Grose river watercolor landscape I have just finished posting my latest watercolor (watercolour) landscape demonstration. It is of the Grose River which runs through the Blue Mountains on the edge of Sydney, Australia. This location is very close to my home. The demonstration covers a range of watercolor painting techniques which include painting skies and [...] → Continue Reading How to paint a river landscape with watercolor
Using Earth watercolors The earth watercolors are already a mix of the three primary colors, however each leans a little towards one primary or secondary color. For instance, Burnt Sienna has a strong orange leaning, Raw Umber has a slight greenish tinge, Raw Sienna is a yellowish brown with a slight greenish tinge, while Yellow [...] → Continue Reading Earth colors and color mixing
Color mixing We can create a very simple formula from the above that will tell us whether we will end up with a dull or more pure color from the mixture of two pigments. If we mix French Ultramarine and Alizarin Crimson we get the following: French Ultramarine + Alizarin Crimson = (B + r) [...] → Continue Reading The watercolor color mixing formula
All too often students find themselves wondering where a particular color has come from. They set out to create a bright green with a blue and yellow watercolors but they do not quite get the color mixture they were after. Instead of a bright green they end up with one which is quite dull. The [...] → Continue Reading Color mixing formula, how to mix bright versus dull watercolor colors
What to look for when buying a round watercolor brush If you are thinking of buying some new watercolor brushes what should you be looking for and how much should you spend? Good quality round watercolor brushes have a good point and hold lots of water In the past the answer to this question would [...] → Continue Reading Buying Watercolor Brushes
Watercolor painting demonstration of a misty and wet landscape Mt Hotham, Victoria, Australia I have just posted my latest watercolor painting demonstration on this site. It covers the topic of how to paint fog and mist, specifically in an Australian alpine landscape setting. You can find the demo on the demonstrations section of this site [...] → Continue Reading How to paint fog and mist in a landscape
When a watercolor painting just can’t be salvaged Well this does happen and not just to beginners, experts also create work that just doesn’t come together. In fact I believe you have to be prepared to make such paintings from time to time if you want your art to progress. You have to be prepared [...] → Continue Reading When a watercolor painting is not fixable
Small area of muddy color If your watercolor painting is largely made up of clean watercolor washes but maybe 5% is overworked and muddy looking I often just let it go as it will not alter the overall look of your painting. This is not a hard and fast rule however. Sometimes a little muddy [...] → Continue Reading Muddy watercolor paintings and problems with design
Mass of tree foliage too flat and uninteresting You have just painted a mass of tree foliage but have just discovered it looks like one big flat shape. If the paint is still wet just use your fingernail or the rounded edge of and old credit card and scrape in some branch shapes. This breaks [...] → Continue Reading Fixing problems with shape and tone in a watercolor painting
Large splash of paint in unwanted area of your painting This watercolor problem often happens when one is moving a fully loaded watercolor paint brush over your painting surface. If you are not careful or are bumped you can drop a whole lot of paint where is it unwanted. It happened to me once for [...] → Continue Reading Watercolor problems: objects in wrong place
Atmospheric beach sunset: Watercolor painting of an sunset on a pebbly beach with figures and reflections.
Atmospheric beach sunset: Watercolor painting of an sunset on a pebbly beach with figures and reflections.
Rising Mist, San Diego Harbor : Demonstration of how to paint an early morning misty scene with boats, water, and reflections.
Venice Sunset: Demonstration watercolor painting of a dramatic Venetian sunset with iconic buildings such as the Santa Maria Della Salute church.
