Tag: Watercolour painting

3 Tips for Loose Watercolor Painting (LET GO) | Liron’s Podcast Episode 89

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Today we’ll talk about how to let go, enjoy watercolor, paint loosely and get the results you want!

This episode features audio from my YouTube video on that same topic. You can watch the full vid here:

3 Tips For Loose Watercolor – Summary

1. Small Paper & Large Brush.

This allows you to have more control. A smaller paper is more forgiving, as you don’t need to fill in huge areas and have perfect control over watercolor, and getting an even wash.

On the other hand, the large brush also forces you to give up some of your control, and learn how to PAINT rather than “color” inside the lines.

With that being said, make sure you use a brush with a good tip for those tighter spots.

2. Magic Wand Grip.

Hold the brush at the very back, far from the hairs. This again forces you to give up some control and loosen up, but it also provides you with more control when it comes to the range of motion.

I like to call this the “Magic Wand” grip. I do this whenever possible, and hold the brush closer to the hairs only when I’m working on very fine details.

3. Use Pure Paints.

Instead of mixing and possible over-mixing your paints – try using them purely. This saves you time, and the result is beautiful.

When I got started in watercolor I tended to REALLY over-mix my paint in the palette, so I would always get muted, grayed out paintings.

The cure for this – NOT MIXING at all – turned out to be something I really enjoy doing. And so I’ve been doing that ever since.

I hope you found these tips useful!

Reach Out to Me

Got any questions? Want help with your paintings? Feel free to reach out to me in any of the platforms I’m on, and I’ll be happy to help (:

YouTube – Liron Yanconsky Art

LinkedIn – Liron Yanconsky

Pinterest – Liron Yanconsky

Instagram – @LironYanIL

Twitter – @LironYan

Struggling With Watercolor? I’m Working on a Solution | Liron’s Podcast Episode 81

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Are you struggling with watercolor? Having a hard time getting them to do what you want.

Unfortunately I hear about so many people who quit watercolor painting after having negative experiences.

To address this, I’m working on a course that will help people loosen up, let go, enjoy the painting process and get the results they want!

Course for People Struggling With Watercolor

The course is work in progress. If you want to hear more about it, be sure to listen to the full podcast episode, but here are some things it will include:

  • Freedom generating exercises, techniques, tips and tricks
  • How to automate the painting process
  • Core skills and techniques
  • Full-proof process and methodology for knowing what to do in every stage of the painting process.

Next Steps for Me

I now need to start preparing the marketing material, test out the ideas and see what people react to best.

I’ll then build the course, and start marketing via Facebook Ads and organic (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, here on the podcast etc…).

I’m VERY excited about this one, as it will solve REAL PROBLEMS and FRUSTRATIONS so many aspiring artists have.

Will keep you updated!

Artist Corner – Sergey Kuznetsov

Today we featured Sergey Kuznetsov.

Sergey is a watercolor painting, but mainly he is the chief architect of Moscow!

I actually did a recent episode of Painting Masters featuring him, that you can watch here:

What amazes me the most about his work is his ability to, despite his technical architecture knowledge, let go of that and paint like a true impressionist.

I highly recommend you check out his website:
http://sergey-kuznetsov.com/ru

And Instagram page: @UraganKuznetsov

And here’s where you can find me…

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

Should You Mix Watercolor Paint Brands? Painting Advice!

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In today’s episode (76) of my podcast, I want to answer a question I received several times – Should you mix multiple watercolor paint brands?

The Importance of Watercolor Brands

The question at hand may be tactical, but my answer is also an indication of my general approach to painting and art.

I always try focusing on the 20% that matters. I do that in my art, business and hopefully in life.

There’s always a lot of noise and clutter around what’s really important.

Watercolor painting is already complex as it is – so I’m always trying to simplify the process as much as possible. This is also why I’m a huge fan of using a minimal palette.

Paint > Brand

The quick answer is that I care FAR MORE about the specific paint and its usefulness to me, rather than the brand.

I personally find most (ARTIST GRADE) paints mix well, regardless of brand.

There are certain things you want to be aware of (that I further elaborate on in the episode), such as:

  • Producing a large variety of values
  • Artist grade VS student grade
  • Single pigment / multiple pigments
  • Granulation
  • Lightfastness

I hope you find the explanation in the episode helpful, and that it allows you to change your focus from specific brands and into specific paints.

And by the way, if you want to watch the video from which I grabbed the audio for this episode, be sure to check it out here:

And with that, it is time for the Artist Corner

Artist Corner – Jennifer Branch

Today I showcase Jennifer Branch, a watercolor painter from Georgia, US.

I love her simplistic impressionistic painting style, as well as focus on happy colors.She has a way of simplifying a scene in a skilled way that preserves its original essence.

Some of her work reminds me of Shari Blaukopf’s work, although the latter’s work has more of an “urban sketching” vibe to it.

Be sure to check out Jennifer’s work here: Jennifer Branch’s Website

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

The Value of REPETITION in PAINTING – Improve Fast & Efficiently | Liron’s Podcast Episode 72

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In this episode I’m talking about repetition – a valuable exercise for improving your drawing and painting skills FAST and EFFICIENTLY.

Table of Contents

1. Repetition in Painting and Drawing
2. Worse 2nd Attempt
3. Internalize
4. Loosen Up
5. Recognizing Recurring Mistakes
6. Conclusion

1. Repetition in Painting and Drawing

Repetition is a great tool for improving. It involves painting or drawing the same subject several times.

This allows for more focused learning, and unlocks some obvious (and less obvious) benefits.

2. Worse 2nd Attempt

Surprisingly enough, you may find that in your repeated efforts you actually do worse.

That’s to be expected.

The 2nd time around, working on the same subject, you lack that same spontaneity that characterized the first version.

You may also have some “arrogance” (very natural, not blaming you (;), and a feeling you “already know” the subject.

Don’t let that deter you from doing this. Even when you don’t notice, you are learning and improving.

3. Internalize

Drawing the same subject / scene several times, allows you to internalize a part of the process, and focus on a different one.

As mentioned, you may find some of your result to be worse, but other aspects may be better.

So take the good with the bad. 

Whenever you try an “extreme” technique, it tends to be accompanied by some growing pains.

Whenever I have a streak of great paintings – I am happy, but also weary of the fact it means I may not be growing.

4. Loosen Up

One side-effect of repetition, that is barely discussed, is how it sets you free and helps you loosen up.

Doing something a second time, and DELIBERATELY at that, makes you less worried about the end result. You can just paint yet ANOTHER version!

This freedom helps you loosen up without you even noticing. And it will show in some of the later attempts.

That’s especially true if you are as impatient as I am. The fear of boredom in the 2nd and 3rd iterations actually motivates me to try something different!

5. Recognizing Recurring Mistakes

That’s really the gist of this exercise. Doing repetitions of the same subject will bring to surface recurring mistakes that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

And that’s probably the biggest benefit of doing this.

6. Conclusion

I hope this episode encourages you to give this exercise a try.

And by the way, creating a small preparatory painting for a larger piece, or even just a preparatory sketch – are also a form of repetition.

It’s up to you to decide just “how much” repetition you are interested in doing.

And with that, let’s move onto the artist corner!

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Samuel Colman, an English painter. He lived from 1780-1845, and painted mostly portraits and landscapes.

His landscapes are what really grabbed me about his art. It’s rooted in realism, with an added layer of surrealistic atmosphere

You can check out some of his works here: Samuel Colman. I also recommend doing a Google Images search.

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron

Let Vision Lead Your Technique

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In today’s episode I want to share with you a concept I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and that is of vision.

Vision is how we see the world. Every artist (and person for that matter) probably has a different vision of what they see.

That is why different artists create in different ways and notice different things.

Vision Leading Technique

My premise here is that there’s a way to create very clearly. To make the gap between your vision and your result as small as possible.

That is – to allow your vision lead the painting process rather then technique.

When you let technique lead the way, you may approach every painting the same way.

But every painting is different, and every scene is different.

So if you allow VISION to lead instead, you may end up with a better result.

Unique & Highly Personalized Art Style

The coolest part is this – it will probably also be more unique. Because you effectively “cleaned” your representation of reality.

This applies, by the way, to abstract art too! The reality I’m referring to can be a real physical scene, or the vision you have in your head.

I hope you found this helpful. The next time you create, try forgetting about technique, or the “correct” way of doing something. Instead – try to represent what  you see as clearly as you wish, regardless of process.

And let me know how it goes!

Artist Corner

Today I talked about Wendy Artin. I was recommended by a follower to check her work out. And I must say – it’s incredible!

She does lots of figurative work, and has some very unique processes and approach.

I actually covered her in my Painting Masters series. You can check that episode out here (:

And Here’s where you can find me

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

I hope you enjoyed this one. Take care, and we’ll talk again really soon,

— Liron