Welcome back to your Watercolor Live highlights! On Day 2 this year, we saw more full-length watercolor painting demonstrations with Massimiliano Iocco, Dongfeng Li, Rick Surowicz, Deborah Chabrian, and Jessica Bryant, including sessions with our sponsors: Blick Art Materials (featuring Emily Olson and Kiley Busko), Legion Paper Company, and Art DB.
It’s incredible to watch each painting come to life throughout the day, including the works that attendees (you!) share with us while you paint along!
Center: “Great first day of painting!” ~ Colette Pitcher
Right: “Let’s get painting.” ~ J. Bruce Jones
“Someone in the chat made a great observation yesterday—the theme seemed to be ‘be present as you paint’,” said Kelly Kane. “I thought that was such a lovely reminder. As we’re learning all these fantastic techniques, it’s important to stay in the moment, not get overly caught up in the step-by-step process. Instead, focus on being engaged and responsive to what’s unfolding in front of you.”
Keep scrolling to see what you may have missed …
Watercolor Live Day 2 Highlights
Italian artist Massimiliano Iocco painted a street scene from the village of Tagliacozzo, Italy. He used a mop brush after creating the initial sketch, advising to use more water than color at this stage.
Massimiliano’s composition tip: Try to avoid having the left and right sides of the composition be the same size; this helps the work be well-balanced.
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“China is the only place in the world where watercolor is king,” said Eric Rhoads as he introduced Dongfeng Li, who convinced Eric to visit China in person for an unforgettable plein air painting trip.
Dongfeng demonstrated his process for painting a portrait in watercolor. (Note: He’s joining us at the Plein Air Convention & Expo this year, so sign up now and learn from him in person for a week of fun, learning, and art immersion.)
“It’s amazing they always look like they are making a mess at some point and yet they carry on to an amazing painting! Something to remember along the way when I am ready to give up!” ~ Helen B.
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Rick Surowicz loves to paint winter scenes – but not typical ones: he prefers the “rustic side of winter,” such as the brier bushes, tangled weeds, and sticks found along a frozen river … patterns and textures that most people would overlook.
In his watercolors, he suggests detail using textures and patterns rather than rendering every stick and branch with a tiny brush.
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The connection to the subject is as important as the technical aspects of painting, Deborah Chabrian explained. Her co-host was a “highly paid model,” a pet chicken (who works for arugula). 😉
Deborah explained how color and value are relative, so it’s helpful to establish the surrounding environment (like the chicken coop / house in this example) to guide the color and value of the main subjects (like the chickens).
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“If you’ve got a weird shape that you don’t like,” said Jessica Bryant, “fill in the gaps where it’s light with a darker value to make it one whole shape that’s the same value. It’s a little bit tedious, but it’s better than hating something that happened in your painting.”
Join us NOW at WatercolorLive.com so you don’t miss another minute – the sessions go until Friday evening (EST), and replays are available. See you soon!
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See related articles on the art of watercolor painting here…
