Techniques
For beginners: Venice Watercolor Tutorial
Venice watercolor tutorial. Since we have a Venice painting challenge this week, I wanted to make a tutorial for beginners. This is great for beginners. It is easier than it looks. I promise. Give it a try. 🙂 Materials used: Colors: Daniel Smith Quin Sienna, Perylene Violet, Alizarin Crimson, Scarlet Lake, Indigo, Cobalt Blue,…
How to create Pop Art portraits
Leverage technology to help you create Pop Art, generate outlines, and visualize a painting: If the old masters had access to today’s technology, would they use it? I think they would. Let’s turn back time and see what devices were used hundreds of years ago: Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is believed to have used the…
Abstract Mixed Media tutorial
It was a fun ABSTRACT MIXED MEDIA class today! Thanks to all who joined and painted along with me. In this tutorial, I used CaranD’Ache Fancolor watercolor set, Ebony pencil, Kuretake Ink pen, Schmincke Acrylic ink, Dr. Ph Hydrus watercolor and acrylic ink, Color Burst powder, SketchBox Pigment powder, QoR watercolor. Here is the collection…
Apps to help plan a painting
Leverage technology to help you plan a painting If the old masters had access to today’s technology, would they use it? I think they would. Let’s turn back time and see what devices were used hundreds of years ago: Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is believed to have used the camera obscura, which is an optical…
How to do a value study
When doing a value study of a landscape, here’s what I do: Convert the original photo to Black and White (I also use apps to help determine values: NotanIzer, SeeValue, and there are many others) Look for 5-7 major shapes Paint the shapes/values Add minimal details Give it a try with one of your…
Watercolor postcards for beginners!
Learn to paint simple and HAPPY postcards! If you can write the letter “U”, draw a simple boomerang, and scribble a “blob”, you can paint these happy postcards! We had an online zoom class today with some members of the Facebook group. It was great to meet them! It’s fun to paint with others. …
Using cellophane for texture
I had fun with this loose painting. I wet the entire 12 x 9 inch paper, then dropped in color for the flowers and leaves. I let it dry a little before painting in the vase. Then I wadded up some saran wrap (cellophane) and placed it over the vase and set a container of…
How to use the Elegant Writer calligraphy pen
This pen is so much fun to use! And simple. Sketch an outline. Use damp brush to smear the ink. Dab with tissue to lift some color and it will leave a pinkish hue. And that’s it. See, I told you it was simple to use. Here is a simple sketch I did . Watch…
Watercolor Pouring – my first attempt
I first heard of watercolor pouring a few months ago. I looked at a few tutorials on YouTube and it looked interesting. I had it on my list to do someday. I’ve done many, many acrylic pours (love doing those!) How different can it be? Well… very different. I ordered this book on Amazon: Pouring…
“Painting” clouds with a paper towel
Lift pigment with a dry paper towel to create white clouds. Lay down a wash to represent the sky. Let it dry just a bit, then gently press a dry paper towel to the wash to remove the pigment. You don’t want to remove all of the pigment. You want to leave behind a trace.…