Watercolor

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Watercolor & Masking

Watercolor & Masking

This is a follow up to the last post. This process came about because I used to always avoid using mask because it created such hard edges. But then I thought, that is silly its just a tool. Figure out how to use it effectively. What has hard edges? Start with that....

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Lets Start at the Very Beginning #4 Values

Values are lights and darks. Light reveals form by lighting areas and leaving areas in the dark. Plane changes result in  abrupt value change. On a sphere the change is gradual. Relative value need not be extreme. THe change can be very subtle. Think about a rock...

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Lets Start at the Very Beginning #3.5

    A little project to apply what we have explored so far. Start with a light pencil outline. Take your brush which has some water not dripping, but wet, and fill in the lines of your sketch. Then take color on your damp ( not wet wet) brush and touch it to...

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Lets Start at the Very Beginning #3

Lets Start at the Very Beginning #3

Explore the reds! Rose Madder Genuine a tender blue pink and Opera, stridently floral, are additions that will make more depth to your play and experimenting! https://youtu.be/B_hzDVUUn0g

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Lets Start at the Very Beginning #1

Lets Start at the Very Beginning #1

Thank you for your patience! For the next however long it takes, I will post videos that cover little steps on how to start painting in watercolor. The first 5-6 will be learning the 4 elements of watercolor: water, pigment, brushes and paper. I hope to give you ideas...

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Always Question

Always, always question. Art is about questioning. It is about searching for understanding. There are two parts to our job. One is to discern our vision the other is to build as many skills and tools as we can so that we can articulate that vision the best we can....

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Yellow- Butterfly Kisses on Paper

Yellow is hard. It is hard to get it to sing. Yellow can go so, so flat. I wonder why that is.. I know how it happens but what is the science behind yellow going flat? I know if - -- to make the yellow 'stronger' I have added layers of pigment, it goes flatter and...

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Soft Edges

Here is a combination of pigments to create a grey. A gradual addition of RMG to Viridian and French Ultramarine. It does not look grey yet, but as more water is added it will be less purple. Nuance in color is another tool to use in watercolor. A beauty of watercolor...

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Reductive Painting- Painting the negative space

The next skill specific to watercolor I call Reductive Painting. It is a powerful way to build depth into the picture plane and to make an object come forward. It is going in and painting around an object. If you want to paint a trunk of a tree which is lighter than...

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Liquid Layering

Liquid Layering

Hi friends It has been a while since my last post I apologize! We have reached a place in our watercolor exploration from which there are several paths to take and have been deliberating which to follow at this time. What I have come up with is a curriculum of adding...

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Watercolor Science

I wanted to be able to paint waves that did not look like a human hand had painted them. One can paint a wave in Oil or Pastel or even watercolor and it looks like a wave.. well it looks like a painting of a wave but it is not the same.   A Wave painted with...

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TRUTH, Truth and truth

Hi friends I am sorry for the silence the last couple of days. Have been pondering how best to proceed! But before we return to watercolor, I want to share a belief  rooted in an epiphany which evolved for me in the early years of painting This breaks both Truths and...

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Hue and Edges

Hue and Edges

Today lets explore hues and edges. One of the most difficult aspects of watercolor is achieving glowing saturated hues. Hues are colors. This lesson will use our AY. Try a brush stroke of AY like 1/2 pigment and 1/2 water.  Now try one 3/4 pigment and 1/4 water. One...

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Learning Brushes

Learning Brushes

Several folks have contacted regarding brushes. Brushes are a beautiful, elegant and utilitarian tool. Take care of your brushes and they will last you forever. Key points Before you use your brush really soak it well. It is like a sponge. You know how a dry sponge...

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Lets Make a Mess

Lets Make a Mess

Hi all! Lets paint! Did you squirt your paints a while ago? Fill lots of pots with water. ( I think I became a painter so I would have a use for all the plastic containers mushrooms come in. Its so hard to buy bulk mushrooms). Draw some rocks or something in the...

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INTENSE!

INTENSE!

Well I have heard from several of you regarding washed out color! So today our first chat is going to be about preparing your palette for painting. When you set up your palette, make sure you squirt out lots of color and do this several hours if not a day before you...

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Not All Reds are Alike – Watercolor Hygiene

Not All Reds are Alike – Watercolor Hygiene

How are you all?  I have a story. Skip if you want to get right to work! So my family has set up a Zoom meeting so we can be in touch. Aahhh heaven for a mom... One night though, more years ago than matter I was asleep in my futon in the Kyoshikan in Tokyo when I was...

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Warm and Cool Colors

Warm and Cool Colors

First logistics to address! So you can anticipate when to check for a new step in our journey, I am going to write a post Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. If I can do more I will. I have heard from several of you and it makes my heart glad! Thank you! And I will...

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Day Whatever whatever…- values

Day Whatever whatever…- values

to my friend who loves birds and is learning watercolor! Think of a bird as 2 ovals. (Yes I know I should have rotated the picture!) What makes something look animated is making sure each part is torqued or not lined up. See how the body is juxtaposed to the head? I...

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Supplies

Supplies

Hi all.. I hope you are doing well and being Creative During Quarantine! Let's talk about supplies today. When starting in watercolor there are some basic items one needs. I encourage you spend what money you have for good but fewer supplies. Fewer supplies for 2...

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Day Whatever- Sketching and Watercolor

Day Whatever- Sketching and Watercolor

Loosing count of the days! But at least these are posted in sequential order- backwards! Today will be a little different. I want to take a moment and talk about some good habits to build.  First is keeping a sketchbook. When I first decided I wanted to tell visual...

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3 Colors and a Color Wheel

Today will be focusing on 3 colors as well as playing more with water and pigment ratios and combinations. The 3 colors are Cobalt BLue (C), Rose Madder Genuine (RMG) and Auroline Yellow (AY). These 3 pigments are both transparent and non staining. Because of the...

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Moving the Liquid

Moving the Liquid

The beauty of watercolor is how water moves the pigment. TOday's play is some suggestions on how to help that water. The top iris petal was outlined then filled in with pigment/water mixture. THe bottom the area was filled in with water then the pigment added. See the...

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Day 4 Stuff to Try

Day 4 Stuff to Try

My goal today is to show you some things! How I wish you could all be in my studio right now... First my brushes ... and yes one of our kitties and no I have not washed a brush yet in that pot!. I always keep 3-4 pots of water out. I keep the water very clean for as...

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Watercolor Day 4 – terms

Watercolor Day 4 – terms

A major motivation for picking up this teaching venue again is for my nephew, Remi. Hi Remi!!! He is so enthused about learning to paint! He is also giving me feed back about what is and is not working. In our talk today I realized I need to back track a bit and cover...

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Watercolor Step 3 -Start Simple

OK so day 1 was about our palette but more the questions I asked were to help you decide what you like.  Day 2 was about playing with water and pigment proportions., This post will be about the pigments. Here is some of the science about watercolor What makes...

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Water —-

Water —-

Water - watercolor... Its about the water moving the pigment. Its physics! and the chemistry of the pigment how heavy it is determines how it will move in the water. That is what we must learn so we know what we can express with this medium. To start, put some water...

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Beginning in Watercolor – The Palette

This is how I set up my palette.  However, when it comes time for you to set up yours its important you decide based on what you want to do. Some of the questions I asked myself before squirting out paint were How do I want the colors organized? But value? By hue? By...

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Water – Epiphanies, Revelation – Water

Water – Epiphanies, Revelation – Water

Water mediums abound. What does it mean to work in a water medium? There is of course, acrylics which are water based, but the water does not move the pigment. But then there are those mediums for which it is all about the movement of water. Water circling and...

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Maine Watercolors Color

Maine Watercolors Color How to use water when painting in watercolor is what I must study again everytime I have taken a break from this medium. Water -- how much water and how much pigment, when to add some water, when to take out water, when to add more pigment to...

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Mixing Spring Greens

Mixing Spring Greens

Whether one mixes greens from blues and yellows or uses greens from the tube, greens need to be warmed. Mixing greens for Eastern spring is fun. But I just figured out, not so much a formula but a Guiding Principal. I am a bit embarrassed it has taken me this long to...

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Watercolor Palette

Watercolor Palette

How to set up  palette is a very personal choice. One must ask several questions before squeezing out the precious (expensive)colors into the wells of the palette. 1. Do I use hard tablets or tube pigment? 2. Do I want intense colors? 3. Do I want to know mineral...

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