Do you love travelling? Have a bucket list of places you’d like to travel to? For us, Santorini (Greece) is definitely one of the places at the top of our list! This week, our article features Santorini artwork-a painting on a postcard by artist Celine Chia, alongside a step by step approach on how to create your own Santorini artwork.
Before we go on, be sure to check out our painting on a postcard series, for the fundamentals of watercolour painting! If you’re an expert please read on for the full details.
Materials needed:
- Watercolour brushes
- Watercolours
- Watercolour Postcard (300 GSM or more)
- Pencil
- Washi Tape
Firstly, start by taping the borders of the postcard with washi tape.
Secondly, we start by using a pencil to sketch the rough outline of the objects. Our reference image is the blue and white buildings in the Cyclades of Santorini. In this case, we start with the dome of the building.
Thirdly, we add more layers (the balcony) and give the structure a more 3D perspective.
Next, we sketch in the surroundings – the gate and the base of the building. Here we can now start to see two layers in this artwork – the ground with the steps as the front layer, and the buildings as the second layer (behind the wall and fence).
Follow up with a horizon line portraying the background with the mountains, and add depth for the stairs in the foreground. There is no need to go into finer details as we will be painting over it. (with watercolor)
After sketching in the rough outlines, we start with adding in colours for the horizon. Here, we use a mixture of pink, yellow, orange, blue and purple, followed by blending with water. The technique we apply here is the wet on wet technique.
When you’re satisfied with the skyline, we proceed with colouring the dome of the building in our Santorini artwork. The colours we used are royal blue, followed by blending with water to achieve the gradation. We use the same colours for the windows of the building as well.
Next, for the base of the building, the colours we used is black (mixed with water) to achieve the desired tone.
For the empty space at the base of the building, we fill the space with flowers via the dabbing method. To achieve this tone, the colours we used are pink, purple and green.
After we’re done with the flowers, we proceed with the areas surrounding the building. The colours we used are royal blue, persian blue, yellow and violet using the wet on wet technique.
Following that, we will be adding in colours for the potted plant in the foreground (using dabbing method as well). The colours we used for the flowers are red, orange and green. For the pot, we use dark brown and light brown to achieve the desired tone.
Last but not least, we will be adding in the colours for the foreground – the stairs and the gate. The colours used are light brown and dark brown, followed by blending with water. For the gate, we use royal blue and grey for its shadow.
Lastly, we finish up with the rocks using light and dark brown. You may add another layer of pink and purple for the flowers once the first layer has dried, this is to add more definition and allow the flowers to stand out further.
Let your Santorini artwork sit and dry before peeling off the washi tape. Here’s our time lapse of the whole process.
Love our Santorini Artwork and want to learn more? Be sure to check out our guide on One Point Perspective Drawing and follow us on our socials!
