Hi Frouke. Making sense of a whole lot of paint colors is a common problem. When I first started learning to watercolor, I did what most other self teaching artists do. When I watched someone create something beautiful using something - a color, a brush, a tool, etc., I immediately went out and bought it - thinking, as beginners think, that it would help me to create the art I saw in my mind. As a result, I ended up with piles of stuff that actually made learning much more difficult. Finally I made the decision to simplify my color selections, and it helped. I picked two of each primary, plus a few more, and stuck with them for a while. Then as my tastes or needs changed, I altered or added colors, but I still use less than a quarter of what I have. You might start with a few colors that you love, add a few that you need, and work with them in different combinations.
This is so Beautiful!!! I absolutly love the result Sandy! I am a very tide painter myself but I love this loose style of painting. Maybe one day I try this myself :-) Thank you for the demo! Yvonne
Hi stuyve56. Thank you. I hope you try this loose style. There is something very rewarding about just touching your brush to the paper and sitting back and letting the water and paint do the painting. It is my favorite painting style!
Enjoyed your tutorial. While the series is pretty long, I've finally grasped what I'm doing wrong (putting too much color down and not allowing for subtle layering and drying time). Your tips will certainly help me to improve my painting skills.
This tutorial was perfect...just what I was looking for. I just finished the painting and am pretty darn pleased with it. Love your style of teaching. Thanks so much.
Hmm. Well, if you were successful at allowing the color to flow outside of the lines, a background would interfere with that. I would say that this type of painting is best on clean white watercolor paper.
I just finished my first attempt, not happy with the outcome at all! All my blues clashed horribly. I did not know that they could be so picky, but I still really enjoyed doing this. Will start over again. Thank you so much for your generosity! Love from the Netherlands, Frouke
Hi Frouke, I'm glad you gave this a try. If you don't have compatible blues, maybe you could try reds or another color. You could even do a painting like this in neutrals, focusing on values instead of colors. Necessity is the mother of invention! Sandy
The problem is I have too many colours, I have received many, many gifts (for which I am very grateful) but I struggle to learn how to use them. I'm not really complaining though, I like this exercise, but I may have been spending too much time on it because I'm starting to develop a love/hate relationship with blue. So thanks for the tip! and thanks again for you tutorials, I think they are beautiful and helpful! xx Frouke
