Hi Erika I use patreon for art tutorials and have been searching for water colour artists often especially for water colour pencils. When searching for you either using 'watercolor' or your name in the search box you do not appear. I intend to join you next month using your link here, but I just thought i would point this issue out to you. Carol

Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to leave your valuable comment. 🙌 I started with opaque painting mediums myself (acrylics and oils), and I have to agree with you. 🎨 Not only can you layer paint on thick and cover up mistakes relatively easily with those mediums, but you're working on substrates that can take way more of a beating, as opposed to working on paper. With watercolor, it is even more essential to practice beforehand and go in with a strategy because we won't be able to easily correct mistakes, if at all, since watercolor is transparent. You also make a great comment in relation to how watercolor is so immediate. We have to go in with confidence and not "fiddle" with the paint after it's been placed on paper, or its easy to overblend, flatten areas out and make them look overworked and heavy (the opposite of what we're trying to do when working with this medium). Another key difference is that we're bringing in the beauty and brightness of the paper as part of the piece, and no white paint is necessary, when we learn to do this. Thanks so much for watching and wish you tons of enjoyment moving forward with this rewarding painting medium!

You're very welcome, Sharron! Enjoy your practice. Thanks so much for watching. 🙌

Thanks so much for watching, Rick! Glad you enjoyed it. Hope you're having a lovely weekend. :)

I'm so glad to hear that! 😀 Please don't feel guilty. Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to leave a comment.

Hey, DeeAnn! Glad to hear you found this one helpful. Thanks so much for watching! Wish you a lovely day. :)

I'm so glad you're enjoying what I'm sharing. :) Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment. Means the world. 🙌

You're very welcome! Glad it was helpful. Enjoy your art practice! 🙌🖌

@@ErikaLancasterArt hi Erika, does brush matter? If it does, what am I looking for in purchasing it?

Hi! I'd recommend buying brushes that are intended for watercolor use, as their bristles tend to be soft and absorbent. They are made to hold paint and water. I like a pointy tip, as well. This said, almost all my brushes are very affordable. If I had to prioritize what to invest in, in terms of paper, paint and brushes, first I'd buy good quality paper, then paint, then brushes. One thing I'd also say is, make sure you're using a good size of brush for whatever area it is you're going to be painting. If you go in with a very small brush to try to paint quickly, it's going to be very frustrating and you'll likely end up with lines and texture you weren't looking for. For this exercise, I'm using a medium sized (12) round brush. Link to the product is in the description box below the video. Hope I've answered your question!

@@ErikaLancasterArt - OMG I can't believe you spent so much time replying. thank you so much.

Thanks so much for watching, Rachael! Glad you liked it. :) Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Glad to hear it was helpful, Darlene! Thanks so much for watching. Enjoy your practice. 🙌

Glad it was helpful! Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to leave a comment. Means the world. 🙌🖌

Thanks so much for checking this one out, Sam! I have classes on those over on my Patreon. :)

Thanks so much for watching, Claudio! Hope you're having a lovely day. :)

You're very welcome! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to leave a comment. It means the world. 🙌🙂

Hey, Danielle! Thanks so much for watching. I'm so glad this one was helpful! Wish you tons of progress and enjoyment in your journey with watercolor. Much more to come! Take good care.

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching and enjoy your practice.

Thanks so much for watching! Have a lovely day.

Hey, Gayle! Thanks so much for watching. That's a great question! 🙌🙂 For this exercise, I wanted to keep things simple and limited in terms of the colors that I was using for each sphere, just for clarity. I wanted to keep things, within each sphere study, as monochromatic as possible. This is a great way to practice values and shading. This said, I want to encourage you to observe shadows around you in real life closely, as they usually _will_ have color to them, or at least you'll find that the temperature of the gray is cooler or warmer, depending on the situation. When I am painting a fuller piece, I try to mix in a color into my gray (if I'm using a ready-made black/gray), or I create my own gray by mixing together two colors (brown and Ultramarine Blue being my favorite way to create gray). This is, in my opinion, super important when working with watercolor, as we usually want to make vibrant, interesting use of color. Using a gray or ready-made black alone for shadows tends to lead to flatness, dullness, or it sometimes ends up looking very stark. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions. Enjoy your art practice! Erika

Thanks for watching! 🙌🙂

Hey, there! Thanks so much for watching, and for your comment/questions. 🙌 There is no specific technique that is better for specific subjects or types of art. It really comes down to what outcome you personally enjoy. If you enjoy brighter/more saturated colors, then try using analogous colors for shading when possible (not necessarily all throughout the piece, but wherever you can). This said, there are certain types of subjects like portraits, that require we paint skin, where we want muted/desaturated colors for it to look more realistic. Or even food illustrations. For example, when I paint baked goods such as doughnuts or croissants, I need to bring in neutrals like yellow ochre and browns, as yellows and oranges just wouldn't bring the level of realism I like. If you like more realistic/natural color outcomes (most colors around us in real life are muted or desaturated to different degrees), or you just simply enjoy muted colors, then go with complementaries or add neutrals like browns or blacks into your mixtures. All of these are effective ways to shade, as they all allow you to develop that wide range of values you need for believable depth. It depends on what you enjoy, the level of realism you're after, and the specific subject/object that you're painting. Hope this helps! :)

@@ErikaLancasterArt That is so much useful information to pack into one comment, lol. Thanks for taking the time to share!

Thanks for watching, Leona! Glad to hear it was helpful.

Hi, Erica! Hope you're having a lovely day. 🙌💙 Thanks so much for watching and for your question. You can go in to do tweaking with whichever paintbrush you find most comfortable or leads to the effects you like, with any of these spheres. When it comes to painting with watercolor, I have found that the less you go in and "fiddle" with the paint after it's been placed on paper, the better and the fresher the outcome, though! So if you're going to do it, make sure that the paint is still in that wet/workable state (don't go in and move paint around when it's already started to dry), and do it gently/minimally. :) That's what I'd recommend.

Hi, there! Thanks for checking this one out, and for your question. 🙌🌟I have many step by step watercolor tutorials here in my channel where I take you through my layering process. You can check them out in this playlist: kzfaq.info/sun/PLUhSVLFDaUTLedrd1uPRjP2uET6gV4B_d *I do have a question for you: Is there a reason why you're trying to achieve a uniform shade at each level? Though knowing how to create flat washes is helpful, for sure, rarely do I actually use flat washes when painting.

Hey, Renee! So glad you found this one helpful. :) Here's a video where you can see how I set up this paint palette and all the colors in it: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ns9yp9p_3MnSiqc.html In the description box below the video, you'll find links for the Daniel Smith paint/paint sets that I used. Thanks so much for watching and for your questions! Enjoy your watercolor journey. 💙

Yep! They do!😬

Sorry if that bothered you. Just trying to explain everything as clearly as possible.