Watercolor Mixing, Finding Your Color Identity
with Ana Victoria Calderón

First up is the Color Wheel and Basic Color Theory exercises.

Watercolor Mixing - image 1 - student project

Next, I decided to follow along with Ana and create the same drawing as hers. I liked this exercise a lot because consciously choosing Only Warm and Only Cool Colors made me more aware of how powerful color choice is and how they each incite different Feelings.

Watercolor Mixing - image 2 - student project

I had been using a variety of watercolor palettes I have collected over the years. One is very low quality and even though I immediately didn't like it, I continued to use it because I thought maybe I'd find some muted colors I'd like. But I ended up being unhappy with the colors I was getting.

Watercolor Mixing - image 3 - student project

My absolute favorite water colors are the Dr. Ph Martins Concentrated Water Color. They are not only so vibrant but they also dry so so smooth and kind of matte. I love them. That's what I used for the first Intuitive Color Mixing palette above on the left.

Below is my second attempt at Color Schemes and Harmony and I think I stuck to using my Winsor & Newton pans. Then I mixed those with the Dr. Ph Martins for the Intuitive Color Mixing.

Watercolor Mixing - image 4 - student project

For the Personal Color Palette I have to admit I got a little intimidated but once I started I had SO much fun with this exercise. I'm excited to create and name more schemes! Only thing is I forgot to write down the colors I used.

My favorite theme is the Sweet Taro.

Watercolor Mixing - image 5 - student project

For my Final Project I used the palette I created in the first Intuitive Color Mixing exercise.

Watercolor Mixing - image 6 - student project Watercolor Mixing - image 7 - student project

And then I scanned the final exercise and cleaned it up a bit in Photoshop.

Watercolor Mixing - image 8 - student project

Final Thoughts: I absolutely loved this class. Even though it seemed like a lot of work, these exercises have helped me feel more confident with my color choices. I've learned to better organize my palette by limiting the tones and creating a scheme. Ana is an excellent teacher that gives so many good tips to improve your techniques and I really like that her classes build upon one another. Such an amazing class and teacher. Thank You Ana!!

Danielle Marie

visual artist

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