How to paint with watercolors. Articles showing the process.
I’d like to share with you two different iterations of a watercolor I painted of my brother’s beloved cat, Toño. My initial inspiration was from a photograph taken of Camilo working while guarded by Toño, who wanted to make sure Camilo wasn’t disturbed. You can see how serious Toño is from his expression in the … Read more
Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? But I’m not talking about how to deal with life situations here 😉 This is about a concept to keep in mind when painting with watercolor. Do you feel unsure of what it means to paint a negative shape? Negative painting is simply painting around a shape instead of painting the … Read more
Do you ever worry about spending too much money on your watercolor supplies, or about wasting these materials? I ask because I often hear people say they want to commit to an art practice and develop as a watercolorist, but they’re reluctant to spend money on good materials like brushes, paint, and paper. And if … Read more
With piggies all around and to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Pig, I was inspired to paint my own pair of piglets and share a video on how I painted them. For some the pig has negative connotations. But the pig also represents a powerful and positive symbol of honesty, determination, fertility, and abundance. … Read more
Have you read the article by Mark McGuinness on getting your inner critic off your back? Mark’s article describes the challenge of inner negative talk and its contribution to creative paralysis. He offers a practical strategy to counteract this tendency. Through the use of just two humble words even and though, he demonstrates how to disarm … Read more
In this post I share photo steps in a video showing how I painted a box of chicken eggs. This series of egg illustrations, painted in watercolor, were part of a commission for a story about eggs, published in the online magazine Life and Thyme “Cracking the Code -An Exploration of the Incredible, Edible Egg” … Read more
This painting is based on a photo I took on a Sunday afternoon when John and I were traveling south on Route 7 in Vermont on our way to Williamstown, Mass and the Clark Museum. I set out to simplify the shapes of lights and shadows, and to render a feeling of movement and direction. … Read more
Sheep seem to irradiate a gentle sense of peace and innocence.This is a step-by-step mini-tutorial on how to paint sheep in a meadow. Here is a short video with a step-by-step demonstration on how to use the negative painting technique to paint the sheep. You can slow down or stop the video at any point … Read more
Do you have a pet, a very spoiled little pet that you love with all your heart, and one that accepts––or demands––all the attention you can give? Since I have featured a a little mouse painted in watercolor, here on this site, my sweet cat, Coco, wanted to be featured as well. Of course! On … Read more
Are you waiting to use high quality watercolor paper for that time when you feel you know how to paint? When I first started to paint in watercolor, I bought cheap paper and always ended up discarding most of my paintings because they didn’t look good. I didn’t feel I was making any progress and … Read more