When you look at youtube or other platforms you will see the most amazing watercolor paintings! Of course it would be amazing if we could all start off with those. Sadly, if you aim to high you will only get frustrated! Today I want to show you how to create a simple sunset with watercolor paint in 3 colors and a black brushpen/marker.

A sunset might look very hard when you are just a beginner but if you make them the way I am going to show, yours will look amazing as well! Most of the time we tend to think too difficult. A simple shape can do just as much as a really deeply detailed shape. You just need an openmind and lots of fun! 

For this project you will need:
*Watercolor paint ( We are going to use yellow, orange and red! and black for the shadow and ground.)
* A flat brush
* A super small pencil brush
*Toilet or kitchen paper
*Water
*Watercolor paper

Watercolor Papers are selected by finish and by weight. Manufacturers generally sell three or more finishes, usually labeled Rough, Cold Press, and Hot Press.For transparent watercolors, most artists prefer a Rough or Cold Press finish. A smoother finish, such as Hot Press, is desirable for opaque watercolors, and for printmaking and drawing.  ( Source of text,  https://www.dickblick.com/watercolor/papers/  ) 

This is the painting we are going to do

Lets get this painting party going! 

First lets set everything up! Gather your paper, water ( Clean) and put on some nice music on the back ground! 

I use watercolor paint I bought in China for 4 euro! So many colors and a low prize! I have to say that I was not sure if this paint would look bright etc, if there would be enough pigment in the paint to work well. But, I am very happy with it! The paint is brandless, or maybe that is because I kinda lost the lid :D
Put some water in your yellow, orange and red to start mixing the paint! 

Start with horizontal YELLOW lines! Use enough water to make the paint really thin! Plus the wetter you paint is on the paper the better it will mix with the other colors. Start with yellow in the middle of the page and go up and down. Add more layers if you want a brigther yellow. 

The second color we are going to use is Orange! ^^
Start under the yellow and leave a little line white! Slowly start to work your way up into the yellow and make the two colors connect! Same goes for on above the yellow. Leave a little line of white and slowly work your brush down in horizontal lines to mix the two together.  On the next picture you can see what I mean! 

Now we are going to add the red to the mix! Start at the top of your paper and work your way down into the orange paint with horizontal stripes!

As you can see in this picture ^^ I mixed the colors also a bit on the side of the paper. To do this you clean your brush with clean water and keep it wet. Start to pull horizontal lines with your brush mixing the paint but leave enough yellow in the middle! 

By now you might thing.... Uhmmm Snek.... Did I not see a sun on the first picture? UHU, you did see that and I am going to show you how to create the white sun! 

Now you might think that I am crazy because how will we get a white sun if the paper is already painted yellow! TRICK Time! And.... We are not going to use any paint at all, no white paint... Nothing but a brush, water and some toilet paper. 

^^ Use the smallest brush you can find and make it wet with CLEAN water and drip that down in a circle shape on your yellow paint! Don't touch the paper too much, just carefully drip some water on it and shape is softly to a circle. 

^^ Put your brush away and grab the toilet paper ( clean works best! Kidding... No seriously! ) And put your hand above the painting! ( Singing toilet songs might make things more interesting for this little trick, no I don't know any! I do but not sharing! Anywaysss.....)
Time for some Magic....

The secret magic..... is.... Pushing your paper down on the paper and push..... like 2 or 3 seconds. While doing that you can either say a spell like abracadabraaaa or just do nothing at all.
And then..... The moment we all have been waiting for....

Lift your toilet paper from your painting and... TADAAAaa you have a sun!
Magic, just the best magic in the world...
Or maybe the paper sucked in the color and cleaned your painting... But that does not sound as cool... So magic it is! 

Lets move on to the next step before you all buy me a straight jacket!

But first..... LET THE PAINT DRY!
Get some tea, coffee or milk.... Eat some cookies or watch a movie! 

I am using a ecoline black brushpen for this step but you can also use a normal black marker. You can even do it with black paint but.... That might be more messy if you are new at water colors. Ecoline brushpens are watercolor pens, so it also looks like you used normal paint. 

Make the whole ground BLACK...... Black black and more black! We are going to create a easy landscape with this on wich you draw your trees, plants and or flowers in a bit! 

Don't think too hard.... Shape do not have to be perfect to give the impression of something amazing! For this painting I just made a few curly lines up and added some leafe shape things in the mix as well. To me they look like long plants! Or leafes on sticks.... You can  make the shape more like a flower on top, that is all up to your own setting! 

Keep adding more flowers/plants! I like to start at the right, then left and go somewhere in the middle. But of course you can do this in your own way. After all, this should be fun to do and not a job! 

Keep adding until your head and or heart tells you to stop. It's hard to stop, at least for a painting really is never done! I always get more idea's and at days I have to force myself to stop adding things. Less is more, I know that well because many a times I went too far! 

But, hey... Look at your paper!
You turned a white piece into a SUNSET!
How amazing right!
Be proud of yourself! 

Now it's time to enjoy what you created! Frame it, stick it to the wall or sell it and buy some more cookies! But just be proud of what you made!
You might feel that your painting is not as great, or not beautiful ... But... Trust me, it is!
You created something from scratch, turned white into color! 

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!
If you try this out please feel free to share the results in the comments! 

NOTE:  Do you want a unique hand draw banner or gif?
I offer my skills to design them for you!
To learn more about the price have a look at this post:
https://steemit.com/steemgigs/@poeticsnake/steemgigs-i-m-offering-my-skills-to-create-hand-drawn-banners-and-gifs

“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.” ~Hafiz 

My name is @poeticsnake, a creative writer and dreaming poet! 
A wandering soul searching for new paths to walk on!
If you like my poetry, paintings and daily ramblings push the follow button! 
If I made you feel anything with my work, please reply! 
If you fell in love, resteem is the answer! :D 

Have a blessed, warm and loving day! 
@poeticsnake