Negative Watercolor Painting for Children's Illustration
A course by AlinailustraIllustrator and Designer
A course by Alinailustra, Illustrator and Designer
Expand your watercolor techniques to add depth and a touch of magic to your illustrations
Watercolor is a beautiful art form that easily lends itself to rich combinations of tones, textures, and styles thanks to its wide range of techniques. One such technique is negative painting, which allows you to express your ideas and put them at the forefront of your illustrations by playing with negative space. Join Carolina Alarcón, children's illustrator and expert in this technique, and fill in the blank spaces to bring a one-of-a-kind illustration project to life.
In this course, learn the ins and outs of the negative painting technique by creating a composition with watercolor. Put your creativity to work from the first sketch to the finishing touches to create personal projects for your portfolio and social media. And if you want to delve into the creation of illustrations of characters and settings from scratch, discover their first course Illustration techniques with watercolor and gouache.
What will you learn in this online course?
15 lessons & 34 downloads
Painting the empty space
4 minutes, 6 seconds
Creative materials and resources
2 minutes, 39 seconds
Basic exercises for watercolor 1
17 minutes, 47 seconds
Basic exercises for watercolor 2
14 minutes, 51 seconds
Colour
9 minutes, 59 seconds
The creative look
13 minutes, 9 seconds
What's included in this course?
As an introduction to the course, Carolina Alarcón invites you into her colorful world and shares her main influences and sources of inspiration as well as her most distinguished projects as an illustrator of children's literature.
Begin with the basics and discover what negative watercolor painting is, what materials and tools are involved, and what each can be used for. Further explore this technique by practicing with a series of exercises and start shaping the idea for your project.
Carolina then walks you through her creative process and gives you some tips to help you brainstorm ideas and find the definitive image to paint using the negative watercolor technique.
To tie everything together, compile all the videos and images you took of your piece during the illustration process and transform them into posts for social media.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Create a children's illustration using the negative watercolor painting technique and document the creative process for your portfolio and social media.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone interested in learning how to paint with watercolors or professionals who want to strengthen their illustration portfolio by showcasing advanced techniques.
Requirements and materials
Basic drawing skills are recommended for this course.
The material list includes watercolors, paper, paintbrushes, a pencil, masking tape, colored pencils, and other materials Carolina will specify in the course.
Reviews
- 2 months ago
Me encanto!
- 2 months ago
Muy interesante y fácil de seguir, muy buena profesora.
- 4 months ago
Genial, como siempre, la profesora Carolina explica muy bien, paso a paso y con ejercicios prácticos y muy útiles; lo recomiendo ampliamente.
- 1 year ago
Excelente curso que inspira y motiva para explorar la creatividad con esta técnica
- 1 year ago
Genial!!! Es muy recomendable. Carolina explica de maravilla
Carolina is the creative mind and hand behind Alinailustra, her personal online brand where she offers products decorated with her own illustrations and shares educational materials. She also recently launched ilustropik, an initiative centered around organizing activities and events to help promote work from illustrators in her city.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- U2
Before starting
- Painting the empty space
- Creative materials and resources
- Basic exercises for watercolor 1
- Basic exercises for watercolor 2
- Colour
- U3
Lines to count
- The creative look
- Deciding the stroke and color
- Painting the scene: Base
- Painting negative
- Painting negative: Details
- U4
Connect and share
- Share the process
- Job Log: Scan
- Professional platforms for your work
- FP
Final project
- Negative watercolor techniques for children's illustration
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Negative watercolor is a technique where you paint around the shapes to highlight forms and create depth. It's perfect for children's illustration because it preserves white spaces and results in visually striking, expressive compositions.
This course is designed for those with some watercolor or illustration experience, as it covers intermediate and advanced techniques specific to children's illustration using negative watercolor.
You'll need watercolor paper, brushes in various sizes, pan or tube watercolors, a mixing palette, masking tape, a water container, colored pencils, a dropper, and access to a scanner or camera to digitize your work.
You'll learn how to apply negative watercolor techniques, choose materials, build narrative compositions, reserve whites, mix colors, digitize your illustrations, and document your creative process for portfolios and social media.
Depth and brightness come from layering colors, reserving whites, and using the negative painting technique, plus choosing warm and cool colors to create contrast and dimension.
Common mistakes include not planning white reserves, using too much water or pigment, using the wrong paper, and not managing brush moisture. The course will teach you how to avoid and fix these issues.
You'll learn how to scan or photograph your illustrations, edit files in Photoshop, and organize your work professionally for platforms like Behance, Domestika, Instagram, and TikTok.