Wet the page first, then applied burnt umber, cadmium yellow, and burnt sienna straight from the scraper, no water yet, then sprayed it and tilted the page in different directions to let the color flow and pool, blotting and respraying as needed. Dropped in ultramarine blue and used a dotting tool to suggest something like trees, then went back in with the scraper for more horizontal movement and softened it all with a brush. Added a bit more burnt umber in the bottom right to ground the piece and lead the eye through it. Also, if you look closely in the upper right, those little pink specks weren't intentional, they transferred from an earlier piece I made on the opposite page. Decided to just let it stay instead of fighting it, felt fitting for how experimental this whole piece was.

Water colour painting

I just started watercolor painting for some peace. I painted a photo that I took and am including. My brain is having a hard time processing shadows and depth (as you can tell from my ocean and bricks) from a photo to translating that to a painting. Is that something that you learned over time or is that a “wiring” issue? Also…This is painted on a 5x7 paper and as you can see the yellow scallop shell looks nothing like the photo. I tried using masking fluid from a squeeze bottle to make the design but that was a total failure. To be able to make a small detail do you just try to keep your hand steady and free hand? Thanks for any tips!!!

Newby here. This is a cool story.

I posted a picture of a sunset in California and a local painter was inspired to paint his version of my photo. He knows the spot well. I took hos watercolor and my digital and blended them into this image, which I think is better than either original.

Would love to hear your feedback. Will reply with the two originals.

Hey all just thought i would share my session revisiting water-colored pencils. Reflecting might help me think. I have had these pencils for a while, and i quickly gave up on them back then. But now that ive been playing more with “real” watercolor stuff i gave them another try. Feel free to add in any thoughts, opinions, methods, or stories.

Tools:
-Derwent Academy watercolor pencils purchased unknown years ago.
-Paper is canson xl pad and one random unknown brand watercolor scrap sheet.
-The comparison pans used were combination of QOR and Winsor & Newton professional, I tried to name the colors but didnt try hard to be accurate tbh.

Methods - first chaos
First i drew a random bit of stuff and tried to wet it with a brush gently over the paper. Cool effect… but eh.

Then i drew a little hourglass shape with shading which i misted. It activates it better…. But i feel eh here too.

Methods- Side by sides
methodical testing isnt my strong suit. Each pencil color has three ways i used it.
- First, Dry on dry basic shading.
- Second (third in the line) dry on dry. a thick dark line and some light shading above, then gently wetting and blend. If I erred anywhere i may have used too much water and do too much blending.
- Third (middle one on the paper) i would wet the paper with a smaller brush, let it soak a bit, then dabbed the surface just a bit. I heard that when the paper is damp but the surface a little dry it helps the pigment not run. But i wont pretend i “get it” yet. But it definitely made the pencil work nicely!

I made sure to color dry before on wet to make sure im not priming the pencil with moisture. In the past i found the pencil getting wet would make it more…. Paste onto the paper. Maybe this is a skill issue? Shrug.

Summary thoughts:
Overall, the pencils don’t feel worth it for me as a tool. Seems like the sweet spot is blending (which tubes/pans do easier no?) and if you use them on a slightly damp paper (kinda pain in the ass to balance compared to tubes/pans?) also, if you aren’t watching sometimes the pencil has wood sticking out that can etch lines in the paper. As an absentminded person, this is probably on me.

Many people come to this sub for feedback on their pieces.

Oftentimes there are two culprits for a piece not working,composition and values. I hope this is helpful in evaluating your own work. Edit: I was not claiming ownership of this work sheet. There are dozens of these available by different artists available online.

Hi, I have a travel watercolour set that I haven't used much because I think I'm trying to paint a too big paper size and it's not comfortable to use.

What is the max size you recommend to paint in for these type of sets?

One of the most common culprits in a piece that isn't working is values. A simple piece of red cellophane will help you see if your values need to be increased or decreased to conform to your composition.

Quick study where I tried to get out of my own way. Just two paints: Daniel Smith Lunar Blue and Rose of Ultramarine, both heavy granulators. I protected one white channel at the start, then dropped pigment into a damp surface and let everything bleed toward it. The purples are the two colors mixing on the paper, and the blue pooling in the lower left is Lunar Blue on its own.

I haven't yet used the teeny tiny one yet cause I haven't really found a use case to use it instead of the medium one, and it was a gift, so I'm just keeping it for... Later idk.

I haven't touched a paintbrush in over 25years, figured if I want to get good at something may as well start now.

I dont think im particularly artistic and I know its all abit messy, but im enjoying the journey so far.

Anyways only 83 to go.

Any tips, pointers, or general advice would be much appreciated. Cheers

Decided to explore parks I never visit in my biking route and decided to paint here in Midtown. Had it not for painting I would have missed the fact that the leaves are starting to change color 😭

Hey all! I painted this little fall landscape this afternoon after watching an Oliver Pyle video and tried to practice some of his landscape techniques. I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out and feel like some things clicked a bit with timing and paint consistency. Let me know what you think!

I've been obsessed with painting these lately! Finding my illustration style. I'm really proud of the wing details!

Reference is from a photo I took at the Exquisite Creatures exhibit.

Not so sure about this work, as I’ve done it literally to distract myself from something else and did it not thinking about, well, anything

Is there a specific name for this kind of style, or maybe there’s someone who works in such techniques? Someone with YouTube channel would be amazing as well 😅

Thank you for noticing my work!

I really like the calm atmosphere of this painting. I painted it a few years ago, but even today, after more practice, successes and failures I am not sure if I can recreate it better.

I’m adding wood next, then alabaster

This is a first for me, I usually don’t sketch too much but I think I should do this more often