In a galaxy far far away… Hey! Let’s paint a watercolor galaxy just for fun! It’s all the rage, and stay with me and I will give you the steps to make this celestial Milky Way masterpiece.
Let’s talk about it, or better yet, Let’s paint it!
Supply List
Painting a watercolor galaxy is fun and a bit messy. You will need a few extra supplies for this painting.
- #8 round paintbrush or a mop brush
- Either pan or tube paints – your choice of colors ( I used Cobalt, Perm. Rose, Violet, and Yellow Ochre)
- 2 Water vessels for your clean and dirty water, because your dirty water will get dirty!
- Watercolor paper – cold-pressed
- Painter’s Tape and something to tape it to unless you just tape it to your table or easel
- Old toothbrush
- Bleed Proof White, and/or White Gauche, White Gel Pen (optional)
Once you have your materials gathered, it’s time to get your painting space set up. Be prepared to get messy and splattered!
Setting Up Your Watercolor Painting Area
Since you will be splattering white paint, you will want to make sure your area is protected from anything you don’t want white paint. You will also be using a lot of water as you will be doing several messy layers of pigment.
I use my lightbox as my painting surface to tape my watercolor paper onto. You can use your art table, a piece of board, cardboard, or whatever you plan to paint on and you can adhere tape to.
Grab your 2 water vessels, I use glass jars or cups. You need one for the dirty water, the one you will rinse your brush for your next color, and one for the clean brush to grab your next pigment.
Have a paper towel or two on hand or a clean cloth for paint messes. Don’t forget to wear an apron or clothing that can get paint splatter.
Let’s talk paint. You can use tube or pan paints. Your color palette should include, dark blues, purples, pinks or reds, and even orange if you like! The end result is your choice, but it should be dark in many places. You will want some light areas, but that can be achieved in your layering.
For more reading on setting up your watercolor space, I wrote a whole article about it!
Let’s get messy!
As we study the stars, we are in a sense looking back in time, for light travels at a finite speed. The farther away we look, the further back in time we see.
Stephen Hawking
Layering Your Watercolor Galaxy
The amount of layers you do depends on how dark and mysterious you want your watercolor galaxy to be. I wanted mine pretty dark in areas, so I did four layers total.
If you are new to layering or watercolor in general, please read Essential Watercolor Techniques for Beginners.
Layer 1: See the first image in the trio. No need to do a water wash to start as your paintbrush is going to be pretty wet during this whole process. All you need to do is grab your colors and just spread them all over the paper. Put some blue here and there, purples, pinks, oranges, whatever you want. You can do a whole rainbow of colors in your galaxy.
Keep your paint wet so it spreads into the other colors. Once you have that first wash finished, let it dry. I used a hair dryer because I didn’t mind if the paint ran here and there from the flow of the air.
You will want to have some light areas in your watercolor galaxy. So don’t go overboard and make it completely dark.
Next, it is time to put on your second layer. (See middle image) Do the same as the first layer, except you will want to darken where you already put some color. Still, keep in mind to leave some areas a little brighter. Keep spreading those paint colors around. Let completely dry before the next layer.
Layers 3 and 4 will be the same as layer 2 (see third image). Once you get to that final layer as shown under the next heading below, it should be pretty dark and look like deep space.
Let’s put on those final touches.
Final Touches Of Your Galaxy
Once your painting is completely dry, it’s time to put on the stars!
Grab an old toothbrush. Note: I could not find mine, so I used an old hard bristled brush and you can see some of my stars look like shoe prints, but I’m not mad about it.
Take your white – (I used Bleed Proof White as shown in the first image.) Mix a little water with it, put it on your brush, and run your fingers over the brush bristles to splatter the paint onto the painting.
Do it enough times until you are satisfied with the amount of stars in your watercolor galaxy. If you have a white gel pen, you could also dab in some stars as well. You could even create a constellation if you wanted to.
Once dry, peel off your tape, put your John Hancock on it, and you are finished!
Additions You Can Add To Your Watercolor Galaxy
There are many variations in the way artists paint their watercolor galaxies. Some like to paint tall, dark evergreen trees in a circle around the galaxy to make it look like you are in the center of a forest looking skyward. Some put planets in their galaxies. You can do whatever you want! It’s your painting!
I pinned a bunch on my Pinterest Page for you to look at and get some inspiration! I had so much fun making this, I may just paint more! I think they would make great bookmarks, greeting cards, gift tags, etc.
I uploaded my painting to Canva, and then made something entirely new out of it!
I hope you paint a watercolor galaxy and I would love to see it! Join my Facebook Group below for more tips, tricks, and freebies, show off your work, and have fun!
Stay Colorful, Stay Creative, and HAVE FUN!
~Laurie
