Watercolor 4 Video Beginner Bundle

Barbara Tapp: The Barbara Tapp Watercolor Method

The Barbara Tapp Watercolor Method is Barbara’s signature approach to watercolor painting … and it’s going to turn your watercolor world around.

You’ll discover a non-traditional process that starts with placing your dark shadow shapes first to achieve maximum contrast, as you can see in her work above.

This turns your painting into something so engaging and interesting, viewers will feel like time has completely stopped as they study it!

Barbara’s “Reverse” process also gives you a new and exciting way to analyze a scene, exposing you to new patterns, contrasts, textures, and even ideas to add drama to your paintings!

You may find this approach goes against everything you’ve learned, but it’s guaranteed to make your watercolor painting experience a journey of discovery.

What You’ll Discover Inside:

• Discover a NEW “Reverse” watercolor approach that ramps up the energy of your paintings...
• Barbara’s most effective solution to paint the ever-changing effects of light...
• Insightful lessons on drawing, values, recording shadows, perspective, editing, composition, design, layout, and more...
• How to capture big shadow shapes using a variety of styles and materials...
• The best way to understand perspective using the dot-to-dot process...
• How to paint shadows within shadows…How to prevent boredom with Barbara’s “Dancing Brush” technique, plus a few more fun ideas…
• How to draw like an architectural artist… (without all the schooling!)
• Secrets to making your art “pop”...
• How to create energy in the design with directional lines…
• Pro-tip: How to look for shadow shapes that establish the scene...
• Barbara’s favorite colors for shadows...
• In-depth lesson about light source and variation in tones...
• How to create dimension...
• Detailed lessons on values of shadows, energy of shadow shapes, shadows on an outdoor still life, and shadows on buildings...
• How to balance the cool shadows by adding warmth and interest...
• PLUS: A COMPLETE, fully explained step-by-step demonstration of how to capture shadows successfully as you create lively watercolor paintings with ease...
• ...and a ton more techniques, like how to create energy, how to fix mistakes, how to tie different elements together, and more!

Shelley Prior: Pet Portraits in Watercolor

Shelley shows you her best techniques for using a photo reference while still capturing a feeling or mood — something many artists never learned, creating a hesitancy to use photographs. Here, you’ll see how photos can work to your greatest advantage.

A straightforward and practical-minded teacher, Shelley’s step-by-step approach is beneficial to every level of artist. Paint right along with Shelley and you will achieve very similar results. Then, you can apply these same strategies to your next painting in order to achieve an accurate likeness, the right values, hard and soft edges, and much more.

In this video, Shelley is solving some of the biggest challenges artists face when painting animal portraits. She’ll show you how to soften your edges, balance texture with detail, utilize the white space of the paper to your advantage, and ways to control your watercolor while letting it do what it does so beautifully.

This course will help you get better, more satisfying results with your art because you’ll no longer struggle with getting stiff, over-detailed paintings when using a photo as a reference.

Shelley says that one of the biggest takeaways from this video is you do not need to define everything. Great paintings leave some obscurity, as well as detail. You want viewers of your work to engage with the story you’re telling through the painting.

Shelley shares her reliable method for keeping the right amount of moisture in an area where she’s adding color in order to create softer details. Once you see Shelley do this, you’ll want to try it out for yourself on your next painting.

Here’s a peek at what Shelley Prior brings to you in this video:

• Don’t just put paint on paper … create a feeling and a mood in your work
• Better identify value and color temperature
• The best way to add softness 
• Have a better understanding of watercolor paints and how you can make them behave
• Sharpen your observation skills (you’ll be able to apply this to your own paintings right away)
• The special formula for creating a peaceful feel
• How masking can save you a lot of time and achieve better results
• Different wet-into-wet and dry-into-dry techniques (they both have tremendous value)
• Properly paint light and shadow … not as difficult as it may seem
• How to soften textures so they don’t interfere with the rest of the painting
• Why Shelley uses two brushes for toning down harsh features (now you’ll know how to do this, too)
• Can a synthetic brush help you paint faster and finish quicker? (Shelley answers this question)
• Do this to your brush for the best results — you’ll wish you would have already known
• And more…

Susan Blackwood: Simple Watercolor Secrets: Using the MAPS System

Susan Blackwood has every brushstroke planned as she uses her own MAPS system. In this video, she’ll show you how she plans out a painting and how this allows her to move smoothly from nothing to completed painting in a very short amount of time.

The Freedom of Planning

There’s a true feeling of freedom you experience when you have a plan that’s guiding all your actions. This “plan” actually eliminates stress. It lightens your mind. It allows you to just relax and paint. 

Because you’re following a real plan, you finish more paintings faster, with less stress and fewer mistakes. 

So, what is this plan?

Susan Blackwood has spent nearly her entire career teaching other artists (and learning from them at the same time) how to approach a new painting. 

She quickly realized that there was no systematic approach used by everyone. Nearly all students start from different positions. They may have a photo or be painting en plein air. Or they may draw a light grid on their canvas or paint an underpainting of varying levels of detail. 

So, she committed herself to doing what those rare great teachers do. She found a way to help. 

She created a system. She helped students find their way through a painting. She drew them a map. And that was the starting point for the MAPS system (Making Artistic PlanS).

In the beginning, she felt resistance from some artists to the idea of putting some structure on an act so creative. But in a VERY short time, those same artists became raving fans of her MAPS system.

The increase in speed is not at all because of shortcuts or lower quality. In fact, the paintings created under this system are of much higher quality. They have better design cohesion. They are the kinds of paintings you can build your reputation on.

In this video course, you’ll learn:

• How to better express yourself visually
• Susan Blackwood’s exclusive map system to plan out your paintings
• Why painting the images that stir YOUR soul is the key
• How to make your paintings worthy of passing on to the next generation
• How to transform THESE moments into lasting paintings
• Why drawing nonstop and filling sketchbooks is critical (even if you can’t draw)
• The keys to creating art so beautiful it stands out in galleries and museums
• Why painting outdoors (en plein air) is SO important to your success
• How to see the world with new – watercolor – eyes
• Exactly how MAPS guide you quickly to a finished painting
• You’ll see the immediate improvements MAPS can make in YOUR paintings
• How MAPS will add that missing emotional spark to your paintings
• A simple way to organize values
• An easy way to sort shapes
• The key to edges made simple
• Color choices simplified
• How MAPS can help you discover and develop YOUR personal style
• Learn exactly when to use LARGE brushstrokes
• The key to adding just the right amount of texture
• How to take control of your subject matter
• A blocking-in technique when using MAPS that makes it easy
• How to create paintings that truly communicate EMOTION
• Why MAPS can create near-instant positive results 
• And much, much more!

Michael Holter: Watercolor from Photos

In this course, you’ll follow along with Michael Holter’s step-by-step process. You’ll create two paintings — a picturesque farmhouse and a scenic lighthouse — and you’ll learn exciting tips and techniques while painting them.

The lighthouse painting, Lighting the Way, demonstrates how to tell a story with your brushstrokes and how to unite more than one reference photo. Michael also explains how to make adjustments in a scene to get the best composition and the best results.

When painting A Day in the Life, you’ll continue to add elements and figures into a painting to create a story that will engage the viewer. 

Plus, you’ll also discover:

• How to paint stunning scenes from any photo (even if the photo is not tops)
• How to blend shapes, perspectives, and scenes from different photos into one coherent painting
• A simple technique to capture the atmosphere, depth, and distance of a scene
• What impressionists truly mean when they say, “I paint the light and shadows of a landscape”
• How to find inspiration in front of your doorstep
• The simple way to reinterpret a scene — add bolder colors, depth, and emotion to your paintings
• How to make your art a natural expression of yourself (without getting frustrated or too tense)
• Insights into Michael’s decisions and thought process while painting (he’ll even let you in on the mistakes he makes)
• And so much more!

What Michael does is based on two core techniques: 

How to set up your composition, and how to break down a painting into steps that can be repeated.

Equipped with these two techniques, you’ll be able to:

• Design your scene before you start painting
• Know exactly where to put focal points
• Create depth with light and shadow
• Paint scenes that touch the viewer’s heart
• Repeat the process again and again, any time you want