Hey guys, welcome to my course, I'm super excited to share with you how to paint this super cute little cat. But first we need to discuss what materials we are going to use in this lesson. So let's start from the paper I'm using kenzan French brand and this paper is hot press but I really don't like the texture of this particular paper. So I'm using the flip side of my paper. This is entirely up to you. It's not good or bad, right or wrong.

Different artists prefer different sides of paper because the face has more visible grain and it's very repetitive so I don't really like that. And the flip side is more smooth, more like 13 kind of no texture at all paper, but if you decide to use the flip side, make sure that nothing will make sure it's more like be ready to the possibilities that this side will act a little bit differently from the other side so it might not absorb water as well as as good as the other side or the colors will act differently. So just be ready that it might not behave the way it used to or the way you are used to. When you were using the face side of the paper. I also have the tape, I will attach my paper to the table because it's more comfortable to record like that.

But usually I use a big tape tablet so it's more comfortable to you know, lift tablet so that the water can move on the layers can make so it is more comfortable to use tablet. My favorite is 300 GSM. And that means that it's pretty strong, I don't need to, well, I can't say I don't need to type it and tape it because I will use some weird techniques. So I want to avoid buckling up in waves on my paper. But 300 GSM is a very reliable thickness of paper. And this is how my paper looks like.

Currently I am residing in Thailand so that's why some of the signs are in Thai, translated for for local market. But here you can see it's a 220 GSM a three size I cut it into two so it's more comfortable for me to use. But I do love using big size of paper. When I have more space and not included in the class because it takes longer also if you decide to use cotton paper because the one I'm using is cellulose if you decide to use cotton paper my absolute favorite is arsh looks like this. It's also pretty big size. And this paper is 100% cotton which means that it will absorb much more water.

It will keep the paper wet for longer than the toilet paper which means that it will be easier for you to move the layers, mixed layers and you will not have like sharp edges when your layers dry in other cool benefits that come with cotton paper also just Block. This paper comes in the block, which means I'm sorry, I will show you like this, which means that here, it's all glued with all sides. This is my favorite painting that I just started yesterday. So it's glued everywhere, which means you can paint right away. You don't need to attach the paper to tablet or anything, it will not buckle up at all. It will always remain super straight.

So it's very useful to have blocks. The only thing about our paper is that it absorbs color. So when it dries up, the color loses its brightness and density. So just keep that in mind as an alternative, another My beloved favorite brand is Sounders Waterford, and this one is also 100% cotton and it has a very nice lecture. It's really good for like botanical art as you can see here and also portraits because it doesn't have much of their texture on the surface. Again, it is up to you what type of paper you will use.

We are not going to use too many red techniques in this course so that's why I stick to till the last paper and usually majority of students they do use Searles paper so I would like you to have closer experiences. So you can I use the same paper as you do. Also, you might need a separate piece of paper like this, just to check your colors your mixes to make sure you mix the right color that you need. We will need a soft pencil So HP or not anything be really like in my case I have to be it's very soft. So in case of any mistakes or anything you can easily erase it with the eraser the was a guy said I'm using in this class is Scarpa Lita, the white knights it's on Russian professional watercolor set. As you can see I use it a lot like this.

And I also use a palette so make sure you have a nice big palette so you can mix your colors to make sure that you have enough space for that. Also, of course, let's discuss the precious so I will have a natural clean ski brush. It's not a big it's like a middle sized, it's number four. And the natural brushes they have this ability to absorb a lot of water and release a lot of water on paper. So which means that it's a little bit more difficult to control the pigment. But on the other side, you can release beautiful.

You can create beautiful washes with this brush because it's very soft. And it can keep a lot of water and pigment in it. As opposed to synthetic brush which doesn't absorb too much water. It also doesn't release a lot of water. It's pretty hard and bouncy. So this brush is great for details and more controlled moves on when you're painting.

So when you have to control your layers and water more precisely, you would probably choose synthetic brush. So this one is also quite small, doesn't have a number I think it's like three or four as well. For the tiny details such as eyes and reflections in the eye of the cat, we will need a small brush and this one is number three. It also can be number one or two, like really tiny. The sun is synthetic. And for the background, I would have a bigger brush.

This one is half synthetic, half natural, has all kind of shape. So I really like the shape. It's very comfortable to make nice different buttons and paper and I will use this one for bigger washes for the fair and maybe the background It also really depends on the size of paper you use. If you decide to take a bigger size, like a three, you obviously will need bigger brushes than this one's, I take a smaller piece of paper, it's a four size. So that's why I don't need really massive brushes, even though I do have like this little baby that I like using when I'm working with big artworks. Alright, so the few final moments, I have some additional pigments over here in case I need something more than I have in my palette.

So here I have all the possible brands like Windsor Newton, Daniel Smith, the son of year, and all other different types. It's very comfortable to use big men too. In two because when you work with a big piece of paper, big artwork and you need to make a big wash, it's really it really takes time to create the right mix from fans picking up the pigment from pants. You will use it really fast you No need to mix it many times. And and like most probably that that makes you look a little bit different every time because you have to create it every single time as opposed to take in a tube squeeze it as much as you need. Mix it here and you will have really big like voices that you need to apply on your paper.

A few final moments. I use this little water spray to apply it on my set. So I kind of wake up my pants because their drive Also I use the same thing for wet in the area if I need it, I think I will not need it in this particular class paint in the cat. But just for you to know sometimes it's very useful to just spray your painting in the places you need to make more smooth washes and mixes and it will play out just right. Also for small, shiny details on the Catholic whiskers and reflection in the eye, we can use white gel pen or for one time I was using just like a regular correction pen that you can buy in any store for school. It has it's really, really wide and thick.

So if you need to cover like on top of your painting like super bright white color, that's the way Go. The pen doesn't really cover much if you have dark layers, but we'll see how things go gone. I will keep those two handy just just for you to have a choice. So I think that's pretty much it. And feel free to print the image. The photograph of the cat in the photograph is in the attachment to this lesson to this class.

And feel free to print it or use it from your phone screen. So you can zoom in or zoom out or tablet or computer screen, whatever you feel comfortable, no limitations. Alright, so now let's move to the second part and discuss the colors that