Class: Old Barn with Watercolor

In Old Barn with Watercolor, you’ll embark on a step-by-step painting journey to bring a rustic barn scene to life using both watercolor and gouache. This 7-lesson series (approximately 2.5 hours total) is thoughtfully structured to guide you from the first pencil sketch through to the finishing details, giving you confidence and control with every stroke.

You’ll begin by exploring materials and supplies, selecting the ideal watercolor paper (Stonehenge cold-press is recommended) and assembling your palette with professional watercolors, gouache, and high-quality round brushes. In Lesson 1, the course starts with contour drawing, laying out the proportions and composition of the barn and adjacent structure in pencil.

In Lesson 2, you’ll establish a soft watercolor underpainting—a wash that gently unifies the scene and sets the mood. From there, Lessons 3 and 4 focus on building contrast and depth by layering progressively darker washes. You’ll learn how to control saturation, transition values, and preserve luminosity in lighter areas.

Lessons 5 and 6 shift the focus to emergent detail, as you gradually develop the structure of the barn, its roof, and surrounding elements—leaning into patient layering, careful observation, and refining shapes. Finally, Lesson 7 brings it all home: the foreground is enriched with gouache applications that sharpen highlights, deepen shadows, and emphasize textures like wood or foliage.

Over the course, you’ll practice a balanced approach—utilizing the translucence of watercolor underlayers with the opacity of gouache accents—so your painting achieves both subtlety and strength.

This lesson series is ideal if you’re comfortable with basic drawing and want to expand your watercolor repertoire with layered techniques and mixed media accents. It’s perfect for artists looking to hone their landscape and architectural painting skills, while learning how to plan, layer, and finish a piece thoughtfully from start to finish.

Lesson 1 (17:17)

In lesson one, we discuss the materials and create our pencil sketch of the contours.

Lesson 2 (24:21)

In lesson two, we lightly wash the entire painting surface with watercolor developing an underpainting of faint color.

Lesson 3 (22:32)

In lesson three, we begin to develop contrast and depth in color by layering progressively darker applications.

Lesson 4 (17:45)

In lesson four, we continue the process of increasing contrast and depth in color.

Lesson 5 (19:24)

In lesson five, we begin developing details on the structures within the scene.

Lesson 6 (19:10)

In lesson six, we continue developing details by patiently layering progressively darker values and washes of color.

Lesson 7 (24:45)

In lesson seven, we complete the painting by addressing the details of the foreground with gouache applications.