Crashing water

This is an exercise in brush control and glazing. It worked better than my first attempt at glazing. I only had one spot where the color started lifting. (Left side bright yellow triangle) Materials Strathmore 400 paper W&N Cotman Gamboge W&N Cotman Permanent Rose New to me: New color: Using W&N Cotman Gamboge New color: Using W&N Cotman Permanent Rose Learned from this Triangles are very forgiving. If you go past the end you can just make them bigger. When glazing there is a little bit of a "hump" when transitioning from paper to paint that requires practice not to jiggle and make the line waver.

I just received this new book late last week. I was a little disappointed initially because it doesn't look like the level of the exercises builds very high? I was hoping to see some step by step breakdowns of the more exciting, storybook art pieces in the back such as "Lost". The only more complex piece with a breakdown is "Magical Mountains". However I probably just have hubris and the exercises will probably be very challenging. We will see. I jumped right in and did the first project with my Turner Design Gouache. This was my first ever try with Gouache! This exercise turned out to be a great way to test the paints because there were lots of colours to mix. Main takeaway: Wow! Gouache is such a bright and rich medium! I can't believe this colour of red! However, I realized I screwed up when purchasing my basic set. I didn't purchase a dark blue or dark green. Those are now ordered and on the way. I will update this review after

This exercise was a bit of a struggle for a beginner. Believe it or not the result below is the third attempt. The point of the exercise was to get a result of depth on the paper using only analogous colours and without using color gradation. I am sure I learned something from it. What I think I struggled with among other things was "water control" - keeping the water within the small leaf areas from running.  Learning: As I went along I had a little bit more freedom with the strokes. I started to notice how the exercise author was using negative space and tried to replicate it. \

These are quick, practice sketches I do while watching TV. Then they get very quickly "colored in" when I have a few minutes left in a painting session. Now that I have a better sketchbook these will improve. The ones below are in the old sketchbook which is just cartridge paper.

  I have been waiting for this order for over a month. It was held up in the pandemic lockdown. Finally! A basic set of Gouache Fingers crossed that this works out. I have heard mixed reviews on the brand. It is less than half the price of the major brands though. An amazing looking watercolor palette This looks like one of the best options available. I will be filling it with W&N Cotman colors. Sometimes I feel guilty about all the palettes I have purchased (6 of them now) but then I realize they are all in currently use except one. New sketchbook! And papers Looking forward to using this spiral bound sketchbook with mixed media paper. Right now I am using a bound cartridge paper book that was only $5. It isn't very good with water at all as you might guess.  Not pictured: Tracing paper. More drawing supplies India ink, ink droppers, bamboo pen, gum eraser a couple of small brushes. Not pictured: Erasing shield.  More Cotman colors I am upgrading from the Staedtler student set

  I am really happy with how the day 2 exercise turned out. It's the nature of the colors chosen but it really looks infused with light. Materials used: W&N Cotman turquiose Staedtler Pthalo green and Lemon yellow Strathmore 400 paper The  day 1 exercise turned out quite well and I was glad I tried the earth color as well as using Indigo for black. Materials used: W&N Cotman Burnt Sienna and Indigo Strathmore 400 paper

I got this book from the library. I planned to purchase it at the time but wanted to make sure it would work for my level first. At the time of reading it I have been using watercolors for 6 weeks. It's definitely a good book but after going through it I am not sure it is the next step that I need.  Pros There is a good section on the DVD on washes and problems with washes There are a few good basic exercises like the value and shadows exercises that I would like to work on The tip to use "contact paper" from the hardware store might save me a lot of money as I was seriously wondering whether masking film was something I needed to buy The special techniques tips are well explained and it's nice to have all the demos on the disc Cons A large amount of the book and the DVD are devoted to texturing techniques that I would consider special effects. I would have preferred to see more demonstrations (over and over again) of basic washes, charging and applying those to simpl

 Not sure if this is more successful than my first fruit painting but I certainly thought about it more. I tried to use lifting to get the white spots on the skin (which I think worked ok) and for the reflections around the edge (which didn't really work). I also tried adding white after for the waxy white part of the skin. I know it's not recommended I just wanted to see what it would look like.

  The shiny look is due to cheap sketchbook paper that can't take any moisture. I am waiting on two Canson XL sketchbooks to be delivered - That will be exciting 😀! One is a small mixed media one and the other is the watercolor one with 30 sheets. Looking forward to trying them both.

 Videos are the best but I still like learning from books. I purchased a few. I get some in physical form from the library and I get a lot of books in e-book form from the library.  I am currently working though the following books of tutorials to improve my technique. Everyday Watercolor, Jenna Rainey I am just starting  this one  now. It starts out simple but looks like it builds to a good level of challenge. I have been struggling a bit lately so I am looking forward to working through some simple exercises to build confidence. Watercolor Basics: Let's get started, Jack Reid This book has a lot of tutorials. It starts by drilling 4 methods: Flat wash Graduated wash Wet-in-wet Drybrush I like this book a lot and should write a full review. It just went back to the library so it will be a few weeks until I have it back. 101 Watercolor Techniques, Parramón Editorial Team I got this in my order of bargain books. It's actually pretty good. The exercises are basically practice pro

 I followed a  moon tutorial by Whitehouse Art  today. This was fun to do and I think it came out quite well for a first try with this looser style. Things that were new or mostly new to me: Using Prussian Blue Splattering paint drips: I had tried very timidly before Using white Gouache to cover up a mistake (only worked a bit) Materials used Fluid watercolor block 8x8 sheet Staedtler watercolors + Winsor and Newton Cotman Turquoise mixed to make the teal. Lessons learned I worked hard to get the shape of the moon nice and clean since I have taken to heart the lesson that good lines are the start of a good piece of art. I am not happy with the coverage of the Pebeo Studio Gouache white. This is one budget purchase I regret so there's an order on the way with a Winsor and Newton Permanent White as a replacement. At least the Pebeo Goauche seems to splatter ok. Here's the result

  Today I did two projects from the "101 Watercolor techniques" book. Both turned out quite well with some caveats. Number 3 - Cool monochromes The exercise is about mixing Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine to get variations in color. I struggled to get enough reddish brown to display so I had to do a second wash in places to get a nice final result. That was a bit of a cop out but I figured by struggling I had learned a bit of the lesson anyway. Number 4 - Warm monochromes This one is about letting two warm colors mix on the paper. In retrospect I should have done more of that with number 3 as well. This exercise also mostly worked except I didn't get the veins painted until the yellow paint was getting to dry. As a result they look a bit added on - as they are.