winsor & newton studio collection eucalyptus wall art

Cover your work surface with a disposable covering and fill a cup with water.

Cut a 9" x 12" [22.8 cm x 30.4 cm] sheet of watercolour paper in half along the long side to create two 6" x 9" [15.2 cm x 22.8 cm] pieces of paper. One will be used for the project and the other for a colour chart.

On one of the 6" x 9" [15.2 cm x 22.8 cm] pieces of watercolour paper and with an HB pencil, freehand draw the eucalyptus stems or use the provided outline as a guide. The outline can be transferred onto the working paper by using a lightbox or a well-lit window.

On the other sheet of 6" x 9" [15.2 cm x 22.8 cm] piece of watercolour paper, begin making a colour chart that will serve as a reference for the various colour combinations to be used. Wet the #4 round brush and apply to only half of each of the swatches to show what the colours look like wet and dry. Then to the right side of each swatch, move the wet brush in a back and forth direction to activate the dry pigment and turn it into watercolour paint. Clean the brush in the cup of water between mixing each colour.
TIP: When creating the swatches, use normal handwriting pressure, a back-and-forth pencil stroke, keep your pencil pressure even and your strokes close together. The Back and Forth Stroke is performed by going back and forth repeatedly with pencil. To perform this stroke, place your pencil on the paper and move it in a back and forth manner, either up and down or side to side, without picking up your pencil. Create one swatch for each of the following combinations:
- Ice Grey
- Ice Grey + Grass
- Ice Grey + Midnight Blue
- Yellow + Grass
- Grass
- Yellow + Lush Green
- Lush Green
- Lush Green + Midnight Blue
- Lush Green + Midnight Blue + Black
- Umber

Using the numbered outline as a guide, use masking fluid and a toothpick to draw thin lines for the middle vein for eucalyptus leaves numbered 3, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, 20, 23, 25, 28, 30, and 32. Working from one leaf to the next, place only the very tip of the toothpick into the masking fluid and lightly place the tip of the wet toothpick onto the bottom centre of each leaf listed above and then gently move the toothpick upward to deposit the masking fluid in a thin line to resemble a leaf vein. Allow masking fluid to dry before moving on to the next step.

With a very sharp point, use the Umber colour pencil, using a slightly heavier pressure than that of handwriting pressure, and carefully draw over the eucalyptus stems using a hatching stroke. Be consistent in the line thickness to prevent the stems from appearing thicker than others. Next, use the #0 round brush and activate the dry colour into watercolour paint.
TIP: Hatching Stroke is performed by making a line or series of lines that run in the same direction. To perform this stroke, draw a line, pick up your pencil, draw another line that runs in the same direction, and repeat.

Apply the first layer of colour. Using the numbered outline as a guide, you will now begin to apply a single base layer of colour to each eucalyptus leaf. The lightest value for each leaf is applied in this step. Do not apply colour over the masking fluid; instead, carefully apply your pencil strokes around wherever the masking fluid was applied. With the colour pencils and a sharp point, apply a single layer of colour to the entirety of leaves using handwriting pressure, and with a back and forth stroke for the inside and scumbling stroke along the edges of the leaves:
- Ice Grey 1-3, 6-8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 23, 24, 29, and 35.
- Yellow 13, 17, 21, 27, 28, 30, and 34
- Lush Green 4, 5, 9, 11, 14, 15, 19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 31-33, and 36.
TIP: Scumbling Stroke is performed by making a series of circular strokes. To perform this stroke, make a series of overlapping circles and coils without picking up your pencil.

Next, begin to layer new colours over the previously laid colour to help create value, variance, and depth in colour. Continue to use the numbered outline as a guide and using the same technique as in the previous step. Apply a single, even layer of the colour Grass only to the following:
- Entirety of leaves 1, 8, 13, 16, 17, 21, 24, 27, 28, 30, and 34
- Very bottom third of leaf 2
- Left third of leaf 6
- Bottom half of leaves 3 and 23
- Left half of leaves 7 and 10
- Right half of leaves 29 and 35

Apply a single, even layer of the colour Midnight Blue to only the following:
- Entirety of leaves 5, 11, 19, 20, 22, and 36
- Bottom half of leaves 4, 12, 25, 26, 32, and 33
- Upper half of leaf 9
- Bottom three quarters of leaf 14
- Left upper curve of leaf 10
- Left half of leaf 31

Apply a single, even layer of the colour Lush Green only to the following:
- Bottom left curve of leaf 3
- Right half of leaves 8 and 16
- Bottom left curve of leaves 10 and 27
- Right half of leaf 17
- Very left side edge of leaf 18
- Left half of leaves 7, 21 and 30
- Bottom halves of leaf 1, 24, 28, and 34

Apply a single, even layer of the colour Yellow only to the following:
- Middle top tip of leaf 7 and 16
- Very left edge of leaf 8
- Very bottom right curve of leaf 20
- Bottom third of leaf 23
- Right quarter portion of leaves 29 and 35

Apply a single, even layer of the colour Black along the bottom edge where the following leaves overlap:
- Leaf 5 and 6
- Leaf 8 and 9
- Leaf 13 and 14
- Leaf 18 and 20
- Leaf 21 and 22
- Leaf 26 and 27
- Leaf 32 and 34
- Where leaf 24 and 25 meet
TIP: Doing this will deepen the value and help to give the appearance of a shadow where the leaves overlap.

The dry colour pigments on the leaves will be activated with water to become watercolour paint. This is very similar to the process to making the colours swatches in Step 4. Start by wetting the Round #4 brush with water, wipe off excess water and then apply to the eucalyptus leaves. You will want enough water to just do one leaf at a time. Larger leaves require more water than smaller ones.
TIP: Use a paper towel to remove excess water.

Work from one leaf to the next, always starting with the lighter value or hue on the leaf and then working toward the darker value or hue on the same leaf. Once all the strokes are smoothed out, stop and move on to the next leaf. Clean the brush between leaves. For the leaves that overlap each other, blend the darker of the two leaves first and wait to blend the lighter of the two leaves once the darker leaf has dried. This will prevent the two leaves from bleeding into each other. Once all the leaves are done, allow watercolour paint to fully dry.
TIP: To fully smooth and dissolve the pencil strokes, lightly move the brush back and forth a few times over the same area.

Once the paint is fully dry, use a paper towel and a back and forth motion to rub away the masking fluid. At this time, an eraser can be used to lift any graphite lines that are still visible from the original outline.

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