Currently Browsing: flat brushes 6 articles
A Little Bit of Bright Color in a Portrait
You already know how I feel about the paper in the Arteza Watercolor Book—pretty ambivalent at best; but there is nothing like a bit of bright color to make you smile. And if you are working loosely with a flat brush, you might just start giggling because you’re having so much fun. Get out your […]
Using Watercolor Flats and a Bit on Back-Runs
In this experiment on Canson Heritage Hot Press 140 lb. watercolor paper from the end of 2018 I used only a 1 inch large flat watercolor brush. I’ve written other posts about how you can use the edge of the brush to do more linear bits, like the creases in the forehead, but in the […]
Thinking about Dry Brush Portraits
One of my favorite things to do is to paint with watercolor in a dry brush fashion. What does that mean? Dry brush means that there is relatively little water on your brush. You move the pigment carrying brush across the paper and the brush picks up the texture of the paper. For the best […]
Flat Brushes for Watercolor
In this brush pen portrait from 2017 I used a large two-inch wide flat brush to lay in washes. Then a 0ne-inch wide flat for details. (You can turn a flat on its edge remember.) It was great fun. Flat washes on a rounded set of surfaces. I’d been playing with flat brushes before […]
Do You Stop Or Keep Pushing?
One of the things I’m asked most frequently by students is, “When do I know I’m finished with my [painting/sketch]?” I’ve heard many people give the flip response, “When you realize that you’ve gone to far, then you know you should have stopped.” It’s actually more simple and more complex than that. First, yes, if […]
Change Up Your Tools to Discover New Mark Making Possibilities
Left: Direct brush portrait of Dick as he sat in the TV room with a light crossing him. (9 x 12 inch sheet of smooth yardstick). Read below for more details. Paintings of Dick often start with leftover paints. On this day I had some gouache leftover from a trip to the Bell Museum. Lots […]