Transcripts
1. Watercolor Collections: Scroll Stopping Color-Themed Artwork: If you love painting
with watercolors, but you get confused
when choosing what to paint and what colors
to paint them with. I have an idea for you. Color themed collections. Those are related groups
of artworks using the same color
palette as a theme to unify the way
they look and feel. They're fun to look at, fun to create, and they are a powerful way to
showcase your work. Now, when students hear
the word collections, I think it brings on
a bit of anxiety. I get comments like, aren't collections too sophisticated
for my skill level? Or don't only serious artists create collections
for art galleries, or I wouldn't even know how
to build a good collection. It's actually easier
than you might think and I'm here to show
you how to get started. This class is for
watercolor lovers, looking to up level
your process and presentation skills
from beginner to intermediate
watercolor skill level. For me, building color themed collections is a matter of following a few easy steps. Once you learn these,
you can do this over and over again with so many
different types of projects. I've used color themed
collections for surface design, graphic design for my POD shop, for moodboard creation, and
for so many other things. Options are pretty endless. I've developed a
brand color palette over the years that I use over and over again because it really speaks to my
own personal style. And then I can use
it on my website, social accounts, and
anywhere else. I am online. Creating color themed bodies of work has given me a
tremendous amount of freedom and saved me so much time and energy in figuring
out what to paint next. And now I want to show you how to do the same
for your artwork. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's a struggle
getting seen in the sea of artists on
social media and online. Working in collections
has been responsible for getting me brand
deals, collaborations. But I'm not the only one. It's happened for
many other artists out there and it can work
that way for you too. In fact, this is also
for you if you just want a more efficient and fun way of doing your own
personal projects. I've created a workbook
as a companion to the C to help guide you through the steps I'll
be teaching you today. As a bonus, I'll be sharing a simple proven easy
color palette formula that works for me every time. So are you ready to
learn how to supersize your efforts with small uneasy watercolor
painting collections? I cannot wait to dive
into this with you.
2. Your Project: Your project in this
class will be to choose a color palette based on what I'll teach you in the
following videos, and paint a small
three piece collection that unifies the watercolor paintings we'll be
painting together. You can paint your projects on one page or on separate pages, just as long as you can
view them side by side. I've created a workbook for you as your companion to
the class lessons. Be sure you download it in the Projects and Resources
tab under the class videos, I'll use very basic
tools and materials. And I'll keep it very
simple so you can concentrate on learning the
lessons I'll be teaching you. In fact, the more
simple you keep it, the further your
project will take you in the world of
collections and color. I really hope you plan
to share your project. I grew exponentially when I first started sharing my work. It was magical to have
feedback and comments. And it helped me grow
so much faster than I imagined if you've
never done it before. Here's how to upload your
project on skill share. First you'll go to
the Projects and Resources tab under
the class videos, then click the green
Create Project button. From there, you'll
want to upload your cover image
for your project. Choose a file,
then click Submit. From here, if you want
to replace your image, just click the button below. Find an image below. You can make it larger or
smaller with a slider, or you can drag it side
to side to position it. When you're happy,
just click Submit. Now your project needs a title. It can be funny, descriptive,
or whatever you like. Below is your personal
project field. Click Image to add image files, then position your
cursor underneath the image to add descriptions. I'm adding a series of images to show my entire
process for this project. You can do it any
way you like below. You can also add
a video or links. When you're done, just click
the green Publish button. Once it's published,
you can go below the videos and see your project
on the right hand side. When you click on it, you can see that all your
images have uploaded. On the right is where
people can comment. And like your project, I
comment on every project, so I can't wait to see
you in this space. You can also find
upload instructions on the projects and resources
page under the class videos. When you upload your project, you can win a skill short
badge, which is fun.
3. Tools & Materials: As always, I'll be
keeping my tools and materials simple. I'll
be using my favorite. Viviva colors, watercolors,
because not only are these colors super
concentrated for vivid color, but they're made with natural, non toxic dyes from the Earth. And all their sets
are made with vegan and 100% biodegradable
materials. I feel responsible to the environment when
I'm using them. If you'd like to
learn more about Viviva colors watercolors, I have a link in the
Projects and Resources tab and in the workbook
where you can get more info. I'm also using various
watercolor brushes, like a medium flat brush and a medium and small
round brushes. But if you can only have
one brush for some reason, the medium round brush
is the most versatile. Overall, I love to use cans, 140 pound cold press watercolor paper because
I love the texture. But you can also use
mixed media paper, which is also heavy enough
to absorb some water. I have a couple of jars of
water to rinse my brushes and some paper towels to clean my brushes with and any messes I might make along the way. I'll also be using
a to be pencil and a polymer eraser that doesn't leave black marks on my paper. But you can even use
a mechanical pencil, a gum eraser, which is also safe to use on your good papers. I also have this small
house painting brush I grabbed from my garage just to brush off
any eraser dust, so I don't use my hands and get my oils on my project paper. I'm going to use a
plain sketchbook to plan out my collection. I'll also be using a
black eight micron pen made by Sikora of Japan
for some detailing. And that's it. You'll find a
full list of the tools and materials I'm used in the workbook Tools and
Materials section. Now it's time to work on colors.
4. The Color Formula: If you're not confident in
building color palettes, I'd like to share
a quick tip that works so well.
It's mind blowing. First of all, I want to
mention that there's no shame in being a beginner or feeling
confused about color. Color is the number one
enigma for my students. Please know that
you are not alone. I believe one of the reasons for this confusion is that color
is such a personal choice, that means everyone
has a different idea of what colors they should use. And I think that's pretty cool. The problem is when there's no clearly defined right
or wrong for using color. But there are a
few guidelines you can follow that make
a lot of sense. In fact, I'll give you a simple
formula that works for me every time I call it the
three part color rule, which assembles colors this way. Plus, plus neutral equals
balanced color palette. Doesn't look so scary, right? Just to keep this
really foolproof, if you take warm and
cool colors that are complementary
colors, in other words, colors that are directly
across the color wheel from each other and pair
them with a neutral. It's hard to go wrong. I did this when I
chose my brand colors. I started with a rusty terra cotta brown that reminded me
of the desert where I live, and paired it with a sky blue. Then I added a soft, warm gray as a neutral to ground this color combo to add
a bit of the unexpected, you can try this with any
complimentary color combo. And you can even use different
tones of these colors, like I did instead of the
standard orange and blue. And it should still work great. Have some fun and play
around with this formula. Then choose three
to four colors, five at the most,
using this formula. And document your final
choice in your workbook, the color palette section, before moving on
to the next video. This project is meant to be
low pressure and playful. Don't overthink your
color choices too much. If you're still confused, go with what you like and
what makes you happiest. Color choices will help
you tell your story without you even having to
think too much about it. Don't stress too
much on this point. Now let's do a quick
recap of this lesson. Use the three part color
formula to choose a warm color, a cool color, and a neutral. Use warm and cool colors that
are complementary colors. To stay in the no fail zone, select three to five color max. In order to keep things simple, you can use different tones of the same colors to keep your palette a little
more interesting. If you're still confused
about your color palette, choose what colors you like or what colors make you happy. These are the colors that you're going to love painting with. If you're not comfortable
with any of this, I'd like to invite you to follow along with me and use my colors. Please know that this formula is something you can always come back to later when you're feeling more
comfortable with it. I can't wait to see
what you came up with. Now it's time to get the
big picture of our project.
5. Storyboarding: Storyboarding is a skill I
introduced in my mood boards. Rethink your process class. It is such a quick
and easy way to get the big picture
view of your project. Picture book illustrators use
this technique to lay out their stories and
the illustrations that go with that story. I use it to decide what
I'd like to paint, which is called subject matter. One way to choose subject
matters is to look at your colors and imagine
what they remind you of. Since my colors
are desert colors, they definitely remind
me of the desert. I'll sketch a quick
desert thumbnail and a small square shape just
to get this a rolling. Even if I don't have
a clear picture of what this desert
scene might look like, I'll just jot
something random down because it will help
me expand the ideas. I'll just keep sketching until I have at least six
of these boxes, but you can keep ongoing
if the ideas keep coming. You can sketch animals,
botanicals, objects. But for the purpose
of this project, it's best to keep them simple. I've decided to sketch a
few of my art supplies because they're fun and I don't paint them enough, honestly. I'll sketch out my
viviva color sheets, set in a couple of views, my favorite brushes and
a few other things. I can choose something totally unrelated to my colors,
like random shapes. I'll put that in another box. Maybe I'll do some abstracts
just to keep it interesting. Standing back to look at
all these thumbnails, I can sort and pick and choose which stand
out to me the most. I really like the
viviva color sheets, thumbnails, and the
brush thumbnail. But I also like some
of these shapes. Maybe I'll combine
some of this to make something interesting
in the workbook. In the storyboarding section, I'm going to quickly
recreate the thumbnails I decided on using
in my final project. And I'll refine them
a bit if needed. Let's do a quick recap of what
we learned in this lesson. Number one, I'm going to use the storyboard technique to get the big picture from my
collection using small squares. I'll make tiny
thumbnail sketches to get my ideas on paper. As I sketch my thumbnails, I'll try to be open
to new ideas that could potentially
shape my collection. When I'm finished, I'm going to take my favorite
thumbnails and recreate them in the
storyboard section of the workbook for
future reference.
6. Final Sketches: Now that I have an idea of what I want my collection
to consist of, it's time to get it down
on watercolor paper. I'm going to take my pencil and eraser and use my
thumbnails as a guide to create some final sketches on each piece of
paper I'm using. I'll be creating a
three piece collection. Keep in mind another
option you can use is one sheet of paper to place all the pieces
of your collection. For example, I created this entire mood board
on one sheet of paper, but each shape holds a
different painting in itself. In the same way, you
can use a sheet of paper to do the same
with this collection. If you don't want to
use separate pieces of watercolor paper
like I'll be doing, I'll be using separate
sheets because I want to be able to frame them
later on if I'd like to. And or photograph them
in a larger format if I want to add them to products
in my POD watercolor shop. As a side note, if I
actually want to frame this, I would use my viviva pan set, because those colors
are light fast, while the color sheets are not. I'll start with a sketch
of the color sheets, then move onto the brushes. I also want to do one
modern abstract piece that features all
the colors I'll be using from my color palette. This will really unify all the pieces and make them feel like they all
belong together. Because not all my
pieces may have all the colors from my
color palette in it. I think I'll do something a
little extra creative with my brush composition by trailing some paint
underneath the brushes. This will help bring more of my colors into this
particular piece. I wasn't envisioning this from
my brush piece originally. But keep in mind
ideas will continue to flow even as your
in creation mode. I consider this one of the most exciting parts
of the creative process. But it can also derail me at
times and cause confusion. If you start to feel like
you can't move forward because there are just too
many ideas in your head, just go with your
simplest one for now and file the rest away. Taking time to document extra ideas makes me
feel like I haven't lost them and gives
me the option to pick them up to use for
different projects. This frees me up to
continue and not get stuck in a beautiful gush
of creative thought. Now let's recap what we
learned in this lesson. Use your thumbnails as
a guide to complete your final sketches of
your collection pieces. Let your ideas flow, but don't get stuck in
a gush of creativity. If you do get stuck, use
your simplest idea now and file the rest away for
later in order to keep moving.
7. Painting 1: Generally in a
collection of pieces, there's one that stands out, one that is the primary
inspiration for all the rest I would say in this case it's the viva
color sheets piece. This piece is the
most defined and inform the other two which are more like support
pieces to this one. This is the one I'll start with. Since I didn't take
time to sketch all the little painted
shapes inside the paint set, I'm just going to
weigh in on that. But that is definitely something that you can do
if you choose to. I don't want this project to
be too fussy or detailed. I wanted to have a playful
vibe which involves more freestyle painting than
careful detailed painting. Because I'm painting this
in my own color palette, it's going to look slightly different than the real thing. Which is fine. I can consider this my very
own interpretation. Now let's recap what we've
learned in this lesson. Find the composition that stands out among the others
as the main piece. Start painting your
main piece and let the others follow.
Think about it. If you want a more
detailed or loose style of painting for your projects, don't worry if
your color palette makes your subject
matter look different. Consider it your own
unique interpretation.
8. Painting 2: Now that my first piece
is done and drying, I can start my second one. I think the next
important piece in the hierarchy of my
collection is my composition. I'll do that one next. I'm going to use my neutral gray for the brush handles
and the bristles. Then a lighter version
for the metal. I'm going to start with
the brush handles. And while that's drying, I'm going to take my
color palette colors and create strokes under where the
bristles would be painted. Now that my brush
handles are dry, I'm going to paint
the metal parts. Instead of a silver
looking metal, I've decided to make
them a light version of my rusty color to
mimic a copper metal. Just the way my brushes look. Now I think it's pretty. And I will give my brushes
a bit more contrast and bring a bit more color into
this composition as well. Once those are dry, I
can paint my bristles. Now I'm done with
my second painting. Let's recap what we've
learned in this lesson. Paint the next important piece in your collection hierarchy. Second, while one
part of your painting is drying paint on
the opposite side to keep your project moving, make any creative
adjustments you like in your composition or colors while your project
is in process. This adds life and some
unexpected surprises that could make this your
favorite project yet.
9. Painting 3: My third and final piece is
my most simple of all three. It's more of a modern or
abstract piece with a twist. I have decided I
want to not only paint these rectangles with
my color palette colors, but I want to make them look like colors from my paint set. I think this will add a bit of fun and whimsy
to this project. While better tying into my
first and second paintings, I'll paint each square and alternating colors
from my color palette. Alternating the
colors throughout this composition will make this more interesting through the
eye by reducing a monotony. And I'll also change the tones of the color to bring interest. Because the brain naturally
wants to connect things, it will keep the
eye bouncing around the composition to find
light colors and shapes. This is exactly what you want in a composition to
keep the eye moving. This means people
will be looking at your painting for longer, telling their brain,
it's a good composition. Now let's recap what we've
learned in this lesson. Let your third piece
be your simplest piece to create balance
in your collection. Make any final
adjustments you want to make in your third piece
before you start painting. Keep the composition
interesting to the eye by alternating your colors
and shapes throughout.
10. The Critique: Now that all my pieces
are finished in dry, I love to place them side by side and take a look
at them as a whole. I like the way the color palette moves throughout each piece. Yet each piece is completely
different than the other. Even though I had a main piece
and a hierarchy of pieces, one piece is not necessarily more important than the other. On the other hand, they all work together to
support one another and tell a story at
the end of the day. Watercolor painting is just
another way of story telling. The story doesn't have to be complicated to be worth telling. I just share my favorite
paint set with you in different forms by creating a watercolor
painting collection. There are no words, but
there is a main character. There are pieces to support
the main character. Give more information
about what's going on and why I love this
paint set so much. All bet there's a story
in your collection to all you have to do is get a little space from
it for a day or two, then look at it from far
away. Then look a little. See what consistencies and
inconsistencies there are. What do you like and what
do you not like about it? Fill out the critiquing your collection section of
the workbook so you can learn more about
what you've painted and keep this info
for future reference. In fact, you can
print this out for every collection project you
ever make to start getting a real picture of
your very own process and begin learning about
developing your style.
11. Next Steps & Thank You!: Your single watercolor paintings will always be beautiful, and nothing can take that away. But when you take a moment to
think about a color palette and use it to unify a collection
of watercolor paintings, it brings your work
to another level, making it more unique,
interesting, and dynamic. I want to thank you
so much for taking the time to watch this
class and learn this skill. I know it will serve
you well and take you further than you
can even see right now. I use collections
for my projects in my creative
business all the time. But even if you're only
creating for personal use, like a collection
of gifts, wall art, or sketchbook art collections, make all of this seem
a bit more inspiring. I can't wait to see how you're using your collections
out in the world. Don't forget to
take pictures and post your project in
the project gallery. I cannot wait to see
what you created. If you need details on how
to upload your project, see lesson two for step
by step instructions. If you'd like to
visit me online, you can find me on my Youtube
channel, on Instagram, on Pinterest, and on
Octopus Connection.com where I share my challenges
membership and courses. Did you know I offer one on one sessions here
on skill share. If you'd like to get some
private instruction to help you with your particular
creative challenges, I invite you to book
a session with me. You don't even have to be a
skillshare member to do it. It will help if you've
watched my other classes. Watercolor, mood boards,
rethink your process. And watercolor and ink
from small illustrations to beautiful themed artwork because they share
related skills. Well, that's all for today, but I look forward to see
you in my next class. Very soon. Bye for now.
Chris V, Artist, Designer, Maker
