Watercolor Exploration: Tips and Advice for Getting Started

(c) jlowatercolor.2018 Ready to Share your Watercolors with the World? At this point, you have some paintings under your belt and are excited to share your work with others. Maybe you feel a little nervous or unsure if your paintings are “good enough”? Let me assure you right now- they are! It is time to take another step in your watercolor journey; here we will explore a few platforms that can help you to share your work. photo credit: shutterstock Popular Art Sharing Platforms Facebook - Many people nowadays have a Facebook account where they keep in touch with family and friends. This can be a great place to share your art in a couple different ways. The first being with family and friends through regular posts. The second being to watercolor groups that you join. I recommend World Watercolor Group . This is a worldwide community in which people share watercolors they have created- along with tutorials and tips they find helpful. Often, fellow artists (of a

(c) jlowaterolor.2018 Watercolor Style: Loose vs. Tight   First off, is one “better” than the other? The answer is unequivocally- h#ll no! I can’t stress enough how important it is to try and let go of what you think something “should” look like, and just give-in to what happens on the paper. I say this to you as a reminder to myself, because I still struggle with expectations. Painting loose or painting tight (detailed) is simply the style you bring to the watercolor. You may enjoy one more than the other, or incorporate both into your work! Below we will look at some examples of loose and tight watercolor paintings, along with tips and advice for trying them out. Loose Watercolor Examples... (c) Victoria Prischedko (c) Steve Micthell Loose Painting Tips- Here is a great article  from the Artist's Network that gives helpful advice on painting loose. https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/watercolor-painting-loose/ Tigh

photo credit: pintrest.com Stuck in the Mud There have been times that I want to paint and no matter how hard I try, everything I do looks like a muddy mess on the paper. Did I forget everything I knew? Gah! It is frustrating to say the least. Rest assured, it happens to everyone, even professionals. Let’s take a look at how we can move out of these ruts, and back to enjoying the painting process. Suggestion #1- Take it Easy on Yourself If there is one important thing I have learned over the last few years, it is that just because you may struggle with getting paintings or drawings “right”, it doesn’t mean you are not an artist. The struggle is simply part of the process… maybe that is something that everyone already knew (except for me, ha!). A misconception I had was in thinking that true artists were just born with this innate ability to make everting look amazing. Getting over that mental hurdle has been incredibly helpful in moving forward and growing! photo c