Please don't worry about being elementary or repetitious! As a beginner, watercolors intimidate & even mystify me. Thankfully, you're an excellent teacher- thorough, patient, & kind. I'm grateful to have found your channel.
I cannot even tell enough how grateful I am to find your series of fundamental techniques in watercolor. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and expertise with the world!
Those hard edges were my biggest headache when I first started messing with watercolour and you cured it for me a long time ago. It was such a mystery to me in the beginning and I can imagine the new painters out there just pulling their hairs out. Even though I knew this stuff I still think it is one of your best tutorials ever. Thanks Steve.
Using hot water makes the water dry faster, but with less edge. Ice cold water dries slower, but with more edge. Thought that was pretty interesting. Thanks for another top quality video btw.
Thank you. It's okay to let the more experienced watercolorists feel like they are in remedial school because for us newbies your expertise is invaluable!
I like how this video explains why edges happen rather than just how to prevent them. I found this video trying to learn more about creating hard edges in a controlled way, and I learned a lot.
Just have to say- your videos are the best tonic for when I feel like throwing my paints, brushes, paper, everything at the wall and giving up. Your calm, non judgmental and detailed approach always helps me when I'm feeling overly self critical and negative. I always come back to these lessons because I know they help me get better and give me the confidence to keep going. Thank you for being here! :)
I found your name on a FB beginners watercolor group recommending you. I’m 60 and just picked up a brush for the first time. I love your beginner videos. You have such a talent for teaching. I’m so excited to keep watching and learning. Thank you
I can't thank you enough for your videos. Water colours would confuse me so much because I did not know how to manipulate the components. You are a wonderful teacher. Lots of love, and stay safe!
When I started watercolor years ago, I thought for a few years that these edges are special. Because in my watercolor books was nothing about it. I was always happy when I got the edges. Sometimes I need the edges, sometimes not :-)
Thank you so much for taking time to share your teaching. It's a pleasure to learn from your clear and concise videos. I also appreciate your suggestions on products, and have purchased through your channel and links. Some items made their way onto my Christmas list for excellent gifts. I took a watercolour course in university, and found most professors just sit back and watch the class paint, offering no demos and little if any instruction. While practice is pivotal, I prefer a variety of approaches to inculcate and inspire. Thank you for the tip about pulling the shadow away from an overlapping object. Shadows provide great exercise in adding depth and expression.
Thank you for patiently & clearly showing us minder principals & techniques that are probably 2nd nature to experienced water colorists. So NICE to be able to learn correct techniques, I’m a happy minder!,
I am a beginner. I watched this video a few days ago and I had the biggest breakthrough in my watercolor journey ever. I painted a robin and was able to blend several colors without a hard edge. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!!
I have been searching for a proper explanation for those hard edges with the darker outline! I actually really like the darker lines on the edge because I think it gives a unique look to a piece, especially when you overlap 2 different colors with the hard lines at the edge. However, I never understood how to make them consistently until your video! Thank you so so so so much!
You have the best tutorials I have found anywhere. Thank you so much for sharing your talent, and doing so in such a great way. I have taken classes (many) which gave me nowhere near this much usable, understandable info. Thank you so much!! You are the best.
This is just what I needed to hear. I have been trying to get that look of objects overlapping, but I was outlining. Thank you for sharing this. It really helped.
I love it that also helps a ton. Layers. I should stop charging in at full pigmented brushes and start with thin soft layers and THEN do it until its fantastic
I love your videos mate. I appreciate how much detail you provide and they actually take my mind off work and stop me stressing out about crappy things haha Been using this medium for ten years now and I still find these tutorials very helpful and comforting to watch when I can’t sleep. Keep up the good work. Thank you from Australia
That was really helpful. At first, when I was newer to watercolor, I liked those edges and thought they were a built in watercolor feature that you had to live with. Somehow over months of experience I did get rid of them but this video taught me exactly HOW to get rid of them. Watercolors are so multi-faceted that no one really knows what all they need to learn at the beginning. As they always say...practice, practice, practice and learn from this UA-cam channel to save yourself years of wasted time. MY NEW PROBLEM is I can’t keep my paper wet for very long. It seems to dry out as fast as I can wet it. Some Arches is on the way. I’ve been using Strathmore as an affordable way to learn.
Aha! One of the very first watercolour sketches I did was some bluebells - I got that hard edge effect and I liked it - it defined the bluebells very delicately. The paper I was using wasn't watercolour paper (although I didn't know that then, because I bought it from ebay and it was listed as wc paper...). Later I got some proper wc paper and tried to do more bluebell paintings and couldn't replicate the first painting. I think I tried about 15 times. They were all fuzzy at the edges and no matter what I did, I couldn't reproduce the style of my first painting. It drove me mad! I never imagined it could have been the paper - I thought I'd peaked on my first painting and it seemed to be all downhill from there!!!!! Having watched this vid, I'm now thinking that the paper I was using had created (or helped to create) these hard edges that I liked so much and I'm going to experiment to see if that's the solution to repeating my bluebells. Thanks so much for this, Steve - all this information is golden. :)
I ran across this because i’m trying to learn to do loose painting, i still am a beginner because most of what i have done are with tutorials or online classes. Hard edges are a problem, i get very frustrated. Have tossed a lot of paintings for that very reason. I’ll try your tips, thanks😊
Thank you so much for sharing this video with us. Edges are so important. I did learn about the shading one and I'm glad that you did it the second time. The explanations are very clearly shown. You did keep me on the edge. In the past, I saw the edges forming, but never thought about the reason for the formation, so happy to see the light. Thanks again, now I will watch it again.
Wow... this is hugely helpful! This video and the ones on blending have totally explained most of the problems I've been having. I'm going from oil painting to watercolour and it's a steep learning curve. Thank you !
Yessss!!! Thanks a LOT, I was really getting frustrated at those edges and backruns happening and you really helped me understand my mistake and how to solve it. Great! :)
Very helpful. For whatever reason sometimes I really like hard edges...and I need to think about why. Might be partly because I know how to create them (so it’s easier) Thanks for adding the part about putting something underneath or behind another object. I understood what you were saying about pulling the shadow away.
It's always good to have a review and I always manage to learn again what I forgot or something I didn't even consider. I liked the look of the darker behind the lighter at the edge. It was a reverse of how I think in watercolor. It isn't really behind the paint just the allusion that the sphere is behind; something I've never considered in placement. Thanks Steve, just another door opened to explore.
Great video Steve. I find Schminke watercolour gives a lot of hard edges, regardless of paper used, and I know people rave about Schmincke but it isn’t the paint for me. Managing the mind of watercolour is all about brush technique, but some paints/papers make the job harder which can be a nightmare for new students and this video will help them. 🙂
Thanks Kyomii! Not ever noticed a harder edge from Schmincke but you are so right about certain supplies making things tougher. Paper seems to matter the most both for edges and a host of other issues.
The Mind of Watercolor Agreed. I always tell beginners paper quality is a priority above paints, so get the best paper they can afford with decent student brand paints, rather than artist brand paints and cheap paper. Some may not agree that paper is the most important but I believe it definitely is for watercolour work, more so than most other mediums.
Your videos are always so informative. Thanks for the tips on lining up edges. I've had trouble with those and techniques for those weren't covered in the few classes I've had.
Your into to me to the phrase Hang 10. I looked it up the other day. They explained that the surfers on the long board and while they are a top the wave they stand at the very front of the board and have to have all ten toes hanging over the edge of the board. I watched a few videos and I was amazed. Okay what does this have to do with your video, you give us amazing clear details to watercolor insight. Thanks see ya Edgeman, it is so important.
Such an awesome video! I couldn't imagine starting watercolor all over again without this channel! I have a lot of successes under my belt bc of you Steve THANK YOU ❤️
@jo.... Yes! In my house there's two Steves my husband Steve and Watercolor Steve. And my husband, who has zero interest in art, definitely knows who watercolor Steve is 😂
Question: how perpendicular do you hold your brushes when you're painting the edges of shapes? All the edges of shapes I paint when I hold my brush in a way that feels natural are jagged almost like I'm dry brushing just the edges. (EDIT: they _not_ darker edges) The only way to prevent the jagged edges is to hold my brush like I do with line drills and "draw" my shapes first before filling them in which can't be right (as you've demonstrated). Materials: 1) 100% cotton cold press Arteza and Arches. I love wet/wet. 2) Paint: all artist quality, mostly Daniel Smith 3) Brushes: I have "nicer" brushes, but Pentel Aquash are my absolute favorites even at home. The small stays unfilled since it dispenses too much water, the rest are filled, but I always use a water jar for all of them. Best tips and snap and stay as wet as needed
@@mindofwatercolor thanks for replying! It seems I ruined the tip! Confirmed this when I tried a new one. Trimmed the old tip with sewing shears and that fixed it at least for now...
Please don't worry about being elementary or repetitious! As a beginner, watercolors intimidate & even mystify me. Thankfully, you're an excellent teacher- thorough, patient, & kind. I'm grateful to have found your channel.
I cannot even tell enough how grateful I am to find your series of fundamental techniques in watercolor. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and expertise with the world!
Those hard edges were my biggest headache when I first started messing with watercolour and you cured it for me a long time ago. It was such a mystery to me in the beginning and I can imagine the new painters out there just pulling their hairs out. Even though I knew this stuff I still think it is one of your best tutorials ever. Thanks Steve.
Using hot water makes the water dry faster, but with less edge. Ice cold water dries slower, but with more edge. Thought that was pretty interesting. Thanks for another top quality video btw.
Cool tip (lol get it?)
Thanks for the input mike.
I am gonna try that!
i want ice water then
I appreciate you repeating this I am an old beginner………I find it very helpful.
My go-to watercolor channel! I learn something everytime.
Thank you. It's okay to let the more experienced watercolorists feel like they are in remedial school because for us newbies your expertise is invaluable!
I like how this video explains why edges happen rather than just how to prevent them. I found this video trying to learn more about creating hard edges in a controlled way, and I learned a lot.
Just have to say- your videos are the best tonic for when I feel like throwing my paints, brushes, paper, everything at the wall and giving up. Your calm, non judgmental and detailed approach always helps me when I'm feeling overly self critical and negative. I always come back to these lessons because I know they help me get better and give me the confidence to keep going. Thank you for being here! :)
Yes!
i get a lift from the Scripture verses you sometimes put at the end of your videos. You are a really good teacher, too.
Great teaching. Also, I love your gospel witness
I found your name on a FB beginners watercolor group recommending you.
I’m 60 and just picked up a brush for the first time. I love your beginner videos. You have such a talent for teaching.
I’m so excited to keep watching and learning. Thank you
All your videos are priceless. Thank you so much!
New to this channel and watercolour, can’t tell you how helpful these tutorials are and what a lovely presenting style
Beginners thank you for what may be obvious to others
One of the most helpful tutorials Ive watched so far from anyone. Really grateful you made this; thank you
I can't thank you enough for your videos. Water colours would confuse me so much because I did not know how to manipulate the components. You are a wonderful teacher. Lots of love, and stay safe!
Yes! Edges were a pesky problem in my watercolors. Thanks for making this so understandable.
When I started watercolor years ago, I thought for a few years that these edges are special.
Because in my watercolor books was nothing about it.
I was always happy when I got the edges.
Sometimes I need the edges, sometimes not :-)
Haha, I love them, too! :D
These tips are excellent and can make a major difference in how a watercolor looks.
Thank you so much for taking time to share your teaching. It's a pleasure to learn from your clear and concise videos. I also appreciate your suggestions on products, and have purchased through your channel and links. Some items made their way onto my Christmas list for excellent gifts. I took a watercolour course in university, and found most professors just sit back and watch the class paint, offering no demos and little if any instruction. While practice is pivotal, I prefer a variety of approaches to inculcate and inspire. Thank you for the tip about pulling the shadow away from an overlapping object. Shadows provide great exercise in adding depth and expression.
Thank you for patiently & clearly showing us minder principals & techniques that are probably 2nd nature to experienced water colorists. So NICE to be able to learn correct techniques, I’m a happy minder!,
I am a beginner. I watched this video a few days ago and I had the biggest breakthrough in my watercolor journey ever. I painted a robin and was able to blend several colors without a hard edge. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!!
I have been searching for a proper explanation for those hard edges with the darker outline! I actually really like the darker lines on the edge because I think it gives a unique look to a piece, especially when you overlap 2 different colors with the hard lines at the edge.
However, I never understood how to make them consistently until your video! Thank you so so so so much!
Agreed, if your not already familiar check out Ali Cavanaugh she has an approach almost antithetical to traditional methods.
You have the best tutorials I have found anywhere. Thank you so much for sharing your talent, and doing so in such a great way. I have taken classes (many) which gave me nowhere near this much usable, understandable info. Thank you so much!! You are the best.
So kind and encouraging, thanks!
This is just what I needed to hear. I have been trying to get that look of objects overlapping, but I was outlining. Thank you for sharing this. It really helped.
I love it
that also helps a ton. Layers. I should stop charging in at full pigmented brushes and start with thin soft layers and THEN do it until its fantastic
I love your videos mate. I appreciate how much detail you provide and they actually take my mind off work and stop me stressing out about crappy things haha
Been using this medium for ten years now and I still find these tutorials very helpful and comforting to watch when I can’t sleep. Keep up the good work. Thank you from Australia
That was really helpful. At first, when I was newer to watercolor, I liked those edges and thought they were a built in watercolor feature that you had to live with. Somehow over months of experience I did get rid of them but this video taught me exactly HOW to get rid of them. Watercolors are so multi-faceted that no one really knows what all they need to learn at the beginning. As they always say...practice, practice, practice and learn from this UA-cam channel to save yourself years of wasted time. MY NEW PROBLEM is I can’t keep my paper wet for very long. It seems to dry out as fast as I can wet it. Some Arches is on the way. I’ve been using Strathmore as an affordable way to learn.
This is so so helpful! Thank you! I now understand what I was doing wrong!
After a tiring day of teaching, your video gave me peace of mind and a restful, fulfilled evening of sketching. Love your videos and art on Instagram.
Steve, this was wonderful and practical advice. You’re a great teacher.
You are a great teacher, respecting all level of learning Thx
This explanation was exactly what I needed to hear! Thank you
Repetition is what jams that stuff into my mind🤪
Possibly the most helpful tutorial I've watched. Thank you!
Another video that I needed! Thanks, Steve. You always seem to know just what I need, just when I need it!
Great, thanks for this video. I was looking for this info everywhere.
Aha! One of the very first watercolour sketches I did was some bluebells - I got that hard edge effect and I liked it - it defined the bluebells very delicately. The paper I was using wasn't watercolour paper (although I didn't know that then, because I bought it from ebay and it was listed as wc paper...). Later I got some proper wc paper and tried to do more bluebell paintings and couldn't replicate the first painting. I think I tried about 15 times. They were all fuzzy at the edges and no matter what I did, I couldn't reproduce the style of my first painting. It drove me mad! I never imagined it could have been the paper - I thought I'd peaked on my first painting and it seemed to be all downhill from there!!!!! Having watched this vid, I'm now thinking that the paper I was using had created (or helped to create) these hard edges that I liked so much and I'm going to experiment to see if that's the solution to repeating my bluebells. Thanks so much for this, Steve - all this information is golden. :)
I’ve recently attempted to get into water colour and your channel has helped me a lot
I need constant reminders, so thank you!
I am a new commer. Much needed. Big thankyou.🤗🤗🤗
I ran across this because i’m trying to learn to do loose painting, i still am a beginner because most of what i have done are with tutorials or online classes. Hard edges are a problem, i get very frustrated. Have tossed a lot of paintings for that very reason. I’ll try your tips, thanks😊
So helpful,to say the least. Thank you. Both soft and hard edges are needed depending on what your painting and this helps to control this
Thank you so much for this video. I'm new to watercolour and this makes such sense now to what I'm doing wrong.
That shading tip was exactly what I was having problems with! My shadows were ruining my paintings. Thank you, thank you, thank you Steve!
You bet!, Thanks for letting me know.
such a good lesson ! i appreciate so much
I am a relative beginner and really thankful for your videos!!
Thank you so much for sharing this video with us. Edges are so important. I did learn about the shading one and I'm glad that you did it the second time. The explanations are very clearly shown. You did keep me on the edge. In the past, I saw the edges forming, but never thought about the reason for the formation, so happy to see the light. Thanks again, now I will watch it again.
Wow...ok...watching this again. I know most of this stuff and still mess up often. Gonna practice this tomorrow! Thanks again!
Thank you Steve!
Thank you, the litter that I know of water color is thanks to your tutorials and I am grateful for that.
hard edge looks great. that's what i want :)
Great lesson Steve. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge!
Your videos are the best ever. I’m grateful for your effort. FYI beginner artist 1 year in
There is so much I have learnt from your videos. Thank you!
Excellent video! Thank you sou much!
So helpful!! Thank you for being a fantastic teacher!
Love your explanations of whys
This was very helpful for me as a beginner. Thank you.
Wow... this is hugely helpful! This video and the ones on blending have totally explained most of the problems I've been having. I'm going from oil painting to watercolour and it's a steep learning curve. Thank you !
He must have kids because his dad jokes are ON POINTE! Thank you for your informative videos, I've learned so much I didnt think I even needed to know
This video is very helpful. Thank you for being such a good teacher.
Awesome video!
Yessss!!! Thanks a LOT, I was really getting frustrated at those edges and backruns happening and you really helped me understand my mistake and how to solve it. Great! :)
Awesome skills and demo
I am 100% new at this and love your videos. You give me courage:) Thank you very much.
Thank you so much for this.... I will look at your videos
This was so helpful! Thank you! Love your videos. Watch one per day with many teachers and you are my fav!
I just tried my first watercolor ... thing... and saw some weird edges. This is so helpful! Thanks
Very helpful. For whatever reason sometimes I really like hard edges...and I need to think about why. Might be partly because I know how to create them (so it’s easier) Thanks for adding the part about putting something underneath or behind another object. I understood what you were saying about pulling the shadow away.
Me too. For some aesthetics they look good and fit in- but sometimes they're too distracting.
Wish i had your tshirt collection to go with the watercolor tips!
OMG, my shading mistakes solved! Thank you so much, Steve!!
It's always good to have a review and I always manage to learn again what I forgot or something I didn't even consider. I liked the look of the darker behind the lighter at the edge. It was a reverse of how I think in watercolor. It isn't really behind the paint just the allusion that the sphere is behind; something I've never considered in placement. Thanks Steve, just another door opened to explore.
Another incredibly helpful video. Thank you so much!
I actually like those edges, and try to make them in a 'controlled' way when I paint.
But it was good to understand why they happen.
Thank you!!
Thank you for this video!!!!!!!!! 👍👍👍
Great info and demo! Very helpful and glad I found this video.
Great video Steve. I find Schminke watercolour gives a lot of hard edges, regardless of paper used, and I know people rave about Schmincke but it isn’t the paint for me. Managing the mind of watercolour is all about brush technique, but some paints/papers make the job harder which can be a nightmare for new students and this video will help them. 🙂
Thanks Kyomii! Not ever noticed a harder edge from Schmincke but you are so right about certain supplies making things tougher. Paper seems to matter the most both for edges and a host of other issues.
The Mind of Watercolor Agreed. I always tell beginners paper quality is a priority above paints, so get the best paper they can afford with decent student brand paints, rather than artist brand paints and cheap paper. Some may not agree that paper is the most important but I believe it definitely is for watercolour work, more so than most other mediums.
What a fantastic video, it was really helpful Steve! Thanks so much😊
Thanks. This was very helpful
As a newbie, this was really helpful, thank you!
TY. Great teaching, keeping it simple.
Great video Steve - real important - Thanks so much.
Thanks Steve, very informative and agree a video on shading and shading placement would be really helpful to us beginners.
Thank you so much Steve!!
Thanks for the lesson.
Great video! Appreciate you taking the time to explain.
Thanks a lot for this video. Im a water color noob and this clarified so much for me. Thanks!
Your videos are always so informative. Thanks for the tips on lining up edges. I've had trouble with those and techniques for those weren't covered in the few classes I've had.
Your into to me to the phrase Hang 10. I looked it up the other day. They explained that the surfers on the long board and while they are a top the wave they stand at the very front of the board and have to have all ten toes hanging over the edge of the board. I watched a few videos and I was amazed. Okay what does this have to do with your video, you give us amazing clear details to watercolor insight. Thanks see ya Edgeman, it is so important.
You are awesome -- thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
Thank you so much. This tutorial
was really important to me that I am just a beginner.
Such an awesome video! I couldn't imagine starting watercolor all over again without this channel! I have a lot of successes under my belt bc of you Steve THANK YOU ❤️
Very encouraging for me to hear, thanks!
Oh, so true! Love Steve's teaching style!!!
@jo.... Yes! In my house there's two Steves my husband Steve and Watercolor Steve. And my husband, who has zero interest in art, definitely knows who watercolor Steve is 😂
Great video! Thanks for the solid advice!
Very helpful!!
Thank you sir... Very useful insight for beginners like me now i know how to get rid of that watercolor blooms....🤓👍
Thank you so much!🙏🏼
Question: how perpendicular do you hold your brushes when you're painting the edges of shapes?
All the edges of shapes I paint when I hold my brush in a way that feels natural are jagged almost like I'm dry brushing just the edges. (EDIT: they _not_ darker edges)
The only way to prevent the jagged edges is to hold my brush like I do with line drills and "draw" my shapes first before filling them in which can't be right (as you've demonstrated).
Materials:
1) 100% cotton cold press Arteza and Arches. I love wet/wet.
2) Paint: all artist quality, mostly Daniel Smith
3) Brushes: I have "nicer" brushes, but Pentel Aquash are my absolute favorites even at home. The small stays unfilled since it dispenses too much water, the rest are filled, but I always use a water jar for all of them. Best tips and snap and stay as wet as needed
I hold the brush however lets me best see where the tip is touching, so it depends on my viewing angle.
@@mindofwatercolor thanks for replying! It seems I ruined the tip! Confirmed this when I tried a new one. Trimmed the old tip with sewing shears and that fixed it at least for now...
very helpful thanks 😊