Will Elliston

Kreativität freisetzen: Aquarell-Tipps für ausdrucksstarke Texturen und Farben

Thank you for sharing this so openly, Jason, and for giving the exercises a second go, that in itself says a lot. I can definitely see a clear improvement in the second set, especially in the sense of structure and confidence in the shapes, so your instincts are working. You are right that my demos rely heavily on leaving areas open and stopping earlier than feels comfortable, and overworking is a very common stage when learning these techniques. Rather than thinking in terms of adding more, it can help to think about protecting what is already working and letting the paper breathe a bit more. These studies are really about restraint and timing, and you are much closer to that balance than you might feel right now. Keep trusting the process, the progress between attempts shows you are moving in the right direction!

I think you did good! Learning takes time and lots of practice. I'm no watercolour expert, but maybe you could try some hot press paper?  What kind of paints are you using? I used to have student grade watercolours in school but I hated them so much. The Daniel Smith watercolours are beautiful pigmented.  Try using a wash that is more wet as well. It takes longer to dry but it gives your paints more opportunity to find their way into each other while you are dropping in your paint.

Hi Jerney! Thanks! I'm using a mish-mash of paints...basically whatever I can afford. For these practices I used Van Gogh, Windsor Newton and Cotman. I have a cool little store close to my neighborhood called "Scraps" where I can get used tubes of wc (sometimes nearly full!) for $2 a tube. I'll look for Daniel Smith colors when I can afford them or certainly if I see them at Scraps! I think you are right with a more wet wash, I guess I'm trying to control watercolor too much - which sounds insane now that I'm typing it out. Haha! Never tried hot-press. It has less texture, right? Which brand of hot-press paper do you use?

Hi Jason! Oh wow, how lucky are you to have a store like that in your neighbourhood! Yes, certainly look out for the DS brand should they have them.  Haha I get it! I stayed away from watercolours for many years because I couldn't handle the lack of control back then. But try to play a little bit more with wet in wet while you let them do their thing. Just some abstract watery blobs will be nice to experiment with. Just drop in some paint (load up your brush with lots of pigment) and watch them do their thing. I don't really have a favourite brand of watercolour paper (yes, Arches is great but that's too expensive for now, that will just make you anxious to mess up and waste the paper). Just find an affordable one to experiment on in a non pressure way. Maybe a size on the smaller side as well. Mixed media paper is also very suitable for that. I like the ones by Canson because they're not that expensive. Where I live anyway. ☺️ I think I can see that you moved the colours with your brush in that sunset sky. Try to let them find their own way wherever the colours meet each other (I hope I'm explaining it clearly). Your scenes are lovely, just play with your watercolours for a while and then try again! Look at me being all bossy, sorry about that 😁 But I see so much potential in your art!

I really appreciate the encouragement and instruction! :)

Thank god, because I always feel so preachy when I get like this haha

I'm on the fence with these. What I mean is that I think they're ok, but the techniques shown by @willelliston I don't think I quite mastered. Will's paintings have plenty of white and bright areas and these smooth transitions, and mine...ehhh...I guess I'm overworking it? Feedback please! I tried these exercises two times, and the second batch shows improvement, but not much. It's all still too dark I think. Not enough white, soft areas.
First Try:
<img srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/7ddcf5f2.png 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/7ddcf5f2.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/7ddcf5f2.png" loading="lazy" alt="Expressive Watercolor - image 1 - student project">
<img srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/8ae344ad.png 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/8ae344ad.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/8ae344ad.png" loading="lazy" alt="Expressive Watercolor - image 2 - student project">
Second Try:
<img srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/12f790dd.png 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/12f790dd.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/12f790dd.png" loading="lazy" alt="Expressive Watercolor - image 3 - student project">
<img srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/7d0cd555.png 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/7d0cd555.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/7d0cd555.png" loading="lazy" alt="Expressive Watercolor - image 4 - student project">

Expressive Watercolor

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