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How to paint watercolour pebbles

Inspired by the gorgeous, idyllic, unspoilt, blue flag Mulranny Strand, Co Mayo, Ireland. My dad grew up on a farm beside here, so for me, that beach is full of childhood summer memories.



Watercolour Pebbles
Watercolour Pebbles


Materials Needed



  • Watercolour paper (300gsm, cold-pressed)


  • Watercolour paints:


    You can follow along with these colours that I used or select your own.   


  • Ultramarine Blue

  • Yellow Ochre

  • Alizarin Crimson

  • Sepia

  • White gouache (optional for highlights)


  • Brushes:

    • Round brushes One larger, one smaller.  I used sizes 2 and 6


  • Salt (table salt or sea salt)


  • Cocktail stick or something sharp


  • Watercolour pencils in complementary pebble tones (e.g., greys, browns or blues.  Yellows can look like golden sand dust which works well too)


  • Sandpaper


  • Palette for mixing colours


  • Water jars (one for clean water, one for rinsing brushes)


  • Paper towel or cloth


  • Gold watercolour(optional, for accents)


  • Hair Dryer ( to speed up the drying of your painting) - Optional




Instructions:

Step 1A: Sketch the Pebble Stack

Pebble Sketch
Pebble Sketch

  1. Lightly sketch a vertical stack of pebbles on your watercolour paper.  Use very light pencil marks so that only you can see them.  Design your own stack or use the reference above. 


    Exaggerate the tilt of some pebbles or add a few precariously balanced small stones to make it feel more dynamic.


    NOTE:  Remember, some of the pebbles will be nearly white and we don’t want the pencil marks to show in the final painting.  A watercolour pencil is the best bet, as light marks will dissolve into nothingness when you paint. Once water or paint has been brushed across graphite pencil, it will be very difficult, possibly impossible to remove the drawing marks with an eraser.  So sketch ever so softly.


  2. Vary the shapes and sizes of the pebbles—some round, others oval or flat.


  3. Add a few scattered stones at the base to create a natural composition.


Step 1.B - Plan


1. We’ll be mixing 5 colours.  Desaturated versions of the blue, yellow and crimson paint plus a light and a dark grey.  Make a quick note of which colour you are going to paint each pebble.


  1. We are also going to use a variety of techniques to add texture to the pebbles:

Salt

Watercolour pencil shavings

Cocktail stick lines

Reserving white lines (on the top darkest pebble in my example)

Paint splatters

  1. Make a quick note of which pebbles you will apply which technique too.  This is quite a playful, intuitive part of the process and you will find yourself combining techniques and changing your plan as you paint and I absolutely encourage that.

Step 1C - Colour Mixing


Activate all your paints with clean water so they are approximately the consistency of milk to single cream.  We will apply light washes of watery paint then drop in darker less watery mixes as we go.





Dark Grey - Sepia and Ultramarine blue will give you a lovely dark grey - consistency should be between single cream and milk


Light Grey - Water with a touch of alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and a tiny amount yellow ochre to make it look less purple - tea like consistency


Maroon - Alizarin Crimson, with a little yellow ochre, followed by a little ultra marine blue - milk consistency


Sandy colour - Yellow Ochre, with a tiny bit of crimson and blue - milk consistency


Desaturated Blue - Ultramarine blue, desaturated with tiny amounts of the crimson and yellow ochre - milk consistency


For the next part, WORK ONE PEBBLE AT A TIME.  Start at the top of the stack but skip each alternate pebble.  Remember from week one that if we put wet paint next to wet paint,  the two areas  will bleed into each other and we don’t want that today.





STEP 2 - Paint the Pebbles

This is the first wash.  Once the pebble is dry we will add more detail, so no pressure to finish each pebble in one go.


2.1 Salt Technique

NOTE: Use salt sparingly and focus it on one or two stones for a subtle effect.




  1. Wet the pebble using a watery mix of your chosen colour.   Keep this very light with soft unpainted areas in the middle


  2. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle a small amount of salt over areas of the pebble to create textured, weathered effects. Drop in some slightly thicker consistency paint along the bottom and top edges of your pebble to give it shadows and form.  Allow the salt to absorb the paint as it dries, leaving a natural texture.


  3. Let the base layer dry completely and gently brush off the salt granules the following day.   From my experience, the painting can look dry but water can still be hiding under the salt  for 24 hours.



2.2 Other Techniques

Add the first light mix of colour as above.  You can drop in different colour mixes and more intense colour in places for more interest.  If you add too much water or paint, use a thirsty brush or clean tissue to remove the excess.


NOTE: thirsty brush is a clean, damp brush that has been patted on a clean tissue.  Drag the side of this brush across any areas that you need to lighten or mop up.


Watercolour pencil technique - Sand the tips of the pencils over the paper using sandpaper, allowing pigment particles to fall onto wet areas for gestural, unpredictable marks.





The wetter your stone, the more the shavings will dissolve.  I like to wait until the water has dried a little.




Cocktail stick - While the paint is damp, use a cocktail stick to gently etch fine lines or veins into the paint. This creates subtle grooves for natural patterns.







You can drop extra paint in too at this point.  Works better on darker areas.


White lines



White lines work best with the dark grey paint.  Paint carefully with the point of the brush, leaving white lines unpainted on the stone.





Splatters - Use a watery mix of your chosen colour, can be white or gold too.  Cover any areas of your painting that you don’t want splattered.  Hover your brush an inch above your pebble and with a second brush or pencil, lightly tap the brush.




Adding a second layer of paint over dry first layer

NOTE:  Test this on spare paper first, smaller brushes make smaller splashes.


Step 3: Add Shadows

Using your earlier mix of dark grey or darker version of your original pebble colours, add shadows where one pebble overlaps another.  Focus on the underside of each stone and the top of stone below.


Step 4: Define and Refine

  1. With the smaller brush, refine the edges of the pebbles.

  2. Introduce hints of Yellow Ochre or gold paint for elegance to highlight areas where light hits.


Step 5: Grounding



  1. Use the side of the larger round brush to add a faint light grey wash for the ground.

  2. Flick diluted paint from a loaded brush to create soft splatters, enhancing the loose, organic feel.

  3. Anchor the stack with shadows beneath the stones.




Step 6 : Final Touches

  1. Add highlights using white gouache or lift paint with a clean damp brush to reveal lighter areas.

  2. Adjust the depth of shadows or enhance textures for extra definition.

  3. Perhaps add white splashes to one or two stones


Good luck and have fun! Tag me on instagram with your creations @kerryslackart





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