You have got to have the best surname ever Judy - how fab is that. I am back now as I have got more time so thanks for the positive comment. What project do you have on at the moment?
I was watching your Jan. 2018 Hare's Head. I watched you several years ago and learned so much. You have a very traditional style of painting watercolor. My watercolor teacher here in the US teaches much like you. Yes, my surname is a lot of fun. Some people accuse me of making it up. Actually, if you Google it you'll find a very famous relative with the same name. Looking forward to catching up with your tutorials.
My pleasure - glad to help you on your way with watercolour Sharon - by the way - I have a one hour free course here - would you like it? the-pottering-artist.teachable.com/p/free-course-paint-shiny-spheres-in-watercolour
I just started watching your tutorials, I thought that’s never going to turn into a hare but carried on watching and was proved so wrong. Cannot believe i saw it emerging before my eyes. Can’t wait to watch a few more. Thank you 😊
Well done Karen on keeping the faith! So glad it turned out and you now have more confidence in the process... you may also like to know that since August I have been running a monthly watercolour club on Patreon - it’s a way of gaining traction in watercolour with regular and engaging tutorials plus tonnes of other arty rewards..to learn more click here -
thank you for your tutorial on the, he's beautiful, i look forward to more, it's so helpful to have it in real time. many thanks. stay safe well and keep painting.
Well thanks Karen! I am glad you liked it and found it useful - also - I have watercolour projects galore to bring you on further on my new site if you want a look for info! Also - all the tutorials on Patreon are real time and I give you a 3 page paintalong pack with each one:) www.patreon.com/join/thepotteringartist? - stay safe and enjoy your watercolour - Alison
Alison, I am so happy that you are back with your teaching tutorials! I learn so much by being able to see your reference photo, so that I can see what you are seeing. The hardest part for me is adding additional layers after the initial lighter washes. I love your "paint what you see" approach and also how you soften edges in! It has helped so much! I can't wait for y our next video!
Marvelous Terry. Thank you for that. With adding second and third washes all you need to do is make sure each wash is BONE dry before you work on top of it. Also using cotton rag paper as opposed to just woodpulp (like Bockingford) will give you a chance of better success.
This style is what attracted me to Watercolor. I’ve never seen any tutorials on it til now. I have lots of my own Jackrabbit photos I want to paint. Thank you! This was amazing!
That was great fun to watch, especially the eye. I'm sure eyes could be a lesson on its own. I would love for you to do a video on your "stretching" process. So many artists don't seem to do that step. I think this bunny is excellent. Loved watching how you kept darkening it and adding texture.
Thanks Mary - I will do an eye demo soon. Meantime - I have two videos on how to stretch paper - here is the link - see the two bright pink rectangle images - they are the ones - ua-cam.com/users/results?search_query=alison+fennell+stretching+paper. Hope that helps A
Managed to follow your Hare tutorial, and although it didn't turn out quite as wonderful as yours I was very happy with the way it turned out and will be watching more of your tutorials. Thank you Alison.
I have been watching tour tutorials and want to thank you for these great teachings! You really do a great job and I wish I could be one of your students! (won’t you come to Paris?) Starting from scratch I started watercolor a year ago and although I have gone a long way I can see your lessons will definitely take me a good step further... THANK YOU!
Hi B Sarres - that is so kind - thanks! I am glad my videos help you. Je connais tres bien le Paris puisque j'ai etudie pour un DEUG en Francais ily longtemps. En ce moment cette annee je n'enseigne plus parce que je dois replenir ma creativite. A bientot.
Is there a reason you chose hot press paper for this Hare painting? Great lesson! Thank you! I have had a reference photo sitting around for a while now with a Jack Rabbit in it.
Hi Karen - I used HP because I wanted to have a smooth finish on the hare and to be able to do very tiny details. With cold pressed (not) or rough I would have still been able to paint the hare but I would have ended up with an overall more scratchy finish - neither surface is better really - it's purely a matter of personal choice and you'll get varying results:) Glad you liked this and hope you will be absorbed in finally getting around to painting that Jack Rabbit! - Alison
Hi Sue! I am so sorry I missed your comment! I would love to see your hare and if you want I can feature it on my new artist blog and you could win my monthly free draw! Here is my email - alisonfennellart@hotmail.com and my blog here - www.thepotteringartist.com/
That's great Sue - yes - this is transferable watercolour skill so try it out! BTW - I yesterday launched a fab new watercolour online course - want to see if it lights your candle? the-pottering-artist.teachable.com/p/paint-loose-watercolour-flowers/?preview=logged_out - Alison :)
I do not know how to thank you.If my back gets healthy again, I want attend your WC course in person, because I can absorve so well your instructions and love your results.
Alison Fennell Thank you for questionimg about my health, I had a disc chirurgy,, this this problem began with a wrong yoga exercise two years ago.Nowadays I can not travel because I can not sit more than 30 or 40 minutes.But it will get better .Painting helps me a lot and watercolor is wonderful because one can paint in small sessions.Have a great week!
Oh goodness! That is really unfortunate as we all hope yoga will be good don't we! That must be very limiting and frustrating. I feel for you as I am getting over a recent hysterectomy and that takes time. I'm glad to hear you get some enjoyment despite everything and yes - things pass and change - good luck to you x Since my surgery my homeopath recommended binaural beats to listen to whilst resting just before sleeping or anytime - here is one for spine - there are lots more - ua-cam.com/video/RnJ-6iinBiY/v-deo.html
Yes Simonetta - at around 12.16 on the timer I add a light water glaze with a moist size 6 brush unifying the pale washes that are still moist from the first application of paint. As you can see in the video it doesn't result in much mud and the colour passages do not lose too much of their shape. This is because at the VERY beginning I wet the paper. Wetting the paper allows the fibers to open fully. Then - when I added the first passages of colour they will sink down deeper into the paper - and then when we add more water on top they are no longer right on the surface which would have been the case if I had not wet the paper at the start. Another thing is that I am using cotton rag paper - 100% cotton is the most absorbant surface - you may not get such good results with cheaper wood pulp paper such as Bockingford. Bockingford is not a bad paper at all but for the technique I am using it is not as successful. I hop ethat helps?
Great - my mantra is "the wetter the better" :)! but as long as it's wetted then had chance to soak in and then wetted a bit more. When I say wet I don't mean for it to be sloshing with water - just that glistenening sheen.
Alison Fennell what's your favourite paper? I've bought the arches satin paper, but even if it's considered one of the best, I don't like it very much. When I wet it, It takes a lot to absorb water, and at the same time, It dries too fast. I've got also the langton Prestige paper rough, and I like it very much. I wish you all the best for your health.
Aha - I had never heard of "satin" and so just Googled it. It appears that it has 1 side being cold pressed (NOT) for painting and one side being smooth = satin for drawing. Also - it only has 25% cotton content. If you have been trying to use the smoother side to paint watercolours on this may be why it appears hard and non absorbant. Try flipping it over to the side with more texture or "tooth" to it and see if that is any batter. Is this the paper you mean? If so - thanks for telling me! Personally I too love the Langton Prestige - absolutely gorgeous. I use the Cold pressed (NOT). My absolute favourite paper is Arches hot pressed 90lbs (200gsm) sheet paper. I hoep this helps - here is the link to the paper I think you are asking about - www.arches-papers.com/our-papers/arches-lavis-fidelis/
How do you choose the colors on your palette? Do you use the same ones all the time or do you try something new occasionally? I f so, how do you decide? There are hundreds of kinds and I have bought many that I never use. On the other hand, there are probably some lovely shades that I would enjoy, but how to decide?
Basically Francoise I like to have a selection of warm and cold of each colour. For example - a hot red and a cold red, a warm green and a cold green. Then - I also want all the earth tones - all the sienna and all the umbers. I stick to the same colours for a long time with my class as they need to get to understand them well before branching out and buying lots more. Even with 6 colours the permutations are endless. So I think you should limit yourself to no more than your palette can hold and work with them for a good while. There is no secret answer that is found in 1 particular shade of paint. People go searching - thinking that will be THE ONE to transform their art. Not true. I do however experiment myself with another palette at home and I choose with my inner child. Whatever colour gives me a feeling of delight - I buy it. Then contrarily I may sometimes purposefully pick a colour I instantly dislike - to push my comfort zone. If after a while I really do not like it I will give it to another artist friend or student. Finally - I never by anything less than artist professional grade paints. Watercolour - more than any other medium suffers from having fillers or low grade pigments in them. Do not do that to yourself! Watercolour is hard enough as it is. I even practice with the best. If you were an aspiring pianist what would you prefer to play on - a classical piano or some old cronky one? Start with the BEST. Sorry - this is me ranting. Finally - if some of your very old paints have totally hardened in their tubes you can salvage something. Get a plastic container that is big enough to lay the tube in. Take off the cap or cut it off and slit the tube open with a sharp blade. Place in water. After a few days you will have a pot of useable wash colour. You can use this for big background washes maybe. Alison x
You are very kind to answer so thoroughly. I buy only professional paints and I have all the "basics" you mention. But I sometimes feel that I am in a rut and need to do something new. Who wants to eat the same thing everyday? I like your idea of choosing something that delights you.I do not expect a miracle, but the enjoyment of making some new colors or exploring the wild woman in me with Opera Pink or Quinacridone Gold :) I will try to revive my old tubes by giving them a bath. Thank you so much, you are very lovely.
My pleasure Francoise - as you can imagine I could talk all day about paint ! That's great you have the best stuff - good for you. Of course we all have different needs for novelty and at different stages. When you are stagnating go mad and get whatever calls - why not! Also - you may find you need a completely new subject or style:) Have you read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron? It is my bible. All about finding you. Maybe you are an abstract artist trying to break out! Sometimes you may even benefit from stopping watercolour for a period of time and trying a completely new medium. I do say that with a warning though as sometimes just when you are in a rut you are about to have a breakthrough and simply jumping around to other media distracts you from the important plateau you are about to leave. What I have learned is there is power in creative limits. With limits you have to push your creativity - rather than relying on myriad colour paints to do that - do you know what I mean? I read "The Power of Limits" www.amazon.com/Power-Limits-Proportional-Harmonies-Architecture/dp/1590302591 and this talks about the value of say working with a set of variables and seeing how much you can make of them. By doing this you dig very deep into yourself and are more likely to find your own truth than searching outside via materials. :) This is only my own opinion of course! Anyway - whatever works for you is the best thing!
That's OK Susan - I have a lot of time on my hands right now as I am in 3 months of convalescing after a full hysterectomy. Plus - I love to talk art! What projects do you have on at the mo?
That's so encouraging and positive Karen - thanks! I don't have a Patreon page but ----drum roll --- come 1st September I will be launching 2 new teaching platforms both of which are paying lesson formats. One is individual pay as you go focussed livestream classes and the other a more modular course style on Teachable. I currently have a class alert info email list. Would you like to go on it ? When I get everything in place I am going to let people know all the details:)!
Lovely Allison. I thought I'd lost you. Really enjoy your tutorials. Excellent explanations.
You have got to have the best surname ever Judy - how fab is that. I am back now as I have got more time so thanks for the positive comment. What project do you have on at the moment?
I was watching your Jan. 2018 Hare's Head. I watched you several years ago and learned so much. You have a very traditional style of painting watercolor. My watercolor teacher here in the US teaches much like you. Yes, my surname is a lot of fun. Some people accuse me of making it up. Actually, if you Google it you'll find a very famous relative with the same name. Looking forward to catching up with your tutorials.
Thank you for showing in real time so we can actually learn the how’s and why’s. Love your tutorials!
My pleasure - glad to help you on your way with watercolour Sharon - by the way - I have a one hour free course here - would you like it? the-pottering-artist.teachable.com/p/free-course-paint-shiny-spheres-in-watercolour
Absolutely beautiful
Glad you like it and thanks!
Beautiful - thank you!
Thanks so much Nettie - glad you liked this watercolour hare tutorial x
I just started watching your tutorials, I thought that’s never going to turn into a hare but carried on watching and was proved so wrong. Cannot believe i saw it emerging before my eyes. Can’t wait to watch a few more. Thank you 😊
Well done Karen on keeping the faith! So glad it turned out and you now have more confidence in the process... you may also like to know that since August I have been running a monthly watercolour club on Patreon - it’s a way of gaining traction in watercolour with regular and engaging tutorials plus tonnes of other arty rewards..to learn more click here -
www.patreon.com/thepotteringartist
- Alison :)
thank you for your tutorial on the, he's beautiful, i look forward to more, it's so helpful to have it in real time.
many thanks. stay safe well and keep painting.
Well thanks Karen! I am glad you liked it and found it useful - also - I have watercolour projects galore to bring you on further on my new site if you want a look for info! Also - all the tutorials on Patreon are real time and I give you a 3 page paintalong pack with each one:) www.patreon.com/join/thepotteringartist? - stay safe and enjoy your watercolour - Alison
Alison, I am so happy that you are back with your teaching tutorials! I learn so much by being able to see your reference photo, so that I can see what you are seeing. The hardest part for me is adding additional layers after the initial lighter washes. I love your "paint what you see" approach and also how you soften edges in! It has helped so much! I can't wait for y our next video!
Marvelous Terry. Thank you for that. With adding second and third washes all you need to do is make sure each wash is BONE dry before you work on top of it. Also using cotton rag paper as opposed to just woodpulp (like Bockingford) will give you a chance of better success.
This style is what attracted me to Watercolor. I’ve never seen any tutorials on it til now. I have lots of my own Jackrabbit photos I want to paint. Thank you! This was amazing!
Ah - that is very kind Sue - thanks - so glad you feel you can tackle it now.
Excellent as always Allison - Glad you are back with your videos!!!!
John Arnold z
Thanks John - this is an old one reformatted into a continuous one - glad it helps. More coming today.
I so love the way you teach. Thank you so much for your tutorial. I really enjoyed painting this hare!
Superb! Thanks Stephanie - I hope you'll get what you need for your own work - Alison
That was great fun to watch, especially the eye. I'm sure eyes could be a lesson on its own. I would love for you to do a video on your "stretching" process. So many artists don't seem to do that step. I think this bunny is excellent. Loved watching how you kept darkening it and adding texture.
Thanks Mary - I will do an eye demo soon. Meantime - I have two videos on how to stretch paper - here is the link - see the two bright pink rectangle images - they are the ones - ua-cam.com/users/results?search_query=alison+fennell+stretching+paper. Hope that helps A
He is just too cute.. I love this can't wait to try this.. Thank you
Glad he inspired you Pokey!
Managed to follow your Hare tutorial, and although it didn't turn out quite as wonderful as yours I was very happy with the way it turned out and will be watching more of your tutorials. Thank you Alison.
I'm chuffed you find them relaxing - X
I have been watching tour tutorials and want to thank you for these great teachings! You really do a great job and I wish I could be one of your students! (won’t you come to Paris?) Starting from scratch I started watercolor a year ago and although I have gone a long way I can see your lessons will definitely take me a good step further... THANK YOU!
Hi B Sarres - that is so kind - thanks! I am glad my videos help you. Je connais tres bien le Paris puisque j'ai etudie pour un DEUG en Francais ily longtemps. En ce moment cette annee je n'enseigne plus parce que je dois replenir ma creativite. A bientot.
lovely painting
Thanks a lot.
Just loving your tutorials they are so relaxing and informative loved this one, just started using watercolour will give this a go!
Thankyou so much! ❤
Thanks Vidyananda:)
Is there a reason you chose hot press paper for this Hare painting? Great lesson! Thank you! I have had a reference photo sitting around for a while now with a Jack Rabbit in it.
Hi Karen - I used HP because I wanted to have a smooth finish on the hare and to be able to do very tiny details. With cold pressed (not) or rough I would have still been able to paint the hare but I would have ended up with an overall more scratchy finish - neither surface is better really - it's purely a matter of personal choice and you'll get varying results:) Glad you liked this and hope you will be absorbed in finally getting around to painting that Jack Rabbit! - Alison
Thanks so much. I’m going to try these techniques on a squirrel.
Excellent Rebecca - enjoy - Happy New Year and apols for the delay as I usually reply promptly!
Thank you for this tutorial. When did you use the Winsor Violet? I painted from my own Jackrabbit photo. How can I share it with you?
Hi Sue! I am so sorry I missed your comment! I would love to see your hare and if you want I can feature it on my new artist blog and you could win my monthly free draw! Here is my email - alisonfennellart@hotmail.com and my blog here - www.thepotteringartist.com/
I’m rewatching a year later. Thinking I can use this technique to paint my Brindle dog. I would have to had some hair markings afterwards.
That's great Sue - yes - this is transferable watercolour skill so try it out! BTW - I yesterday launched a fab new watercolour online course - want to see if it lights your candle? the-pottering-artist.teachable.com/p/paint-loose-watercolour-flowers/?preview=logged_out - Alison :)
I do not know how to thank you.If my back gets healthy again, I want attend your WC course in person, because I can absorve so well your instructions and love your results.
Well that would be lovely - I am so glad these help Muhlenstedt. Thanks for the comment. What is wrong with your back?
Alison Fennell Thank you for questionimg about my health, I had a disc chirurgy,, this this problem began with a wrong yoga exercise two years ago.Nowadays I can not travel because I can not sit more than 30 or 40 minutes.But it will get better .Painting helps me a lot and watercolor is wonderful because one can paint in small sessions.Have a great week!
Oh goodness! That is really unfortunate as we all hope yoga will be good don't we! That must be very limiting and frustrating. I feel for you as I am getting over a recent hysterectomy and that takes time. I'm glad to hear you get some enjoyment despite everything and yes - things pass and change - good luck to you x
Since my surgery my homeopath recommended binaural beats to listen to whilst resting just before sleeping or anytime - here is one for spine - there are lots more - ua-cam.com/video/RnJ-6iinBiY/v-deo.html
Alison Fennell thank you, I love this.All the best for you, we are strong women!
Yes we are :)
Thank You Alison
My pleasure Mary - Ax
Oh ... another question: Was the white what is called gouache?
yes Mary - it is Winsor & Newton designers gouache in Titanium white - but even acrylic white or watercolor white will do.
Hi Alison, I see that you add a glaze of water on your first wash before it completely dries. But don't you have a muddy effect when it dries?
Yes Simonetta - at around 12.16 on the timer I add a light water glaze with a moist size 6 brush unifying the pale washes that are still moist from the first application of paint. As you can see in the video it doesn't result in much mud and the colour passages do not lose too much of their shape. This is because at the VERY beginning I wet the paper. Wetting the paper allows the fibers to open fully. Then - when I added the first passages of colour they will sink down deeper into the paper - and then when we add more water on top they are no longer right on the surface which would have been the case if I had not wet the paper at the start. Another thing is that I am using cotton rag paper - 100% cotton is the most absorbant surface - you may not get such good results with cheaper wood pulp paper such as Bockingford. Bockingford is not a bad paper at all but for the technique I am using it is not as successful. I hop ethat helps?
Alison Fennell Thank you very much Alison. I will try to wet more accurately at the beginning.
Great - my mantra is "the wetter the better" :)! but as long as it's wetted then had chance to soak in and then wetted a bit more. When I say wet I don't mean for it to be sloshing with water - just that glistenening sheen.
Alison Fennell what's your favourite paper? I've bought the arches satin paper, but even if it's considered one of the best, I don't like it very much. When I wet it, It takes a lot to absorb water, and at the same time, It dries too fast. I've got also the langton Prestige paper rough, and I like it very much. I wish you all the best for your health.
Aha - I had never heard of "satin" and so just Googled it. It appears that it has 1 side being cold pressed (NOT) for painting and one side being smooth = satin for drawing. Also - it only has 25% cotton content. If you have been trying to use the smoother side to paint watercolours on this may be why it appears hard and non absorbant. Try flipping it over to the side with more texture or "tooth" to it and see if that is any batter. Is this the paper you mean? If so - thanks for telling me! Personally I too love the Langton Prestige - absolutely gorgeous. I use the Cold pressed (NOT). My absolute favourite paper is Arches hot pressed 90lbs (200gsm) sheet paper. I hoep this helps - here is the link to the paper I think you are asking about - www.arches-papers.com/our-papers/arches-lavis-fidelis/
How do you choose the colors on your palette? Do you use the same ones all the time or do you try something new occasionally? I f so, how do you decide? There are hundreds of kinds and I have bought many that I never use. On the other hand, there are probably some lovely shades that I would enjoy, but how to decide?
Basically Francoise I like to have a selection of warm and cold of each colour. For example - a hot red and a cold red, a warm green and a cold green. Then - I also want all the earth tones - all the sienna and all the umbers. I stick to the same colours for a long time with my class as they need to get to understand them well before branching out and buying lots more.
Even with 6 colours the permutations are endless. So I think you should limit yourself to no more than your palette can hold and work with them for a good while.
There is no secret answer that is found in 1 particular shade of paint. People go searching - thinking that will be THE ONE to transform their art. Not true. I do however experiment myself with another palette at home and I choose with my inner child. Whatever colour gives me a feeling of delight - I buy it. Then contrarily I may sometimes purposefully pick a colour I instantly dislike - to push my comfort zone. If after a while I really do not like it I will give it to another artist friend or student.
Finally - I never by anything less than artist professional grade paints. Watercolour - more than any other medium suffers from having fillers or low grade pigments in them. Do not do that to yourself! Watercolour is hard enough as it is. I even practice with the best. If you were an aspiring pianist what would you prefer to play on - a classical piano or some old cronky one? Start with the BEST. Sorry - this is me ranting.
Finally - if some of your very old paints have totally hardened in their tubes you can salvage something. Get a plastic container that is big enough to lay the tube in. Take off the cap or cut it off and slit the tube open with a sharp blade. Place in water. After a few days you will have a pot of useable wash colour. You can use this for big background washes maybe.
Alison x
You are very kind to answer so thoroughly. I buy only professional paints and I have all the "basics" you mention. But I sometimes feel that I am in a rut and need to do something new. Who wants to eat the same thing everyday? I like your idea of choosing something that delights you.I do not expect a miracle, but the enjoyment of making some new colors or exploring the wild woman in me with Opera Pink or Quinacridone Gold :) I will try to revive my old tubes by giving them a bath. Thank you so much, you are very lovely.
My pleasure Francoise - as you can imagine I could talk all day about paint ! That's great you have the best stuff - good for you. Of course we all have different needs for novelty and at different stages. When you are stagnating go mad and get whatever calls - why not! Also - you may find you need a completely new subject or style:) Have you read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron? It is my bible. All about finding you. Maybe you are an abstract artist trying to break out! Sometimes you may even benefit from stopping watercolour for a period of time and trying a completely new medium. I do say that with a warning though as sometimes just when you are in a rut you are about to have a breakthrough and simply jumping around to other media distracts you from the important plateau you are about to leave. What I have learned is there is power in creative limits. With limits you have to push your creativity - rather than relying on myriad colour paints to do that - do you know what I mean? I read "The Power of Limits" www.amazon.com/Power-Limits-Proportional-Harmonies-Architecture/dp/1590302591
and this talks about the value of say working with a set of variables and seeing how much you can make of them. By doing this you dig very deep into yourself and are more likely to find your own truth than searching outside via materials. :) This is only my own opinion of course! Anyway - whatever works for you is the best thing!
Alison Fennell thank you for your thoughtful replies,,
That's OK Susan - I have a lot of time on my hands right now as I am in 3 months of convalescing after a full hysterectomy. Plus - I love to talk art! What projects do you have on at the mo?
You have so many wonderful videos here! I am wondering why you don't have a patreon page to make more $$$?
That's so encouraging and positive Karen - thanks! I don't have a Patreon page but ----drum roll --- come 1st September I will be launching 2 new teaching platforms both of which are paying lesson formats. One is individual pay as you go focussed livestream classes and the other a more modular course style on Teachable. I currently have a class alert info email list. Would you like to go on it ? When I get everything in place I am going to let people know all the details:)!
❤️🐰
I can paint a "hair" faster than you!!!! Ha ha ,Fran