The point in your video, that helped me the most was when you dried your brush off to make the wash in the pallet darker value. Thank you for that I always just added more paint to the wash to create a darker value. I didn't know I don't need to do that.
Thanks so much For this video! I’m am totally new to watercolor and one thing that has frustrated me is that watercolorists on You Tube don’t often show their palette as they do tutorials so it is a challenge to learn paint/water mixing and handling. Great video for newbies!
I’m teaching beginner watercolor classes. This was a great help because there is so much information to show/explain to students that it helped me organize my plans. What warm and cool primary colors would you suggest to start out with? I love your painting style and your work is amazing! Thanks for all your inspiration!
Thank you for this! I've been painting in watercolor for several years and wondering why I don't get a strong enough color from my palette. Learning the qualities of the different brushes was really informative. I never realized that a "thirsty brush" is sometimes what I need and other times I need a more synthetic snappy brush.
Exactly what I was after as a beginner. I liked the pace and the level of information that you packed in. I see I will need to practice my water to paint ratios. Thanks.
Thank you! So happy to hear 🙏😊 I always fall down very niche and specific (sometimes advanced) rabbit holes haha I need to do more of these straight forward videos for beginners.
Thanks liron this has been very helpful i didn't realise i was using too much water and can use much less for the results im after. I love washes and end up with soaked paper. Im always hearing juicy brush and plenty ready mixed in pallet which i think has lead to toooo much water problem and now i can try practicing what you have demonstrated here so fingers crossed 😂👍
So happy to hear 😁🙏🏼 Thank you! Yes - this can go both ways. I’m the other way around - always have to make sure there’s enough water. It’s much easier for me to neglect this
My pleasure 🙏😊 It's hard to remember how things were once they are ingrained intuitively. But I can still remember really well how I felt doing wet in wet and completely messing up the timing etc...
I am not a beginner but I always find value in your videos. For me today, it was keeping a pool of color on the warm side separate from the cool side. Many times you give me wonderful reminders of things that I knew but forgot. Thanks for being one of my favorite artists to follow.
This is a great video, Liron. I'm sure it will really help a lot of us. Two of the things that were a challenge for me in the beginning were: 1. Mixing enough paint to cover a large area and, 2: Getting the paint-to-water ratio right with the rigger. I still have to remind myself sometimes. :) Thank you so much. I don't have any problem with your voice "moving around". I like the new setup. You're doing a great job!
Haha, thank you so much 😊🙏🏼 Yes - we’re very similar in those regards. Had the exact same issues. What’s so funny is it took me SO LONG to figure out I wasn’t mixing enough paint 😂
Thank you Liron! You are honest and real with your viewers and it’s so refreshing. Thank you for making these videos for those of us who need to learn about watercolor. You’re very helpful and kind.
This was EXACTLY the info I wanted to know! I know this is basic, sure, but as someone who has never painted before (besides as a kid with those crayola paints), I have no how to actually handle paints more effectively. Thank you!!!
This is EXACTLY what I needed when I got started! And I don’t see nearly enough tutorials of this out there, so I had to make one 😉 Thank you for watching 😊🙏🏼
I l learn every day your on. Your an inspiration to me. I stop anything I do and it’s my time with you, and I paint. Nobody dares to interrupt. It’s my refuge spot and my salvation to paint. Time goes on and I don’t réalisé! Thank you so much.Take care.you are very important to us and we are proud to learn from a such talented artist. I’m honoured.
That is amazing! Being able to carve out that time and have it clean and uninterrupted is a really important habit (or shall I say - ritual!) ^_^ Thank you so much for joining me and watching the videos 😊🙏🏼
I have a question you may want to address in your videos. What is the significance of warm and cool colours with respect to colour mixing? For example, if I want to mix a warm colour, do I mix a warm with a warm? If I want to mix a cool, do I mix a cool with a cool? And then what about mixing a warm with a cool?
I simply treat this as a scale (: If I want a warm result, I’ll have to mix at least a 51%-49% and above (where the 51% is warm). And then, if I want to warm it up more I’ll just increase the percentage of warm. And vice versa. Warm colors are red and yellow. Cool is blue. And that’s pretty much how I see it in my mind (: Let me know if you have any follow up questions. I can also do a vid on the topic if it gets too complex 😊🙏🏼 Thank you!
@@LironYan I'm a Beginner and find that is the most confusing aspect of painting. I know what is warm and cool but don't know if I should be mixing all warm together or warm & cool? I really liked this video thanks.
Pls excuse me.. I want to join this conversation. I am also a beginner. As a beginner I don't have much material yet, I mean my pallete color is limited to the basic color. In my opinion for sure we always can mix any color, warm and cool. We can mix red with blue to get violet. More blue will get deeper violet and more red get purple. Also we could mix red and viridian. More red we get brown and more green than red plus little bit yellow we will get more olive green. There's no limitation in mixing color. In my first process of learning color I did a color chart wheel. To knowing what color I can get from the material I have.
Very helpful video - well done. Could you tell us which brushes you used? You mentioned the Princeton but there are many different Princeton models. TIA
I liked the difference you pointed out between hard synthetic brushes and soft naturals; how hard brushes pick up more paint from the pans. That was something new I learnt today. Great engaging style you have. :)
Thank you so much. This was very enlightening. I retired and want to pick up from where I left off before life got crazy and I couldn't paint. Products have changed greatly and it's wonderful to be able to connect electronically and reawaken what has been put on the backburner for way too long.
Thanks for showing your palette and how you work. I am setting mine up (same product) and have my colors arranged. Having a cool and warm mixing space and cleaning were a bonus.
I love your videos, Liron. And thank you for this one, as I am new to watercolors. I have trouble with 2 things- 1- getting the paint to release from my brush to the palette and so 2- when I'm mixing colors on the palette, I feel like I rinse (waste) so much paint out of my brush before dipping into the next color. If I scrape the brush along the edge of the palette it helps, but it looks nothing like what you're doing. Thanks.
Hmmm, interesting. Not 100% sure what you mean, but it sounds like you may actually just need to use more water and more paint. Like - MORE in general (: When I got started and I was a little timid, I had similar trouble. The more confident I became, the more I easily dipped my brush into the paint, and also brought a lot of water into the mix. I hope this helps. If you meant something else let me know and I’ll do my best to help 😊 Thank you 😊🙏🏼
Is your palette new? He mentions in another video the way new palettes bead until you break them in. You could get a ceramic plate and compare so see if it does the same thing.
Thanks for this video Liron. I'm not a beginner, but this info could have saved me a lot of frustration when I first started. I like the tip at the end concerning mixing a big pool of paint. I often mix too little and regret it.
Thanks for pointing to this crucial aspect of watercolor painting. As a beginner, it is a challenge - when is it too much water and when not? I will start now using an old sponge tissue as well, very handy! Thank you for the great job!
Good teacher - thank you for the basics - can’t wait till this is all automatic! I’m getting much better, thanks to you, but love watching the basics again.
Thank you just what i needed. I was wondering how to stop the bubble of paint Now i know less water and dab the brush onto a towel I would never have thought of that it works very well
Wow. Thank you. I didn't even know what my paint and palette questions were; pretty sure you answered all of them in this rad video, though. You make it click for me, and I'm eternally grateful. Thanks again, Liron!
Hi watching this video again which is brilliant..easy to take in the information..kept short and simple. I wonder if you would make a short video showing this information in action with a simple painting showing warm cool light dark. Values info. Starting with a clean pallet so we dont miss any Which we can see being mixed then applied. I love your colour choices but rarely see you mixing. The brush turns up like magic from off screen 😂 . So we cant see what you did to make the changes . Hope this makes sense 😜 maybe people could vote in favour if they would like to see this and you can decide if its worth you producing it Thanks liron
Thank you! Will definitely try and show more of my palette in future videos (: In the last few painting processes I actually show the palette action fully, so I hope they're a little more helpful! And maybe a slower tutorial, showing the palette while painting something basic - is a good idea ^_^
Liron, you reference the brand and size of your brushes, and then their performance characteristics. I think this might mislead the beginners. You need to mention the product line, or better yet the brush material, as that is what determines the performance characteristics. For example, the third brush (I think) you say is a #12 and soft and Carrie's a lot of water. Most likely, it is a natural brush, possibly a squirrel or sable.
Yes, that is true, it's important knowing what the brush's hairs are made of. I believe the rigger and Princeton are the only synthetic ones I have. Thank you for pointing that out (:
Thank you, Liron!! This is the kind of stuff that newbies like myself question and that you can never find online. A lot of helpful info, even if basic :) I really struggle with using my palette, getting frustrated and turning all my paints into mud lol. Thank you for making this! Time to practice :)
I am still a beginner after 10 years painting I have never understood the difference between softer and firmer brushes and how they absorb paint and water Would love to see more about these brushes Thank you
I am a beginner and have mostly been teaching myself. Watercolor is a new medium for me, I am used to being able to precisely control the amount of color going on the paper with colored pencils or pastels, but was having difficulty understanding how to get enough of a given color from the pan, deposit it on a clean spot, get a new color from the pan and create a new color. Once I get the color I want sometimes I run out and have to mix more and doing the same color twice is hard for me
Yes, watercolor is a completely different beast (: The challenges are totally different, but it also comes with its unique gifts. I remember when I got started, almost a decade ago, the very REASON I was so motivated was the fact it elluded me 😁 It does become much much easier (and FUN) once the basic technique becomes more intuitive.
Great video. Quick question...I see a lot of people dip their brush into a well to get some pigment, but their brush is not clean and has other color on it. They end up with dirty wells. It seems like common practice. Does this reduce the effect of a pigment? If so, at what point do you have to clean it out and replace the paint?
Great question, I should probably do a full vid about it (: But generally speaking - it's nearly impossible not to have the wells mix (you can use a different brush for different colors, make sure to always clean etc... but to me it's not worth the effort). So it's a question of RATIOS. If you dip a brush that has a little blue into a yellow well - it will contaminate it a bit. But if you pick up enough yellow, it'll overpower the blue very easily. Another point to remember is that when you go through a well and use a wet brush on it, a lower layer of the paint is exposed. That layer is pure, as it was hidden under the top most layer. This is very true for harder paints, but also applies to softer ones (: Hope that makes sense!
I’m loving your videos Liron. My question is about paper. You talk a lot about the ratio of water to paint, but I haven’t seen anything on how wet your paper is. Do you prewet, or paint on dry paper?
I have watched this video @ least three times. Feel certain I will again. Very valuable information for beginners; easy to understand. T. Y. for presenting it.
Hmmm, I don't have one exactly on that, but you may find these helpful (: How to get an even wash - th-cam.com/video/3sXgoiGHWc0/w-d-xo.html Painting using this technique for more complex shapes and details - th-cam.com/video/eZgnOrmNsYg/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for your video. I have a very basic question, how do you stop your pallet from turning into a murky mess when the colours are wet and mixing together? I don't understand. do you have to use several pallets at once to stop this happening? Thank you so much
The answer is - I don’t (: I simply add more of the color I want, in order to push the mix in that direction. And even if your wells with paint in them get contaminated (like the worst case scenario - blue in yellow) - after a few brush rubs the original paint comes through. If you do want to clean your mixing space once in a while - nothing wrong with that. Find what works for you. It can sometime make the mixing of the next color easier.
How do you avoid color contamination in the wells? For example, you mix red in the mixing area, then pick the yellow from the well to add to the mix. Do you need to clean the brush before picking up yellow? Or is it not important to keep the colors in the wells pure?
Thank you! I'm a new subscriber, and find this very useful as a beginner. Using pans, I have a problem preparing bigger washes, like for a sky or big background.. It feels like the paint will not release enough from my brush onto the palette for mixing. I always run out of paint.
My pleasure 😊🙏🏼 Happy you found this helpful! Sometimes what you mention will depend on the brand. With Schmincke, for example, I found the paints in pans rewet VERY easily. Same with St. Petersburg's White Nights. Sometimes specific colors will also behave differently. And sometimes you just have to work a lot in order to prepare a large enough quantity of paint, and there's not other solution (:
Liron Yanconsky, thank you for this helpful video. I am a beginner :) I have a question: I hear that when you are paining with watercolor its necessary to go from a lighter to a stronger value. How can I manage that on the palette? Thank you so much!
Can you use watercolor from a premade watercolor pallet to mix and set up an empty pallet, or do you have to always use tube paint. I have bought myself a set of Melang watercolor from Asia and I want to blend my colors and save them for a few days for a day or two because I am disabled and it will take a full day and night to regain the strength to paint
very very helpful -and I couldn't find anyone else who could explain this as my colours were looking so washed out and not very vibrant - it seems obvious now but it didnt before, so many thanks. I like your enthusiasm for the subject. One question - you mentioned about mixing paint on the palette - do you clean your brush when you reach for the second colour to mix with or go straight from one colour to the other? I have been going too far I think and dipping my brush in the water between both colours..and worse..not drying the brush.. to avoid contaminating the paint but..what a surprise...my colour isnt vibrant.Any tips about colour mixing and how the brush should travel between the two?
So happy I could help 😊🙏🏼 I will usually give the brush a quick dip in the water bucket, then towel (just a light dab, barely touching), then onto the other color. HOWEVER - If it's colors that are somewhat close to one another - I'll probably not clean at all! So yellow / red / orange etc - I won't. But if it's a blue and then yellow - I probable will clean the brush. But sometimes I won't, even in this case haha.
It's a Mijello airtight 18 well palette! (: You should be able to get it off Amazon. As for the tube paints, I'm simply pouring some into the wells, and letting them dry there. Nothing too complex 😉 Tubes tend to end up being cheaper than pans per ml, so I prefer them.
Good day Liron, thanks for your video, I am starting in the watercolor and I went to buy colors to learn to mix, I bought the primary but the seller offered me another 3 primary because she said that they were cold and other warm, I want you please to tell me what the difference is, because yes, are different colors come out. She told me that the cold primaries are: lemon Yellow, Manganese Blue Hue and Quinacridone Red And the primaries warm are: Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red medium hue and Ultramarine Blue, can you tell me if is right and what is the difference to use with?? I hope you can see this message and have your precious answer. Thank you 🙂
Liron, something about this confuses me all the time, (1) it's where I see someone....grabbing a color, brings it to the mix area, then goes to another color and before they go to the mixing area they dab it in their water and back to the pan to grab more color and then into the mixing area. Now when I see this it really confuses me because aren't they releasing the pigment they initially grabbed? why go to the water, just to go back to the pan and then to the mixing area, seeing they made one trip to the pan already? (the value is no different when they do this...its like they add an extra step sometimes....did they maybe want a little more water and made a mistake and sacrificed pigment out of necessity for speed? is it a bad habit? or is this actually something? Hope this makes sense....from my understanding, sometimes you may want to go a value lighter after your initial stroke, so one would do a quick dab in the water to release a little pigment to get a lighter value...maybe this is wasteful? are they correcting value? is this normal to do? seeing one could just add a little water to the mixing area to get a lighter value. Hope all this makes sense thank you and Happy New Year 2022! P.S. I really need to learn how to hmmm for lack of better words "Drive" the brush around the palette and paints and to the paper
I just found this old video which very interesting because I still have problem in controling how much water in my brush. Actually I have a question about paper. I think every paper has different character. Could you show me how to manage the amount of water in our brush for different paper, concerning to get different tone and color value.
How long did it take for the watery paint to stop beading on that palette? I'd buy one if I knew the beading would stop. Beading never did stop on a few of my palettes.
I honestly don't mind the beading ^_^ But it didn't go away on its own. I actually used some steel wool and rubbed it (gently!) on the palette's mixing areas. It helps reducing it (:
Just want to let you know I enjoy your videos very much. I love seeing into the minds of other artists and I find you very interesting. Ps. I love that you quit Patreon not that it's not a great thing for artists but we have similar views on wanting to share our art mind with the world without restrictions and I just wanted to tell you I respect you for standing by your "ethics" (I think that's the right word choice) Cheers, I'll always watch your videos and hope you have a great weekend
I'm just adding because I'm at the end of your video and you're asking viewers opinions and if it helped. I am a professional acrylics artist up until a year ago I had no interest in watercolors I was happy with the mediums I was using. I have fallen completely in love with watercolors, expanded my color theory and paint and pigment knowledge over this last year. I use watercolor daily as my warm up for my acrylics work. I like that I can do fast fun little paintings and experiments in such a short time. My hardest thing to learn has been the brushes, water control, paint and pigment control. It's so different for me than using acrylics I know acrylics and I am very controlled when using them. What I like most is watercolor is still unpredictable to me, the brushes and water control vs pigments are hard to learn the feeling of. Like getting to a place where you just know what brush how much water and pigment will have which result. I agree with you completely and appreciated reviewing these basics. Value and sketches are the same no matter what medium but learning to master knowing how much, how not to overwork when to let the color bleed ect. Those are things that just take practice and a quick overview like this summarizing it all into easy little bits of information to digest just reinforces what I've been learning and lets me know ya I'm doing good, keep practicing. Also a struggle for me is knowing how to go in with my second layer to darker the values and keep my edges soft without reactivating the work underneath and lose my light values. I appreciated how you explained the brushes and best ways to achieve value your going for, (paint strength) and I also appreciated the info about making a larger paint mixture to compensate and keep my wash even and having enough for a juicy brush. I never put enough paint and the brush soaked it all then have to remix and it's hard to get the exact same mixture to match.with my acrylics it dries so fast that I use small amounts of paint at a time unless I'm doing a specific color mixture that I know I'll need a lot of. So with watercolor because they reactivate so easy it's okay to put more. With acrylics I'm just wasting expensive paint, so I find some thing opposite to how I've worked for many years. I hope this makes sense. Anyways your brilliant and I love your style xo
Wow - thank you so much for this super-high-quality feedback! 😊🙏🏼🙏🏼 It’s really helpful to hear your unique perspective and the things you struggle with. You put it to words perfectly. I’ll try to address more of these issues in future videos. Quick note regarding what you mentioned about the second layer and reactivating the paint - as long as you are not being extremely aggressive and “redundant” with the second layer, it shouldn’t reactivate the first / previous layer(s) so easily. If that’s the case - I’d ask what paper you’re using. If it’s cheap - consider upgrading (: Thank you so much for the kind words too 😊🙏🏼 much appreciated!
@@LironYan thank you back . I should have separated the comments, so sorry... You're right about the watercolor paper. The first watercolor paper I bought was arches hot pressed 140lb in a 11*14 format (4sheets) from Jackson's through amazon. Honestly it's the nicest paper I've ever owned. It has watermarks I'm smiling as I write that..it's been sitting in my drawer since I bought it. It was so nice and I didn't want to ruin it by cutting it. So i bought a Bockingford pad and the 400 series Strathmore to practice.The Bockingford hot press is okay, it's a little streaky when doing washes so to help that I've been using polychromos to adjust the final painting when needed. the strathmore is harder to use than the Bockingford, I can't work in long sessions with it, it doesn't take layering well at all and you're right I've had this paper pile even though I was as being gentle. Ive tried many other cheap papers some are usuable but never a fantastic quality ...2 days ago I ordered an arches pad cold pressed so I won't feel bad about ruining the 11*14 single sheets. I think this will help a lot. :) Thank you for your advice, Do you have a suggestion for a slightly cheaper alternative to the arches that is still 100% cotton and you personally enjoy using? I'll check back through the videos too to see if I can find. I think that Saunders is your second but it's been a little while since I watched that one so I may be wrong. Hope you have a great week!
No worries about the comments (: And yes - you are absolutely correct. Saunders Waterford is my ultimate fav. If you can get it cheaper than Arches - I would highly recommend it. If not, I'm unsure, as I'm not that well versed in many others. I think Sennelier was decent. I also know I didn't like any student grade paper I tried so avoid these if possible (Cotman and the likes).
@@LironYan I will definitely take your advice, thank you for taking the time to help me out. I'm going to shop around for cost but will get one of those two brands when there on sale.. I won't be buying the student grade any longer. I've been watching your videos for a while now (since I saw your video with a I
If you have a pallet with dry paint & do not have 17 brushes how do you keep each color pure and best way to put on my pallet?? Ty just a beginner & this helped me as water control is the hardest part for me & getting the paint out of each block?
Thank you Paula! (: In short - I don't! Part of my process and desired style is letting things mix together a bit. I like the organic and natural feeling created by avoiding "perfect" or pure colors. However - I do clean the brush when switching from paint to paint, and I also have a water bucket that has 3 wells, so I could decide one is for warm colors, another is for cool etc. And that can help prevent some mixing. I hope that helps!
@@LironYan Ty as I’m just beginning & really don’t know all the color mixtures as can get that brown you don’t want (lol) so right now until I get better at mixing them doing my best to keep the colors pure & one day maybe can do like you a little bit. Ty
The thing is Liron I find everyone of any level can gain a few pointers from your videos to expand their knowledge.
Agreed completely, I so had to add this to your comment xo
Haha so happy to hear 😊🙏🏼 Then my work has the impact I want it to have.
Thank you so much (both of you!).
It’s like Liron is answering the questions in my mind!
The point in your video, that helped me the most was when you dried your brush off to make the wash in the pallet darker value. Thank you for that I always just added more paint to the wash to create a darker value. I didn't know I don't need to do that.
As a super beginner, I want to thank you for these videos! They are so very informative and educational. Your art is simply outstanding BTW.
Thank you so much!! 😊🙏🏼
Thanks so much For this video! I’m am totally new to watercolor and one thing that has frustrated me is that watercolorists on You Tube don’t often show their palette as they do tutorials so it is a challenge to learn paint/water mixing and handling. Great video for newbies!
So happy to hear 😊🙏🏼
I don’t always have a good shot of my palette, but I try to show it as much as possible! (:
Thank you so much!
I’m teaching beginner watercolor classes. This was a great help because there is so much information to show/explain to students that it helped me organize my plans. What warm and cool primary colors would you suggest to start out with? I love your painting style and your work is amazing! Thanks for all your inspiration!
this is the basic explanation ive been looking for
Happy to hear! 😁🙏🏼
Thank you for this! I've been painting in watercolor for several years and wondering why I don't get a strong enough color from my palette. Learning the qualities of the different brushes was really informative. I never realized that a "thirsty brush" is sometimes what I need and other times I need a more synthetic snappy brush.
Exactly what I was after as a beginner. I liked the pace and the level of information that you packed in. I see I will need to practice my water to paint ratios. Thanks.
Thank you! So happy to hear 🙏😊
I always fall down very niche and specific (sometimes advanced) rabbit holes haha
I need to do more of these straight forward videos for beginners.
Thanks for the beginner videos. Almost two years on and I feel like a never-ending beginner! These videos always help.
Welcome to painting 😉🎨 I feel the same haha
Thank you Liron.
These are very helpful beginner videos.
Good reminders. 🎉
Thanks liron this has been very helpful i didn't realise i was using too much water and can use much less for the results im after. I love washes and end up with soaked paper. Im always hearing juicy brush and plenty ready mixed in pallet which i think has lead to toooo much water problem and now i can try practicing what you have demonstrated here so fingers crossed 😂👍
So happy to hear 😁🙏🏼 Thank you!
Yes - this can go both ways. I’m the other way around - always have to make sure there’s enough water. It’s much easier for me to neglect this
Thank you for being self aware of how far off your mind is vs us beginners. You REALLY helped me learn a lot with this video. I appreciate you
My pleasure 🙏😊
It's hard to remember how things were once they are ingrained intuitively.
But I can still remember really well how I felt doing wet in wet and completely messing up the timing etc...
You are terrific. I'm so glad I discovered your videos. I'm a beginner and need to learn useful techniques.
Thank you David! 😊🙏🏼 Happy the vids are useful
I am not a beginner but I always find value in your videos. For me today, it was keeping a pool of color on the warm side separate from the cool side. Many times you give me wonderful reminders of things that I knew but forgot. Thanks for being one of my favorite artists to follow.
Liron’s clean palette era
I'm on a Beginner-Beginner level. Thank you for this video
So happy I could help 😁🙏🏼 thank you!
Brit's College Life have you progressed?
This is a great video, Liron. I'm sure it will really help a lot of us. Two of the things that were a challenge for me in the beginning were: 1. Mixing enough paint to cover a large area and, 2: Getting the paint-to-water ratio right with the rigger. I still have to remind myself sometimes. :) Thank you so much. I don't have any problem with your voice "moving around". I like the new setup. You're doing a great job!
Haha, thank you so much 😊🙏🏼
Yes - we’re very similar in those regards. Had the exact same issues.
What’s so funny is it took me SO LONG to figure out I wasn’t mixing enough paint 😂
The thumbnail is beautiful 😍
Thank you Liron! You are honest and real with your viewers and it’s so refreshing. Thank you for making these videos for those of us who need to learn about watercolor. You’re very helpful and kind.
This was EXACTLY the info I wanted to know! I know this is basic, sure, but as someone who has never painted before (besides as a kid with those crayola paints), I have no how to actually handle paints more effectively.
Thank you!!!
This is EXACTLY what I needed when I got started!
And I don’t see nearly enough tutorials of this out there, so I had to make one 😉
Thank you for watching 😊🙏🏼
this was super helpful!! There aren't a lot of videos out there that give such clear instruction on water vs pigment
Much appreciated, great video!!
When his test page still looks better than anything I’ve ever managed to paint.... 😂
This helped! Specifically, the way the different brushes behave. Also, the behavior of damp vs wet brushes. ☺️ Thank you!
I l learn every day your on. Your an inspiration to me. I stop anything I do and it’s my time with you, and I paint. Nobody dares to interrupt. It’s my refuge spot and my salvation to paint. Time goes on and I don’t réalisé! Thank you so much.Take care.you are very important to us and we are proud to learn from a such talented artist. I’m honoured.
That is amazing! Being able to carve out that time and have it clean and uninterrupted is a really important habit (or shall I say - ritual!) ^_^
Thank you so much for joining me and watching the videos 😊🙏🏼
I have a question you may want to address in your videos. What is the significance of warm and cool colours with respect to colour mixing? For example, if I want to mix a warm colour, do I mix a warm with a warm? If I want to mix a cool, do I mix a cool with a cool? And then what about mixing a warm with a cool?
I simply treat this as a scale (:
If I want a warm result, I’ll have to mix at least a 51%-49% and above (where the 51% is warm).
And then, if I want to warm it up more I’ll just increase the percentage of warm.
And vice versa.
Warm colors are red and yellow. Cool is blue. And that’s pretty much how I see it in my mind (:
Let me know if you have any follow up questions. I can also do a vid on the topic if it gets too complex 😊🙏🏼 Thank you!
@@LironYan I'm a Beginner and find that is the most confusing aspect of painting. I know what is warm and cool but don't know if I should be mixing all warm together or warm & cool? I really liked this video thanks.
Pls excuse me.. I want to join this conversation. I am also a beginner. As a beginner I don't have much material yet, I mean my pallete color is limited to the basic color. In my opinion for sure we always can mix any color, warm and cool. We can mix red with blue to get violet. More blue will get deeper violet and more red get purple. Also we could mix red and viridian. More red we get brown and more green than red plus little bit yellow we will get more olive green. There's no limitation in mixing color. In my first process of learning color I did a color chart wheel. To knowing what color I can get from the material I have.
Very helpful video - well done. Could you tell us which brushes you used? You mentioned the Princeton but there are many different Princeton models. TIA
I liked the difference you pointed out between hard synthetic brushes and soft naturals; how hard brushes pick up more paint from the pans. That was something new I learnt today. Great engaging style you have. :)
Thank you 😊🙏🏼 So happy I could help!!
Thank you so much. This was very enlightening. I retired and want to pick up from where I left off before life got crazy and I couldn't paint. Products have changed greatly and it's wonderful to be able to connect electronically and reawaken what has been put on the backburner for way too long.
As someone who just got their first watercolor palette this helped a lot and I feel more confident in starting to work with this medium
Watched this again, you teach so well. Good refresher for me. Thank you for sharing your skills.
I would like to thank all of the Subscribers for the questions that prompt this type of video.
Liron, as usual you Rock!
Thanks for showing your palette and how you work. I am setting mine up (same product) and have my colors arranged. Having a cool and warm mixing space and cleaning were a bonus.
I love your videos, Liron. And thank you for this one, as I am new to watercolors. I have trouble with 2 things- 1- getting the paint to release from my brush to the palette and so 2- when I'm mixing colors on the palette, I feel like I rinse (waste) so much paint out of my brush before dipping into the next color. If I scrape the brush along the edge of the palette it helps, but it looks nothing like what you're doing. Thanks.
Hmmm, interesting. Not 100% sure what you mean, but it sounds like you may actually just need to use more water and more paint. Like - MORE in general (:
When I got started and I was a little timid, I had similar trouble. The more confident I became, the more I easily dipped my brush into the paint, and also brought a lot of water into the mix.
I hope this helps. If you meant something else let me know and I’ll do my best to help 😊
Thank you 😊🙏🏼
Is your palette new? He mentions in another video the way new palettes bead until you break them in. You could get a ceramic plate and compare so see if it does the same thing.
Thank you so much..I have watched lots of videos but never one that covers this NEED TO KNOW top!
Very excellent video. Especially helpful w/water to paint ratio, but all the information is great. Thank you.
Lots of good tips. I have been away from watercolor for a while & trying to get back to them
Happy this helps, wish you a fun return to this very fun medium 😁😊🙏🏼
Thanks for this video Liron. I'm not a beginner, but this info could have saved me a lot of frustration when I first started. I like the tip at the end concerning mixing a big pool of paint. I often mix too little and regret it.
Thank you 😊🙏🏼 happy to hear. Mixing too small a quantity is something I used to struggle with on the daily 😂🎨
Thanks for pointing to this crucial aspect of watercolor painting. As a beginner, it is a challenge - when is it too much water and when not? I will start now using an old sponge tissue as well, very handy! Thank you for the great job!
Good teacher - thank you for the basics - can’t wait till this is all automatic! I’m getting much better, thanks to you, but love watching the basics again.
Keeping warm and cool colors separate on the pallet. Another good tip from Liron. I just mix it all together. Oops. Thank you
Haha! Thank you 😊🙏🏼 I sometimes get them really mixed up too on some palettes - not the end of the world (:
Thank you just what i needed. I was wondering how to stop the bubble of paint
Now i know less water and dab the brush onto a towel I would never have thought of that it works very well
Wow. Thank you. I didn't even know what my paint and palette questions were; pretty sure you answered all of them in this rad video, though. You make it click for me, and I'm eternally grateful. Thanks again, Liron!
Hi watching this video again which is brilliant..easy to take in the information..kept short and simple. I wonder if you would make a short video showing this information in action with a simple painting showing warm cool light dark. Values info. Starting with a clean pallet so we dont miss any
Which we can see being mixed then applied. I love your colour choices but rarely see you mixing. The brush turns up like magic from off screen 😂 . So we cant see what you did to make the changes . Hope this makes sense 😜 maybe people could vote in favour if they would like to see this and you can decide if its worth you producing it
Thanks liron
Thank you! Will definitely try and show more of my palette in future videos (:
In the last few painting processes I actually show the palette action fully, so I hope they're a little more helpful!
And maybe a slower tutorial, showing the palette while painting something basic - is a good idea ^_^
@@LironYan and what it is your mixing and include the wetness ect.. dont want much do i ha ha thank you liron 👍 have a good day
Ever so basic, and yet sooooooooooo useful (quite a beginner here). Luv' ya!
Liron, you reference the brand and size of your brushes, and then their performance characteristics. I think this might mislead the beginners. You need to mention the product line, or better yet the brush material, as that is what determines the performance characteristics. For example, the third brush (I think) you say is a #12 and soft and Carrie's a lot of water. Most likely, it is a natural brush, possibly a squirrel or sable.
Yes, that is true, it's important knowing what the brush's hairs are made of.
I believe the rigger and Princeton are the only synthetic ones I have.
Thank you for pointing that out (:
Thank you, Liron!! This is the kind of stuff that newbies like myself question and that you can never find online. A lot of helpful info, even if basic :) I really struggle with using my palette, getting frustrated and turning all my paints into mud lol. Thank you for making this! Time to practice :)
Thank you. I really needed this information. I’ve been struggling with this.
So happy to hear this helps! 😊🙏🏼 thank you
Excellent video! I learned how to make sure to have plenty paint so I won’t run out and realized how important that is. Thanks so much!
I am still a beginner after 10 years painting I have never understood the difference between softer and firmer brushes and how they absorb paint and water Would love to see more about these brushes Thank you
As a beginner, I loved this video and learned a lot from it! Thank you. I plan to watch it again and again. Very helpful
So happy to hear, thank you 😊🙏🏼
I am a beginner and have mostly been teaching myself. Watercolor is a new medium for me, I am used to being able to precisely control the amount of color going on the paper with colored pencils or pastels, but was having difficulty understanding how to get enough of a given color from the pan, deposit it on a clean spot, get a new color from the pan and create a new color. Once I get the color I want sometimes I run out and have to mix more and doing the same color twice is hard for me
Yes, watercolor is a completely different beast (:
The challenges are totally different, but it also comes with its unique gifts.
I remember when I got started, almost a decade ago, the very REASON I was so motivated was the fact it elluded me 😁 It does become much much easier (and FUN) once the basic technique becomes more intuitive.
Fantastic Liron really great explanation
This video answered every question I had when I searched for this topic, thank you so much for your work!!!
This was an excellent tutorial....I am a beginner this answers so many questions....thank you so much
This video was a godsend for me, a beginner. Thank you!
I really enjoy and appreciate you tutorials, complete beginner here, thank you!
I really enjoy your videos, and rely on them alot in my watercolour journey, so thankyou.
So happy to hear, thank you 😊🙏🏼
Great video. Quick question...I see a lot of people dip their brush into a well to get some pigment, but their brush is not clean and has other color on it. They end up with dirty wells. It seems like common practice. Does this reduce the effect of a pigment? If so, at what point do you have to clean it out and replace the paint?
Great question, I should probably do a full vid about it (:
But generally speaking - it's nearly impossible not to have the wells mix (you can use a different brush for different colors, make sure to always clean etc... but to me it's not worth the effort).
So it's a question of RATIOS. If you dip a brush that has a little blue into a yellow well - it will contaminate it a bit. But if you pick up enough yellow, it'll overpower the blue very easily.
Another point to remember is that when you go through a well and use a wet brush on it, a lower layer of the paint is exposed. That layer is pure, as it was hidden under the top most layer.
This is very true for harder paints, but also applies to softer ones (:
Hope that makes sense!
Thank you. Exactly the tutorial i am looking for.
I’m loving your videos Liron. My question is about paper. You talk a lot about the ratio of water to paint, but I haven’t seen anything on how wet your paper is. Do you prewet, or paint on dry paper?
I get so much information from your videos. Keep up the good work
I have watched this video @ least three times. Feel certain I will again. Very valuable information for beginners; easy to understand. T. Y. for presenting it.
OMG THANK YOU thank you. i’ve been looking for this basic stuff for such a long time. i’m grateful. 😀
thank you for this Liron. Do you have a video on doing a flat wash in a smaller, irregular area like a big leaf please?
Hmmm, I don't have one exactly on that, but you may find these helpful (:
How to get an even wash - th-cam.com/video/3sXgoiGHWc0/w-d-xo.html
Painting using this technique for more complex shapes and details - th-cam.com/video/eZgnOrmNsYg/w-d-xo.html
This answered all the questions I had, thanks!
Amazing! So happy the video was helpful 😊🙏🏼
This is an eye opener for me. How do u protect the color map on the mixing side? Is pallet plastic or metal. I think scotch tape would lift .
Great tips! I'm still learning to try to mix enough paint, I always tend to run out lol! Thank you 😀👍
Haha - this was a big issue for me 😁 It’s all about breaking our own patterns and “bad” habits!
Thank you 😊🙏🏼
Thank you for your video. I have a very basic question, how do you stop your pallet from turning into a murky mess when the colours are wet and mixing together? I don't understand. do you have to use several pallets at once to stop this happening? Thank you so much
The answer is - I don’t (:
I simply add more of the color I want, in order to push the mix in that direction.
And even if your wells with paint in them get contaminated (like the worst case scenario - blue in yellow) - after a few brush rubs the original paint comes through.
If you do want to clean your mixing space once in a while - nothing wrong with that. Find what works for you. It can sometime make the mixing of the next color easier.
Thanks so much, that really helps 😊
One question - can you put paint at the top of wells so that the excess water stays at the bottom of wells? That video was SO helpful, thank you!
So would this apply to acrylic paint as well? It's water based would it come to life like the water paint does when it dries?
Some aspect may be somewhat similar, but the overall handling will be quite different.
I'm not an acrylic expert though! 🙏
How do you avoid color contamination in the wells? For example, you mix red in the mixing area, then pick the yellow from the well to add to the mix. Do you need to clean the brush before picking up yellow? Or is it not important to keep the colors in the wells pure?
Thank you! I'm a new subscriber, and find this very useful as a beginner. Using pans, I have a problem preparing bigger washes, like for a sky or big background.. It feels like the paint will not release enough from my brush onto the palette for mixing. I always run out of paint.
My pleasure 😊🙏🏼
Happy you found this helpful!
Sometimes what you mention will depend on the brand. With Schmincke, for example, I found the paints in pans rewet VERY easily.
Same with St. Petersburg's White Nights.
Sometimes specific colors will also behave differently.
And sometimes you just have to work a lot in order to prepare a large enough quantity of paint, and there's not other solution (:
Thnx Liron. Really very informative and helpful 👍
Liron Yanconsky, thank you for this helpful video. I am a beginner :) I have a question: I hear that when you are paining with watercolor its necessary to go from a lighter to a stronger value. How can I manage that on the palette? Thank you so much!
Omg thanks i now know how to use water colors! Subbed and liked, you deserve it
This was amazing. Thank you.
Wonderful- great instructions!
Excellent - good review - your lessons always help me!
Thank you Liron!!! 👍
My pleasure 😊🙏🏼
Great helpful video thank you! What was the Princeton brush with bounce?
Can you use watercolor from a premade
watercolor pallet to mix and set up an empty pallet, or do you have to always use tube paint. I have bought myself a set of Melang watercolor from Asia and I want to blend my colors and save them for a few days for a day or two because I am disabled and it will take a full day and night to regain the strength to paint
very very helpful -and I couldn't find anyone else who could explain this as my colours were looking so washed out and not very vibrant - it seems obvious now but it didnt before, so many thanks. I like your enthusiasm for the subject. One question - you mentioned about mixing paint on the palette - do you clean your brush when you reach for the second colour to mix with or go straight from one colour to the other? I have been going too far I think and dipping my brush in the water between both colours..and worse..not drying the brush.. to avoid contaminating the paint but..what a surprise...my colour isnt vibrant.Any tips about colour mixing and how the brush should travel between the two?
So happy I could help 😊🙏🏼
I will usually give the brush a quick dip in the water bucket, then towel (just a light dab, barely touching), then onto the other color.
HOWEVER - If it's colors that are somewhat close to one another - I'll probably not clean at all! So yellow / red / orange etc - I won't. But if it's a blue and then yellow - I probable will clean the brush.
But sometimes I won't, even in this case haha.
brilliant..thanks..super helpful...i can now see where i was going wrong;)
Did you create these wells using tube paints? How....pls show us. Also, what kind of pallette is this? I can't find a good empty palette
It's a Mijello airtight 18 well palette! (: You should be able to get it off Amazon.
As for the tube paints, I'm simply pouring some into the wells, and letting them dry there.
Nothing too complex 😉
Tubes tend to end up being cheaper than pans per ml, so I prefer them.
Good day Liron, thanks for your video, I am starting in the watercolor and I went to buy colors to learn to mix, I bought the primary but the seller offered me another 3 primary because she said that they were cold and other warm, I want you please to tell me what the difference is, because yes, are different colors come out. She told me that
the cold primaries are: lemon Yellow, Manganese Blue Hue and Quinacridone Red
And the primaries warm are: Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red medium hue and Ultramarine Blue, can you tell me if is right and what is the difference to use with?? I hope you can see this message and have your precious answer. Thank you 🙂
Love it! Third time watching, will probably watch this three more.
Wow, so happy to hear this helps 😊🙏🏼
Thank you!
Liron, something about this confuses me all the time, (1) it's where I see someone....grabbing a color, brings it to the mix area, then goes to another color and before they go to the mixing area they dab it in their water and back to the pan to grab more color and then into the mixing area.
Now when I see this it really confuses me because aren't they releasing the pigment they initially grabbed? why go to the water, just to go back to the pan and then to the mixing area, seeing they made one trip to the pan already? (the value is no different when they do this...its like they add an extra step sometimes....did they maybe want a little more water and made a mistake and sacrificed pigment out of necessity for speed? is it a bad habit? or is this actually something?
Hope this makes sense....from my understanding, sometimes you may want to go a value lighter after your initial stroke, so one would do a quick dab in the water to release a little pigment to get a lighter value...maybe this is wasteful? are they correcting value? is this normal to do? seeing one could just add a little water to the mixing area to get a lighter value. Hope all this makes sense thank you and Happy New Year 2022!
P.S. I really need to learn how to hmmm for lack of better words "Drive" the brush around the palette and paints and to the paper
Another great video - thank you! What easel do you use plain air?
Fantastic video, thank you so much! 😊
I just found this old video which very interesting because I still have problem in controling how much water in my brush. Actually I have a question about paper. I think every paper has different character. Could you show me how to manage the amount of water in our brush for different paper, concerning to get different tone and color value.
what number of princeton brush did you used? and the big one?
I see that you have a color swatch inside your pallete. How do you keep from diluting the colors in the swatch when you put paint into your pallette?
I also have this palette. It has a clear plastic tray that sits in the lid that he is mixing in. The swatches are under it.
That’s exactly the secret 😉 And it’s really outdated too! Haha. It’s from the time I had more Cotman paints in there. I should probably remove it.
great pointers, and also, i even like your demo painting! lol
I just ordered a Palette like that one. What is your preferred paint order and why?
How do you keep the paints in the different wells from being contaminated with other colors ?
How long did it take for the watery paint to stop beading on that palette? I'd buy one if I knew the beading would stop. Beading never did stop on a few of my palettes.
I honestly don't mind the beading ^_^
But it didn't go away on its own. I actually used some steel wool and rubbed it (gently!) on the palette's mixing areas.
It helps reducing it (:
Great video, very helpful !..Thank you!
dear Liron where did you get your watercolour box ?
Just want to let you know I enjoy your videos very much. I love seeing into the minds of other artists and I find you very interesting. Ps. I love that you quit Patreon not that it's not a great thing for artists but we have similar views on wanting to share our art mind with the world without restrictions and I just wanted to tell you I respect you for standing by your "ethics" (I think that's the right word choice) Cheers, I'll always watch your videos and hope you have a great weekend
I'm just adding because I'm at the end of your video and you're asking viewers opinions and if it helped. I am a professional acrylics artist up until a year ago I had no interest in watercolors I was happy with the mediums I was using. I have fallen completely in love with watercolors, expanded my color theory and paint and pigment knowledge over this last year. I use watercolor daily as my warm up for my acrylics work. I like that I can do fast fun little paintings and experiments in such a short time. My hardest thing to learn has been the brushes, water control, paint and pigment control. It's so different for me than using acrylics I know acrylics and I am very controlled when using them. What I like most is watercolor is still unpredictable to me, the brushes and water control vs pigments are hard to learn the feeling of. Like getting to a place where you just know what brush how much water and pigment will have which result. I agree with you completely and appreciated reviewing these basics. Value and sketches are the same no matter what medium but learning to master knowing how much, how not to overwork when to let the color bleed ect. Those are things that just take practice and a quick overview like this summarizing it all into easy little bits of information to digest just reinforces what I've been learning and lets me know ya I'm doing good, keep practicing. Also a struggle for me is knowing how to go in with my second layer to darker the values and keep my edges soft without reactivating the work underneath and lose my light values. I appreciated how you explained the brushes and best ways to achieve value your going for, (paint strength) and I also appreciated the info about making a larger paint mixture to compensate and keep my wash even and having enough for a juicy brush. I never put enough paint and the brush soaked it all then have to remix and it's hard to get the exact same mixture to match.with my acrylics it dries so fast that I use small amounts of paint at a time unless I'm doing a specific color mixture that I know I'll need a lot of. So with watercolor because they reactivate so easy it's okay to put more. With acrylics I'm just wasting expensive paint, so I find some thing opposite to how I've worked for many years. I hope this makes sense. Anyways your brilliant and I love your style xo
Wow - thank you so much for this super-high-quality feedback! 😊🙏🏼🙏🏼 It’s really helpful to hear your unique perspective and the things you struggle with. You put it to words perfectly.
I’ll try to address more of these issues in future videos.
Quick note regarding what you mentioned about the second layer and reactivating the paint - as long as you are not being extremely aggressive and “redundant” with the second layer, it shouldn’t reactivate the first / previous layer(s) so easily.
If that’s the case - I’d ask what paper you’re using. If it’s cheap - consider upgrading (:
Thank you so much for the kind words too 😊🙏🏼 much appreciated!
@@LironYan thank you back . I should have separated the comments, so sorry... You're right about the watercolor paper. The first watercolor paper I bought was arches hot pressed 140lb in a 11*14 format (4sheets) from Jackson's through amazon. Honestly it's the nicest paper I've ever owned. It has watermarks I'm smiling as I write that..it's been sitting in my drawer since I bought it. It was so nice and I didn't want to ruin it by cutting it. So i bought a Bockingford pad and the 400 series Strathmore to practice.The Bockingford hot press is okay, it's a little streaky when doing washes so to help that I've been using polychromos to adjust the final painting when needed. the strathmore is harder to use than the Bockingford, I can't work in long sessions with it, it doesn't take layering well at all and you're right I've had this paper pile even though I was as being gentle. Ive tried many other cheap papers some are usuable but never a fantastic quality ...2 days ago I ordered an arches pad cold pressed so I won't feel bad about ruining the 11*14 single sheets. I think this will help a lot. :)
Thank you for your advice, Do you have a suggestion for a slightly cheaper alternative to the arches that is still 100% cotton and you personally enjoy using? I'll check back through the videos too to see if I can find. I think that Saunders is your second but it's been a little while since I watched that one so I may be wrong.
Hope you have a great week!
No worries about the comments (:
And yes - you are absolutely correct. Saunders Waterford is my ultimate fav.
If you can get it cheaper than Arches - I would highly recommend it.
If not, I'm unsure, as I'm not that well versed in many others. I think Sennelier was decent.
I also know I didn't like any student grade paper I tried so avoid these if possible (Cotman and the likes).
@@LironYan I will definitely take your advice, thank you for taking the time to help me out. I'm going to shop around for cost but will get one of those two brands when there on sale.. I won't be buying the student grade any longer. I've been watching your videos for a while now (since I saw your video with a I
If you have a pallet with dry paint & do not have 17 brushes how do you keep each color pure and best way to put on my pallet?? Ty just a beginner & this helped me as water control is the hardest part for me & getting the paint out of each block?
Thank you Paula! (:
In short - I don't! Part of my process and desired style is letting things mix together a bit.
I like the organic and natural feeling created by avoiding "perfect" or pure colors.
However - I do clean the brush when switching from paint to paint, and I also have a water bucket that has 3 wells, so I could decide one is for warm colors, another is for cool etc. And that can help prevent some mixing. I hope that helps!
@@LironYan Ty as I’m just beginning & really don’t know all the color mixtures as can get that brown you don’t want (lol) so right now until I get better at mixing them doing my best to keep the colors pure & one day maybe can do like you a little bit. Ty