Rainy days often bring with them a unique mood—one that can be captured beautifully with watercolors. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to paint two rainy day-inspired watercolor scenes: a dramatic thunderstorm and a window covered in droplets. We’ll walk through each step of the process, and I'll share helpful tips and tricks to enhance your watercolor skills along the way. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Using Reference Images
For this project, I used reference images—a thunderstorm sky and droplets on a window. You can find these in the video description or choose your own. If you prefer having an outline to work with but don't want to draw it yourself, here’s an easy hack: print the reference image, then transfer a few key guidelines onto your watercolor paper.
- How to transfer the image: Flip your printed image and rub a soft pencil (like 4B or 6B) all over the back. Then, place the image on your watercolor paper and lightly trace over the main lines using an H or HB pencil. This transfers the pencil lead onto your watercolor paper, creating a simple outline.
Now you have your base ready for painting.
Step 2: Prepping with Masking Fluid
For both the thunderstorm and droplets painting, masking fluid will help preserve white areas, allowing you to build depth and contrast.
- Thunderstorm: Use a fine brush to apply masking fluid to the areas you want to keep white, like the main lines of the thunder and the city skyline. Don’t worry if you can’t get very thin lines with the masking fluid—you can refine the details later with a white pen or ink.
- Droplets: Apply masking fluid to the large droplet outlines and add a few smaller dots for variety. Pay attention to your reference image to see how droplets curve and follow a certain path.
Step 3: Painting the Thunderstorm Sky
Now that your masking fluid is dry, it’s time to start painting. For the sky, I used a mix of indigo, ivory black, and blue violet. These dark tones create a dramatic, stormy sky effect.
- Wet into Wet Technique: Before applying paint, wet your paper with clean water to make blending easier. Use a big round or flat brush to evenly distribute water across the paper. Then, start applying the dark color mixture, focusing on the edges and working your way toward the center. Use a lighter touch in the lower half to maintain a bright contrast in the sky.
- Texture and Lifting Technique: You can create texture in the clouds by lightly lifting paint with a clean damp brush. Alternatively, use a crumpled tissue to dab some paint off, adding a soft, cloudy texture. Be careful not to over-blend—contrast between light and dark areas is key to making the scene look dynamic.
Step 4: Painting the Water Droplets
For the droplet painting, we’ll again use the wet into wet technique.
- Create the background: Wet the entire paper, then start adding ultramarine blue at the top to mimic the sky. Allow the color to gradually fade toward the center, leaving the lower half lighter. Use bluish black for the silhouette at the bottom, and let the wet paint create a soft, blurred effect. This background should remain blurry so the droplets stand out later.
- Mirroring the sky in the droplets: Once the background is dry, we’ll add detail to the droplets. Paint the bottom half of each droplet with the same blue you used for the sky, blending it upwards to leave some white areas. This white space is the sky reflected in the droplets.
- Adding shadows and details: Use the darker blue to outline the droplets, following the curved shapes you see in your reference. Add shadows to the upper part of each droplet to create the illusion of depth. Don’t worry if it looks strange up close—stepping back will help you see the full effect.
Step 5: Finishing Touches
Once both paintings are dry, remove the masking fluid.
- Thunderstorm Details: If the thunder lines look too thick, refine them with a white ink pen to add thinner branches and make the lightning pop. For the city skyline, add some dots of light using white, orange, and red Posca pens to create the illusion of city lights glowing in the distance.
- Droplet Details: Use the same colors from the background to shade the droplets and create realistic reflections. Add as many small droplets as you like—this is where you can really get creative!
Conclusion: Bring Your Rainy Day Scenes to Life!
With these techniques, you’ll be able to capture the beauty of a rainy day, from dramatic thunderstorms to delicate droplets on a window. Remember, art sometimes looks strange up close, so don’t hesitate to step back and take in the full scene. The final result will amaze you!
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If you’re interested in learning more about watercolor painting or need new painting ideas, check out my No-Fail Watercolor Book. It's packed with more fun projects and step-by-step guides to help you develop your watercolor skills.
Happy painting!