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Painting the Little Nest Gift Shop
A free beginner watercolour and pen and ink course — follow Mike’s full painting process from first sketch to finished artwork. Complete it in around an hour.
Who is this course for?
This free course is for complete beginners and anyone who has always wanted to try painting but wasn’t sure where to start. You don’t need any prior experience — just a willingness to pick up a brush and give it a go.
Working from a simple front elevation of the Little Nest Gift Shop, you’ll follow Mike’s four-stage painting process from the very first pencil mark through to the final detail. It’s designed to be completed in a single sitting — around an hour — and by the end you’ll have a finished painting and a method you can take to any subject.
What You’ll Learn
• How to sketch a simple building confidently before you paint
• How to break a subject down into clear, manageable shapes
• How to build expressive colour using watercolour — intuitively, not literally
• How to add depth and contrast using Tombow brush pens
• How to finish with pen and ink — adding the line work and detail that gives a painting character
The Four-Stage Painting Process
This course follows Mike’s painting process — a clear, repeatable method that takes you from the very first pencil mark to a finished piece you’re proud of. Each stage builds on the last.
Pre-sketch
We begin with a simple pencil sketch to map out the composition and proportions of the gift shop front. No rulers, no stress — just confident, loose lines to anchor everything that follows.
Big Shapes
Using pencil and a Tombow brush pen, you’ll lay down the key shapes and structure of the gift shop — building a solid foundation before any colour is added.
Watercolour
This is where the painting comes alive. You’ll build colour and atmosphere using expressive watercolour techniques — choosing colours that feel right, not just colours that are literally correct.
Brush Pens
Using Tombow brush pens, you’ll add depth, contrast, and a three-dimensional quality to the painting — learning how light and shadow give your work weight and presence.
Detail
The final stage is where your painting finds its personality. Using a permanent fine liner, you’ll add the storytelling details that bring the whole image to life.
What’s Included
• 5 step-by-step video lessons
• Full walkthrough of Mike’s four-stage painting process
• Stage-by-stage guidance from first sketch to finished painting
• Materials list so you know exactly what you need before you start
• Free lifetime access — work at your own pace, revisit any lesson anytime
Free
Create a free account · Instant lifetime access
Get Started — It’s Free
Create a free Artyfactor account and start painting today. Less than a minute to set up — then it’s yours to work through at your own pace.
Want to go further? Try the Beddgelert Bridge course — our full step-by-step paid course.