If you’ve ever wanted to see how I really approach a watercolor painting from start to finish, in today’s video I share my entire process in real-time. Normally in my videos, I try to strike a balance between fun and entertaining to watch but also informative. I want you to feel like these are paintings you can do at home, even if you’ve never painted before. For that reason, I speed up the footage to keep them moving along and make them easier to watch. Recently I have had a lot of requests for a real-time watercolor video - so if you are interested, check out today’s video. I don’t have step-by-step photos here because we didn’t want to ruin the flow of the video.
Be sure to watch today’s video for more details and examples:
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My Set-up
When I begin painting I have all my supplies laid out. Today I am using my Mungyo 48 pan set, the price for quality is incredible and it has a great color selection. I have a paper towel for blotting my brush and two glasses of clean water - one for light colors and one for dark colors. I am only going to use a single brush today and it is a number 4 pointed round brush. I may decide to use a number 2 as well but the 4 is good for everything. For paper, I am working on hot press 140lb paper from Arches. I also have scrap paper ready to work out my color palette.
Tip #1 Always plan your color palette before starting. It is going to make your painting much more sophisticated if you consider what the colors will look like together. Mixing your own colors also allows you to customize the paints. Make sure to test them on scrap paper to see what they will really look like. This doesn’t mean you can’t add more colors as you go if you are suddenly inspired.
Painting Florals
I paint a lot of flowers and leaves - they are my favorite thing to paint and they are also great for beginners. I start with the largest flowers and work my way outwards before adding all the greenery and final details. As I am painting, I am thinking about the colors, perspective, and overall balance. By just choosing two or three flowers and putting them in a random pattern, you can make something that looks really interesting and natural. Learn more about my process in today’s video.
