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
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
What's included in this course?
Start by getting to know visual artist Reha as he reveals how he started painting and how his creative career evolved. Tap into his sources of inspiration by exploring the artists that have influenced his work.
After going over the materials you need, delve into the fundamentals of visual language. Reha explains his approach to watercolor and takes you through some examples of compositions. Then try your hand at various splashing and scratching techniques with hands-on exercises.
With the basics in mind, it’s time to paint! Start your monochromatic piece by building up the linework, focusing on rendering shapes accurately. Apply a couple of light washes to create a hazy background and then incorporate the midtones as you work towards the foreground. Finish up with the details in the focal points, adding highlights, shadows, and lines to bring everything together.
Move on to your second piece: a sunset scene in color. Discover the importance of working on value studies and sketches before applying the first washes to block in the lightest values and midtones. Paint the darkest details in the foreground and some highlights to create a sense of depth. Top it off with some splatters, achieving an evocative watercolor painting that reflects your own style."
- 99% positive reviews (270)
- 13,282 students
- 13 lessons (1h 44m)
- 18 additional resources (4 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, German, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish · Romanian · Indonesian
- 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
Reha Sakar
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
Yes, this course is designed for intermediate artists with some prior art experience who want to advance their watercolor techniques and compositional skills.
Basic familiarity with watercolor painting is recommended, but beginners to Photoshop will benefit as the course covers essential Photoshop basics for artists.
You’ll need watercolor paints, various brushes, watercolor paper, a spray bottle, a sponge, a credit card for texturing, and access to Photoshop for digital techniques.
You will learn advanced watercolor techniques, how to create mood and atmosphere, effective composition strategies, analyzing references, and integrating digital tools for artistic expression.
Yes, the course covers how to capture light and shadow, use value sketches, and create depth using tonal contrast in watercolor artwork.
The course guides you through experimentation, observation, and compositional planning to help you develop your unique artistic style in watercolor painting.
Absolutely. The course focuses on building mood and atmosphere through techniques like wet-in-wet washes, soft edges, and value control in watercolor.
I've taken a few water courses. but this one was different because it did it with style. and it taught me a few things I can use even in painting with acrylic. The instructors experience in concept art gives his work a more modern look. which I really like. great course for someone who learn beyond the basics or pure realism.
This course is a fantastic opportunity to learn more than just watercolor techniques. The instructor, Reha, does an excellent job of visually explaining the processes and techniques required to understand the layers needed to break down a reference image and reconstruct it into your own interpretation in the form of a watercolor painting.
I look forward to practicing and implementing his techniques in my creative projects!
This is a very good course. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Excelente curso! 100% recomendado. Gracias por ayudarme a desestructurar la composición. A entender mejor la luz. A sugerir en vez de definir. A darle mucha más importancia a la tonalidad que a los colores. Aprendí muchisimo! Gracias Reha.
Un curso muy bueno, aborda aspectos muy relevante para la pintura en general y en especial para la acuarela, es un curso imperdible y altamente recomendado, estoy muy satisfecho.