Scraping and sandpapering blew my mind. Never heard of using sandpaper before, and when I heard the term "scraping," I was under the impression it was using a palette knife to scrape wet paint down, not an actual knife to scrape dry paint completely off! I've only ever blotted with paper towels, tissues, or dry brushes. I've always been irritated with how unrefined and large these methods made my finer details. Also, masking fluid ended up making highlights and water spatter look odd and unrealistic, so knowing that scraping and sandpapering is okay on paintings is like heaven to me!
Moving from Acrylic into watercolor...I am binge watching your videos!! Gosh you are very informative and have a lovely sense of humor....Thank you so much for your time and great content!!
You totally got me out of a jam! I remember watching this video once before. I was doing a painting of my friends dog in very muted colors then bam! right on the nose of the dog, the color dried really intense ...I thought it was ruined until..I remember watching this video once before. Thanks so much Steve!
You all probably dont give a shit but does someone know a way to log back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb lost the password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me.
@Archer Jesiah Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and im in the hacking process now. I see it takes quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
This is so incredibly helpful and I'm going to try a few of these techniques today! Thanks so much for this- 5 years later and this video is still helping people out!
Thanks for this! It’s been a while since I’ve painted, I tend to be heavy-handed with my pigments. This was super helpful, to know that I can make adjustments later thankfully, the painting I’m working on is with two colors that can lift very easily.
I’ve been painting water color just because it’s the only medium that has come naturally to me! You’re video gives helpful technique to my amateur techniques! Thanks!
Hi Steve, This demonstration was excellent. You take such care with your examples and descriptions. I think that I shall watch this again at another time. These techniques are extremely valuable tools.
Ha! I guess Reese told you!!? I hope water is damp! 😂 This was extremely valuable! I’m starting to watercolor after years away (I never was very good) and I’m excited about getting better!! You are such a blessing!! 😊
I found that you can use a magic eraser to lift. Great video👍 I am a newby to your videos, I have been binge watching for a few weeks.I never cared much for watercolor until recently. I did oil or acrylic painting, because I liked the detail. Thanks to your videos I'm getting a New perspective on the media. I think I like😍
Good one Steve. I have about 5 pages worth of tree studies you gave me cause to work on, thanks for that, I found some great color combos I would have never tried if I hadn't been painting in repetition. I don't have any of those scrubbers, but what I did was buy a pack of cheap loew cornell brushes in the craft dept at Walmart. They are bristle brushes, I just trimmed the bristles closer to the ferrule, making it even stiffer.
This is really great. . ..I have some lessons (4) recently described as lessons for beginners, BUT they didn't do what you are doing. I'm learning from you what the others didn't get down to. It all begins to make good sense now, and I'm loving it! Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!
Thank you so much. I have never used 100% cotton paper before. After your video i bought Arches hot press and it is much more absorbent then cheap paper. This video really helped.
As you can see from all my comments I am watching all your videos. I can't thank you enough😀 I used to paint with acrylics and now only want to work with coloured pencil and watercolour. Your videos are helping me so much.
Wonderful video, thank you! Not only informative, but essentials are covered clearly and succinctly and your demonstrations are simple and effectively powerful imho...in contrast to many others' videos which are clouded with extra and repetitive information and are painful and difficult for me to watch.
Thank you for a very helpful video! I’ve done a lot of trial and error as a newbie to watercolor. Just wish I had seen this and your series on washes sooner. You take a lot of the guesswork out of it. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for posting these videos! They're so super helpful, I've been going through your beginner's playlist and I'm excited to try painting with watercolors using the techniques that you demonstrated.
I love making water droplets using the scrubbing technique. And clouds using the lifting one. Have never tried sandpaper, and wondering how that would work. Thanks so much!
Super great tutorial! Thank you for making this, and for sharing your knowledge! Now I do not have to be sad after all that I cannot attend art courses in the fall. I can learn from your channel! Yay! : )
Paint lifting - Magic eraser sponges, when wet can be used to remove paint. I tried and it worked just fine. The society for all artists in the UK sells 4 for £6, with Watercolor inserted in the label. You can find them in dollar stores too $1 for 2. Hope the tip helps!
I am loving your videos . I did a lot of acrylic painting just getting into watercolor I am learning a lot from you. I will be looking forward to a lot of your videos.
This was so needed!!! Thank you so much. I was about ready to throw my Stonehenge Hp out the window!!! I’m still on the fence about this paper… too delicate for many techniques & absolutely unable to deal with masking, lifting is the only way and even that’s proving a tad difficult!
Wonderful tutorial. It's great to have clear and precise instructions, thank you for making these videos of the basics for beginners like me. I realize this is an older video, but your Amazon link for scrubber brushes takes us to a page with toilet and floor scrubbing brushes. ☺
You would make a wonderful Teacher. You helped me to understand the importance of doing studies , trying out techniques-which in themselves can produces instant gratification when practiced; gratification that you can paint something that looks realistic(such as highlighting rocks for example). As a beginner, it's nice to be able to paint something..anthing,lol Thank you.
Another great lesson! For most of my life I treated watercolor as immovable, if it was down then it stayed that light. Your examples are perfect! Got scrubbers as a freebie with an art supply order ages ago and now really see how to use them more carefully.
+ Teresa Cassidy They only do that when they are very wet and have been pressed with a towel (which I had just done). They still hold their shape very well. Brushes will vary in snap. Black Velvets are squirrel/synthetic blends. Squirrel is great at holding water but a little less snappy than sable. Still plenty of spring though for any painting job.
I love the silly little intros and your humor. It makes the videos more interesting and fun to watch. Also, thank you for making these instructional videos, I'm a beginner at watercolor painting and these videos are really helping me along the road. :)
Hey I was amazed, see how extraordinary shibasaki does it, never seen anybody do it, once I saw, I needed to try but I failed, he's white are so much bright. Take a took at watercolor rose bt shibasaki
Thank you for a very clear presentation and demonstration! Thanks for the reminder about the staining paints/pigments being a little tougher. I discovered that the hard way: "Why is there a hole in my paper?!" ;) Cheers!
Mary Vivit I know right? lifting is one of those techniques that can foster over reliance. Easily over done. Staining paints will definitely frustrate too.
Wonderful! Brilliant as always and so well presented. I only knew one way to lift before this video. Think I'll go make some amorphous blobs and practice lifting. Blob lifting. Sounds fun doesn't it? Thanks again for your great instructional videos.
The book by Claudia Nice just arrived today in my mailbox and as I flipped through there I saw a painting of the seaside with the foaming waves. She used a razor blade to make tiny marks that indicated the splash drops from the water. There's another way to use 'lifting'.
Hi Steve, I’m a new subbie... enjoying your videos/tutorials very much! Thanks! PS please don’t stop adding scriptures to the end of your videos! Hugs Marsha
Another way to lift is to use a ‘Magic Eraser’. They’re little fine grained sponges that are intended for removing marks from plasterboard walls. The advantage is that they are abrasive and absorbent at the same time (also, they’re magic). You can buy them from the supermarket or hardware shop (in Australia in any case but I’m sure you could buy similar elsewhere…or maybe you’ll need to come to Australia to buy them…probably worth the trip). Thanks Steve, love your work!!
I've used magic eraser type sponges (I use them around the house and pool area so much I purchase the bulk off brand through Amazon to save money, though). They are awesome at picking up pigment softly. They are indeed magic.
Since I didn't have any gum arabic, I used something called C.M.C., a gum arabic substitute used by potters to improve flow when painting colors onto ceramics. I painted some directly onto the paper and then mixed some with the pigment. Voilá! It worked fine for both methods even though it wasn't a very good paper to start with. I'll start out by putting a layer on the paper, should I forget to use it as a medium. C.M.C. is available in powder form (just add water) at ceramic suppliers and is very cheap, particularly compared to gum arabic. P.S. You can also order gum arabic in powder form on eBay. I'm sure it's less expensive than the commercially sold gum arabic. Thanks agaub for this great piece of information!
Takes time and patience. Hmm, so that means don’t jump in with a scrubber to start with and scrub right through the finish of the paper and make little paper balls like I did the other day😂 All’s well that ends in a lesson well learned, I guess. Thanks for this video, Steve. I should have watched it last week but better late than never!
I love your water bucket. Where can I get one? I am starting to paint after many year off and I LOVE your videos!!! Learn or relearn something every time. Like another viewer, I am "binge watching" (have a cast on my non-dominate hand) and your little jokes are perfect. Keep it all coming
I have had good luck with those sponge brushes as well, the ones like you would stain wood with. Those things are super absorbent. In one of the cheapjoes videos that wes waugh did on brushes, he talks of placing a wet brush on the paper and letting it sit there for a little bit before you start scrubbing. It helps to loosen it up and there isn't so much grinding. I bet you are a cheapjoe subscriber Steve :). Wes did a great 3 or 4 part series on brushes. Not taking anything away from you of course. In future videos I would love to see what your 8-12 essential pigments are. I never cared for prussian blue, but you made me rethink that one and I reach for it more and more now.
Adam Wallen I'm not a big believer in a set of the same "essential pigments" for everyone. Its going to be different for each artist especially depending on what subjects you paint. Also there are opaque, semi-opaque and transparent colors. Some painters like the chalkier look of the more opaque varieties. My palettes are almost completely transparent pigments because I do so much glazing.
I am the same way. I like to glaze to build up depth. I enjoy watching others, though it seems like some that I really like, such as Zbukvic and others, paint so densely it is nearly like gouache at times. Of course I am not critiquing his process because I love his work. I love watercolors because of their transparency and like seeing either the white, the pencil lines, or surface color show through. I do run into problems though at times with my paintings looking washed out because I didn't build up enough.
I simply love your videos. I get ticks every time you touch your brushes with your fingers. The grease from your fingers down a film on your brushes. As everyone knows, the fat molecules and water do not tie together without an emulsifier. If anyone touches my brushes with their fingers, then the hair on the brushes is washed with soap to get rid of the grease again.
I agree that lifting is an essential technique. As someone struggling to retain natural highlights I use it all the time, although I tend to stick with the soft techniques to keep the paper quality so I can add further detailing. The exacto only comes out for hairs or whiskers. What I'm wondering is, how would you go about lifting a larger area? Say the skin colour in a portrait ended up too dark or too opaque, how would you lift that without it getting too blotchy?
Large area lifting is a challenge for keeping the painting looking fresh but a magic eraser sometimes works well. You have to have really robust cotton paper though that doesn't pill easily like Arches.
@@mindofwatercolor i tend to work on bristolpaper as it suits my style of painting reasonably well. It was just something I cane across before and my own tries didn't work out well on bristol or watercolour paper. The idea with the magic eraser is good though. I should try it when I work with my watercolour paper again. ^^ thank you for the quick reply
Thank you so much for that.i am doing water colour painting and just started maybe 2 month ago.i have in my videos few of my first paintings. I hope I can do a masterpiece..
Hi Steve! These videos are the best thing since sliced bread. Any hints for a fairly new painter on how to study watercolor in a logical way? I feel like I'm playing whack-a -mole sometimes. I find something I want to paint and jump in. After it is ruined, I start looking up what I didn't know. You never know what you don't know until you know it.
Actually what you're doing is a pretty good way to learn. We've all been trained by TV artists like Bob Ross that there is a simple formula to follow to get it all right. Not true unfortunately. 90% of learning watercolor is problem solving. You don't know what the problems are until you encounter them.
wow. I knew about lifting with tissue and scrubbers, but had no idea sandpaper would ever be an option lol. but this must really put the paper through the ringer, huh? I've only got low-end student grade paper, I am not that confident to take a fingernail file to the paper, much less actual sandpaper! lol. thank you as always, I absolutely enjoy your videos and learn so much. :)
Super helpful!! I'm a beginner and found this video helpful in attempting to 'save' a project!
This is priceless! This info could have saved me several pieces of artwork that I messed up, so glad I found this page!!!
Excellent video, thank you! I'm a beginner and I needed this!
Scraping and sandpapering blew my mind. Never heard of using sandpaper before, and when I heard the term "scraping," I was under the impression it was using a palette knife to scrape wet paint down, not an actual knife to scrape dry paint completely off!
I've only ever blotted with paper towels, tissues, or dry brushes. I've always been irritated with how unrefined and large these methods made my finer details. Also, masking fluid ended up making highlights and water spatter look odd and unrealistic, so knowing that scraping and sandpapering is okay on paintings is like heaven to me!
Moving from Acrylic into watercolor...I am binge watching your videos!! Gosh you are very informative and have a lovely sense of humor....Thank you so much for your time and great content!!
+Victoria Snyder You're quite welcome, thanks for watching!
what kind of paper are you using? it's nice
VictoriaSnyder
You totally got me out of a jam! I remember watching this video once before. I was doing a painting of my friends dog in very muted colors then bam! right on the nose of the dog, the color dried really intense ...I thought it was ruined until..I remember watching this video once before. Thanks so much Steve!
You all probably dont give a shit but does someone know a way to log back into an Instagram account..?
I was dumb lost the password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me.
@Emmitt Jesse instablaster :)
@Archer Jesiah Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and im in the hacking process now.
I see it takes quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Archer Jesiah it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I am so happy!
Thanks so much, you saved my ass !
@Emmitt Jesse glad I could help =)
Thank you so much! I've recently discovered your channel and am learning so much!
This is so incredibly helpful and I'm going to try a few of these techniques today! Thanks so much for this- 5 years later and this video is still helping people out!
Thank you so much! Wished my college professor showed me what you did in 20 minutes. You're fantastic!
Thanks for this! It’s been a while since I’ve painted, I tend to be heavy-handed with my pigments. This was super helpful, to know that I can make adjustments later thankfully, the painting I’m working on is with two colors that can lift very easily.
I’ve been painting water color just because it’s the only medium that has come naturally to me! You’re video gives helpful technique to my amateur techniques! Thanks!
Hi Steve, This demonstration was excellent. You take such care with your examples and descriptions. I think that I shall watch this again at another time. These techniques are extremely valuable tools.
Thanks, glad to know they're a help.
Ha! I guess Reese told you!!? I hope water is damp! 😂 This was extremely valuable! I’m starting to watercolor after years away (I never was very good) and I’m excited about getting better!! You are such a blessing!! 😊
I found that you can use a magic eraser to lift. Great video👍 I am a newby to your videos, I have been binge watching for a few weeks.I never cared much for watercolor until recently. I did oil or acrylic painting, because I liked the detail. Thanks to your videos I'm getting a New perspective on the media. I think I like😍
Awesome tutorial! Thanks for sharing.
Great video. I really like the clouds you did, with feathering the paint back in, to make the shapes more cloud like and detailed! Cool trick!
Very helpful and comprehensive as to methods. Thank you.
It's such a pleasure to watch and learn from your fantastic videos and skill. Thank you!!!
Good one Steve. I have about 5 pages worth of tree studies you gave me cause to work on, thanks for that, I found some great color combos I would have never tried if I hadn't been painting in repetition. I don't have any of those scrubbers, but what I did was buy a pack of cheap loew cornell brushes in the craft dept at Walmart. They are bristle brushes, I just trimmed the bristles closer to the ferrule, making it even stiffer.
This is really great. . ..I have some lessons (4) recently described as lessons for beginners, BUT they didn't do what you are doing. I'm learning from you what the others didn't get down to. It all begins to make good sense now, and I'm loving it! Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!
Thank you so much. I have never used 100% cotton paper before. After your video i bought Arches hot press and it is much more absorbent then cheap paper. This video really helped.
As you can see from all my comments I am watching all your videos. I can't thank you enough😀 I used to paint with acrylics and now only want to work with coloured pencil and watercolour. Your videos are helping me so much.
+Carla A. Awesome! Thanks for watching.
Wonderful video, thank you! Not only informative, but essentials are covered clearly and succinctly and your demonstrations are simple and effectively powerful imho...in contrast to many others' videos which are clouded with extra and repetitive information and are painful and difficult for me to watch.
Thank you for a very helpful video! I’ve done a lot of trial and error as a newbie to watercolor. Just wish I had seen this and your series on washes sooner. You take a lot of the guesswork out of it. Thanks again!
Thank you for sharing such wealth of information about watercolors in an amazing style.
Thank you for making the basics so clear. Gives me hope
Thank you for this well-demonstrated, very helpful, video! New subbie!
This just saved a portrait I was working on! Thank you!!!
This was wonderful and extremely helpful. Thanks for sharing this
Thank you Steve, I'll definitely give the sandpaper one a try! You can also use a pallet knife or the corner of a credit/bank card
It's quite different working with hot press vs. cold press. I'm so glad to see how to use these techniques with hot press.
Thank you so much for posting these videos! They're so super helpful, I've been going through your beginner's playlist and I'm excited to try painting with watercolors using the techniques that you demonstrated.
Thanks so much! Your instruction has been very inciteful!
This was the lesson I was yearning for. THANKS! Good episode.
I love making water droplets using the scrubbing technique. And clouds using the lifting one. Have never tried sandpaper, and wondering how that would work. Thanks so much!
Again thanks for being a very generous and One of not the best teaching artist on the channels.
+jean milhollin aww, thanks!
I can't tell you how much I'm learning from you. I love your lessons
+Dolly Dollop Thanks!
Beautiful paintings you have. Thank you so much for sharing your talent & techniques!
I SOOOOO needed this remedy today!! Thank you, Steve!!
Super great tutorial! Thank you for making this, and for sharing your knowledge! Now I do not have to be sad after all that I cannot attend art courses in the fall. I can learn from your channel! Yay! : )
👍
Paint lifting - Magic eraser sponges, when wet can be used to remove paint. I tried and it worked just fine. The society for all artists in the UK sells 4 for £6, with Watercolor inserted in the label. You can find them in dollar stores too $1 for 2.
Hope the tip helps!
Andrea Motta Thanks for the input.
I am loving your videos . I did a lot of acrylic painting just getting into watercolor I am learning a lot from you. I will be looking forward to a lot of your videos.
What a great video, thank you!
This was so needed!!! Thank you so much. I was about ready to throw my Stonehenge Hp out the window!!! I’m still on the fence about this paper… too delicate for many techniques & absolutely unable to deal with masking, lifting is the only way and even that’s proving a tad difficult!
Wonderful tutorial. It's great to have clear and precise instructions, thank you for making these videos of the basics for beginners like me. I realize this is an older video, but your Amazon link for scrubber brushes takes us to a page with toilet and floor scrubbing brushes. ☺
Oops. Yeah the links will often expire. Thanks for the heads up.
In case you're still looking for one. amzn.to/3EbeNzx
@@mindofwatercolor Thank you!
Excellent. Thank you so much!!!
You would make a wonderful Teacher. You helped me to understand the importance of doing studies , trying out techniques-which in themselves can produces instant gratification when practiced; gratification that you can paint something that looks realistic(such as highlighting rocks for example). As a beginner, it's nice to be able to paint something..anthing,lol Thank you.
Very helpful. I’ve had a terrible time doing this in the past.
Another great lesson! For most of my life I treated watercolor as immovable, if it was down then it stayed that light. Your examples are perfect! Got scrubbers as a freebie with an art supply order ages ago and now really see how to use them more carefully.
Robert Sloan Thanks! My warning in the video, though, cannot be overstated. Its and easy technique to overdo.
Fleckled ❤ good word
I love all your videos
Big thanks that you showed us these techniques. Surely they will be very useful.
Mariusz Kuszaj Glad to hear it. Thanks for watching.
This is going to be really handy where I've put a little too much pigment on a sunset. Tell Reese I said he looks really cool in those shades.
THANK YOU SO MUCHHH, U SAVED MY PAINTING😭😭
+ Teresa Cassidy They only do that when they are very wet and have been pressed with a towel (which I had just done). They still hold their shape very well. Brushes will vary in snap. Black Velvets are squirrel/synthetic blends. Squirrel is great at holding water but a little less snappy than sable. Still plenty of spring though for any painting job.
+The Mind of Watercolor Thank you so so much Steve, the gift of taking your time to answer is appreciated!
Thank u a lot that's really helps
I love the silly little intros and your humor. It makes the videos more interesting and fun to watch. Also, thank you for making these instructional videos, I'm a beginner at watercolor painting and these videos are really helping me along the road. :)
+Fluffy Toast 52 So glad, thanks for watching!
Thank you this is so helpful ♥
Hey I was amazed, see how extraordinary shibasaki does it, never seen anybody do it, once I saw, I needed to try but I failed, he's white are so much bright.
Take a took at watercolor rose bt shibasaki
Thank you for a very clear presentation and demonstration! Thanks for the reminder about the staining paints/pigments being a little tougher. I discovered that the hard way: "Why is there a hole in my paper?!" ;) Cheers!
Mary Vivit I know right? lifting is one of those techniques that can foster over reliance. Easily over done. Staining paints will definitely frustrate too.
Thanks! This video saved one of my pieces😃💜
Great video, easily followed! Thanks!
Thanks STEVE YOUR ONE GREAT TEACHER HAPPY NEW YEAR TOYOU ALL
Wonderful! Brilliant as always and so well presented. I only knew one way to lift before this video. Think I'll go make some amorphous blobs and practice lifting. Blob lifting. Sounds fun doesn't it? Thanks again for your great instructional videos.
Wow! This video is going to be a big help for me. I have been struggling with control, and these lifting techniques will help.
Thank you!
Scott Bryant Glad to hear its a help.
Important! Thank you!
The book by Claudia Nice just arrived today in my mailbox and as I flipped through there I saw a painting of the seaside with the foaming waves. She used a razor blade to make tiny marks that indicated the splash drops from the water. There's another way to use 'lifting'.
I've always wanted to learn how to lift watercolor! thank you so much for this!
coco You're welcome!
Many thanks - just tried it on a leaf I'd painted and now it really does look like highlights.
+gillian bc 👍
Hi Steve, I’m a new subbie... enjoying your videos/tutorials very much! Thanks!
PS please don’t stop adding scriptures to the end of your videos!
Hugs
Marsha
Another way to lift is to use a ‘Magic Eraser’. They’re little fine grained sponges that are intended for removing marks from plasterboard walls. The advantage is that they are abrasive and absorbent at the same time (also, they’re magic). You can buy them from the supermarket or hardware shop (in Australia in any case but I’m sure you could buy similar elsewhere…or maybe you’ll need to come to Australia to buy them…probably worth the trip). Thanks Steve, love your work!!
I've used magic eraser type sponges (I use them around the house and pool area so much I purchase the bulk off brand through Amazon to save money, though). They are awesome at picking up pigment softly. They are indeed magic.
Thank you very much Sir, the scrubber is like magic :)
Thanks so much. This is so exciting to learn.
Thank you for your work!
You do such a good job - thanks
wow, great one Steve! thanks this one will certainly be extremely useful. :)
Since I didn't have any gum arabic, I used something called C.M.C., a gum arabic substitute used by potters to improve flow when painting colors onto ceramics. I painted some directly onto the paper and then mixed some with the pigment. Voilá! It worked fine for both methods even though it wasn't a very good paper to start with.
I'll start out by putting a layer on the paper, should I forget to use it as a medium.
C.M.C. is available in powder form (just add water) at ceramic suppliers and is very cheap, particularly compared to gum arabic. P.S. You can also order gum arabic in powder form on eBay. I'm sure it's less expensive than the commercially sold gum arabic.
Thanks agaub for this great piece of information!
Thanks for the input!
Thank you so much for making videos! I really want to illustrate my own children's books and these videos are really helping me a lot! :)
Cool! Glad to hear it!
Takes time and patience. Hmm, so that means don’t jump in with a scrubber to start with and scrub right through the finish of the paper and make little paper balls like I did the other day😂 All’s well that ends in a lesson well learned, I guess. Thanks for this video, Steve. I should have watched it last week but better late than never!
SO helpful! Thanks! Hi Reese!
Great demonstration! Thank you!
artzology Thanks.
Extremely helpful video, thank you x
I love your water bucket. Where can I get one? I am starting to paint after many year off and I LOVE your videos!!! Learn or relearn something every time. Like another viewer, I am "binge watching" (have a cast on my non-dominate hand) and your little jokes are perfect. Keep it all coming
Thanks Ellen. Here is a link to the bucket. amzn.to/2l2LnuP
@ Adam - Great idea!. Probably the way most scrubbers are created anyway.
I have had good luck with those sponge brushes as well, the ones like you would stain wood with. Those things are super absorbent. In one of the cheapjoes videos that wes waugh did on brushes, he talks of placing a wet brush on the paper and letting it sit there for a little bit before you start scrubbing. It helps to loosen it up and there isn't so much grinding. I bet you are a cheapjoe subscriber Steve :). Wes did a great 3 or 4 part series on brushes. Not taking anything away from you of course. In future videos I would love to see what your 8-12 essential pigments are. I never cared for prussian blue, but you made me rethink that one and I reach for it more and more now.
Adam Wallen Yes, I am a Cheap Joes subscriber. The Wes Waugh videos are good stuff.
Adam Wallen I'm not a big believer in a set of the same "essential pigments" for everyone. Its going to be different for each artist especially depending on what subjects you paint. Also there are opaque, semi-opaque and transparent colors. Some painters like the chalkier look of the more opaque varieties. My palettes are almost completely transparent pigments because I do so much glazing.
I am the same way. I like to glaze to build up depth. I enjoy watching others, though it seems like some that I really like, such as Zbukvic and others, paint so densely it is nearly like gouache at times. Of course I am not critiquing his process because I love his work. I love watercolors because of their transparency and like seeing either the white, the pencil lines, or surface color show through. I do run into problems though at times with my paintings looking washed out because I didn't build up enough.
+The Mind of Watercolor What do you mean by glazing? Is that an additive you put in the paint like acrylic paint?
I simply love your videos. I get ticks every time you touch your brushes with your fingers. The grease from your fingers down a film on your brushes. As everyone knows, the fat molecules and water do not tie together without an emulsifier. If anyone touches my brushes with their fingers, then the hair on the brushes is washed with soap to get rid of the grease again.
THANK YOU!!! This was so helpful!!!
Cool never thought about sandpaper. Thanks
I agree that lifting is an essential technique. As someone struggling to retain natural highlights I use it all the time, although I tend to stick with the soft techniques to keep the paper quality so I can add further detailing. The exacto only comes out for hairs or whiskers. What I'm wondering is, how would you go about lifting a larger area? Say the skin colour in a portrait ended up too dark or too opaque, how would you lift that without it getting too blotchy?
Large area lifting is a challenge for keeping the painting looking fresh but a magic eraser sometimes works well. You have to have really robust cotton paper though that doesn't pill easily like Arches.
@@mindofwatercolor i tend to work on bristolpaper as it suits my style of painting reasonably well. It was just something I cane across before and my own tries didn't work out well on bristol or watercolour paper. The idea with the magic eraser is good though. I should try it when I work with my watercolour paper again. ^^ thank you for the quick reply
I really enjoy your lessons, thank you for sharing!
Butterinyourear You're welcome!
You are simply fantastic thank - you so much 😊
Thank you so much for that.i am doing water colour painting and just started maybe 2 month ago.i have in my videos few of my first paintings. I hope I can do a masterpiece..
Great video!
Thank You
You are a great teacher, thx
Hi Steve! These videos are the best thing since sliced bread. Any hints for a fairly new painter on how to study watercolor in a logical way? I feel like I'm playing whack-a -mole sometimes. I find something I want to paint and jump in. After it is ruined, I start looking up what I didn't know. You never know what you don't know until you know it.
Actually what you're doing is a pretty good way to learn. We've all been trained by TV artists like Bob Ross that there is a simple formula to follow to get it all right. Not true unfortunately. 90% of learning watercolor is problem solving. You don't know what the problems are until you encounter them.
Thank you for the sandpaper tip.
wow. I knew about lifting with tissue and scrubbers, but had no idea sandpaper would ever be an option lol.
but this must really put the paper through the ringer, huh? I've only got low-end student grade paper, I am not that confident to take a fingernail file to the paper, much less actual sandpaper! lol. thank you as always, I absolutely enjoy your videos and learn so much. :)
+haruhara9889 yeah basically it shreds the paper. I would only use it to add sparkly highlights. 🙂
Fantastic! thanks for sharing! Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you Steve, your tutorial is a real help for me everyday. :)~~
Thank you, I will be trying to fix a 5head I gave myself in a self-portrait by painting dark hair too big with different brushes now.
Thanks!!
I love your channel, it's so helpful. Thank you.
👍
Nice scripture--thanks for that!