The Five Skills that Changed My Paintings Forever

Over the last year I have been reflecting back on the most powerful watercolor skills that have improved my paintings the most.

I've thought back to my biggest "aha" moments, the times when I really took the largest steps forward. I have boiled it down to five key skills. 

Essential Skill #5: Simplification  

This is so important in clarifying your scene. When you learn to be selective in what you include, all the sudden your message becomes a lot clearer and your painting is more powerful. 

Quick Tip: Simplify the edges of your painting. Save the highest contrast and the most saturation for your focal area. This does two things, first it helps clarify the message of your scene to your viewer by telling them what is most important and it keeps their interest inside your painting.

Essential Skill #4: Creating Depth

Creating a sense of depth and distance in your work is key. This can transform your painting from mundane to transcendent. Depth is important in creating a sense of atmosphere, believability and awe in your work.

Quick Tip: The further away the object the less visible the contrast. Hills in the distance have nearly no visible contrast compared to the shadow of a vehicle in the middle ground.

It may be tempting to think that you either are born with the skills to be an artist or you aren't. I know that I have, at times underestimated my ability to learn and improve. But the reality is that if you dedicate yourself to improvement and commit to learning you will amazed at how far you can go.

Essential Skill #3: Color Mixing 

The reality is, there is a lot more grey in most scenes than we may realize. Learning to mix grays and neutrals is a skill that can elevate your work to another level. Once I learned to tone down my palette to match the colors we see in the real world, my work took a leap forward.

Quick Tip: Don't use colors straight out of the tube. Consider mixing in something like Neutral Tint or Payne's Gray or an opposite to tone down your colors.

Essential Skill #2: Watercolor Timing 

Timing in watercolor is crucial. To take advantage of the soft transitions of colors and to have a balanced painting with soft and sharp edges we need to understand the variables of timing.

Quick Tip: Two of the variables in watercolor timing are how wet the paper is and how much paint is on your brush. 

When I was finding my way as a beginning painter I often wouldn't understand why my painting wasn't working but I could tell that something was off. I hit many plateaus along the way. It would have saved me a lot of time and frustration if I had known the areas I needed to focus on. 

And finally, the number one skill that has improved my painting the most...

Essential Skill #1: Values 

Values are king. Throw away the colors and if you have correct values your painting will still tell the same story. There is nothing that has improved my paintings more than understanding values. Once I have I learned to use a proper range of light and dark it really brought my paintings to life. You can clearly see the difference in these two paintings. One has very little value range and the other has a wide variety.

Quick Tip: In order to see values more clearly squint at your scene or photo. Also consider turning it black and white during your planning phase. This will help eliminate distracting details and allow you to see the values and larger shapes more clearly.

Now that I have introduced and explained the skills and techniques that have helped me the most as a painter, I want to tell you about a project I've been working on for the last year.