Expressive Watercolor Painting: Create Compelling Illustrations
A course by Reha Sakar , Visual Artist
Learn watercolor techniques to capture the mood and atmosphere of a scene in both black and white and in color
Learn watercolor techniques to capture the mood and atmosphere of a scene in both black and white and in color
Art is all about interpretation. By playing with contrast and effects, you can create pieces that tell a story and immerse the viewer in the mood of a scene— a skill that visual artist Reha Sakar has mastered through experience. After developing concept art for renowned companies such as Warner Bros. and Paramount, he rounded out his creative practice when he discovered watercolor, veering away from realism and embracing the looseness of this medium to create expressive depictions full of depth and artful splashes of paint.
In this online course, Reha teaches you how to use watercolor to capture an atmosphere in evocative watercolor paintings. Explore the basics of values, layers, and composition to create a black-and-white piece that evokes the essence of a scene and then let your creativity run wild as you paint another work of art in color, incorporating splatters and abstract elements for maximum expressiveness.
If you want to explore Reha’s digital art techniques, check out his other Domestika course, Matte Painting of Imaginary Worlds in Photoshop. "
What will you learn in this online course?
13 lessons & 18 downloads
- 98% positive reviews (233)
- 11,257 students
- 13 lessons (1h 44m)
- 18 additional resources (4 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, Turkish
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create two expressive watercolor paintings: a monochromatic one and another one in color.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who wants to create compelling illustrations that capture a mood and tell a story.
Requirements and materials
"Basic knowledge of watercolor is helpful but not required.
As for materials, you need watercolors, brushes, and high-quality cotton paper."
Reviews
A course by Reha Sakar
Reha Sakar is a Turkish artist based in Vancouver, Canada. He first began painting as a young child with his mother and fellow artist. After studying astronomy at university and working as an insurance broker during the holidays, he soon realized that art was his true passion. From there, he took a course in Photoshop and discovered his talent for 3D art, which kick-started his creative career.
Since then, Reha has worked in digital media for more than 10 years. He has created promotional material for Call of Duty, Diablo III, The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Marvel’s Avengers, World War Z, Rango, Batman: The Dark Knight Rises, and more. He has also written articles on matte painting and worked with sports leagues including the NHL.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
Getting Started
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The Materials
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Art Fundamentals and Visual Language
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Watercolor Techniques
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U3
Painting in Monochrome
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The Sketch
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First and Second Wash
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The Midtones
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The Fisherman and Final Details
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U4
A Sunset Scene
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Value Studies and Line Work
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First Wash and Buildings
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The Electric Poles
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The Wires and Final Touches
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FP
Final project
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Expressive Watercolor Painting: Create Compelling Illustrations
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
nilguncakar2
I learned a lot about colors and painting techniques. The depiction of light and shadow with colors is wonderful.
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h3ndr4y4hy4
I learned new techniques regarding drawing with watercolor, what I like about this course is the expression of Reha Sakar captured in the drawing, it is not just a realistic painting but very expressive and artistic.
watercolorpassionart
Ein perfekter Kurs voller Wissen und sehr sympathisch! Absolute Empfehlung :-)
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mahadvocacia
PlusWow! I love it! I learned a lot on few lessons...it opened a new universe to me!
becpaints
PlusExceptional course. The exercises are really challenging, but the way the instructor takes you through them makes them really approachable. I went through each a couple times to big improvement in my final pieces. I learned alot about light, producing a high quality work in watercolor, and some really interesting techniques that I can apply in my painting.
This is just a special class. The instructor does a great job.