Step by step drawing the universe with paints. Necessary materials for depicting space with acrylic paints

Painting is a fairly democratic art form. Without any special talents, but with a good command of some techniques, you can quite easily depict what you like, what you want on paper or canvas. Of course, there are tricks for working with pencil, crayons or different types paints Let's look at the gouache painting technique in detail. And the topic of our lesson is space, space landscapes.

Gouache paints

What is this type of paint? It dissolves with water, like watercolor, but is more dense, “heavy”, and opaque. The areas painted with it acquire a dull appearance thanks to the white that is included in the composition along with pigment substances. Along the way, the question arises: how to paint space with gouache, if you need saturated, deep shades? Here they proceed as follows: either apply several layers of paint to the picture, or add additional pigment, or replace white with coal. Gouache was invented in the distant Middle Ages. The name was given somewhat later, in the 18th century, by the French. But to this day, artists and decorators use it with great pleasure, creating paintings, sketches, theater and film sets, posters, and costume sketches. Two types of paint have been developed: artistic and poster. Let's clarify how to draw space with gouache: for the general background, you can take an artistic, calmer, softer one. And for emphasis important details The work is suitable for a poster - expressive, “sonorous”.

colorful glow

A special group is formed by luminous, or fluorescent, gouache. It is clearly visible in the dark, and the paint shows up well under ultraviolet light. In this regard, you can give novice artists helpful advice about how to paint space with gouache. Be sure to mix a little luminous into the usual one - and you will see how much more impressive the image will become. Just remember the rule: fluorescent gouache appears best on white surfaces and in a thin layer. Whereas the ordinary one can be applied as desired or necessary with light strokes to dark ones. The colors won't mix, you just need to let them dry. But let's move from theory to practice and see how to draw space in gouache.

Sketch with geometry elements

In front of you is a landscape sheet. Where will you start your creativity? Naturally, from thinking through the plot of the picture. For novice artists, this advice may be useful on how to draw space in gouache step by step: stop at the symbolic image of the planets against the backdrop of the dark blue or even purple space of the Universe. Take a compass or a small glass, a glass and a simple pencil with an eraser. Draw circles. They will be our celestial bodies. Remember the real colors of the planets. If you’ve forgotten your astronomy lessons, we can easily remind you of them. So:

  • Rocky Mercury is gray, like the rocks that make it up.
  • Venus is milky yellow. Its color, by the way, is ideal for how to paint space with gouache paints. Whitewash performs a very useful function in this case.
  • Our Earth, as you know, is blue - in some places it is very light, in others it turns into blue and green shades. Brown, sandy spots are also visible on it. But if you use only white, blue and green colors, you can’t go wrong anyway.
  • Mars looks elegant, red-orange in space. To get the desired shade, mix these 2 colors.
  • Orange and Jupiter, only it is decorated with white stripes - clouds of ammonia. When you paint it, do not wait until the main background is completely dry. Let the boundaries of white and orange appear blurry, slightly creeping onto each other.
  • Saturn appears smoky yellow in telescopes, Uranus and Neptune appear light blue. The last one is a little darker than the first one. And Pluto is perceived as brown by the human eye - the most distant planet in the Solar System from us.

From sketch to painting

Having figured out what paints to use to give color to celestial objects, we continue to paint the cosmos with gouache. Now you can do this: first carefully color the planets. It doesn’t matter if you can’t achieve great realism and believability - after all, you have artistic canvas, not What is the main thing in the picture? That's right, self-expression, and even more so for such fantastic theme. Wait for the gouache to dry. As a rule, with a thin layer of paint, half an hour is enough. Then make several fluorescent strokes on each planet. After that, proceed to the background. Cover the planetary circles with a glass so as not to accidentally touch them, and use several layers of blue or purple gouache.

Finishing touches

Is the paint dry? Does the drawing seem gloomy? No problem! After all, we haven’t depicted the stars yet! To do this, dip the brush into a jar of white gouache, and spray everything you collected over the sheet. Some “blots” will turn out larger, others smaller. This is exactly what we need. And then again you should use luminous paints and put dots on a white background. If you want, you can add an alien silver silhouette of a rocket or figures of astronauts, humanoids - whatever your imagination suggests. It is important that all the details and elements of the picture correspond to each other and form a harmonious whole.

What do we think about when looking at the night sky? Many of us imagine space as infinity. Many stars, planets, orbits and others celestial bodies. Even the smallest fraction of space has not yet been explored. If you want to express your emotions on paper, draw the Universe. We will discuss how to paint space in watercolor in today's article.

Beginning artist school

From school lessons In astronomy, we remember that space is the space in which other planetary systems, stars, meteorites, comets, and satellites are concentrated. Man has already been to space several times, but no one has been able to convey his feelings and the bewitching beauty of emptiness and infinity in words.

With the help of drawing you can express your emotions, open your imagination and creative potential. Drawing space is the perfect place to start. There is no need to draw strict lines and certain objects; mixing colors is your drawing.

Many novice creators are interested in how to draw space with gouache and a sponge. There's nothing complicated about it. Apply to the sheet dark background, and then different colors of paint are mixed to create the effect of abyss, serenity, remoteness, mystery.

Small stars, planets and comets have the right to be in your drawing. The easiest way to draw space watercolor paints, since they mix easily and give the picture volume and unprecedented beauty. You can experiment and combine two opposite colors, the result will pleasantly surprise you.

Before we tell you how to paint space with watercolors step by step for beginners, learn a few tips:

  • for painting space with watercolors, a sheet of thick paper of any format and size is suitable: the larger the better;
  • the image is drawn in several stages, at the first level we dilute the paints with water;
  • first you need to completely paint over the sheet with a dark background, for example, black or dark blue;
  • the first layer must dry thoroughly, otherwise mixing tones may bring an unexpected and not at all impressive result;
  • then you can draw patterns in any color that smoothly connect with each other;
  • at the very end the picture shows galaxies, stars, comets, nebulae or planets.

If you are drawing planets or comets, then their outlines can be drawn with a simple pencil. This will make it easier for you. The stars are far from us, and they need to be drawn with fuzzy and blurry lines. But if you are drawing space, which is visible through a telescope, then the features of the stars must be correct. Draw four to six edges. To make the drawing acquire some mystery, first rub a sheet of paper with wax. The result will be a brilliant work of art.

Don't start drawing when inspiration has left you. To paint space with watercolors, you need to think about something sublime and eternal.

Eternal and unattainable

People are trying to conquer space and are rapidly exploring the surface of the Moon and Mars. There are many other galaxies in this space. Ours is called Milky Way, but to the closest one, Prosima, the distance is as much as four light years. And this is neither more nor less - trillions of kilometers and hundreds of years.

We can only imagine this unknown space and draw it in our imagination. Today we will learn how to paint space with watercolors. The master class will tell you how to depict infinity step by step and what techniques you should use.

For convenience, you can use an easel. We fix the canvas with masking tape. To mix colors you simply cannot do without a palette.

Required materials and tools:

  • brushes;
  • a set of watercolor paints;
  • a sheet of thick paper;
  • coarse salt.

Step-by-step description of drawing:


Tip: after each color, the brush should be thoroughly rinsed and blotted in water. This way you can avoid getting muddy shades.

So the month of April has come... with hope for warmth and bright sunshine, with flowers and joy... Very soon the world will celebrate Cosmonautics Day. This is a holiday that includes important events And greatest discoveries, achievements of human civilization and the discovery of inaccessible secrets and worlds.

IN different time The children and I conducted various activities on the topic of Space; links to some of them will be at the end of the article and in. And today I invite you and your children to arm yourself with pencils and paints and go paint space!

Hooray! I announce the opening new section “Learning to Draw” and I invite you to meet the artist Julia, who shared her drawing skills with us.

How to draw space step by step

Drawings on the theme of space are a common April assignment in schools and kindergartens. Julia offers us two options space theme on different ages: for preschoolers and primary school students.

I know that many parents are categorically against templates and examples in drawing. But I am also convinced that in order to learn to draw, sometimes you need a push, an example, which, when embodied, the child will believe in himself and begin to reveal his capabilities and talents. Shall we try?

Drawing “Rocket in space” for children 4-5 years old.

The drawing is so simple and easy that it seems to me that it does not need additional descriptions. However, if you prefer the video format of the lesson, then watch this video:

Drawing on the theme “Space” for children 6-7 years old.


And here is the video MK of the rocket’s drawing, posted on ours:

These are the simple and accessible drawings about space that the artist Julia offered us today. And I am grateful to her for her beautiful creativity.

What do you think of these drawings about space? And what do you and your children like to draw on? given topic? By the way, you can send your drawings for this MK to me by email, I will post them in this article.

There is no doubt that any person, thinking, so to speak, about the eternal, imagines the depths of space with its unexplored expanses and tries to express his feelings in the form of a painting or drawing. Let's see how to draw space using various means and techniques.

What do we associate outer space with?

The primary association of outer space, even on a subconscious level, for any person is reduced to infinity, although not everyone imagines what it is.

If you approach the question of how to draw space step by step, you should pay attention to some elements that are most often depicted in paintings. First, a spatial structure is created. These can be galaxies or nebulae with rarefied gas, then stars visible to the naked eye or through modern telescopes are included here.

Only then can we assume the presence of a planetary system, although in most cases the question of how to draw space comes down to depicting objects known to us in solar system, because we don’t know what the surfaces of other planets look like star systems(the nearest distance is 4 light years - Proxima of the Centaurus constellation).

And, naturally, to depict his view of what might be there, even a novice artist uses completely different tools that best suit his imagination.

If you look at all the drawings and paintings, you will notice that most often they depict stars (constellations), nebulae, galaxies and planetary systems.

In the first, second and third cases, the question of how to draw space is solved quite simply. On any dark background (even black or gray) inclusions are applied in the form of stars, varying in size and light activity. This is the easiest way.

As for nebulae, they often appear colored not only in the ultraviolet or infrared spectrum, but also in the visible to the human eye range. It is from this perspective that it is worth considering the question of how to paint space in watercolors. It is best suited for this due to the fact that when mixed with water, you can get smooth shades and transitions that are inaccessible to, say, gouache or oil paints. But more on that later.

How to get inspiration?

If you’re really thinking about how to draw space, or rather, get some kind of charge that can give impetus to an outburst of emotions, first you should just look at the night sky in clear weather.

Alas, in our hemisphere the sky looks only like darkness interspersed with stars. Another thing is the Southern Hemisphere, where Milky Way(this is the name of our galaxy) looks in all its glory.

On the other hand, music is enough a powerful tool to activate thoughts. If previously so-called space music was associated with bands like Space or Zodiac, today it is enough to listen to compositions in the Ambient, Chillout or Downtempo style, which use complex sound effects.

How to paint space with paints?

Now about the colors. Based on the above, the most decisive question will be how to paint space in watercolors.

Here it is worth paying attention to the colors themselves. First you need to apply a dark background to the sheet, let the paint and paper dry a little, and then dilute the depth by adding water as usual. You understand that space cannot be equally dark.

After this, you can begin drawing images of galaxies or planets. By the way, it is with the help of watercolors that it is best to depict colored gas nebulae. But you can specify some elements using additional means in the form of gouache or oil.

How to draw space with a pencil?

With pencils the situation is somewhat worse. The fact is that it will not be possible to achieve the blurriness inherent in space.

Here it is better to use vertical, horizontal or oblique shading with a long stylus. In addition, even drawing some global elements requires knowledge of additional effects.

Additional effects

In the case of paints, everything is clear. Regular dilution with water gives a fairly powerful effect. But few people know what else is in Soviet times a method was invented to obtain smooth transitions when drawing with a pencil.

You just need to grind off the lead a little onto a separate piece of paper, then take the powder and smear it over the image on the paper. The effect is simply amazing. By the way, this applies not only to simple pencils, but also to colored pencils. This is called retouching.

Separately, it is worth noting that when it comes to the question of how to draw space, some authors of paintings do not limit themselves only to using standard means. For example, adding sparkles to symbolize stars is quite a hot topic.

Which is better to use?

Now a few words about what is better: a computer program or hand drawing? Both. Of course, applications for creating and processing graphics have their own quite powerful capabilities, but many people first record their flight of thoughts on paper, after which they scan the drawing and convert it into the desired format.

However, programs like Adobe Photoshop or the same package Corel Draw suggest using complex gradient fills as templates, which can be obtained regular drawing It's just not possible.

Based on this, we can simply advise you to initially make a sketch of the future drawing or painting, and only then decide whether it should be processed in a computer program or left unchanged. In principle, both options are acceptable. Although the solution to the question of how to paint space in the usual way seems preferable.

It’s another matter if the artist does not want to digitize the painting. This is understandable, because a sheet of paper or canvas looks natural. Unlike computer images, when viewing, you can touch the painting and see the paint application technique used by the author of this or that masterpiece.

Today I’ll tell you how to paint space using watercolors.
You will need: watercolor paper, white acrylic paint, a wide natural brush, a toothbrush, a tablet, electrical tape or masking tape.
A quick note before we begin. I don't professional artist, and not an artist at all. Therefore, I focus on my own personal experience, and not how it should be according to science.

Paper for drawing space in watercolor

For this technique I use watercolor paper. It is better than usual because it absorbs water and does not deform so much. Ordinary paper comes in waves, water and paint simply flow off it. Watercolor paper dries quickly, while regular paper takes a long time to dry. I have a watercolor tablet from Greenwech Line. It's basically cheap and plain paper, but it suits my job. You can buy paper individually in art and stationery stores. This is not such a rare product.
Let's prepare a sheet. In general, whenever you work with watercolors, the paper needs to be secured well. For these purposes I use a piece of plywood, but any board, any tablet that you don’t mind ruining will do. I glue the paper around the perimeter of the plywood with electrical tape.

Watercolor for drawing space

Any watercolor will be suitable for this work. I will use my old honey watercolor palette that is over 10 years old. A larger brush is suitable here to quickly cover the entire surface of the sheet. It is better to work with watercolors with natural brushes, because they allow you to pick up more paint and water.

Space in watercolor step by step for beginners

First stage
First, we wet the paper point by point so that the paint spreads better over the sheet. We begin to add light in small spots. We also apply the paint pointwise. Don't try, as they say, to paint the wall. We need these colored areas to be heterogeneous. I mostly use purple and blue colors. And in some places I add emerald and green spots. Don't skimp on water. The more it is, the better the colors will mix with each other, the less blank paper we will have. Therefore, before you dial new color I dip my brush into the glass. When there is enough color, leave it to dry. You can dry the sheet with a regular hairdryer. Firstly, it will be faster, and secondly, all the waves on the sheet are smoothed out, and I just need the sheets to be as even as possible. Make sure that the paper is completely dry, otherwise we will simply wash out the paint with the second layer.
Second phase
Now you can proceed to the second stage. For this we only need black watercolor. We are recruiting more water and more paint and boldly cover the entire sheet. So far it looks like a terrible mess, but don't worry. wait again until the layer dries. I'll turn to the hairdryer again. As it dries, other colors will begin to appear through the black layer. I ended up with a lot of gaps where there is no paint at all. In those places I added a couple of colored spots. Check again to see if the paper is still wet somewhere.
Third stage
And we move on to the most interesting third stage. But you also need to thoroughly prepare for it. To close the workspace, you need to make a protective screen out of paper. I use old Whatman paper for this. Bend a square sheet of whatman paper in half. Then again. Unfold it completely and cut along one of the resulting lines to the center of the square. Bend the sheet so that it looks like a room, three intersecting planes. We will need two such screens to completely cover the desktop. In general, in a good way, you also need to close the top, but that’s usually enough for me. Place the tablet inside the screen. Take the old one toothbrush and white acrylic paint. Dip the bristles into the paint and begin spattering the paint onto the sheet. To ensure that the splashes fly in the right direction, move your finger along the brush towards yourself, otherwise all the paint will fly towards you and splash everything around. The closer you hold the brush to the sheet, the more crowded the stars will be. Constantly change the height to get a more interesting view. I had a lot of paint left on my hands and so that it wouldn’t disappear, I added it to the sheet with my fingertips. And our picture of space is ready. We detach it from the work surface.
In principle, there are other ways to depict the galaxy, but in my opinion this is the simplest and fastest. It took me about 10 minutes per sheet, no more. I used this technique when I made a space-themed greeting set. There I prevailed green color and I didn’t skimp on the splashes. Every time it turns out absolutely different picture space. If you need as much as possible similar images, do several at a time and apply stains in the same places. It will be even faster this way.
That's all. I hope you enjoyed today's master class. Happy creativity everyone!