Black Kitten for Soft Edges, Values, and Black
Mix the Perfect Black for Your Palette
Is BLACK a bad word in watercolor?
This beginner lesson explains tube blacks and how to mix your own black to match your individual palette or painting. You'll also see how to paint soft, fuzzy edges by working wet on damp for any any animal or occasion where soft edges look best.
As always, this kitten comes complete with a background - a simple graded wash from light to dark, for more excellent practice. In downloads, you'll find an outline page, written instructions, the original reference photo (from Pixabay), and a finished painting pdf, plus a bonus pdf on Blacks in Watercolor. The video demonstration can be viewed on this site or, with the vimeo link, on Vimeo.
Happy painting!
Your Instructor
I'm a self taught artist and I love teaching!
My story is simple.
I showed a lot of talent as a child, but my parents discouraged art - a waste of time! I spent my adult life as a nurse and raised a family - pretty busy. I also kept painting.
I wanted my paintings to be realistic, but the watercolor teachers would roll their eyes and tell me, "That's not how you paint watercolors."
Despite the naysayers, I just kept going and taught myself how to paint realism, the way I wanted it, with watercolors. After years of practicing (and lots of bad paintings), I got really good.
I found that not only did I really enjoy teaching other people (and giving them the encouragement I never had), I continued to learn and improve my art through teaching others. It's a win-win!
And so, I set up this site (and my Patreon site) to encourage other people to give watercolor a try. I think it improves their life and that anyone lucky enough to be able to afford the materials and time to dabble in painting is blessed. Whether (or not) you ever turn into a master painter or just gain the admiration of your friends and family.
Watercolor is doable. The more people painting, the better the world will be. Give it a try today!
And yes, this cowboy is a watercolor painting. (Reference photo used with permission by Diana Robinson)