White goose

13 August 2026

Video - Level ◆◆◆

In this lesson we're focusing on how to paint white subjects in watercolour, using this goose as our subject - isn't he just full of character?!

One of the key things to understand about watercolour is that we rarely use white paint — instead, we reserve the white of the paper itself (that becomes our white) and build the form through shadows. But those shadows don't have to be a dull grey. Because surrounding colours reflect onto white surfaces, the shadow areas are often surprisingly colourful and varied.

That's what makes white objects such a rewarding challenge: deciding where to leave the paper untouched, using negative painting to define the white shapes, and then exploring all the colour that lives within the shadows.

I hope you enjoy this one :-)

Thanks to Amit Talwar on Unsplash for the reference photo.