Learn to PLAN & paint a watercolour from PHOTOS. Made easier

Name: Learn to PLAN & paint a watercolour from PHOTOS. Made easier
Rating: 4.3 (20 reviews)

This will help you make a great composition from a photo. How tp make changes, solve problems, select colours & paint.

Created byNicola A Blakemore

Last updated 9/2025

English

What you'll learn

Learn how to extract a composition from a photo.
Learn how to use your 'artist's licence' to get what YOU want.
See how you can easily make changes to a composition.
Solve perspective and detail problems before you start.
Students will learn how to simplify the subject.

Course content

1 section • 14 lectures • 1h 4m total length

Where to find your downloads, ask questions etc4:06
Please do this lecture, it could save you a lot of time and frustration.
PLEASE NOTE.
1 Each lecture will have a description ( please read ) and either a video or an article as content.
2 After the content there will be a 'resource' such as a PDF or picture where appropriate.
3 From time to time Udemy will offer my courses at a reduced price. When this happens please approach me directly for a coupon code for the same amount. That way I get to keep more of the revenue.
Contact me if you have any questions about the content.
Contact Student Support if you have any technical questions.
Thanks, love Nicola
The subject.1:25
The view.
I was teaching some ladies recently and this was the view from where they were staying. We decided it might be too challenging for them as they were both beginners, but I decided to tackle it from the view of 'how to create a painting from your photo'.
RESOURCES.
Photo of the view
The village.0:39
The village
This short video explains how I will tackle the village.
RESOURCES.
Photo of the village.
The tracing.
The bridge.2:02
The bridge.
This short video explains how I will tackle the bridge.
RESOURCES.
Photo of the bridge.
The tracing.
How to duplicate an image by tracing.0:03
A simple short video to show you how to transfe an image.
Create the composition.3:28
Create the composition.
Here I look at how to place the village and the bridge together.
I will also talk about the style of painting treatment that I will give it.
An overview of the painting so far2:08
Why a lot of it seems done.
There was quite a lot of repetitive painting, so I just got on with it so you wouldn't have to watch paint dry.
Here I explain something about the process.
RESOURCES.
Photo of the work at this stage.
Let's look more closely at the sky.6:25
What happened with mine.
I wanted to just let the colour flow and in spite of me using a glued block of 300 gm paper it still cockled in one place where the colour puddles. I decided to let it be as I was yet to decide the style of the painting.
RESOURCES.
Photo of this section.
How to go about painting the village.10:11
Keep it simple is the phrase to bear in mind here.
Keep the colours to limited few and then paint the buildings randomly and add shadows afterwards. Keeping detials to the minimum.
RESOURCES.
Photo of this section.
Planning the gap between the village and the bridge.9:33
Possibly the tricky bit.
The view itself had too big an expanse of 'green' in the middle. Indiscernible trees, so I decided to make it more specific. So I imagined a road weaving up the hill to the village and put some plane trees along the way. It works and there's no reason why you can't take liberties with your own photos and painting.
Don't be afraid to mess about with sketches before hand. Remember it's what the image means to you.
RESOURCES.
Photo of this section.
How to paint the trees in the foreground.10:42
Lots of salt.
I enjoyed messing about with these, using lots of salted water
RESOURCES.
Photo of this section.
More paint and creating some steps.9:05
Creating some steps
To make a little more sense of the area under the bridge and the connection up to the riverside road, I decided to put in some steps, as I created the road to link the bridge area, up the 'difficult' middle up to the village. A little trick worth remembering.
RESOURCES.
Photo of this section.
Finishing off.3:31
Finishing.
Knowing when to stop is always the tricky part. But here I make a few adjustments and call it a day.
RESOURCES.
Photo of the finished painting.
NEW BONUS LECTURE - MORE special stuff JUST for you.1:01
Make sure you go through this lecture where more goodies await you.

Requirements

Students will need a selection of watercolor paints
Some watercolour brushes, something like a number 6 and 8, round
Some absorbent kitchen towel, two containers of water.
2B pencil, eraser, tracing paper and trace down paper ( available online)
Watercolour paper, at least 300 gm (140 lbs), sketch paper

Description

NEW Bonus Lecture added August 2023

If you want to paint a picture from a holiday photo, then this course is for you.

If you are lucky enough to go on holiday this year, take this course first then you'll take better photos with your painting in mind.

ALSO another lecture has been added at 5

So often we look at a view and think 'I'd love to paint that, but when we look closely we see all sorts of problems. ' The things we like are in the wrong place, or there's too many trees or buildings to make sense of and you give up before you start.

This course is going to be a real help to anyone painting who has faced this problem. Let me take the anxiety away byt giving you some good planning advice.

This course will help you with your problem solving process when it comes to planning and painting a picture.

Here I will show you how to break it down into manageable chunks.
Use your artist's licence to move and add details.
How to solve large expanses of 'green'.
Make sense of masses of buildings.
Alter perspective so the end result so it makes sense.
Create great tree foliage effects with salt.

This is a great course which will help you in so many ways, whatever you chose to paint. So take it slowly and follow the process, then when you have painted this scene you will be able to tackle your own special painting.

Enjoy your painting, love Nicola

Who this course is for:

This course will suit anyone who wants to improve their painting
It is helpful for composition.
Planning a process of work.
Working with a limited palette.