How I Painted a Moody Blue Elephant in Watercolor (No Sketch Required)

There is something deeply satisfying about loading a giant quill brush with water and pigment and just going for it. No pencil lines. No plan. Just paint, paper, and trust. That is exactly how this blue elephant came to life — and in this post, I want to walk you through every step of the process so you can try it yourself.

The Supplies: Pigments That Do the Heavy Lifting

I painted this piece on 18 by 24 rough Arches watercolor paper, which gives you incredible texture to work with. For pigments, I reached for three Daniel Smith colors: Mayan Blue Genuine, Lunar Blue, and Lunar Black. The Lunar Blue is a personal favorite because it separates beautifully as it dries — that turquoise-y blue pulls apart from the darker tones in a way that feels almost magical on rough paper.

Initially, I planned to use just the Mayan Blue and Lunar Blue. But when I did a little study on a scrap piece of paper — something I always recommend — it felt a little flat. That is when I brought in Daniel Smith Red Fuchsia Genuine. Just that touch of warm pink adds visual interest, sparks life into the blues, and gives the painting that extra something it was missing.

For brushes, my workhorse was the Princeton Neptune size 10 round. It is incredibly soft, holds a ton of water, and uses synthetic fibers — which is rare for a brush this good. If you are someone who prefers to avoid natural hair brushes, the Princeton Neptune set is one I genuinely recommend.

The First Wash: Blocking Values Without a Sketch

I do not usually work from a preliminary sketch, and this painting was no exception. Instead, I use an app called Grid Painter to analyze my reference photo. I can convert my reference image into a notan — a simplified black-and-white value map — which lets me identify exactly where the deepest shadows fall. Anywhere that reads black on the notan gets the darkest paint.

Speaking of reference: this elephant is one I photographed at the San Diego Zoo a couple of years ago during a family trip. I have actually painted this same elephant before in bright orange, magenta, and green — a completely different atmosphere. That is the beauty of working from your own reference photos. You are not limited to painting something once. Grab different paints, different paper, and see what story you can tell.

For the initial wash, I squeezed fresh paint directly onto the paper rather than a palette. I also use scrap paper beside me for pigment — when I am done, I just toss it. No mess, no waste. With my largest quill brush loaded with way more water than you think you need, I blocked in the values using the granulating pigments. I did add a little salt to see if I would get texture patterns — though honestly, I got almost none. Still, I always recommend letting watercolor dry naturally rather than reaching for the hair dryer. You get more movement, more beautiful organic marks.

Negative Painting: Carving Out the Elephant

Once the initial wash dried overnight — I always do my first wash right before bed so it has hours to dry — I could start building up the form through negative painting. This means I am painting around the elephant rather than directly building it up shape by shape. I painted dark paint around the trunk, around the face, and along the ears.

One thing I am very conscious of with negative painting is avoiding the cutout effect. I do not want the elephant to look like someone pasted a caricature onto a blue background. So wherever I placed dark paint, I deliberately dragged some of it into the subject. Some edges dissolve. Some parts of the elephant fade into the background. I love working with lost and found edges because it lets the viewer's eye complete the form without being told exactly where it begins and ends. It feels dreamy. It feels alive.

Details Without Overworking: Wrinkles, Eyes, and Shadows

This is where patience becomes everything. I switched to a size 8 Silver Black Velvet round brush, which has a beautifully fine tip that lets me paint confident, expressive lines without going fiddly. I hold the brush near the end — not choked up near the ferrule — because I want loose, bold strokes even when I am adding detail.

For the wrinkle lines, quick confident strokes are your friend. Go slowly and the line gets shaky. Go fast and it looks intentional. I would paint a quick vertical stroke down the trunk and then, while it was still wet, pull in a horizontal mark so the lines bled together naturally — not like something placed on top, but like something that grew from the paper.

One important reminder: do not be afraid of going dark. This is something a lot of watercolor painters — myself very much included in my earlier days — struggle with. Everything ends up light or mid-tone. But deep darks are what make paintings pop. That punch of dark pigment right at the ear? It brings the whole face forward. Flip between your reference photo and your notan to keep yourself honest about where the darks need to live.

Lifting Highlights and Adding Gouache

Granulating paints like Lunar Blue lift beautifully, which means a damp scrubber brush can pull pigment right off the paper. I used this to bring back highlights across the elephant — a softer, more textural effect than painting highlights on with gouache. Once I was happy with the lifted areas, I used a rigger brush to paint in some highlighted wrinkle lines with white gouache, softening certain marks with my finger for a more organic texture.

A word of caution though: when you scrub, you are technically damaging the paper. You can paint over it, but the surface will behave differently. So I kept reminding myself — less is more. A veteran painter once told me to stop working twenty minutes before you think you should. I genuinely try to follow that advice, especially in the final stages of a painting.

The Tusks: Watercolor Ground and a Full Day of Patience

The tusks were painted using Daniel Smith Titanium White Watercolor Ground — a surface prep material that is usually used for painting watercolor on non-paper surfaces like wood or canvas. I love using it here because it creates the most wonderful rough, chunky texture. I applied it with a cheap synthetic round brush from a craft store, because this stuff is hard on brushes and I would never use my good ones for it.

One thing to know: watercolor ground dries significantly paler than it looks when wet. Even paler than regular watercolor. So what looks too dark when you apply it is almost certainly fine — trust the process and let it dry completely. I had to leave this step for a full day before going back in with shadows using Mayan Blue Genuine and final line work with the rigger brush.

The Lessons Worth Taking With You

This painting took me about three working days but only an hour and fifteen minutes of actual working time. The rest was drying. So much of watercolor painting is just the patience to wait.

Do your first wash before bed. Do your little studies on scrap paper before committing. Flip between your reference and your notan. Go darker than feels comfortable. Stop before you think you need to. And if something looks wrong and you have stared at it too long — put it down. Walk away. Get a snack. Come back with fresh eyes.

Watercolor is not as unforgiving as its reputation suggests. A little water lifts a lot of mistakes. What it does demand is trust — in your materials, in your process, and in yourself.