My Watercolor Journey

/ Jodi

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I really enjoyed watching a watercolor blending and shadowing tutorial recently on ArtistNetwork.TV by Sterling Edwards.  For someone who never studied art or even took a high school art class, what a great way to learn this is!

After experimenting and playing with watercolor for a about a year so far now, I still have so much to learn, and I learn something new every time I watch a video, read a blog or book, or chat with other artists.  (Charlie O – did you catch that?  I said “other” artists 🙂 )

At the recommendation of my artist blogging buddy, Laura @ CreateArtEveryday, I checked out ArtistNetwork.TV mainly with the goal of watching some great abstract pastel videos by Debora Stewart (and wowza – did she ever blow me away!).  I was then compelled to check out some watercolor videos when I came across a great exercise in color blending and shadowing called Color Techniques for Expressive Watercolors by Sterling Edwards.

In the above exercise, I did a quick sketch of the two old barn-type buildings on a 10″ x 12″ sheet of Arches 140 lb Cold Press Paper.  Then, in about 20 minutes using only four colors of watercolor paint, (Raw Sienna, Windsor Violet, Azo Yellow, and Cobalt Blue), I  blended these colors to create many shades of colors (a yellow and purple to make brown, various combos of yellows and blue to make greens, dropping in purple onto the newly created brown to create depth!) and shadowy neutrals for this simple scene.

I feel like you can really see the light and life in this painting.  It’s certainly not perfect and was only meant to be a practice, but I rather like how it turned out and really learned a lot about blending, creating neutrals, working with a flat brush, and the all important white space.

If you are looking for a way to self-learn, I surely recommend ArtistNetwork.TV.  I watched the tutorial one evening and did the painting the next.  I can’t wait to find time to watch and learn more!  Does anyone else wish there were more hours in the day to do all the fun things we want to do?

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

63 thoughts on “My Watercolor Journey”

  1. Lovely painting! Oh, yes, if only we had more time. There are so many excellent classes and tutorials to follow online. It’s definitely worth the investment. I’m going to check out the “blending and shading” video. I could really use that. I’m so glad you shared the info along with your beautiful results. Thank you!

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    • Thanks Debi! It’s no “Debi Riley,” but it was a great exercise where I allowed myself to learn some technique and I’m pretty happy with most of the results. Could have blended better and moved the brush around at different angles – – – well – and lots more, but for a 20 min exercise, I’m pretty pleased. 🙂

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  5. Good morning Jodi, your natural instincts of design, color and imagination are guiding you. Your beautiful art has always been with you, it’s now coming out in a new direction through painting. Thanks so much for sharing your recent online video class. What a exciting time ahead with your painting discoveries. 😀❤️🌷

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  11. This is lovely and right up my street! I saw your recent Day Lily and thought WOW! She’s knocking em out of the park! I thought the same with this painting. You are an artist and you get better with each work.

    Thanks for the recommendation! I need to check out that channel!

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