful watercolor night sky painting? Is it possible to paint a watercolor night sky even if you are a beginner? What are the essential materials required for this painting technique?

Easy Watercolor Night Sky Painting Tutorial For Beginners

Creating an out of this world watercolor night sky artwork is truly breathtaking. Once you have mastered the techniques, then you can create stellar designs easily.

Today, we will reveal to you the tips and tricks for a successful watercolor night sky painting. A newcomer can do this design. So you can try working on it instantly. The best technique to work with this painting style is wet on wet. This will allow you to mix colors incredibly.

Tricks For A Stellar Watercolor Night Sky Painting

One of the best tricks for a dynamic watercolor night sky painting is timing. You have to work faster with this kind of painting style. The key secret is the mixing of colors while they are still wet. The wet-on-wet painting technique is best done with night sky paintings.

One more trick for a stellar painting is the right materials used with the other elements to include for an outstanding design. Suppose you are wondering what essentials you will need, we’ve listed down the materials you will need for watercolor night sky painting.

Remember, to have a successful artwork is to use the right materials, as this gives you the best results. For example, if you work with the right watercolor paper, you’ll never have to worry whether your paper will buckle later or handle the wet technique.

If you use ordinary paper, there is a considerable percentage that it will buckle. Not like watercolor papers as they are absorbent with paints and water together on the surface.

The watercolor paint type depends on the artist’s style and preference. It can be either in tubes or pans. You can check them both to see their effects on your painting. That way, you can easily decide which one fits your style.

Try working with other elements to add to your surface. Watercolor night sky painting is a continuous process of learning. There are different methods to try working with until you become an expert on this painting technique.

Here are a few things to remember to help you create stellar watercolor paintings

Invest with multiple paintbrush sets

Having multiple paint brush sizes allows you to create various designs. Choices of paint brushes vary with the surface you are working with. The only way for you to find the best paintbrush is to work on each and see the result yourself.

Every artist has their favorite brushes to help them execute the perfect technique, texture, or color mixture on their painting surface. Once you understand each brush’s characteristics, you can efficiently work on every detail you have in mind. Getting familiar with a technique requires consistency.

Get high-quality paints

High-quality watercolors tend to last longer than cheap ones and color won’t easily face or be compromised. Regardless of how long you have painted your artworks, it won’t degrade or turn yellowish over time with high-quality paint.

There are various brands and watercolor levels available for you. Either you prefer to purchase them on a brick near you or online, choices are as massive as your imagination.

If you want to find the right brand for you, try getting several colors from various brands to find the perfect one that fits your style and requirements.

Experiment and expose dry over a wet surface

When it comes to watercolor painting, remember to consider elements that affect your artwork’s outcome: dry and wet. Since watercolor is a water-based medium, manipulating your colours’ saturation and darkness varies on the water you use.

To achieve optimum control of your watercolor paints, explore their boundaries and learn as you move forward.

Always work from light to darker colors.

To get the best results with watercolor painting, start from lighter colors moving to the darker hues. That means, if you want to keep certain areas on the painting surface to be pale or white, you have to keep them as it is until the end of your painting session.

Build value up by working on each layer until you achieve the effects you are looking for. It can take massive planning, but the results are stunning.

Achieve your desired texture

Working on a rough surface offers a unique advantage when working with texture for watercolors. This gives you a unique texture which is ideal for several painting techniques.

Depict materials and objects on your watercolor surface to include your desired texture. This also means you’ll use light and dark pigments when you work on wet and dry techniques.

Work with various techniques, including splattering your colors

The splattering technique is one of the best ways to add energy to your painting surface. This provides a floating dust effect or water spray on the body of your artwork.

The best way to achieve a splatter effect is to hold the paintbrush between the middle fingers and thumb. With the index finger, you can pull back the bristles and allow them to snap forward. This technique is unpredictable; you can expect to yield fun results and a must-try for every watercolor artist.

Stock up on tons of paper towels

Paper towels are a vital tool if you’ll be painting with watercolors. They work as kneaded erasers when working with watercolors. The best way to add watercolor layers is to lift every color to achieve the effect you need.

In case you make mistakes, you can fix them or redirect the paint using this tool.

Let watercolors bleed into each other

The best way to bleed your watercolor paints to use the blooming technique. This requires ample amounts of water to the chosen color or pigment from your paintbrush and apply it on your watercolor surface.

While the stroke is wet, add the next color with a similar amount to the first one. This can help you manipulate the pigments where you want them to be. Once the watercolors are dry, you’ll notice the unique and subtle effects of gradient colors on your paintbrush strokes.

Layer each color

Watercolor is a slim medium. This means you’ll need to create and build your colors gradually. It’s beneficial if you are mixing colors straight on the painting surface.

Take a single color and start layering it down. You must allow it to dry and apply another shade. Once you do this, you’ll notice the area where the pigments overlap, the colors mix, and new colors are made. This technique is also ideal for creating fresh tones.

Pull colors in

Pulling your watercolors is easier when you apply them dry. It gives a more saturated brush stroke which you can easily pull by adding water. Pulling colors is a technique that enables you to show the edge or light source and show the form of your painting surface.

The best way to execute this painting technique is to apply your stroke using a little water and more colors. It’s a race before the pigments dry and uses moderately a wet paintbrush to pull the colors out through the darker color strokes. Removing the paint varies depending on the dryness of the surface or your initial stroke.

Materials You Will Need For Watercolor Night Sky Painting

• Watercolor paper – hot press or cold press
  Masking tape
• Watercolors – Tubes or pans
• Paintbrushes – Small and medium or as your preference
• Pencil – to sketch and outline your design
• Paper towel
• Jar of water – to rinse and wet your paintbrush and watercolors
• Salt – to add texture to your painting surface
• Rubbing alcohol
• Cotton Swabs

Watercolor Painting For Beginners: Complete Guide

The watercolor night sky can be done even by beginners. First, prepare your materials and decide on the design that you like. Once you have decided on your preferred method, you can work on your first painting straight away.

Step By Step Watercolor Night Sky Painting

The key secret is to work faster while your paints are still wet. That way, you can work on the mixing of your colors correctly. This gives you better results and allows you to explore and experiment with watercolors effectively.

Step 1. Sketching

Sketch a round outline using your pencil.

Use a bowl to trace on the watercolor paper. You can put the outline in the center of your paper. Create a horizon on the lower part of your circle. Using a pencil will help you achieve the goal of this project. Keep in mind that the right materials add value to what you are working on.

Step 2. Secure the ends

Secure your watercolor paper with masking tape on all ends.

This will prevent the watercolor paper from moving while you are working. It prevents the paper from buckling when you add water or paint. Plus it secures your paper in place, giving you tons of time to work on your designs effectively.

Step 3. Underpainting

Start working with your underpainting.

Try to work inside the circle when applying colors. Use wash colors for your underpainting. This gives your watercolor night sky a unique base color. The colors that you will use depends on the style you create. You can go from purple, blue, and pink. But the option will depend on you.

Make sure that you will be working with a wet surface for this painting design. In case the color goes over the outlined sketch, you can surely fix it. Lifting excess colors can be done with watercolor painting. Use your paper towel to lift unwanted colors while they are still wet.

Step 4. Dark colors first.

Start adding darker colors.

The beauty of creating this design is by the dark colors you add on top of your base colors.

To achieve a dynamic design, ensure that you will be working with a wet surface. The dark colors will emphasize night-time effects.

Tips: You can modify and have a better result with paint consistency. Work with less water and more paint.

Leave the lower part of your circle free of paint.

Step 5. Adding Elements

Add elements to create texture for your watercolors.

This is the fun part. With a cotton swab, you can dab rubbing alcohol on your still-wet painting surface. The little effects of repelled paints create light spots.

Another Option: Sprinkle in some salt on your painting surface.

Let your painting surface be completely dried up and remove the salt on your painting surface. The trick with using salt is they create a unique crystalline texture. This can be associated with stars. Amazing right?

Step 6. Lower part painting

Work on your painting’s lower part of the boundary.

Fill the whole area with black paint. Work on the details of your horizon using a fine tip paintbrush. The silhouettes that you create will match the watercolor night sky.

Step 7. Dry the paint

Wait for the whole painting to be completely dried.

Tadah! Your watercolor night sky painting is finished! Isn’t that easy? Indeed you can create this design just like a pro.

Some factors that affect a successful watercolor night sky painting are the materials and colors you have chosen. As you are beginning with this painting medium, try to experiment more.

There are different ways to enhance your mixing skills, like working on other designs, such as seasonal trees. Agate painting designs with watercolors are also a must-try.

These are different elements that add different results to how you use them in your paintings.

• Salt
• Sponge
• Bubble wrap
• Plastic
• Absorbent paper
• Toothbrush
• Block of soap

Salt, for example, is a significant element to modify the texture of your paints. You can have stunning results with salts and watercolor together.

Using a sponge is another way to be creative with watercolors. Bubble wrap or any not so absorbent paper or plastic can also be used with watercolors. Have you tried working with a block of soap and watercolors? A toothbrush can also be used to create a sprinkle effect or beautiful splatters.

Since watercolor’s characteristics are all about their transparency and colors, take advantage of this.

Using the right materials provides stunning results. This does not just help you as an artist, but it also allows you to create high-quality designs. The right materials will enable the artwork to stay for a longer time.

Artists get to know more about the painting medium that they are working by exposing to various elements. That means you can create that same design a couple more times until you get used to it.

Then start with another painting technique. Work on the details and how to even mix two styles. In this process, you learn a lot with watercolors.

Watercolor Painting Techniques For Beginners

One reason why several artists fell in love with watercolor is how simple yet stunning their results. If you’re a newcomer to watercolor painting, you can work on several techniques to improve your painting skills. Here are the must-try techniques ideal for beginners and advanced watercolor artists.

Watercolor painting mediums can be a tough challenge for oil and acrylic artists as they have complex characteristics. The following techniques will help enhance newcomers’ skills in creating beautiful artworks.

Wet-on-wet

The wet-on-wet painting technique is a crowd favorite when it comes to watercolor mediums. It is commonly used when you are painting soft washes that are ideal for flowy-look, simple skies, night skies, or landscapes.

The idea of the wet-on-wet technique is to add wet paint to an already wet surface. This gives stunning effects as colors merged.

Here’s how to work on a simple exercise:

1. Wet your paintbrush and start painting two shapes (rectangles).

2. Though you’ll not notice the two shapes yet as there are no colors, you will notice where you apply water if you tilt your head.

3. Choose wet paint from the color palette and add it on the shapes. Slide the paintbrush from one side to another.

4. For the next shape (rectangle), add dabs of watercolor pigments. This exercise will help you gauge how much paint and water you want to use.

5. Wait for the paint to dry and see the difference. Using this technique won’t give much control over the results. The key to the wet-on-wet approach is that it’s a mystery when your watercolors dry out.

6. Once watercolor paints dry out; they are less vibrant. You’ll notice various textures start to appear, which is why it’s ideal if you want to create a textured surface.

Wet-on-dry

If you want to achieve defined shapes and more precision, wet-on-dry is the best technique to work with your surface. In general, if you’re going to attain illustration-style artwork using watercolors, wet-on-dry the method to work on.

Here’s a simple exercise to enhance your skills:

1. Begin by working on a dry paper. Get some wet paint using a larger paintbrush and start painting.

2. The watercolors opacity varies with the amount of water you mixed in.

3. If you prefer using dried paint, work on it. Work on minimum water to get your paint going and see how texture varies and becomes sketch-like.

4. Once the paint is completely dried, you’ll notice that pigments tend to look faded and different.

Creating color gradients

Creating gradients with watercolors is similar to building up your colors. The main difference is that you will use two pigments and transition from one to the next one. This technique is ideal when you paint sunsets and skies.

Ensure that you’ll be working with colors close to each other from the color wheel to build up harmony. If not, your color gradient will look muddy. You can use yellow and green or different nice color combinations like orange and red, or purple and blue.

Here’s how to create stunning gradient colors:

1. Mix two colors separately on each side. Your pigment should be too concentrated or too diluted. Try to reach a 50/50 water and paint ratio.

2. Start working with color strips using pure green paint.

3. Clean the brush, pick up a tiny bit of yellow paint and combine it with the green mixture.

4. Begin where you last work your brushstrokes. You’ll notice that the transitions of colors are more subtle and soft. Avoid harsh tone transitions so your gradient won’t appear choppy.

5. Slowly add more yellow to your initial green mixture. You’ll see the results from the palette that you use.

The result of this activity allows you to have changed entirely pure yellow and beautiful color gradients. You can work on various colors and work on this technique until you feel more comfortable working with gradient colors.

Building up your pigments

When it comes to building up your watercolors, you can work with various mixtures. However, to achieve multiple values, you can concentrate on using one color. This gives you a seamless effect which is known to many as an ombré.

Here’s how to effectively work on this technique:

1. Work on the dry area of your paper. Then drop a tiny water puddle on the palette and dab the concentrated paint next to it. It’s best to use a medium-size paintbrush and a little green watercolor tube.

2. Pick a dab of water without colors on your paintbrush. Start painting in strips, and this will appear transparent on your paper.

3. Add a few colors into the water puddle and be careful with the amount of paint you add. The process must be subtle and slowly work up.

4. Continue the process by working on the area where you work with transparent water.

5. Repeat this procedure by including a little bit of pigment on the initial water puddle every time. Before you pick and add more color, rinse off each paint and pat the brush dry with a paper towel or a cloth to ensure it’s clean.

6. Before you reach the final paint strip, the watercolor mixture must be thick, and the paint is more concentrated or as opaque as possible.

The idea of building your watercolor pigments is to create a delicate process without harsh transitions from a color to another. You can repeat the process as much as you want. Use various colors and be comfortable with the process of building up your hues.

Precise detailing

Precise detailing allows you to create shape edges through controlled paintbrush strokes.

Here’s how you can work on this technique:

1. paint shapes around the dry watercolor paper. Choose shapes like the moon, circles, stars, or any shapes you prefer, including squares, hearts, diamonds, or triangles.

2. Use another color to paint around your chosen shape. It’s best to use two paintbrush sizes, one small for precise detailing and one large for filling the exterior part of your details.

3. Ensure you have prepared enough paint for your background. Keep the surrounding area wet or moist.

4. Get real close to the shape without totally touching the initial outlines. Ensure you have fine lines (whites) between your background and the shapes.

Another way to enhance this skill is by painting the inside of the paper to create a border. This technique allows artists to develop their skills in controlling their brushstrokes for accurate details. The results vary with how much water you use, your watercolor paper type, or how fast you work. Keep practicing 8until you are comfortable with this technique.

Types Of Watercolors

There are 12 types of watercolors and will continue to grow in number in the future. If you love watercolors, here’s a complete list of their variations, styles, and forms (and we’ll update you once new stuff comes out!).

• Pan watercolors
• Tube watercolors
• Peerless watercolors
• Watercolor sticks
• Liquid watercolors
• Gouache
• Watercolor pencils
• Watercolor markers
• Inktense pencils
• Water-soluble oil pastels
• Water-soluble crayons
• Metallic watercolors

How To Choose The Best Quality Watercolors

There are plenty of watercolors to choose and if you don’t know what to buy, we’ve included a comprehensive buying guide just for you. First, let’s get to learn more about watercolors and what they are made of.

Watercolors are made up of two essential ingredients: gum arabic and ground pigments. The gum arabic acts as the binder while the ground pigments provide the shades of your watercolors. Most watercolor manufacturers add moisturizers to prevent gum binder from turning brittle. They also include wetting ingredients to facilitate absorption and flow.

Factors To Check Before Buying Watercolors

Before you buy watercolors, here’s what you need to check:

Color

Watercolors come in tons of color selections and vary per manufacturer. Technically, producing more colours happens when you mix the primary and secondary colors. This gives you an abundance of color selections to choose from. The only downside is that colors can be dull or lifeless.

Single colors are more intense and vibrant. If you cannot buy all the colors you need, try to build your limited yet versatile palette. You don’t need to rush or find the best one, as everything is perfect from an artist’s point of view.

Several factors that you may want to consider are transparency and permanence. What’s important is that you have the primary colors, to begin with, your painting journey. As you gather more experience, you can quickly identify what you need and what works best for you.

If it’s your first time to buy watercolors, purchase from a reliable brand with excellent reviews to ensure you’re investing in the right materials to help enhance your skills.

Quality

Like most painting mediums, you can purchase watercolors between student grade and artists grade. Artists or professional grade watercolors come with higher concentrated finely ground colors with higher permanence ratings. At the same time, student grade pigments are more affordable and have more extenders and fillers.

The thing is, you can buy a student or artist’s grade based on your current budget or how much you are willing to spend. Although artists grade watercolors are more pricey, they provide superior transparency, color intensity, and high-rating permanence.

For beginners, you can opt to use student grade watercolors first and move forward to artists grade as you advance your painting skills. One thing worth noting is that artist-grade watercolor last longer and won’t fade compared to cheaper ones.

Transparency

Watercolors principal value is its transparency or its ability to let light pass through the painting and reflect into the surface (white) of your paper. This creates a stunning luminescent effect on your artwork.

Color transparency is vital, especially if you’ll be working with the layering technique. Plan your artwork and layer your transparent colors for complete harmony.

Permanence

Permanence is the watercolors capability to withstand direct light exposure or humidity without worrying the colors will fade, turn yellowish, shifting colors, or darkening. It also refers to the colors lightfastness.

It’s a vital factor, especially when you are not working with your painting surface. This assures you that your artwork’s quality won’t degrade and can be passed to the next generations.

Check the watercolor packaging and ensure it’s “very good’ or “excellent” lightfastness.

Types

While there are plenty of watercolor types out there, the most popular types are tubes and pans. Choose the type of watercolor you are most comfortable using and the one that enables you to achieve the results you are earnest to achieve.

Non-staining or staining

Some watercolors dry on top of the surface where you can easily remove or scrape off using a sponge. Others penetrate and stain the paper fiber. The critical aspect is that all colors fall between staining and non-staining.

This factor may seem unimportant for beginners until you’ll be working with lifting colors or layering techniques.

Brands

Characteristics and quality vary with every watercolor manufacturer and brand. However, this should not hinder you from mixing colors to achieve your desired results. You will also notice that some brands or manufacturers stand out in specific colors.

It boils down to every artist’s unique preference for style and pigments. The best way for you to find the right brand is to explore and see which one meets your taste.

Our Top Pick:

Arteza Gouache 60-Color Tube Paint Set Multifunctional Mix Media

It’s a complete set which allows you to practice your watercolor techniques and improve your painting skills. The pearl colors are magnificent and will make you fall in love with watercolors over and over again. 

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Runner-UP

Komorebi 40-Color Japanese Watercolor Set W/ Metallic & Neon Artist-Grade Rich Pigment

This highly recommended watercolor set provides guaranteed satisfaction through artist-grade rich and long-lasting pigments. It comes with an improved formula to ensure your artworks are always stunning. It’s a perfect gift for every artist as this set is securely enclosed in a rigid box to protect your materials from getting damaged.  It’s a trusted brand for every watercolor artist for years. All pigments are vibrant, rich, and long-lasting. Non-toxic and ideal for every artist’s age.

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Good Deal

GenCrafts 48 Premium Rich Color Palette With Free Paper Pad and Refillable Brush Pen For Blending Water

This 48 removable watercolor set allows you to create art anytime and anywhere. The pigments are rich, vibrant, and long-lasting. It’s a great buy which enables you to practice your painting skills and techniques. With two water refillable, blending brush pens allows you to work on details and more. It offers premium-quality rich and vibrant colors that are carefully crafted to guarantee excellence.

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Final Words

We hope you learn something new with us today. Watercolor is an excellent painting every newcomer will surely love. Leave us a comment on what you think about this article, and we hope we shared valuable ideas with you.