Unlock the Secrets of Watercolor Painting: Expert Strategies

Today I have some smart strategies for you that have helped me improve and grow and continue to move forward. So let's jump right into this. Smart strategies for smart painters. Strategy number one, don't be too literal in your painting. When we are on location painting a scene or we are looking at a reference photo, it's very easy to get into the habit of copying exactly what is in your photo onto your painting. As painters we need to remember to approach the scene as a painter and not as a photographer. So we're not trying to relay the scene exactly as it is. This is not a knock on photography at all, but it's simply permission to become the artist. Permission to become the creator. As artists our job is not to copy, it's to interpret. So what are some ways that we can learn to interpret the scene instead of just copying the scene? You can ask yourself a few questions to bring some clarity. So the first question is, why are you painting this scene? What is it that attracted you to this scene in the first place? Maybe it's the light of the scene. Maybe it's the atmosphere. Maybe it's the movement of a street scene. Whatever it is, make a mental note. So after we've identified that, we want to think about ways where we can emphasize that. That helps determine the composition of the scene, what we should include in the scene, and what we should leave out of it. The second thing you need to ask yourself when it comes to specific things within the scene is, does this add to or take away from the main point of this painting? Say you're painting a landscape scene. You are really in awe of the sense of distance. The feeling of the sense of depth that you have here. That is the main idea of this painting. So if I get too engrossed in the fact that there are fence posts and cows, whatever, down here in the foreground, and I want to include all the texture in the grass, I'm going to detract from the main point of this landscape scene. So here's a good way to think about it. If we emphasize everything in our scene, we are actually emphasizing nothing. If we give the same importance and the same priority to every part of our painting, then the message is lost. The main idea of the painting is lost. So we must be selective in what we choose to emphasize. Okay, let's move on to the next point. Think like a scientist. As artists, we put our emotions, our feelings, our creativity into each painting that we create. And what happens is, if this painting does not meet our expectation, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. How we choose to handle this disappointment will determine how resilient we are as creators. If a scientist is conducting an experiment, and the outcome is different than what they thought it was going to be, they can approach that outcome without attaching emotion to it, without the baggage of their self-worth connected to it in any way. They see it simply as a curiosity, as one step of many steps along the way. And that's how we need to think as painters. If we can become curious, if we can open ourselves up to experimenting and playing without connecting so much weight to the outcome, this will help you continue to come back no matter the outcome of each individual painting. Be open to experimenting, be open to trying new things. My goal, and I hope yours is too, is to not be too attached to the result, and to dedicate yourself to the path. The next strategy is one that I've talked about before, but we could all use to hear it again, and that is to create some type of study before you start your painting. I've talked about how to use markers to create a value study. I've talked about what a value study is. If a value study isn't your thing, if it feels like a hurdle to you, do a small thumbnail sketch, do a rough little drawing of your composition before you start your painting. Whatever we can do to eliminate question marks and to understand if our plan is a good plan before we start will help us to be more successful. So I want you to commit to some type of study. Maybe it's a small little thumbnail sketch, maybe you're working with markers to get a handle on the values, maybe you're doing a full drawing and value study, but commit yourself to some type of study before you even start the drawing of your painting. And finally, set aside some time for practice. Can you imagine telling a professional athlete or a professional musician that the only time that they were going to practice their craft was in the performance, was in the game that they were playing? That's kind of what it's like with painting. If we only practice these very important things such as drawing, composition, values, color mixing, brushwork, if we're only practicing these things when we are doing a complete painting, then we are missing out. The only growth that you're going to get is within each of those individual paintings. And of course, we need to continue to paint, we need to get our stacks of paintings higher and higher because that's how we progress, but can you imagine if you commit to practicing in between painting full paintings? First, you need to identify specific areas that you hope to improve in. And for me, it was painting skies and painting figures. Step two is set aside dedicated time to practice these things. This could be 10 minutes a day, three days a week, however it can fit into your schedule. If you commit to hard work and intentional practice, you will see fantastic growth over time. Let's be smart. Let's come at this with some strategy. And the strategy here is to practice these specific things that you want to improve in. So if you are ready to take that next step as a painter, I have a free video lesson for you. The Seven Secrets of Fresh and Powerful Painting. And in this video lesson, I talk about how to plan your scene, how to mindfully paint your scene, and most importantly, when to put down your brush before you overwork your painting. Now, once you sign up for this video lesson, I email you a pre-painting checklist that you can use before each painting to ensure that you're on track and you're thinking through the right things. I also include my watercolor supplies guide. So if you have questions about pigments, about paper, about brushes, you can take a look at my watercolor supplies guide. All you have to do to access this free lesson is to follow this link here and take that next step forward as a painter. I'll see you there.