Watercolor Beginner Bundle

Richie Vios: Confident Watercolor

During this exclusive video course, Richie lays out the three core skills you need to confidently create watercolor paintings. These three core skills influence how you think, see, and execute before and during painting.

Gain New Skills and Confidence!

• Handle elusive watercolors — and let go of your need to control the paint
• The surefire way to let go of mental blocks so you can become a bold and spontaneous watercolor artist
• The one simple method to ensure your painting success before you even lift the brush
• Why it’s not enough to copy someone’s techniques, and how to become an artistic individual yourself instead
• The 3 simple steps to increase your confidence in your painting skills
• Richie’s never-done-before “charging and de-charging” technique that allows you to create interesting, new, and soft color transitions as well as interesting patterns. This alone is worth the small investment to change your painting.
• The sneaky method of correcting mistakes and creating lighter areas in your painting without using opaque white or other paints.
• How to add emphasis and fine details with this special brushwork technique
• Pulling off wet-to-wet and wet-to-dry washes through “gravity”
• The one special brush that makes dry-brushing fun and easy
• Richie’s secret method of applying paint without ever touching a palette
  
  

 
Learn the three strategies and watch your confidence soar through the roof.
 
How Can Richie Help You Boost Your Confidence As A Painter?
 
Richie himself put it best:
 “If you don’t believe in your work, who does?”
 
If you have low confidence in your skills and results, it will show. Low confidence is visible in your finished paintings — but probably even more importantly, it shows in your painting process.
 
Without self-confidence, you can’t make bold moves. You don’t dare to try something new. 
 
Instead, you hold back. Your paintings look restrained and stiff. Plus, you have a hard time enjoying yourself while painting.
 
Remember that confidence comes from being confident in your ability and your process.
 
Richie is bold in his paintings as well as in his teaching. In many ways, he’s a maverick. 
 
And he’ll show you how you can unleash your inner potential by mastering the foundations first and knowing exactly what to do in each step of the process.
 

Chapter Breakdown:

• Introduction
• Basic Skills--a brief review of concepts you need to know about watercolor. No action, just examples and terms you need to know
• Visualization--review Richie’s visualization checklist before you start to paint and to keep in in mind as you paint so you have successful results: Focal Point or Center of Interest, Gradient, Shapes & Tangency, Ling of Sigh or Eye Path, Lost & Found Edges, Yin & Yang (value contrast) / Fire & Ice (chroma contrast), Gravity, Timing
• Build Confidence with Practice--a short, quick demo painting a boat in the water to establish the color scheme, timing, brushwork, etc that will apply to the larger painting to come
• Demonstration: Underpainting--lay in a wash on sky and water, following same process and colors as done on our practice demo
• Demonstration: Paint the Waves --Light to dark, wave, reflection. Moving the surface around can help your waves dry the right way
• Demonstration: Develop Larger Shapes & Distance--why NOT to mix more than 3 colors together. Painting distance. Easy tip to mixing a variety of grays with only 3 colors. Why using WHITE can be a good thing. Painting reflections---Reflections are like a rhythm. Wet-into-wet, charging with color and with water, hard vs soft edges, using tip of brush or belly of brush--techniques
• Demonstration: Develop Darks & Smaller Shapes--figures, details, fixing mistakes (getting the white back with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser), tip to harmonize edges and color
• Demonstration: Evaluate & Adjust--review the checklist as it applies to your painting to find areas needing improvement--correct shapes, add highlights, harmonize color like a filter
• Demonstration: Enhance Contrasts & Details--darken the shadows and adjust shapes, develop the figures and highlights with opaques, add splatter (You know you are confident if you’re not afraid to dirty-up your painting)
• Demonstration: The Final Stage--The Final Stage

 
EXTRAS

Exhibit of Works: an inspiring slideshow of Richie’s paintings
High-Speed View: (Viewer Favorite!) a time-lapse version of the in-process painting demonstration gives a quick glimpse at how RIchie paints this sunset scene at the boat dock
Insights from the artist: Richie discusses growing up around art and how he became interested in pursuing art himself. Be inspired by Richie’s passion for painting!

Stewart White:  Painting Architecture in Watercolor

Any artist who wants personal growth will love Architecture in Watercolor by Stewart White. 

You will learn:

• Why it matters to paint what you find interesting (instead of painting what you think will “make a great painting”)
• How to find simplicity in details (instead of getting lost in them)
• A simple technique for painting architecture (that you can use for any subject matter)
• How to break down buildings to make painting them easier
• How to brim with confidence when painting architecture in watercolor
• How to select and find effective compositions that draw in any viewer
• How to create a believable sense of light and temperature
• The simplest way to paint any building you like (because you know this one thing)

If you want to go outside, pick a popular landmark or idyllic countryside, and just start painting or sketching confidently, then this is for you.

No more hiding or hoping nobody sees you working at your easel. Even if strangers start to watch, you’ll confidently pursue your art.

Always wanted to paint buildings, but they seem too complicated? You don't know where to start? Stewart’s teachings will give you a refreshing perspective.

Wondering why your buildings look too stiff or don’t feel real? Stewart shows you how to fix this problem simply.

What once seemed complicated is now easy and enjoyable. As Stewart says, “You’ll become the director of your own paintings and you can do whatever you want!”

Architecture in Watercolor is taught by Stewart White, a professional painter with 35 years of experience and the national winner of the coveted PleinAir Salon. 

He has competed in many prestigious plein air events. Plus, he is an architectural illustrator who helps architectural firms with rendering projects. So he knows a thing or two about painting buildings. You’ll get an inside track.

You will enjoy Stewart’s unique skill set. He’ll show you how you can find simplicity in a lot of detail.

Stewart will share five core principles with you:

• How to go from “this is too complex” to simple (because chances are you’re making it more complicated than it has to be)
• Stop drawing buildings and what to do instead (this is what watercolor is truly about)
• The one thing that holds you back in watercolor (and it has nothing to do with techniques)
• Why most artists are “people pleasers” and how you can break out of this habit (finally paint what excites you!)
• How to paint the dialogue between buildings (instead of individual buildings)

Chapter Outline

1. Introduction: Loving Your Subject
2. Planning the Painting
3. Materials
4. Drawing
5. Wash Drills
6. Color Recipes
7. Masking
8. Let’s Jump in the Water
9. Tackle the Buildings
10. Final Details and Closing Thoughts

EXTRAS

• Exhibit of Works
• High Speed View
• Interview with the artist conducted by Eric Rhoads

Brenda Swenson: Glowing Watercolors

You’re going to love this video if you want to create an attractive glow in your paintings that will draw your viewers in and lead them through the painting just as you’ve designed.

Here’s some of what you’ll discover when you watch and paint with Brenda Swenson:

• Developing your composition with layers of color 
• Unravel the mystery of paint
• Painting around a subject to find definition
• Apply transparent glazes to create shapes and depth of color
• Develop your skills when painting wet into wet, under-paintings, and wet passages
• Experience Brenda creating paintings that glow — now you’ll know how, too!
• Demystify negative painting (and paint with more confidence!)
• NEVER struggle with color again … you’ll know just what to do!
• Proper design for this type of painting
• Capture light like never before (yes, with watercolor!)
• Create depth and interest (Brenda shows you how!)
• Positively accentuate the negative (negative space that is!)
• Uncover the characteristics of paint (you’ll be surprised at what you DON’T know!)
• Ooops … oh well, find the humor in it and move on…

In addition, you’ll also get:

• Exhibit of works by the artist
• High-speed view of the main painting demonstration
• Insights from the Artist: Brenda discusses her artist life
• Index Code and Paint Swatches (a reference document to help you understand paint characteristics)

When It’s Time To Be (in the) Negative!

Brenda Swenson is a pro when it comes to finding the positive in the negative!

As artists, we’re always looking to advance our skills so we can become better painters. We can’t just learn one or two techniques and stick with those — we must constantly be learning and practicing new and different techniques.

Today, you’re going to hear about a technique that might be new to you. But whether it’s new or you’ve been practicing and painting this way for years, you’re sure to learn something amazing by discovering the value of painting in the negative spaces!

“Painting is how I experience the world!”

— Brenda Swenson

Handle Your Watercolor

Knowing that watercolor can be tricky, Brenda helps you strengthen your understanding of pigments and how they directly relate to this complex medium. You’ll see how to create interesting shapes and tremendous depth of color and light by using transparent glazes. 

Not only will this help you build a better painting from the start, you’re going to discover how Brenda brings in that signature glow that her paintings are well known for!

Color, Color, and More Color!

You’re going to treasure this video course if you’ve ever struggled with color. Brenda is a pro at teaching and demonstrating different mixing and handling techniques for color and glazes — critical skills for anyone who paints in watercolor. 

Brenda will also help you understand all of the codes found on tubes of paint and how to buy the right one when names are similar. 

Not One, But TWO Demonstrations!

This workshop-style video includes instruction and TWO painting demonstrations — with the first, Brenda will help you see differently. You won’t believe how much easier painting will be for you when you’re looking at people and objects from a painter’s perspective. You’ll now be able to paint the right stuff from the scene so that your paintings are exciting and interesting.

In the second demonstration, Brenda shows you how to put everything you’ve learned together in a vibrant flower painting. Painting what you’ve just learned is the best way to solidify your new skills so plan to paint right along with Brenda! You can pause and rewind as many times as you want until you’re ready to move on!

Chapter Outline

• Introduction
• Materials and Tools
• Unraveling the mystery of paint itself (not color theory)
• What the codes on paint mean
• How to identify the right color, regardless of color name
• Paint characteristics
• Transparent vs. opaque
• See things differently
• Putting it all together in your paintings

Michael Holter: 7 Steps to Watercolor Portraits

Maybe it’s the way sun catches a face, an expression, the smiling eyes of someone you love ... There is something about people that calls you to paint them.