The Evolution of a Painting — The Moon’s Web
In this video, look over my shoulder and watch as one of my paintings evolves from initial concept sketch to the final version.
Finding Your Style
From Design to Plan—Painting Sequence
A “default” strategy for deciding on the painting sequence for a watercolor. We’ll see how it was used for two earlier examples and then apply it to the designs from our last video.
How to Use Reference Photos More Creatively
Here are some ideas for breaking free from “the tyranny of the photo” so you can use your photo references more creatively
Three Simple Strategies for Designing Your Own Watercolors
3 simple strategies you can use to start designing simple paintings of your own, even if you just picked up a brush for the first time today.
How & Why to Keep a Studio Notebook
Expand your sketchbook practice beyond just making sketches. Your studio notebook is a place to brainstorm, explore, learn and develop your own creative style. Here are some ideas for getting started using a studio notebook to support all aspects of your creative development.
Exercise, Exploration, Experiment or Artwork?
In planning an artwork, you often need to conduct related exercises, explorations and experiments. But it’s usually a bad idea to let them slowly morph into unplanned attempts at the artwork.
Lessons from Life on Planning Watercolors
Planning an entire meal involves more than just knowing cooking techniques. Chances are, you’re all quite familiar with this sort of planning, so let’s see how it connects with planning watercolors.
The “Other How-To”
Like most people, I did some rapid “pivoting” (otherwise known as “flailing”) during 2020. It’s time for me to get back to the core mission of my teaching: to help you be more successful using watercolor as an artist, that is, to use watercolor to explore your own thoughts, ideas and emotions, record your responses to the world, share your experiences with others, or express something personally meaningful. That means learning to plan your own paintings, but how?
How I Use the Sketchbook Pro App to Plan Paintings or Changes to Paintings
Sketchbook Pro is a great tool for quickly planning changes to a painting in progress, and it’s free. This video introduces the small set of features I use in my planning process, so you can get started quickly without having to go through a lot of features you don’t need.
Mining for Gems
When the Big Pile of Nope in your studio gets too big and discouraging, it’s time to go mining!
The Lazy Way to Build Painting Confidence
This article is the third in a series. The preceding articles are: Is My Painting Done? Are You a “Photocopier”? There’s a Better Way In response to the last article, a reader made a couple of excellent points about why it’s sometimes difficult to deviate from a reference photo: lack of confidence, and the planning…
Is My Painting Done?
This article is the first of a series on creating more powerful, personal and expressive paintings. When I teach watercolor classes or workshops, there is often a moment where a student comes up to me, thrusts a painting into my face and demands: Tell me what’s wrong with it. What do I need to fix?…