Create a Two Tone Watercolour Galaxy

Hello there! My name is Jessica and I am a watercolour artist born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. My passions are painting galaxies, pets and anything pop culture related. I have been painting my whole life but started to take my art seriously about 2 years ago, when I discovered watercolour GALAXIES!

Materials:

1 light and 1 dark watercolour paint (I’ll be using Purple and plus Payne’s Grey)
Bleed Proof White (or White Gouache)
Cold Pressed Watercolour Paper at least 140lb/300gsm
2 Round brushes (I’m using The Pigeon Letters Studio Cruelty-Free Round #8 and #2)
Tape (washi/masking/painters)
Board
Jar of Water

OPTIONAL

Flat brush
White gel pen
Heat gun
Toothbrush
Adorable Brush rest

Step One

Tape your paper down to a board, we will be using a lot of water so this step is crucial to prevent your paper from buckling!

Step Two

Using a large round or flat brush, wet down your paper. Make sure there are no puddles of water and there is a nice sheen to the paper when you hold it to the light.

Step Three

Lay down a light value of your light colour, keeping the centre very light and a little darker on the edges. Let dry.

Step Four

Lay another layer of the light colour down, but this time start with a dark value of wet paint around the edges and use water to bring it in to the centre, this will lighten the value. Let dry.

Step Five

Lay down your dark paint around the edges where you want your galaxy to be darkest, and then lay your light paint down before dragging the colour into the centre using water, just as we did in step 4. While the layer is wet, feel free to drop in some white Gouache for shining stars and some water for added texture. Let dry, and repeat if you feel the edges are not dark enough.

Step Six

Add stars using your small brush (load with paint and tap the brush) or toothbrush (carefully flicking the bristles), and add detail to your shining stars using the tip of your brush or a gel pen if you are more comfortable. Let dry, and voila, you have an amazing two tone Galaxy!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and I would love for you to share your end result on Instagram with me over at @artbypanza. Now, may the force be with you as you paint ALL the galaxies!