The 3rd Annual Watercolor Live came to an end Saturday, January 28, wrapping up with even more of today’s best watercolor artists sharing all of their secrets, explaining their materials, methods, and more.
The next Live event is March 9-11, 2023, with Plein Air Live. Join us then to be with fellow painters online for days of demonstrations, Q&A with your favorite artists, mingling during the breakout rooms and cocktail hours, and the incredible faculty painting auction.
“In watercolor, we can’t actually paint the light because the white paper is the light,” explained Hazel Soan in her workshop. “You cannot paint the light. You have to paint around the light by using tints and shades.”
Cindy Briggs, who comes from a family of artists, demonstrated how to paint a portrait in watercolor, start to finish, including layering and blending colors, and “getting those beautiful transitions.” To use a photo reference, Cindy says: “Utilize natural light or set up lighting. Take a lot of photos to get a wide selection.”
Lynn Pratt started out as an architectural artist, then picked up watercolor as a hobby. As she fell in love with it more and more, she began to dedicate her life and career to the medium. In her session, she demonstrated how to paint a still life of a pear from a reference photo.
Patricia Guzman showed us her start-to-finish process for painting a realistic portrait in watercolor during her demo, using wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and dry brush techniques. (“This is one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in my life.” ~ Justin W.
Irena Roman welcomed us into her home studio, where she shared her “secret ingredient” for increasing luminosity, glow, and radiance in watercolor paintings. Her methods also give you the solution to creating “instant atmosphere.”
Matthew Bird joined us again at Watercolor Live this year from his studio with a lesson in realistic watercolor. He painted a small still life of apricots in a bowl, applying techniques that can be applied across any subject matter.
Stan Miller began his painting demo by going over how to use a photo reference; in this case, it was of his godson. After cropping the image, he showed us how to transfer the photo onto paper to have as a guide for the drawing. During the demo, he flipped the photo and painted it upside down as he continue adding detail.
Previously at Watercolor Live, Birgit O’Connor led a session on Beginner’s Day but this year she took us inside her personal painting process. She used a composition that demonstrated her techniques for underpainting, using harmonized color, creating flower petals without overlapping the edges, working with shadows and even negative painting in specific areas.
The next Live event is coming in March with Plein Air Live, so visit PleinAirLive.com now to register and be with fellow artists online for days of demonstrations, Q&A with your favorite artists, and mingling during the breakout rooms and cocktail hours.
