My Weekend Creative Project: Painting Watercolor Sunsets

The other day as I was on Google looking for inspiration and ideas of watercolor art, I stumbled upon this interesting class on Skillshare: Learn to Paint 10 Easy Watercolor Sunsets.  I was immediately intrigued and I clicked on the link.

I started watching the introduction and class project overview. I was hooked and I wanted to get started right away. I pulled out all my watercolor supplies and started to paint along with the instructor, Zaneena Nabeel as she went through each lesson.  

I really appreciated Zaneena’s teaching style. Each sunset lesson was about 10 minutes long. In each lesson, she showed the sunset style that we would be painting, she went over the paint colors that we would need and suggested alternative colors in case you didn't have the exact ones she was using. She then proceeded to teach how to paint the background, allow it time to dry and then get into painting the details. The structure was the same for each sunset painting, which made it easy to follow.

I thought I would be done painting in half a day, but it took me a lot longer and I spent the whole day on a Saturday painting each sunset until I completed all 10.

But I’m glad I dedicated the time to this project as it was very satisfying and I love looking at the final outcome of each sunset.  

The three new techniques I learned from this class are:

1. It is possible to paint nice artwork on a small canvas.  For this class, I cut down my watercolor paper to 4.5 inches x 4.5 inches. This way it is easy to finish a project within a short period of time and you feel like you accomplished something!
2. Paint the background first, let it completely dry before painting in the details.
3. Use a dry brush to add the sun reflection in the water.

After taking this class, I feel more confident in painting sunsets and I’m inspired to continue down the path of painting landscapes.

If you are interested in taking this class, sign up here (if you are new to Skillshare, you’ll get 1 month free).

Painting watercolor sunsets is so much fun and very therapeutic.  Give it a try!