Urban Landscapes in Watercolor
A course by Daniel "Pito" CamposIllustrator and Artist
A course by Daniel "Pito" Campos, Illustrator and Artist
Learn professional techniques to turn a real landscape into a wash of color and light.
Transform the world around you into watercolor by letting each stroke flow and blend together to depict a real landscape. Daniel "Pito" Campos is an illustrator and self-taught visual artist who always carries his watercolors with him so he never misses an opportunity to recreate cityscapes with splashes of color. Driven by a passion for urban environments and painting, his work has appeared in newspapers like La Voz del Interior and La Nueva Mañana, magazines such as Desterradxs and La Luciérnaga, and in the form of murals such as the one found in the Pasteur-AMIA subway station in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In this course, learn how to transform a real landscape into a watercolor illustration step by step, from the materials to professional painting tips.
What will you learn in this online course?
16 lessons & 13 downloads
What will we do in the course
2 minutes, 1 second
Description of the materials
19 minutes, 50 seconds
What is a stain and how it is made
13 minutes, 25 seconds
Paper preparation
4 minutes, 30 seconds
Doing the pencil drawing
11 minutes, 15 seconds
Initial wash
9 minutes, 26 seconds
What's included in this course?
Meet your teacher Daniel "Pito" Campos. He tells you about his professional career as an illustrator, watercolor artist, and teacher, as well as his self-taught journey to becoming a visual artist. He also shares his biggest artistic influences from Argentina and around the world.
Go over the basic materials you need for painting with watercolors, such as pigments, paper, and brushes, and then narrow your focus to look at the specific ones you need to paint an urban landscape. Next, search for what your teacher calls the "trigger," or the subject of your painting. Daniel explains how to find or take a good photo that you can use as a reference for your project.
Now it's time to grab your brush and learn a bit of technique. Discover different strokes and how to control them to create specific effects. Then, see how to get your paper ready for painting and sketch an outline of your chosen cityscape in pencil.
Lay the foundation for your final piece by painting a background wash. Pito guides you through the process demonstrating how to apply clean, even strokes from side to side. Once dry, build on top of the first layer with a second wash.
Analyze moving objects, such as people and vehicles, and learn how to portray them so they fit naturally into your composition. In the final stage, polish your work by adding some finer details and finishing touches to your sunny urban landscape. Daniel then shows you how to cloud the skies and turn that sunny cityscape into a rainy one.
Learn how to remove your finished piece from the backing board and get some professional tips from "Pito" Campos on how to care for and preserve your work.
What is this course's project?
Paint a watercolor composition of an urban landscape on a sunny day, and then transform it into a rainy day.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Illustrators, artists, and anyone interested in telling stories by painting urban landscapes.
Requirements and materials
No prior knowledge is needed to take this course, but basic notions of drawing and painting will be helpful.
The material list includes watercolor paper (300 GSM), watercolor pigments (either in tubes or pans), a mixing palette, paint brushes (a size 8, 10, or 12 round brush, a 0 or 00 long-bristled liner brush, and a 5-cm-wide flat brush or a large round brush), paper towels, paper tape, a 40x50 cm firm support, a container for water, and a spray bottle.
Reviews
- 2 months ago
Excelente, muy didáctico y claro!
- 2 months ago
Muy buen curso. El profesor explica los contenidos con mucha claridad. Recomiendo este curso y otros del mismo profesor. Además, son cursos muy amenos.
- lillith001PLUS3 months ago
Es un curso muy sencillo de entender, pero lleno de ejemplos prácticos y en cuanto lo vas observando quieres ponerte a pintar de inmediato. Es un gran profesor, didáctico a cada paso.
- 3 months ago
Me parece un buen curso con explicaciones claras y sencillas
- 3 months ago
AMAZING
He has worked for magazines like Servicio de Cable, Desterradxs, and La Luciérnaga, as an illustrator for newspapers such as La Voz and La Nueva Mañana, and, as a muralist, he has created work in different stations across Buenos Aires.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- Influences II
- What will we do in the course
- U2
Let's set the stage
- Description of the materials
- Find the trigger
- What is a stain and how it is made
- U3
Let's start painting
- Paper preparation
- Doing the pencil drawing
- Initial wash
- Second wash
- Mobile object resolution
- Final details, people, cars and shadows
- Transform the work to a rainy day
- U4
Post work
- Disassembly, work care and conservation
- Tips and advice
- FP
Final project
- Urban landscapes in watercolor
What to expect from a Domestika course
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.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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.
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.
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.
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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FAQs
You’ll learn techniques to transform photos into watercolors, create urban atmospheres, work with light and shadow, apply rain and reflection effects, simplify human figures, and preserve and digitize your artwork.
This is an intermediate-level course. Basic knowledge of watercolor or drawing is recommended to fully benefit from the techniques and content taught.
You’ll need watercolor paper, paints, brushes of various sizes, a pencil, a mixing palette, masking tape, and a sturdy board to mount your paper.
The course teaches how to select a reference image, analyze it, and simplify shapes and colors, then reinterpret it pictorially using washes, glazes, and the expressive gestures typical of watercolor.
You’ll learn to use washes, glazes, creamy pigment, and dry brush techniques to mimic wet surfaces, water reflections, and atmospheric effects typical of rainy days.
The course covers scanning and photography methods, color correction, and digital preservation, enabling you to reproduce and share your work in print and digital formats.
Techniques like splattering, spitting, scraping, and dry brushing are covered to create realistic textures and visual effects on walls, pavements, and urban elements.