Painting 10 Lords A-Leaping in Watercolor

I’m glad you’re still here! Day ten in this series of themed watercolor paintings is “10 lords a-leaping”!

Now things really are getting out of hand! After all that dancing, the crowd is getting bigger and jumping around!

There are various theories about the original intention of the “12 days of Christmas” rhyme. Most historians agree that it was a rhyming memory game. A bit of delightful nonsense that was recited as a verse, and a game to be played among family and friends at Christmas time.

What a party 🙂

So, do you have that relentless “stick-in-your-head” carol running through your mind? 

You can hum it to yourself as you do this next painting…

If you have stumbled across this series in the middle, you might want to check out the beginning of this challenge here. 

Painting 10 lords a-leaping in 4 steps

Start by downloading the worksheet below. In it you’ll find the pencil outline for this composition, and a summary of the four-step painting process.

And here are the paint colors I used in my version of the watercolor:

• Hansa Yellow Deep – Pigment number: PY65
• Phthalo Green BS – Pigment number: PG7
• Phthalo blue GS – Pigment number: PB15:3
• Pyrrol scarlet – Pigment number: PR255
• Burnt umber – Pigment number: PBr7
• Paynes gray – Pigment number: Pb29/PBk9

To receive daily email reminders for this painting challenge (starting with day #1), you can sign up below:

You’ll find a special category for all these tutorials which you can view here. This will provide an overview of the whole challenge.

Step 1

Use whichever tracing or transferring method you prefer to lightly draw the outline onto a sheet of watercolor paper.

Step 2

I painted each of the “lords” using a variegated wash. The color palette is a range of greens and blues. I used mixes of phthalo blue, phthalo green, and hansa yellow deep (to make the green brighter). Varie the color on your brush as you paint the shape to get a transition of hues. 

The “TEN” was painted in gray.

Step 3

When the first shapes are dry, you can paint the skin tones on the hands and faces. Add a warm yellow color to the crowns.

Step 4

Making sure the surfaces are nice and dry, you can add a few final details. I added a glaze (layer) of gray to the lord’s trousers (for the benefit of my US audience, yes, I’m talking about “pants”, “slacks”, “britches”, or whatever you want to call those fabric things that cover your whole legs!).

I painted the lord’s hair brown. Then I added a few shadow lines to the word “TEN” and the text underneath.

Now you can “jump” for joy at your latest painting achievements 🙂