Watercolor teachers rarely discuss how wet the brush itself should be, and instead focus only on the characteristics of the puddle of paint. It was years before I realized the importance of the wetness of the brush and that you can (must!) use a rag to adjust this as you go. It’s wonderful that you are showing how this is done.
Thanks! Great point. Yes, crucial and more important than that pool on the palette or the consistency of the paint. I really don't like the "tea, coffee, milk, cream, butter" analogy that many teachers use. I don't think it teaches much at all to the beginner.
Very enjoyable. I'm new at painting and trying to learn as much as possible from the pros. I start every day by watching or reviewing videos and practicing the basics. Some people find that boring, like practicing scales on an instrument. But you don't become a rock star by skipping the basics. All of it is fun to me. Thank you for doing this.
Your original blending videos are so valuable Steve. No one really drills down to the basics like you do. I'm looking forward to practising these new techniques too.
The reasons you explain clearly it's illustrator and designer professionalism but the reasons we understand your explanation is your fine art passion. Thank's a lot. I've learned a lot.
The cloth matters. When I started out I used paper towels as I had for decades with acrylic. Then switched to those heavy felted paper towels. When I finally got some cotton cloths everything became easier. It just absorbs differently. I keep some washcloths just for my watercolor 100% cotton. When they get messy just toss them in the washer.. no dryer sheet.
Thank you! I've never heard or seen these techniques... as a beginner it seems a bit over my head, as I'm doing very elementary objects... flowers, skies, oceans, playing with color !!! HA!!! I see you show a Kristy Rice book... wow - such energy, fun and playful! I appreciate your gift of humor and peaceful place to learn a bit more about watercolor! I thank God for you 🙏❤ a California Gramma
Ty, for explaining texture so brilliantly, it is mentioned often, yet I had no idea what it was in W/C or how it was created. Same as what dry brush is. Will be coming back and watching again with my supplies. What I really, really loved is you actually showed drying with the heat gun (I assume) I wish this part of the process was shown more often even for half a second when teachers do a painting. It really helps the learning process for us visual learners.
Another great learning video. Cross hatching, the fur look. How you use dry brush is great too! I use a thirsty washcloth like your car sponge, but yes! The rag is great! I can probably use the washcloth both ways! Loved this!
I naturally started using the flat wash glazing technique just yesterday while I was painting a seascape! It worked very well to create a watery transparent effect. I’ll definitely use it again :)
It’s always fun & a joy to watch your videos each week. I have been thinking 🤔 about using a cloth rag lately for that very reason you said, because paper towel/kitchen paper is definitely not working well for squeezing out the water. Ha, you’ve captured me lately with the train driving, 😁. I am finding that I really prefer dry brush techniques more than the wet-on-wet techniques. Cross-hatching I have been doing that, 😀Cool I’m doing something right texturally!! As Bob Ross says, “ a Happy 😊 Accident!” Thanks for sharing this informative video with your wonderful humor. It’s really boosted my mood today!
Thanks for getting back to watercolor fundamentals. Your forrays into watercolor-related mediums are interesting but i do like the stuff you cover on mastering the basic medium of watercolor best. I like it when you stick to the knitting, because there is always so much to learn just within this one challenging medium.
Understood and I'm glad you like it. I will always try get back here from time to time. I've often said though that I'm not primarily a beginner channel. I do have a number of advanced and even professional viewers. The variety is much needed and demanded. Especially in mixed media.
@@mindofwatercolor Naaaah, I don't think yours is a "beginner channel". Beginners have different priorities - tho they may find your explanations interesting, they dont yet NEED to know the subtle differences between 8 kinds of opaque white, or why a $150 handmade brush is differernt from a $5 brush, or anything about what numbered pigments are used by a given brand. But they do need to know how watercolor paint works with watercolor paper, and how to experiment and adjust variables when they dont get the results they are hoping for. I have a saying, "if you cut it with a chainsaw, don't measure it with a micrometer." The problems beginners run into are different than painters with more experience, and the stuff they care about changes as their skills develop. So no i would not call yours a beginner channel, but beginners can get a lot out of watching it.
@@mindofwatercolor i have also wondered how the size of the work dictates the techniqes. I was told in art school, if you have a job with a lot of detail and a firm deadline, work SMALL so you can be sure to finish. Many of your presentations on here are smaller than 12 inches on their long side - and your strokes are finger/wrist movements. Sterling Edwards works larger; he could probably measure his paintings in feet rather than inches, and his strokes are more from hip and shoulder movememts. He uses bigger brushes and larger puddles of paint. And his overall look is very different. Another artist paints huge watercolors of cats using a wet in wet effect that she says just will not work at a small scale, because of how the paint works with the paper. The pigment bleeds out from her brush stroke and it just isnt little, but makes for dazzling cat fur. So I am curious, how you would do your spontaneous landscapes on a full sheet of watercolor paper, where your sky would be a foot across rather than a couple inches. I know many principles are the same, but some are not. Maybe talk about effects that can only be done at a large (or small) scale.
@@allanfink546 The simple answer is I would scale up my brushes and palette. Sterling has a custom designed palette with large brush wells to match the brushes he uses (amzn.to/362N20k). The techniques don't differ much. Managing the water and color might be a little more difficult. He is a gallery artist too. Large works are usually preferred by galleries and for prints. Since he does many workshops I suspect larger work is better for teaching there as well. On video just the opposite is true. I do much of my work specifically for UA-cam which visually works better as smaller pieces. Not to mention I just prefer working small. I've never been drawn to doing large works. The largest I ever work is a half sheet, 15x20, and even that is rare.
@@mindofwatercolor the artist i mentioned explains why bigger is better for her cat paintings: ua-cam.com/video/UXdECwmiVvk/v-deo.html Her rationale seems to be congruent with your "mind of watercolor" theme. She is working with what the medium gives her to work with, and has mastered those effects to improve her work.
I find some of these techniques, the hatching and dry brush, work well on cheeper pulp based watercolor paper, where you cannot rely on the cotton fiber to give you smooth blends. These effects keep the paint on the surface of the paper rather than seeping deeper in.
Very helpful. Working on a piece now. Hard to envision the end result through layering, but I'm learning to be patient and to respect & control the water and keep working through it.
Thanks for the reminder to practice practice practice! Always important. Hey I was wondering if you ever had a chance to test that cloverleaf pallet you got a few years ago. It looks great, conceptually.
I would assume the dry brush would be tough to do without the good paper, and I always thought dry brush just meant going over dry paper, was news to me the brush also had to be pretty dry
Hi Steve, love your videos…been watching for years…I do a lot of dry brushing in my work. I just like the way it looks. What is the best brush you can recommend for dry brushing? I’m still looking for one that doesn’t immediately “hook” on the point, or start getting “fuzzy”. I really value your advice and recommendations.Thanks in advance!!
Any synthetic with with a good bit of snap like golden taklon which is pretty common and inexpensive. You don't want a soft brush that holds a ton of water.
Hey Steve, I’m wondering if you’re using hot press paper here? The cold press seems to make it very difficult for me to add texture detail. Definitely wondering if you do this on both papers?
Is there a risk of using that old oil brush scratching or damaging the watercolor paper? I would probably accidentally use it as a scrubber if I'm not mindful the whole time lol.
@@mindofwatercolor Thank you for answering my question! How do oil brushes compare to scrubbers? I haven't used a scrubber before and it's been years since I've even held an oil brush, so I have no experience to compare to lol.
I know this video is a bit old now to be commenting on, but I have been eyeing the watercolor set you mentioned and am a bit on the fence, in part because I’m irritated that Daniel Smith isn’t making your previous set anymore, and I’m sad to be missing some of the more specialized colors. Does M. Graham (I have always heard very good things but am not personally familiar) not make similar things, or if they do, is there s reason you chose to leave them out? I quite like all the pigments in the new set, but I can’t seem to get the iridescents and gemstones out of my head, or the endearingly named “Rose of Ultramarine,” even though it’s the one color listed I have never heard of. It also feels like Azo Green can’t be what the Apatite would have, or the yellow quite like the Hansa (although I’m not sure why I feel as strongly about the latter), even before Moonglow and gold. (Amd I don’t know enough to comment on the neutral tint, but it seems a shame to lose the raw umber as well.) All of this - the length of which I apologize for - is to say… While the tubes seem generous, the colors lovely, brand intriguing… is it just my mind playing tricks on me that is making me feel like I’m missing out? I’d be nervous to get small set of half pans of the other colors to try to use concurrently with the tubes, even if I could afford it (I haven’t looked, but the main set is already a stretch for me right now), but I’m worried I will hem and haw and end up with nothing if I don’t mange to sort it out in my mind. Any thoughts? And, if you are willing to indulge me just one step further, would this playlist work as a beginner’s course of sorts if I did get the set? I’m really impressed with your teaching, having taught in the arts myself (different artform) and taken many classes, but so far, watercolor has been the thing that I am just laughably bad at every time I’ve tried. My mother was an amazing artist and left me an incredible watercolor collection (almost entirely Daniel Smith tubes), but after trying to use some once and doing so poorly I felt I had wasted them, I promised myself I would use other paints to learn till I could be relatively sure I would not do so again. I just hope I am not beyond instruction. So if you have other videos you’d suggest that I start with, I’d appreciate a pointer very much. Thanks so much, and sorry to go on so long - I really just want to do things right this time. P.S. to other people who follow closely here - if there is somewhere else better for me to be attempting to reach out, could you please let me know? I discovered this very recently and just dove in, so I’m not really in the know about, well, anything yet. Thank you!
@@mindofwatercolor Apologies for the length - it’s basically all about the different pigments in the two sets and how it feels like the sensible thing is the large tubes of M Graham in all the basics, but my being drawn to the wider variety and more specialized colors in the Daniel Smith. I didn’t mean to go on so much, I just didn’t know which specific ones might have made the most difference. :/ I’m having surgery this month, but after that I was thinking I would like to join your Patreon, and I’m having trouble deciding between sensible and presumably more directly linked to your teaching, and my being inclined toward very colorful, expressionistic art, and kind of just don’t know how to decide. Even this is longer than I meant for it to be - the stress of the medical stuff going on is making everything harder to manage. Sorry about that.
So I guess the one sentence answer would be… what should I buy if I can’t afford both (with the Daniel Smith cobbled together, obvs), and/or should I get an affordable basics set from Daniel Smith, and then just add a few colors now and then when I can manage?
@@cellosubmarine aim for a solid, split primary palette between what you have and still need. That starts with 6 colors, a warm and cool version of red, yellow and blue. Then a good gray like neutral tint. And maybe a couple earth tones and a green. That’s all you need to start. Google “split primary palette” if you need examples. Lots of them out there.
Watercolor teachers rarely discuss how wet the brush itself should be, and instead focus only on the characteristics of the puddle of paint. It was years before I realized the importance of the wetness of the brush and that you can (must!) use a rag to adjust this as you go. It’s wonderful that you are showing how this is done.
Thanks! Great point. Yes, crucial and more important than that pool on the palette or the consistency of the paint. I really don't like the "tea, coffee, milk, cream, butter" analogy that many teachers use. I don't think it teaches much at all to the beginner.
a quick suck on the brush is the way to go - the tongue and lips have an exquisite sense of how wet it should be
Very enjoyable. I'm new at painting and trying to learn as much as possible from the pros. I start every day by watching or reviewing videos and practicing the basics. Some people find that boring, like practicing scales on an instrument. But you don't become a rock star by skipping the basics. All of it is fun to me. Thank you for doing this.
Your original blending videos are so valuable Steve. No one really drills down to the basics like you do. I'm looking forward to practising these new techniques too.
And I agree so much with you, Watercolor Newbies ! I go back regularly to your first techniques video, Steve, thank you 🙏
Thank you. Techniques artists use intuitively are difficult to teach.
The reasons you explain clearly it's illustrator and designer professionalism but the reasons we understand your explanation is your fine art passion.
Thank's a lot. I've learned a lot.
The cloth matters. When I started out I used paper towels as I had for decades with acrylic. Then switched to those heavy felted paper towels. When I finally got some cotton cloths everything became easier. It just absorbs differently. I keep some washcloths just for my watercolor 100% cotton. When they get messy just toss them in the washer.. no dryer sheet.
Good idea! I’m gonna think how I can do similar. Meanwhile, I use store brand non-lotion “facial” tissues that aren’t textured. Thanks!
Very true. My rags are usually all old cotton T-shirts.
@@mindofwatercolor Cloth diapers are sold in bundles and are cheap and absorbent.
Thank you, as always.
Thank you! I've never heard or seen these techniques... as a beginner it seems a bit over my head, as I'm doing very elementary objects... flowers, skies, oceans, playing with color !!! HA!!! I see you show a Kristy Rice book... wow - such energy, fun and playful! I appreciate your gift of humor and peaceful place to learn a bit more about watercolor! I thank God for you 🙏❤ a California Gramma
Yeah wisdom from Steve , hooray 😃!
Ty, for explaining texture so brilliantly, it is mentioned often, yet I had no idea what it was in W/C or how it was created. Same as what dry brush is. Will be coming back and watching again with my supplies. What I really, really loved is you actually showed drying with the heat gun (I assume) I wish this part of the process was shown more often even for half a second when teachers do a painting. It really helps the learning process for us visual learners.
Another great learning video. Cross hatching, the fur look. How you use dry brush is great too!
I use a thirsty washcloth like your car sponge, but yes! The rag is great! I can probably use the washcloth both ways! Loved this!
Thank you so much for this video Steve. :o)
I naturally started using the flat wash glazing technique just yesterday while I was painting a seascape! It worked very well to create a watery transparent effect. I’ll definitely use it again :)
It’s always fun & a joy to watch your videos each week. I have been thinking 🤔 about using a cloth rag lately for that very reason you said, because paper towel/kitchen paper is definitely not working well for squeezing out the water. Ha, you’ve captured me lately with the train driving, 😁. I am finding that I really prefer dry brush techniques more than the wet-on-wet techniques. Cross-hatching I have been doing that, 😀Cool I’m doing something right texturally!! As Bob Ross says, “ a Happy 😊 Accident!” Thanks for sharing this informative video with your wonderful humor. It’s really boosted my mood today!
Thank you for this content
Loved the tree. Simple but not easy to get it right!
Thank you…great lesson
Great video- thanks, Steve!
Great teaching! I will be working on those shading, something so simple yet can’t master it!!! I’m definitely be working on my path this week!
Thanks for getting back to watercolor fundamentals. Your forrays into watercolor-related mediums are interesting but i do like the stuff you cover on mastering the basic medium of watercolor best. I like it when you stick to the knitting, because there is always so much to learn just within this one challenging medium.
Understood and I'm glad you like it. I will always try get back here from time to time. I've often said though that I'm not primarily a beginner channel. I do have a number of advanced and even professional viewers. The variety is much needed and demanded. Especially in mixed media.
@@mindofwatercolor Naaaah, I don't think yours is a "beginner channel". Beginners have different priorities - tho they may find your explanations interesting, they dont yet NEED to know the subtle differences between 8 kinds of opaque white, or why a $150 handmade brush is differernt from a $5 brush, or anything about what numbered pigments are used by a given brand. But they do need to know how watercolor paint works with watercolor paper, and how to experiment and adjust variables when they dont get the results they are hoping for. I have a saying, "if you cut it with a chainsaw, don't measure it with a micrometer." The problems beginners run into are different than painters with more experience, and the stuff they care about changes as their skills develop. So no i would not call yours a beginner channel, but beginners can get a lot out of watching it.
@@mindofwatercolor i have also wondered how the size of the work dictates the techniqes. I was told in art school, if you have a job with a lot of detail and a firm deadline, work SMALL so you can be sure to finish. Many of your presentations on here are smaller than 12 inches on their long side - and your strokes are finger/wrist movements. Sterling Edwards works larger; he could probably measure his paintings in feet rather than inches, and his strokes are more from hip and shoulder movememts. He uses bigger brushes and larger puddles of paint. And his overall look is very different. Another artist paints huge watercolors of cats using a wet in wet effect that she says just will not work at a small scale, because of how the paint works with the paper. The pigment bleeds out from her brush stroke and it just isnt little, but makes for dazzling cat fur.
So I am curious, how you would do your spontaneous landscapes on a full sheet of watercolor paper, where your sky would be a foot across rather than a couple inches. I know many principles are the same, but some are not.
Maybe talk about effects that can only be done at a large (or small) scale.
@@allanfink546 The simple answer is I would scale up my brushes and palette. Sterling has a custom designed palette with large brush wells to match the brushes he uses (amzn.to/362N20k). The techniques don't differ much. Managing the water and color might be a little more difficult. He is a gallery artist too. Large works are usually preferred by galleries and for prints. Since he does many workshops I suspect larger work is better for teaching there as well. On video just the opposite is true. I do much of my work specifically for UA-cam which visually works better as smaller pieces. Not to mention I just prefer working small. I've never been drawn to doing large works. The largest I ever work is a half sheet, 15x20, and even that is rare.
@@mindofwatercolor the artist i mentioned explains why bigger is better for her cat paintings:
ua-cam.com/video/UXdECwmiVvk/v-deo.html
Her rationale seems to be congruent with your "mind of watercolor" theme. She is working with what the medium gives her to work with, and has mastered those effects to improve her work.
Thank You
I find some of these techniques, the hatching and dry brush, work well on cheeper pulp based watercolor paper, where you cannot rely on the cotton fiber to give you smooth blends. These effects keep the paint on the surface of the paper rather than seeping deeper in.
And/or hot paper. I have fabriano 50% cotton. Inexpensive, and if you don't make a lot of puddles, it's good. Great with pencils too
Thank you very much Steve.. I needed to see this .
Thank you! Your videos are always so helpful!!
Thanks
Very helpful. Working on a piece now. Hard to envision the end result through layering, but I'm learning to be patient and to respect & control the water and keep working through it.
Very useful, thank you.
Very helpful thank you 👍
Great lesson…thank you!
Thanks for a great tutorial!
love your videos.
Thank you for this lesson. I learned a lot! :)
wow, thanks for this very informative and educational video ;)
Someone recommended a shop towel. Is that any better than a paper towel? It's reusable.
It's more cloth like and lasts longer. Can actually be soaked and wrung out like cloth. amzn.to/3IROC3w
Thanks for the reminder to practice practice practice! Always important. Hey I was wondering if you ever had a chance to test that cloverleaf pallet you got a few years ago. It looks great, conceptually.
Yes, and I like it but I only have one set of paints put into it. Not my normal selection. But its an awesome palette.
Great video. Lots of practicing to enjoy! What is the model of the heating/dryer you use? I would appreciate a brand name to buy one. Thanks.
I have no idea on brand. I don't even have that one any more. Really any decent hair dryer will work fine.
I would assume the dry brush would be tough to do without the good paper, and I always thought dry brush just meant going over dry paper, was news to me the brush also had to be pretty dry
Yes, and it can be textured like the paper by skimming the surface but it can also just be a dry buildup like a pencil.
Are you in ukraine ?
I hope all is ok for you 🙏🙋♀️
Im happy to see you again in youtuve, watercolor
No, I'm in the states.
Thank you -- clever techniques! Say, can a person use a dry brush to blend an overlay wash without disturbing the original later underneath?
Yes you can!
@@mindofwatercolor sounds tough 😉 ... challenge accepted! 😊
Hi Steve, love your videos…been watching for years…I do a lot of dry brushing in my work. I just like the way it looks. What is the best brush you can recommend for dry brushing? I’m still looking for one that doesn’t immediately “hook” on the point, or start getting “fuzzy”.
I really value your advice and recommendations.Thanks in advance!!
Any synthetic with with a good bit of snap like golden taklon which is pretty common and inexpensive. You don't want a soft brush that holds a ton of water.
@@mindofwatercolor
Thanks so much! I appreciate you taking the time to answer!
Hey Steve, I’m wondering if you’re using hot press paper here? The cold press seems to make it very difficult for me to add texture detail. Definitely wondering if you do this on both papers?
Hi. Im wondering if anyone knows where to get that trekell brush he was using in this video? 🤔 thanks
Is there a risk of using that old oil brush scratching or damaging the watercolor paper? I would probably accidentally use it as a scrubber if I'm not mindful the whole time lol.
No, its not that stiff. You would need to rub vigorously with a lot of pressure for that to happen.
@@mindofwatercolor Thank you for answering my question! How do oil brushes compare to scrubbers? I haven't used a scrubber before and it's been years since I've even held an oil brush, so I have no experience to compare to lol.
I know this video is a bit old now to be commenting on, but I have been eyeing the watercolor set you mentioned and am a bit on the fence, in part because I’m irritated that Daniel Smith isn’t making your previous set anymore, and I’m sad to be missing some of the more specialized colors. Does M. Graham (I have always heard very good things but am not personally familiar) not make similar things, or if they do, is there s reason you chose to leave them out? I quite like all the pigments in the new set, but I can’t seem to get the iridescents and gemstones out of my head, or the endearingly named “Rose of Ultramarine,” even though it’s the one color listed I have never heard of. It also feels like Azo Green can’t be what the Apatite would have, or the yellow quite like the Hansa (although I’m not sure why I feel as strongly about the latter), even before Moonglow and gold. (Amd I don’t know enough to comment on the neutral tint, but it seems a shame to lose the raw umber as well.)
All of this - the length of which I apologize for - is to say… While the tubes seem generous, the colors lovely, brand intriguing… is it just my mind playing tricks on me that is making me feel like I’m missing out? I’d be nervous to get small set of half pans of the other colors to try to use concurrently with the tubes, even if I could afford it (I haven’t looked, but the main set is already a stretch for me right now), but I’m worried I will hem and haw and end up with nothing if I don’t mange to sort it out in my mind. Any thoughts?
And, if you are willing to indulge me just one step further, would this playlist work as a beginner’s course of sorts if I did get the set? I’m really impressed with your teaching, having taught in the arts myself (different artform) and taken many classes, but so far, watercolor has been the thing that I am just laughably bad at every time I’ve tried. My mother was an amazing artist and left me an incredible watercolor collection (almost entirely Daniel Smith tubes), but after trying to use some once and doing so poorly I felt I had wasted them, I promised myself I would use other paints to learn till I could be relatively sure I would not do so again. I just hope I am not beyond instruction. So if you have other videos you’d suggest that I start with, I’d appreciate a pointer very much.
Thanks so much, and sorry to go on so long - I really just want to do things right this time.
P.S. to other people who follow closely here - if there is somewhere else better for me to be attempting to reach out, could you please let me know? I discovered this very recently and just dove in, so I’m not really in the know about, well, anything yet. Thank you!
Wow, yeah that’s long. Can you summarize? What can I answer for you in a sentence or less? 😉
@@mindofwatercolor Apologies for the length - it’s basically all about the different pigments in the two sets and how it feels like the sensible thing is the large tubes of M Graham in all the basics, but my being drawn to the wider variety and more specialized colors in the Daniel Smith. I didn’t mean to go on so much, I just didn’t know which specific ones might have made the most difference. :/
I’m having surgery this month, but after that I was thinking I would like to join your Patreon, and I’m having trouble deciding between sensible and presumably more directly linked to your teaching, and my being inclined toward very colorful, expressionistic art, and kind of just don’t know how to decide. Even this is longer than I meant for it to be - the stress of the medical stuff going on is making everything harder to manage. Sorry about that.
So I guess the one sentence answer would be… what should I buy if I can’t afford both (with the Daniel Smith cobbled together, obvs), and/or should I get an affordable basics set from Daniel Smith, and then just add a few colors now and then when I can manage?
@@cellosubmarine aim for a solid, split primary palette between what you have and still need. That starts with 6 colors, a warm and cool version of red, yellow and blue. Then a good gray like neutral tint. And maybe a couple earth tones and a green. That’s all you need to start. Google “split primary palette” if you need examples. Lots of them out there.
@@cellosubmarine anything else, like iridescent colors are pure preference and totally up to you.