 Merry Christmas and welcome to the month of December in Monet Cafe and what's more fun at Christmas time for artists than beautiful colored lights. It's a chance for the whole world, not just artists, to celebrate color. I used to love going with my family and looking at all the lights and how people did their houses. I especially loved the blue lights. What were your favorites? In this tutorial I will be creating some beautiful colored Christmas bulbs in soft pastel that should be really easy to follow and get you in the Christmas spirit. This video is free like so many others here on Monet Cafe YouTube channel and to show your appreciation I would appreciate it if you would like this video, subscribe to this channel, and comment. I love to hear what you have to say and if you'd like a little more you'll hear about some extra goodies in this video that my patrons will receive from my Patreon page. If you'd like to support this channel it's only five dollars a month. You get extra content and we just have a great family. So come join the Patreon family and let's get started with this tutorial. The pastels you see in the background there is a set that's actually not coming out until mid-January. I had already created these Christmas lights so I had to share the tutorial but if you're a patron of mine I'm going to give you the behind-the-scenes sneak peek at what these pastels are but not to worry. Come mid- January I will be sharing a product review here on Monet Cafe along with more painting tutorials and as I always say use what you have. You don't have to have this set to do this tutorial. Just try to match the colors as closely as you can. The surface I'm using is a wonderful soft pastel surface. It's a sanded paper. It's made by the company Sennelier. It's a French company. It's called Le Cart Pastel Card and I like to buy it in these pads that have multiple colors and I chose the color black because I thought these colored lights would just show up so beautifully on it and they did. I really liked using the black surface but you don't have to use black. Again, use what you have. Get creative and this could be on multiple colored surfaces. I like to mark off my painting area using these mats like you find in picture frames. The outside that's just a white charcoal pencil. The outside dimensions of this is 8 by 10. The inside is 5 by 7 and real quickly I'm just going to show you the general shape of these Christmas bulbs. They're really easy to sketch. Many of you probably are aware of these. I think an older style Christmas bulb. They're kind of big bulbous and not quite teardrop shaped but they have kind of unique oval shape with a little bit of a point at the end and then they have kind of a large part at the top that you would screw in or that the wires go into and then just the simple wires. There's kind of a little round part at the top. If you're a patron of mine I'm going to be providing my sketch that I did prior to the painting. But this is so simple. Again, anybody can do this piece of cake really. I don't have a reference image for this painting because really what I did is I just studied different types of bulbs and I decided on the old school type of bulbs and I used them as a reference to get the general idea of how the bulbs lit on the inside and added an outer glow. Here's my sketch actually on the LaCarte pastel card. I wanted to make a nice composition kind of like the wires were laying down on the ground and maybe kind of just curling around and I wanted to give enough lights to provide all of the colors that are in the light. Typically these strands of bulbs have five colors and so I did, how many did I do? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. So some of them will be repeated. So I had to think that out where the colors are going to be, where they would look nice and again just the general composition and the layout of these bulbs. So this part is real time as you can tell and I'm going to keep a bit of it real time. I'm going to speed it up at the end and share with you a lot. Again, once you get one of these bulbs down pat you'll really get the hang of it. It's not that hard and it takes a little while for them to develop to actually start to look like lights. So don't get discouraged. The first thing you're going to do, the red that I put down there is these, the two that I'm working on right now are the ones that are going to be the golden yellowy bulbs. So at the connection part at the top of each bulb is going to be your darkest value. Now yellow doesn't really have a dark. So it's kind of a red or an orangey red that you could use a darker value up at the top of the bulb and then you can fill in the rest of the bulb with kind of a medium value. This is kind of a medium yellow. It's not going to be my lightest light. We're going to turn the lights on at the end of these bulbs. Again, it's going to be a lot of fun. I like to do something that's a little bit fun and simple around the holidays because I know people have, you know, kids and grandkids that come in town and it might be something you could do with family members as well. So it's a really kind of fun little project to do. So now I've got in my darkest, either a dark kind of a red or a dark orange you could do at the top of the bulb and then fill in your medium value. I added just a little bit more of the red color. It's kind of wrapping around the bulb. Think of how the bulb is shaped. That's also going to help to give it that three dimensional feel curving around imagining the roundness of the bulb. And then we're going to do the same thing to each bulb. We're going to get a darker value. You're going to see me do it right now with a blue. I found kind of a dark blue. And that's going to be at the top. In this case, it looks like the bottom the part that joins to the little screw part at the top. And again, just wrapping around the darker value a little bit. And then you're going to get your medium value to fill in the rest of the bulb. You're going to see me working on some of these simultaneously, but it's the same principle. This is a it's really kind of a dark green, but it doesn't show up that dark on the black surface, but it was just a darker value green. And now I'm going in and adding my middle value green also to this Sennelier pastel a cart surface is quite sanded. That's what gives it the ability to take a lot of layers. And that's really a beautiful quality or aspect to pastel painting is the ability to layer colors and values. You don't get quite as much of that benefit when you're painting on unsanded papers. But I paint often on unsanded surfaces. And I think it has a beauty and a quality all it's on. But this Sennelier surface will take lots of layers. And I chose it because I thought that's what was going to make these bulbs really look believable. And for me to be able to add those lightest highlights at the end. So as you can see, same concept for all of the bulbs. Now I used the same red, the dark red I used for the yellow bulbs, and the red bulb. So the red bulb is just going to get more reddish tones on the main part, whereas the yellow bulb got the yellow tone. So same dark red for the yellow bulbs and the red bulbs. Now same thing with the blue and I got another blue one in there. I think I only had no, I think I had two purples purples my favorite color. So purple got two and for the purples, I'm using like a darker purpley blue and then kind of a lavender purple. I wanted the purple bulbs to lean a little bit magenta just a hint of that. So you'll see me later adding some kind of magenta purple type of colors. I've got my basic dark values and medium values in except for this one last red bulb. And then it's going to be time to add my next lightest value I'm working kind of darkest to light again dark at the top of the bulb where it connects medium value kind of throughout. And then we're just gradually going to get lighter. This yellow is a little bit lighter in value than the first yellow I put down. Let me zoom in so you can see. So this yellow it might be hard to tell but it's actually a little bit lighter in value than the first base of yellow that I put down. And what I'm doing is I'm just gently layering over not all the way to the edges but just kind of a little curve along the outer rim and then glazing a little bit of that light in the middle. So you've got a little bit of two values going on there. Now this one will be a little bit more obvious. This is a beautiful red that's in the mystery set I will be revealing mid January. But like I said you can use whatever you have multiple colors could work for this lesson. You could even use different colors than I use for these lights but you see this nice middle value red just how lovely it looks. And now actually you know I just realized this is the second color in the red bulbs. I had only the darker value red in and now I'm adding that middle value red just kind of filling in the base of it. And then we're gradually going to layer and get to our lightest values. I like in my paintings to work the whole. I've seen artists who work one little area at a time and it grows kind of over the whole painting that I don't know I just can't work that way. And this is a beautiful green. It's a little warmer than the first green I put down. Remember I put down a kind of a dark green at the base but you couldn't see it because the the paper's black. The paper almost works as the dark area at the top of that bulb. And then I had that cooler green and now a little bit lighter yellowy green. See how it's already starting to look like the lights are coming on. Now here is where I'm going to layer a little bit of a lighter value similar to what I've already done on the yellow bulbs. Notice it's like a little curve around the outer edge of the bulb. And you're going to see me develop each one to where the little filament that's inside that is light. You'll see that on each bulb I take a lighter value and make that little light area kind of in the middle. And I'm still not adding my lightest lights. You'll see this is a gradual process. This is a little bit of a lighter value red. It's a beautiful cool red. And it's just a hint lighter than the middle value red, the second red that I put down. So I'm going around in little areas where the lights would be glowing. Here you'll see me make that little hint of a filament inside. I kind of make little zigzag marks almost like a triangular shape going from large down to small. And then I make a little bit of that curvy, lighter value around the edge of the bulb. It's almost like you're now you're starting to create that see through feeling. This is what's going to make it feel three dimensional. Now I haven't even finished the portion of the blue bulb for that second value. This is a beautiful blue. This pastel is a great American pastel. They're super, super soft. They're not my favorite pastel except for final marks because they're so soft. But this just happened to be the blue that I thought was close to what these bulbs would look like. Now I've got a little bit of the screen and I'm just reshaping the bulb a little bit. You might want to be a little more careful on shaping your bulbs. I kind of go for an impressionistic feel. And I don't get so crazy about things being just so but if you wanted to you could really analyze what some of these bulbs look like and get the shape exactly. So again, I'm adding that middle value blue. Just kind of giving that first layer down in the part of the bulb that I haven't filled in yet. I think I do go back and reinforce that dark at the top. I kind of lost it. I layered right over it. But I'm making this one a little bit bigger as well. And I later you'll see me shape the bulbs by negative painting. I actually add a background to this. You'll see at the end. So here's where I was saying I wanted to make these purple bulbs a little bit more of a magenta hue. I'm going to add some more purple on top of this. But I wanted to get that tad of a warm purple. That's what a magenta is. It's a warm purple. Cool purple would be more of a like a periwinkle blue. It leans a little bit purple. It's more bluish than it is pinkish. And now I'm going to get a little bit of a lighter blue and continue with my strategy or my method, like I've been explaining, which is to get a little bit of a curvy kind of a highlight around the outer perimeter of the bulb. And then also that little middle area too. Now I'm getting the other curve on the other side. And then that little middle area. And again, that's what's really going to give it that feeling of three dimensions. And that's really the magic element. I like to think of it of painting. We're taking a three dimensional world. And we're creating an illusion of three dimensions on a two dimensional surface. It's really just some rules that you follow. Like I always say, painting is easy once you know the rules. And I find that people who do well with painting, often people say you have to have all this natural ability. No, you have to have a passion and you have to love it. You have to want to paint. And if you do, you can learn it. It's really not rocket science. But if you don't have that passion, you're just not going to do it like anything else. Another thing I would say is a benefit to learning to paint is patience. You're not going to know everything all at once. It takes perseverance. And so a dedicated spirit is also someone who will become an artist. Again, if you want to, you keep trying. Before you know it, you'll be like, look at me. I'm an artist. And maybe that was your dream, like it was my dream. I always want to be an artist when I was a kid. I didn't get to pursue that in my adult life until kind of later in life. Oh, that's a story I share all the time. So I won't share it now. Alright, so now I'm adding a lighter yellow to these bulbs. And this is again, where I'm starting to turn on the lights, getting little bits of light inside of the bulb. But as I was painting, I realized I wanted a little more warmth. And I went originally directly from the red to the yellow. And because I wanted them to feel like they were really glowing and warm, I found a beautiful orange that I thought would give a nice glow and warmth to these yellow bulbs. Now you probably get the general idea here. I've been talking for about 15 minutes now. I'm going to speed things up a bit. And you'll notice me get to the point where I finally add the lightest lights. And it's the same concept though. So even though it's sped up, you can follow along. The beautiful thing about YouTube is that you can slow this down. Whenever I create a video, I usually don't create a full speed video where it's so fast, you can't even follow it. But to make the uploads go a little bit faster, I'll speed up sections also too. I can get rather boring when it's all real time. Oh, and here is where I'm adding some of the lighter values, some of the lights coming on inside of the bulbs. And again, it's the same little shape and pattern. I'm just making some horizontal marks coming down from wider to more narrow to make that little filament that's lit up on the inside. And obviously you're just staying within some of the same color families. All right. If you're turning the lights on in a purple bulb, you would use more of a light blue or light lavender. Same thing with green. Use a light green. You know, you get the idea. They're all kind of staying in their color families. I think this is really a great lesson for beginners as well. I think it would be a lot of fun for anybody who's just starting pastels. Of course, you can use these same principles with other mediums. I hear that all the time from artists is that I am an acrylic painter, but I love watching your videos because I learn from the lessons. And that's because many things are the same across the board with painting. There's quite a few major differences between watercolor painting and pastel painting or acrylic and oil because you don't layer quite the same. Well, I realized there's something else I want to talk about before I add some Christmas music. I am going to be developing the little, what do you what do you call that part at the top of the bulb? That part that I'm doing right there. Part that you would, if it was a light bulb, it'd be the part you screw into the outlet or the receptacle. So I'm doing a kind of a reddish orange in general for that little shape there. Just kind of a little rectangular curvy shape on top of each bulb. And then I will be using another pastel. It's a darker pastel to kind of get the little spirals that are in it. And this dark pastel happens to be the Terry Ludwig brand. It's called Eggplant. It's a beautiful, very dark purple. It looks almost black. And this one piece I have used so much and shaped it in a way that it's almost got a point on it. But I don't like to get so, you know, overly detailed. I love impressionism. And I think often you can just give an impression of things and you get the idea and then it feels very painterly. So I'm not being really specific about making my marks just right because later, like maybe right now, I'm going to come back with a lighter value and get those little middle sections a little bit more precisely. And once I finish these, I'm going to be adding the background. And as I typically do, I'm still talking, I'm not adding any music yet. So I'm just going to talk right through to this background portion because I wanted to mention that you could choose to leave the background dark. You could get a dark pastel and make it even darker just because the surface is black doesn't mean you can't get something darker. But I decided I wanted it to have a lighter background. I don't know why. And I used this nice little neutral gray. And what I'm doing is I'm just laying it on its side. The more you use soft pastels, you learn the finesse of how to hold it. You're not quite laying it totally flat, but you are kind of lifting up on the back edge and turning it and moving it. And now I'm getting a little bit lighter. The first one was a gray. The second one I'm using to go right around the bulbs is a warmer color. And I'm just using a light, light to medium pressure. Don't press so hard you fill up the tooth of the paper early on. That's one of the beautiful aspects about layering on sanded surfaces is you want to gradually add one color on top of another. So I felt that little bit, it's a very neutral pastel just like the gray, but that little bit of warmth around the bulbs. I do it with each one. It's going to give a little bit more of that believability that they're glowing. I still did need to develop some of the bulbs and some of the lighter areas. I still have not finished adding some of the lights. Only in the yellow ones have I added the lightest lights. And I think I might even go lighter after that. So I think you have the basic concept of my strategy and technique for creating these bulbs. You will see me develop the little wire soon. And that should be also fairly easy to do as well. So enjoy the rest of this to Christmas music. Please watch to the end. I will be back for some more announcements. So enjoy this and Merry Christmas. Another bit of icing on the cake with these bulbs is to create the outer glow. They're not just glowing inside. They're casting a glow of their color outside of the bulb. And for this I just chose not the lightest value of whatever the bulb color was, but kind of a middle to light value. And just kind of scumbled it around the outside of the bulb area. And I also decided that I would blend it a little bit. So in a minute you're going to see me soften that glow actually using a q-tip. You can use multiple things to blend with with soft pastels. Sometimes I'll use a paper towel. But in this case a q-tip worked very nicely. I'm zooming in here so you can see a little more clearly. I'm making still a few more final little highlight marks. Here you can see how I'm using my final lightest light to get that little glowing element in the middle with a little bit of the highlights on the bulb. I use a little bit of combination of the lightest value and the middle value. Getting a little bit more of that glow. And here's where I decided to use the q-tip. It really did soften the glow and the edges and made it feel more believable. Now I chose to keep my background rather unfinished. You may want to again not do a background at all. You could do this on a light surface. You could do it on a dark surface and not add any other additional background. But I kind of liked, I don't know, just making it feel like the whole thing had more of a pastel application to it. So continuing the little glow effect and the softening of the edges. And the last thing I will do is to finish that wire. You'll see me adding a little bit more dark. The wire is kind of like a two strands and it's twisted. So I'm not getting crazy or over detailed with it. But I'm just adding a little bit of dark right now. Here we go. In little areas maybe where it has twisted together. And then I take just kind of a green. The wire I'm imagining is kind of like one of those green electrical wires. And just adding little bits of a green on areas outside of the twisted area. Last thing to do is to sign it and put it in my Etsy shop. So check out my Etsy shop if you'd like to get this original pastel painting. I would love to send it home to you for the holidays or maybe as a gift for someone else. All right my beautiful artistic friends. I pray your Christmas is blessed. I pray that you can celebrate the reason for the season which is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God bless all and happy painting.