3 Watercolor Steps for More Vibrant and Interesting Paintings Jul 21, 2025

One of the most spectacular places I've visited is the beautiful ancient fishing village of Cefalu. 

It's Rick Steves favorite place in all of Sicily, and it was featured in the second season of White Lotus. I recently had the chance to go and visit here and paint in person, and of course I also...

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5 Easily Implemented Strategies To Simplify Your Watercolors Jul 14, 2025

One of the most important things that you can do for your paintings is to simplify.

This is going to make your paintings stronger and more focused - and, believe it or not, it's going to make your scenes easier to paint.

Simplify Your Watercolors When You Implement These 5 Strategies

Here are...

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Strengthen Your First Wash For A Strong Foundation Jul 07, 2025

One mistake that I notice a lot in student work is that they don't go dark enough in this first layer. 

Of course, the first wash is for the lightest and brightest values of your painting, but you don't want it to be so light that the gap between the first and second wash values is noticeable. Y...

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Here's Why Sketches Are More Important Than You Think Jun 30, 2025

What's one secret to creative growth?

Shift your mindset from the goal of finishing complete watercolor paintings to cranking out small sketches.

Of course you want to do both, but the most learning happens when you let go of the outcome and experiment. This is more likely to happen with quick ...

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Layers that will Give You Better Results  Jun 23, 2025

It can test your patience when you've covered your paper but it looks like nothing. But when you're doing things right, the first wash looks muted and undefined, and the second looks murky. It isn't until the third wash that everything clicks.

Keep reading (or watch my video) to learn how to use...

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Paint This Sicilian Landscape with Me! Jun 16, 2025

Today I'm going to cover the process I used to paint this landscape watercolor. This painting was inspired by the verdant hills I was fortunate enough to experience in Sicily!

3-Step Process to Painting Landscapes

As with most of my paintings, I followed a 3-step process, including the first wa...

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Struggling with Drawing? Try this Easy Approach Jun 09, 2025

Do you struggle with how much or how little to outline your scene before you start painting?

Do you avoid certain subjects because the drawing feels intimidating?

Today I'm going to give you some tried and true tips that will simplify the drawing process for you. 

Drawing Made Easy - Try These...

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5 Common (But Easy to Fix) Watercolor Problems Jun 02, 2025

In my years of teaching watercolor, there are patterns that emerge. One observation I've made is that there is a lot of similarity in the mistakes that hold students back.

This blog and video, outlines five common mistakes that hold back watercolor students from reaching their potential. 

If yo...

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