Whimsical Illustrations with Watercolor

Can you imagine bringing your dreams to life with the help of watercolor? Illustrator Karina Cocq, who specializes in watercolor, demonstrates the fluidity, subtlety, and versatility of this technique and offers the viewer the chance to be transported to other worlds and experience an array of emotions.

In this course, she teaches you watercolor techniques and shows you how to use your surroundings and your imagination to create dreamlike illustrations. Learn to paint a scene based on real—but not necessarily coherent—elements, closing the gap between dreams and reality.

Start by getting to know your teacher Karina Cocq as she introduces herself and shows you some of her work as well as the processes she implements to bring it to life. She also shows you some artists and books that have influenced her in her professional career and may also be of interest to you.

Next, examine the materials you need for the course and hone in on what you are passionate about and how to create from your own images. Learn how to get inspired, organize your references, and do your first drawings basing your piece on these elements.

Now get ready to paint! Karina explains how to transfer your drawings to watercolor paper and teaches you the basics of these techniques. She then helps you discover the huge variety of colors and choose a palette that perfectly harmonizes with your illustration.

Brushes in hand, look at how to outline the illustration with watercolor and how to apply the first layers of color to the scene. Continue with the heavier layers of pigment until you acquire darker, more saturated colors. Use pencils or white gouache for the final details.

Once your illustration is finished, digitize your image to have it at your disposal on multiple platforms. Karina rounds off the course by telling you about her experience in the publishing world and how she and her sister founded a small publishing house called Cocorocoq, whose main goal is to produce high-quality illustrated literature.

Do a sketch and paint an illustration with a dreamlike, magical quality based on personal reference materials.

Anyone interested in expressing their creative imagination and immersing it in color using watercolors.

Basic drawing knowledge is recommended in order to get the best possible learning experience, although it isn't essential.

As for materials, you need paint, paper, watercolor, a scanner, and a computer installed with Adobe Photoshop.