Hey Rachel, love your paintings, videos and all the tips. I must have watched every one of your videos at least twice. I have Border Collies so tips for painting black are great, thanks 😃
Thank you Rachel! I have a black cat commission and have never painted a black one before. Listening to your tips and watching your demo has me off and running (painting :) ). Great job!
@@rachelsstudiodotcom I joined All Animals Watercolor and saw that amazing bird you did and started following your channel. :) (or maybe it was one of your dogs/cats)
Great! I love painting animals and don’t have a problem with pastel pencils, but I struggle with watercolour, especially backgrounds. So I loved seeing how easily you put in that background and explained how to “attach” the animal to the background. I will be watching a lot more of your videos. Thank you. I’m even more impressed that as a young mother, you can put in the time for us. I’m retired and still have difficulty finding time to paint!
At this very moment I'm editing a new video while my husband baths the 3 yo. I just fit it in wherever I can! I'm so glad to hear you'll be watching more videos!
rachelsstudiodotcom I’m just breaking out my paints and brushes after many years of collecting dust. I have a black cat I want to paint and that’s how I found you!
@@sseabee6877 I don't have any super beginner videos - but there are a lot on TH-cam! I can say that when I started, I didn't really start simply though. I just started painting what I wanted to and continued to improve my skills by reading books and practicing. Also, my paintings improved drastically when I started using good paint and paper. And start with a good reference photo. That's half the battle! (And don't feel bad about tracing. Painting and drawing are two different skills)
Do you have the ability to do a tracing? I think if you paid closer attention to the hairs around the eyes, and getting the shapes right around the eyes, that would help a lot.
@@karendunn5624 When I use a light board, I print out the picture, put it on the lightboard, put the watercolor paper over the picture, and trace directly onto the watercolor paper. Now I trace in Photoshop, but you may not have that capability.
I'm so glad I found your videos. I do animal portraits in pyrography (wood burning) and use prismacolor pencils for a little bit of color but I'm very very new to watercolor. What was the white you were painting details with at the end of the video? Ink, watercolor or acrylic?
I'm so glad my videos are helpful! I use a product that is discontinued - graphic white. But white gouache is just as good. I also like white gel pens.
Good advice on painting black animals. I would love to see you paint a black sheep. Also, one constructive criticism I can share is not to have the music play until you finish talking.
We has a mostly black sheep (the Jacob breed) when I was growing up, the sun put some gorgeous rust colored highlights in his fleece, his name was Shadow and he was a beauty. I’d love to paint him from a picture I have. 🐑
I’m painting a dog but only starting to paint after years of drawing...Two things, first, i notice people mixing different colours to create black, why not just use the black?, and second, I didn’t take a picture but printed off some of them and when i paint the fur it looks flat, and its so dark that I actually can’t make out how the fur actually looks.
Hello Darby - if you paint large areas with just flat black, it can look really flat. If you look at the fur of a black animal in good light, it will have high and low lights with colors in them. That being said, I have painted my black cat Sadie many times with just black and maybe a little blue here and there. It just depends on the look I'm going for. In the watercolor word, also there are purists who want it to look like sparkly transparent watercolor, and thick chalky black paint in large areas is the opposite of that. So it's part of the watercolor culture to avoid a chalky look with watercolor, and most black paint is chalky. A classic 'watercolor purist' mix for a dark but transparent non chalky black would include a phthalo blue, but I don't like how staining it is. A beautiful black can be had by mixing Winsor Violet, Holbein Aureolin, and Ultramarine Blue. When printing out pictures of a black animal, I actually recently did this trick for my students on Patreon. I lighted a picture in photoshop then printed it out so I could see the cat's contours.
Thanks for the great tutorial Rachel. I haven’t ventured much into animals yet but I sure enjoyed this. Just beautiful . I don’t know how to link anything in the comments but I am @letteringirl on Instagram.
Thank you for visiting! I'll look you up on Instagram. I do wish people could upload pictures to the comments on TH-cam like on FB but I guess TH-cam is afraid it'll get too spammy.
Beautiful painting and great concept for the video with the 3 panes! I like how you control your edges and put variety into colors and values. You can check out my art/music works in progress at my TH-cam channel, The Painterly Flutist.
Great tips on painting black animals!
I'm glad it helps Kristi!
I love your tips! I had a black cat who had gorgeous auburn colors in certain light and purple in other light! What a joy to paint black animals!
Thank you! My Sadie has auburn highlights too.
Thank you for the tips, I’m painting my daughter’s cat and I was so afraid to mess it up. You do beautiful work!
Thank you so much!
Love your paintings❤️
Thank you so much!
Thank you, Rachel. Great tips, as always. I love these short, informative videos......very smart of you to do them....keeps your followers connected.
Thank you Judy ❤❤❤
thanks for those tips, great video!
Glad it was helpful!
Your paintings are really amazing! 🤗❤
Thank you so much!
I appreciate the time it took you to make this video for us... lots of great ideas...
Thank you! I appreciate your taking the time to watch : )
Hey Rachel, love your paintings, videos and all the tips. I must have watched every one of your videos at least twice. I have Border Collies so tips for painting black are great, thanks 😃
Thank you so much and I hope my videos are hehelpful!
Amazing! Thank you so much
You're very welcome!
great tips, thank you!
You're so welcome!
Thanks! Really helpful!
Glad it helped!
Great tips, thank you
My pleasure!
Great job and advice.
Awesome
Glad you liked it!
Very useful Rachel. Thx very much. 🥰
Thanks Alicia!
About to paint my first black kitty!!! Thanks for the tips!
Have fun! I have a whole playlist about painting black animals you may enjoy at th-cam.com/play/PLk8QfRJaMFF13wL64oLHtDWIMNaiBBgsX.html
OMG.. kitty on your painting looks like Roxy ❤❤❤❤❤ your model must have been a brother or sister of Roxy 😻😻😻😻😻 you are so very talented sweetie 👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you- Haha your Roxy is beautiful!
@@rachelsstudiodotcom yes, she is adorable.. Thanks sweetie ❤❤❤❤❤
Thank you Rachel! I have a black cat commission and have never painted a black one before. Listening to your tips and watching your demo has me off and running (painting :) ). Great job!
I'm so glad to hear this! Good luck on your commission! I'm about to release a new black cat tutorial too - it will be available in early September.
Love it, Rachel....you're so interesting to watch....you are awesome!...XOXO
I must get back to my portrait now....hehe ;)
Thank you Nicole - happy painting!
XOXO
Love your paintings. They are so realistic yet painterly at the same time.
I appreciate that. How did you find my videos?
@@rachelsstudiodotcom I joined All Animals Watercolor and saw that amazing bird you did and started following your channel. :) (or maybe it was one of your dogs/cats)
@@SJ-wm8et I'm so glad you did! I hope you have a Happy Holiday!
Great! I love painting animals and don’t have a problem with pastel pencils, but I struggle with watercolour, especially backgrounds. So I loved seeing how easily you put in that background and explained how to “attach” the animal to the background. I will be watching a lot more of your videos. Thank you. I’m even more impressed that as a young mother, you can put in the time for us. I’m retired and still have difficulty finding time to paint!
At this very moment I'm editing a new video while my husband baths the 3 yo. I just fit it in wherever I can! I'm so glad to hear you'll be watching more videos!
You're videos are really helpful and very nicely done. Thank you!
I really appreciate it - do you paint mainly cats?
rachelsstudiodotcom I’m just breaking out my paints and brushes after many years of collecting dust. I have a black cat I want to paint and that’s how I found you!
@@sseabee6877 Black cats can be challenging but they do make beautiful paintings : ) I'm so glad to have you on my channel!!!
rachelsstudiodotcom : thanks. Do you have or can you recommend any beginner tutorials?
@@sseabee6877 I don't have any super beginner videos - but there are a lot on TH-cam! I can say that when I started, I didn't really start simply though. I just started painting what I wanted to and continued to improve my skills by reading books and practicing. Also, my paintings improved drastically when I started using good paint and paper. And start with a good reference photo. That's half the battle! (And don't feel bad about tracing. Painting and drawing are two different skills)
Thanks for this, Rachel. I had a fail with the dog I painted, so I’m rewatching your videos, especially on Patreon.
Do you have the ability to do a tracing? I think if you paid closer attention to the hairs around the eyes, and getting the shapes right around the eyes, that would help a lot.
rachelsstudiodotcom I am looking at light boards. So I would trace the photo then transfer that to my paper, I’m thinking. I always always over work.
@@karendunn5624 When I use a light board, I print out the picture, put it on the lightboard, put the watercolor paper over the picture, and trace directly onto the watercolor paper. Now I trace in Photoshop, but you may not have that capability.
rachelsstudiodotcom thanks!!!! That’s what I’ll try.
@@karendunn5624 When I'm doing a big painting, I'll print out the picture in several segments, then tape them together.
I'm so glad I found your videos. I do animal portraits in pyrography (wood burning) and use prismacolor pencils for a little bit of color but I'm very very new to watercolor. What was the white you were painting details with at the end of the video? Ink, watercolor or acrylic?
I'm so glad my videos are helpful! I use a product that is discontinued - graphic white. But white gouache is just as good. I also like white gel pens.
Wish I had of seen your video before I tried do a watercolour of an Afghan Hound ;( but cool tips for next time ;)
Thank you for watching!
This is very helpful. I have a question. If I’ve already painted a black animal, but didn’t add color, can I add some cool or warm tones at the end?
In light areas you could but in darker areas that probably wouldn't work for watercolor
Good advice on painting black animals. I would love to see you paint a black sheep. Also, one constructive criticism I can share is not to have the music play until you finish talking.
Thank you for your input - I really do appreciate it! If you watch my older videos compared to my newer videos I must say I HAVE come a long way baby.
We has a mostly black sheep (the Jacob breed) when I was growing up, the sun put some gorgeous rust colored highlights in his fleece, his name was Shadow and he was a beauty. I’d love to paint him from a picture I have. 🐑
What is the best brand of Lamp Black, please? Thank you!
I use Winsor & Newton
What did you use for the whiskers?
Masking
This is beautiful. Just subscribed. I left a long comment, but it disappeared. 🤷🏻♀️ I’m @letteringirl on Instagram. Look forward to more tutorials.
It showed up. My comments have been acting weird!
I’m painting a dog but only starting to paint after years of drawing...Two things, first, i notice people mixing different colours to create black, why not just use the black?, and second, I didn’t take a picture but printed off some of them and when i paint the fur it looks flat, and its so dark that I actually can’t make out how the fur actually looks.
Hello Darby - if you paint large areas with just flat black, it can look really flat. If you look at the fur of a black animal in good light, it will have high and low lights with colors in them. That being said, I have painted my black cat Sadie many times with just black and maybe a little blue here and there. It just depends on the look I'm going for. In the watercolor word, also there are purists who want it to look like sparkly transparent watercolor, and thick chalky black paint in large areas is the opposite of that. So it's part of the watercolor culture to avoid a chalky look with watercolor, and most black paint is chalky. A classic 'watercolor purist' mix for a dark but transparent non chalky black would include a phthalo blue, but I don't like how staining it is. A beautiful black can be had by mixing Winsor Violet, Holbein Aureolin, and Ultramarine Blue. When printing out pictures of a black animal, I actually recently did this trick for my students on Patreon. I lighted a picture in photoshop then printed it out so I could see the cat's contours.
Just painted my first attempt at a cat. Lol....Not nearly as good as yours. Will be watching your videos!!!
Keep trying! You can learn the skills you need to paint beautifully!
Thanks for the great tutorial Rachel. I haven’t ventured much into animals yet but I sure enjoyed this. Just beautiful . I don’t know how to link anything in the comments but I am @letteringirl on Instagram.
Thank you for visiting! I'll look you up on Instagram. I do wish people could upload pictures to the comments on TH-cam like on FB but I guess TH-cam is afraid it'll get too spammy.
Beautiful painting and great concept for the video with the 3 panes! I like how you control your edges and put variety into colors and values. You can check out my art/music works in progress at my TH-cam channel, The Painterly Flutist.
Thanks so much 😊
Very helpful. Thank you.
My pleasure Brenda!
Very useful and interesting Video. Thanks a lot. I will add my Instagram profile link
Great!