I'm by no means a good painter, but here's a tip I discovered entirely by accident actually: Before you even put paint on paper, re-draw your sketch on a smaller piece of paper and paint _that_ first. Since you have a much smaller, less-detailed painting to work with you can figure out what colors you want, where they want to go, and make your mistakes without ruining the final painting itself. Once you have everything figure out with your thumbnail/test painting, you can move on more confidently with your final piece.
drawing/painting thumbnails is what its called! also, when youre painting or drawing something, always take a break and check back later and you might see a mistake you haven’t seen before!
Thank you so much for this! I am afraid of bigger watercolour pieces even though I’ve been getting better generally at the medium.. I even ended up colouring my kids book digitally for comfort and safety. But next time I’ll do them traditional! I just enjoy the whole process so much, just have to get over the fear :)
Good luck with your next book! Keep in mind, that a full watercolour kids books will be a much more time consuming and complicated task, make sure you're ready. I know your schedule has been busy, thats why I am saying it. I look forward to your book :).
Dina Norlund I hope your work goes well. I’m working on a bigger piece than usual as well, so hopefully, these tips will help us both. Congrats on your kids’ book~ Also, holy smokes! I know your stuff from Instagram! Thought your avatar looked familiar... 🤔
I just realized something now watching your video. I've been browsing different types of art on the internet for years. It was always frustrating for me to spend so much time to make a lackluster piece for myself when I could just open a browser and find a thousand works on the same subject that were better than my own. But I would never feel satisfied just browsing art... I would always want to see more no matter how much I liked any individual piece. For example, I read through the entire series of a webcomic I found recently in just a day or two. Four years of regular updates and hundreds of panels for the artist, two days for me to read it all. It made me think: perhaps it is only the artist that gets to fully experience their work? From brainstorming the idea, making sketches, inking the outlines, finally adding color and shades, sharing it with the world, and being able to reminisce on a job well done each time they view the finished piece. I figured I just didn't have the patience to be an artist, but seeing this makes me want to try again.
I'll never get over how great you are at glazing! You're palette seems very well curated, and lends a certain cohesiveness to your work. I'd love to know more about why you chose the colors you do :)
❤❤❤Your work is sooooo beautiful and just so warm and whimsical!! The colors you use and the soft but bold textures are amazing. If you’re not a Children’s book illustrator you should be. This piece I would have remembered as child for years to come. 😊 Your talent is off the charts. It just brings happiness.
This video is so informative and there is just something about this paint that makes me happy. I also love the animation of “little Chris” at the beginning.
The octopus is supercute! Scratch that, the whole painting is supercute! Very informative video :D I'm not doing big pieces like this currently, but I'll definitely keep these tips in mind!
this was sooo helpful, thank you! i recently ruined a complex drawing because i was so impatient. it was my third attempt at redrawing it and i got frustrated and made too many mistakes. this tips are going to be so helpful the next time i do a more complex piece
oh my i'm speechless , i still didn't get how to do that light affect but i guess i'll have to practice , this piece is Incredibly beautiful you're truly Amazing , you choose a perfect colors for this piece it's so big and charming AHHHH 😍😍 ❤️
I GO THROUGH THIS PROBLEM SO MUCH AMD HONESTLY U R THE ONLY ARTIST WHO HAS ACTUALLY TALKED ABOUT THIS! I don’t see many people talk about this problem and just talk about general stuff. Thanks a lot ❤️❤️❤️❤️
finally someone who gives actual concrete tips, and not vague stuff like "don't worry about it" or "you just have to start". this really helped, thanks!
I absolutely adore this painting! It was magical watching it come to life 💕 I love all of the quirky details - my favourite is the Angler Fish lantern!
I just found you and am absolutely enamored by your pieces. I just want to encourage you that with every video I watched I asked myself, "why do these pieces make you say, wow I love this?" It dawned on me that your pieces make me feel the same way I feel when looking at Norman Rockwell art. I was just watching the first date video and when you said you were inspired by Norman Rockwell, I felt as though I should share with you that your pieces are as endearing and personally touching as you seem to be striving to create. I also just want to encourage you that in the world of art, of any kind, commissions occasionally may come by but otherwise always feel as though you should stick to what you love --without explanation or apology to anyone. When we stick to what we love, our love for it will shine through. Keep working and striving and being hard on yourself, your talent is growing dramatically with each piece. I have a feeling you are going to do very, very well. Hoping to buy prints and originals in the near future to help keep you financed. Heavy expenses in the here and now make me have to wait. May your days and your art fill you joy. Care
Ohh it felt so nice listening to you in the background and then watching again the process. I like your chitchat. Thanks for sharing our knowledge and your tips!
Isn't it just great when it all just comes together! I learn so much from your every brush stroke, just fabulous. The lamp fish in the lamp is adorable.
There are surprisingly few helpful videos like this, discussing how to approach composition. This is definitely informative. And that's a great illustration, too!
great tips! im always nervous about doing the face or whatever first because a lot of the times im not in "the flow" yet at that point and am more likely to mess it up. but i definitely have saved it for last and then messed it up too soooooo
I used to be like that too XD I mean I don't go STRAIGHT into the the face haha I'll kind of.. set the tone a little bit, take out some of the white of the page, and then go into the face XD
Wowowow How have I not found you before!? You're work is amazing!! And I loved this video, you gave some really useful tips and got me inspired to keep trying complex/big illustrations. Not to mention the actual process vid helped me understand layering with watercolors much better after seeing how you did it. Thank you! I can't wait to check out more of your vids :D
My biggest challenge now is shadow color. Marco Bucci recently released a video on how to go about it, but since my recent drawing studies has been mecha stuff and it having so many details... dark blue dark brown everything~ When I see works that use saturated color for shadows and it still works, it kills me inside T_T Maybe once I've practice enough all these(color theory, environment lighting) and it becomes 2nd nature then I wont have to think about it =(
it will totally become second nature to some extent! I def used to think a lot more about the colours I'm putting down before, but with practice it does come more "naturally", though I still make a ton of mud sometimes! I love Marco Bucci btw! A fellow Canadian :D
I’d like to get over the ”just slap neutral black over it” -style of going about painting shadows :’D Hope i get somewhere with the DS shadow violet x)
What a great video - so glad I found it! Im about to take on a daunting piece (for me at least) and this really helped me calm down and prioritize. Plus, your painting is adorable! 💜
I'd recommend stretching your papers first to avoid crumpling, by wetting either side using water then taping it down on to a board to let it dry. Since it's been wet and stretched it won't crumple when you apply water to it!
I just noticed this, but that part at the beginning where you are imagining being admired for your art, it looks like you are surrounded by a bunch of Digletts. "Woooooow! All these Digletts are here for ME!"
OMG!!! Nice!! ... I think that if I want t have yours skills or try to paintg like you do is going to take me like 89 years 😅😅😅 ... I love yor art and work .. hugs from Chile
I really appreciate your tips! I’m finding myself in the middle of a very large spread, and I have been getting overwhelmed and stuck. Now I feel like I’m on the right track and I know what to do next! Thankfully I wasn’t too far into it, just working on the main focuses in the foreground.
I liked the face tip... I don't paint often but I've done a few drawings where everything looks really good, then I go to color the face and instantly regret it lol Also love the music in this!
Im so in love with your work... I have never used watercolors... only colored pencils. But I would love to try watercolors... I look forward to seeing more of your lovely work 💕🤗👍
Your art is amazing! love your style and all of your videos! Keep posting more often since they inspire a lot of people and bring joy across the planet! Kind regards from Colombia, South America.
Your videos are Amazing and I love this one specially. I just wanted to tell you that in Schoolism there´s a Lighting Course by Sam Nielson that is amazing and teaches a lot about light and how it works. I personally think it´s an essential thing to know if you want to manipulate this kind of information in your painting and I've learned a lot from that. Keep amazing!
I have just discovered your channel with this video and this is an amazing video! So so so helpful! Can't wait to watch all the others! You are a very good teacher a d an amazing artist. Thank you for sharing this with us. What I like very much is that we can really see how you paint and why! So so good! Any thx!!
This is absolutely lovely, and full of tips for me to use on a watercolor piece I'm going to be illustrator later today. Lovely process, and beautiful piece! Love how it all came together! Great job, and thanks for the tips!
What a cute underwater scene!❤️ And it really looks like under the water! Wow! Oh yay volume is not easy for me! I keep working on it! Your tips are very helpful und I love to watch you paint. I can also learn from it!😃 I can‘t wait for your next video!❤️ Aaah and the new animations are so cute,too! I really like it!
OMG!!!! that is an amazing piece of watercolour 💙💚💜💛 I love your style I could watch you paint for ages. Thanks for the great tips I'm definitely going to keep them in mind
