The Mechanics of Watercolor Painting / LEARN THE BASICS

In this lecture, we discuss how to proceed through this course and what to expect along the way.

The first step when preparing to paint is to set up your workspace so that your tools are within easy reach. In this lecture, we walk through my setup as a professional artist and why I have items placed where I do. In the process of doing this we also discuss what basic supplies are needed for the creation process.

Not all painting brushes are intended for use with watercolor paints. In this lecture, we discuss how brushes differ by design whether for watercolor, acrylic, or oil paints.

The shape and size of your brush can greatly impact the kind of mark you can make when painting. In this lecture, we discuss some of the most common watercolor brush shapes and how they can be used by the artist.

External Video Link: How Paintbrushes Are Made: https://youtu.be/WoHQoh7m23Y

Now that we understand why watercolor brushes are designed as they are and the various bristle shapes, we need to discuss the process of diluting your paints. In this lecture, I demonstrate the various dilution levels.

There are several ways to dilute your paints. In this lecture, I will show you four methods for diluting your paints.

In an earlier lecture, we talked about how brushes are designed for use with specific mediums. In this lecture, we'll talk about the different bristle materials used in watercolor brushes and how that impacts paint application.

Now that you have a better understanding of your brush designs and how to dilute your paints, the next step is learning how to load your brush. In this lecture, we discuss four different brush loads you can use when painting.

An enormous part of painting is the artist's ability to manipulate their brush. In this lecture, we will begin our discussion on brush handling by talking about the various ways you can hold your brush and how it impacts the resulting marks.

The way you hold your brush involves more than just your grip. It's also a matter of the angle in which you hold it. In this lecture we discuss how brush angle influences the way the paint is applied to the surface.

How much pressure you apply to your brush can also impact your brush handling...and therefore your results. In this lecture, I demonstrate the impact of brush pressure.

Once you have an understanding of brush handling basics, dilution levels, and loading your brush, the next step is to learn about mixing puddles of paint. In this lecture, we discuss several ways to create puddles of paint in preparation for paint application.

It's important for artists to know their paints - the colors they produce and how they respond when painted. In this lecture, we introduce four activities used to familiarize the artist with their paints.

One way to get to know your paints is by creating a color swatch for each paint. In this lecture, I walk you through the process of creating color swatches and explain how they can be used when preparing for a painting.

One popular charting method is to create an all-color mixing chart. Through this exercise, artists learn about some of the subsequent colors you can create from the individual colors on your palette. In this lecture, we walk through the process of creating an all-color chart.

Color charting can also be by color family. In this lecture, we walk through the process of creating color family charts, where you see all of the subtle mixes you can create from mixing two color families.

In addition to creating swatches and color charts, it's helpful to create color triad color wheels. In this lecture, I explain what a color wheel is and demonstrate how to create one from your own red, blue, and yellow paints.

One thing you may notice when working with your paints is that some paints are more powerful than others. This relates to tinting strength. In this lecture, we discuss what that is and how it impacts your color mixing.

Tinting strength is only one consideration when mixing more than one color. In this lecture, we discuss mixing two or more colors to create a subsequent color.

Very often when painting, you will want to match a color you see in nature or one that you imagine in your head. In this lecture we discuss how to color match and the use of a color wheel in this process.

In addition to creating various colors, it's important to know how to create neutral tones for use in painting. In this lecture, we talk about the various methods you can use to create beautiful neutral color tones.

One of the trickier aspects of painting with watercolor paints is learning to handle whites in your painting. How do you convey white? In this lecture, we discuss the different options available to watercolor artists from saving whites, to using acrylics, and even scraping.

At this point in the course, you should feel much more comfortable with your brush skills, mixing, and even with your knowledge of color mixing. Now we can move into actual paint application methods. In this lecture, I explain the three general ways that you can apply watercolor paint to your surface.

The first and most basic method of paint application is controlled painting. This is simply applying wet paint to a dry surface. In this lecture, we'll walk through the different ways you can use this kind of application.

Now it's time for you to try your hand at controlled application. In this lecture, I'll walk you through a basic activity that will help you get a better understanding of what I mean by controlled application.

A critical part of watercolor painting is the rate of absorption and timing. In this lecture, we discuss how absorption can impact painting results and act as a demonstration for an activity I'd like you to try at home.

In this lecture, we're going to repeat the object activity from Lecture 25, but this time we're going to use two colors. In this way, we're going to introduce the next application method...Semi-Controlled Application.

In the prior lectures we discusses applying wet paint to a dry surface. In this lecture, we begin our discussion on applying wet paint to a wet surface, but in this case (the semi-controlled application method) the pre-wet area is defined by you, the painter.

In this lecture, I walk you through an activity that will help you get a feel for the semi-controlled application method.

When defining the pre-wet area in semi-controlled painting, you can either use plain water or you can use a mix of paint. In this lecture, I will show you how each one influences your painting.

Timing and absorption rates are especially important when dealing with semi-controlled painting methods. In this lecture, we discuss how these two factors can impact results.

In this lecture, I will walk you through a very helpful activity that I would like you to conduct at home. Through this, you should gain a first-hand understanding of how absorption impacts paint application.

Uncontrolled paint application is very similar to semi-controlled, but in this case the entire surface (or a large portion of it) is pre-wet. In this lecture, we will learn about the uncontrolled layer, the effects it can provide, and how you can have a level of control.

Uncontrolled painting can be used with multiple colors to achieve beautiful, soft effects. In this lecture, we walk through the use of multiple colors and a few tricks that can increase your success rate with this process.

Another very useful effect is applying uncontrolled painting methods to a slanted surface. In this lecture, I demonstrate this process and how it can be used for effect.

In this lecture, we pull together all that we've learned as you walk through a watercolor painting with me, from start to finish.

This lecture reviews what we learned in this course and discusses what students should do next upon completion.