The ONE thing!  That will dramatically improve your watercolor paintings!

There is one thing that will make more of a difference in your paintings than anything else – start with a simplified, abstract value composition that clearly defines large value shapes. It is an easy process but a difficult mental switch that requires you to think differently about what you are doing when you create a painting and to think differently about the subjects of your paintings.

In this lesson, we create a painting using a small value sketch that has been created from the photo of a really ordinary scene.  The process of creating a painting while following the value sketch requires mental discipline in starting with the large, simple value shapes.

We go step by step in a very detailed way in this lesson.

Take a deep breath, have courage, and jump in!

Drawing Layout For Any Painting

One note on the drawing layout. The downloadable layouts are done with heavy lines to make it easy to see and copy onto your watercolor paper. It is best not to draw the lines too heavy on your paper, especially in the sky, since there is a good chance the lines will show through the paint. It’s not a deal-breaker, but those heavy pencil lines are sometimes a distraction.

What you’ll need

• Brushes – 1 1/2″ Flat, 1″ Flat, 1/4″ Flat, Medium Round, Small Round, and Rigger .
• Colors – Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Daniel Smith Quinacridone Deep Gold, DaVinci Aureolin Mix, Cobalt Blue, Winsor Newton French Ultramarine Blue , Burnt Sienna
• Watercolor paper – preferably Arches 140lb Cold Press cut to about 7″ x 11″ or so