Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting Techniques
Here is a wonderfully informative video by Artist Paul Taggart that discusses and demonstrates various wet on wet watercolor painting techniques. Wet on wet technique is simply the process of applying wet pigment to wet paper. The wet on wet watercolor painting technique is not an easy technique to master and is one that causes a lot of problems for beginners. In the following video, Paul will provide you with some great tips and solutions to overcoming the various problems folks run into while using this technique. Now you can finally enjoy your watercolor painting sessions instead of becoming frustrated by them.
I wanted to just highlight one problem and solution that Paul talks about in the video as it was one that really stood out for me personally. The problem: When applying watercolor paint to the wet surface, the paint immediately starts to run and bleed every where or perhaps puddle up in spots. This is of course a really big problem that can make painting a very difficult process. The solution? The solution is to remove excess fluid from the brush before you make your next brush stroke. Sounds simple enough, but its the process of removing the excess fluid that can give folks a difficult time. This is demonstrated in the video below. There are a couple of different ways to remove the excess fluid. You could simply move your brush from side to side on your palette in a downward direction, or, you can use the edge of your palette to gently remove the fluid. This is done by pushing down on the edge with the brush while moving either left or right. This not only removes fluid, but it also reshapes your brush into a nice chiseled edge. Learn more by watching the video below!
“Painting Problem Solver” by Paul Taggart — Starting Off in Wet-on-Wet Watercolours
Acrylic Portrait Painting Tutorial – Using A Limited Palette and A Four Value Underpainting
About Christopher Vasil
I’m a Delaware based impressionist working in acrylics. I try to make paintings that look precise and at the same time spontaneous. My work has been described as having a “…powerful, primitive, brushstroke laid down in a way that brings gentleness…work [that] can appear powerful and yet gentle at the same time. It is both exciting and relaxing.” Lately I’m experimenting more with concept art, combining representation with abstraction as a means to explore ideas about form and dimension.
Christopher’s Website: www.christophervasil.com
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Artist Spotlight – Martha Kisling
Artist Name: Martha Kisling
Location: Colorado
Title of Artwork: Tulip Collage
Dimensions of Artwork: 11×15 inches
Medium: Watercolor Collage
Support: 3oo lb watercolor paper
Website: http://www.marthakisling.blogspot.com
Describe this Piece: I began this painting with watercolor on wet paper, then I collaged on hand painted tissue and rice papers. I then returned to the watercolor and used negative painting to define some of the tulips and leaves, added more collage, painted some more, more papers and so forth until I felt that the painting was finished. I have found that combining watercolor and collage can get your creative juices flowing and give a fresh new look to your paintings.
(Please Click Image For Larger View)
Blick Presents Ampersand Aquaboard
In the following video, Elaine Salazar, president of Ampersand Art Supply discusses a product by Ampersand known as “Aquaboard”. Aquaboard is an acid free surface that is perfect for use with Water based media like watercolors and gouache. It is similar to cold pressed watercolor paper but there are some differences. The colors on the Aquaboard will appear much more vibrant than on paper because the paint will not absorb into the surface like it does on the paper. Aquaboard will not tear, warp or buckle like paper can. It is also much easier to lay colors one on top of the other. It is also much easier to lift color off the aquaboard surface exposing the surface underneath. The surface of the board can also be scrubbed without risk of damage to the surface. Lastly, the final painting can be framed without using glass… Learn more about this amazing product by watching the video presentation below.
A big thanks to both BLICK ART MATERIALS and Ampersand for providing this free presentation. If you would like to learn more about Ampersand Aquaboard and purchase it online from Blick Art Materials, see immediately below.
Leopard Painting Demonstration in Pastels
About The Artist
Carol Santora, PSA, has loved animals of all kinds since she was a child, and remembers always wanting to be an artist. She had numerous well-used Jon Gnagy drawing kits and would copy pictures from magazines and sketch things around her home.
Santora (BFA, summa cum laude, Framingham State University) began her formal art training in 1983, while working as a registered nurse. One thing she wanted to learn to paint desperately was her dog, Flossie. After that first successful portrait, Santora realized she had a special talent and passion for animal and wildlife portraiture. Over the next 20 years, Santora would explore oil and watercolor painting before settling on soft pastel as her perfect medium. She painted landscapes and still-lifes, studied human portraiture and the figure, but the animals kept calling to her and appearing in her work.
Santora’s intimate portraits are insightful interpretations that express her passion for animals with excitement and energy by pushing the boundaries of color. She visits farms, rescues and wildlife areas in New England and out West to study and photograph her subjects. She takes hundreds of photographs and spends countless hours watching the animals that inspire her paintings. Her work is grounded in representation, but she is not bound by that. As she works, a completely realistic depiction gives way to a more artistic, contemporary rendering that serves her colorist and expressive purposes….
Learn more about Carol and see more of her work at her Website:
How to Clean your Oil Painting Brushes
There are a variety of methods for removing oil paint from a brush. If you were to ask 5 different artists how they clean their brushes, you would more than likely get 5 different answers. Some artists use turpentine or mineral spirits while others prefer to use safer alternatives like baby oil or citrus based cleaners.
I would like to outline my process for cleaning my brushes in this post as well as include articles and videos from other artists. This way you will have a variety of resources to help you choose the method you are most comfortable with. The main objective with cleaning your oil painting brushes is to remove as much pigment as possible from the brush immediately after each use. Also important, is try your best to maintain the brushes original shape.
I would like to start by sharing the supplies that you will need if you decide to go with my method of oil paint brush cleaning. I do not use any dangerous solvents, thinners or chemicals to clean my brushes.
How to Begin a Landscape Painting in Oils
In this free oil painting video lesson by artist Dick Ensing you will learn a method for starting a landscape painting using oil paint. This is not the only way to start an oil painting, but it is an excellent method and one that every beginner should become familiar with.
The artist will be working from a photograph of a scene in Tennessee. He will begin with a value sketch using only one color, Cerulean Blue. He is using Charvin Oils for this particular lesson. He says he likes these oils because they have excellent pigment strength and when they dry, the color is very close to the color you start out with. He also points out that he likes to work with flat brushes with long bristles. He says the longer bristles last longer and they give you a nice chiseled edge to work with while you are painting.
He very lightly begins to sketch in his composition using the Cerulean Blue. He is just looking for shapes at this point. While he is laying out his composition, he is careful not to place his focal point directly in the center of the canvas as this will produce a boring painting. He places his focal point off to the left of the center.
Watercolor Painting Tutorial – Change Colors for a Different Effect
About Steve Fleming
Good art is the result of hard work and dedication. It only happens when the artist finds his or her own story to tell and then learns to do so with his or her own unique language.
I am an artist who works in watercolor and acrylic, and I teach both for The Art League in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as workshops across the country and abroad. My goal as an artist is to be creative; my goal as a teacher is to help my students learn to interpret the world around them, not to promote the belief the goal of art is the perfect rendering of a subject. One of my core messages: art is a creative process and is not just the sum total of the work we sell. In this era of digital cameras, I caution artists to look — really look both inside and outside — for the subject matter that lights our artistic fires. Otherwise, our work will be lacking everything but technique.
Acrylic Painting Layering Techniques – Tutorial by Brandi Deziel
About Brandi
Brandi Deziel is a self-taught photorealism painter living and working in Toronto.
She creates the illusion of a photograph by layering crisp images with soft, blurred backgrounds and foregrounds thus shifting the attention to the focal object and deceiving the eye.
Her work is included in private collections world-wide.
Brandi Deziel’s Acrylic Painting Method – Layer by Layer
Watercolor Portrait Painting Tutorial
About Sandrine Pelissier
I grew up in France but have been living in Canada for the last 12 years, I am currently located in North Vancouver and work from a studio on Pemberton Avenue.
Watercolor is my medium of choice because of the unique way it allows me to render light. The transparency of this medium can make it look like the painting is lit from behind and the light is shining through the paper In my portraits, I like to tell stories about the people around me. I am very interested in childhood fantasy or fairy tales (I wish it would snow Flowers, Hair Balloon, Georgia, the Spanish dress and the Eclectus Parrot). I also like to induce a dialogue with the viewer in some paintings dealing more with introspection and mood (Mixed, In the studio).
Those portraits are not about likeness or knowing the people that are being painted, as I see my models as actors in a movie, they are the faces that will allow me to tell a story or to show emotions. Those faces are a source of endless fascination and I find the subtlety that can be achieved with watercolor well suited to the complexity of the human face.
My technique involves the accumulation of many transparent layers of watercolor. Then I like to incorporate mixed media in the background, work sometimes with some contouring. I also sometimes like to add some drawing on top of the painting or some graphic elements…
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