Play with size, scale, texture and a variety of water-based mediums. Learn advanced watercolor techniques alongside artist and instructor Mary Murphy. You'll see how to create a complementary underpainting, use masking methods to preserve white space and achieve harmonious color shifts. Then, discover a simple strategy for making compositional decisions and apply a gridding technique to scale your painting to any size. Find out how to use a variety of household items to easily produce amazing effects. Then, explore other water-based mediums: gouache, acrylics and watercolor grounds. You'll even build confidence choosing paper, brushes and pigments. Plus, learn to critique your work, fix mistakes and adjust values for a fantastic finish.
Simple and Stunning Watercolor Techniques
Expand your repertoire of advanced watercolor painting techniques to infuse your work with interest and excitement alongside artist and instructor Mary Murphy.
Rated 3 out of
5
by
rosie1952 from
Simple and Stunning Watercolor Techniques
I am an absolute blank slate. I have an interest in watercolors, but know nothing. I was a little disappointed in the course, thinking it would start at the beginning, but much of what she taught was more advanced for me. The instructor obviously was well versed in the subject, but I needed something more basic.
Date published: 2024-04-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
EStern from
Simple and Stunning watercolors
The product gave me insight on techniques that are helpful to me. I will use this in my work.
Date published: 2023-06-22
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Margaretlynn from
Informative
I viewed this course as part of my subscription. As a novice, found it very informative regarding techniques I was not aware of. Her demonstrations very helpful and I will probably revisit parts of the course.
Date published: 2023-03-18
Rated 1 out of
5
by
Ed42 from
When I bought the course, I expected better, But I wrong she jumped from one thing to another never showed anything, always referring to some other artist.
Ed42
Date published: 2022-12-16
Rated 4 out of
5
by
NickMax from
Interesting
I have watched only part 1, but so far I think it is very good. I’m a somewhat experienced watercolor artist, and it is teaching me new things
Date published: 2022-08-28
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Ibanfse from
Lots of Information
A very well thought out and detailed explanation of painting with watercolors. I now have the tools to go forward with this style of painting.
I think this is very affordable for the quality of the course.
Date published: 2022-08-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Conservation Law from
Activated Memory
I hadn’t painted in several years and this course reawakened my memory of techniques I had been taught
Date published: 2022-06-13
Rated 3 out of
5
by
Anion2 from
Disappointed
The course is no where as good as the one called “Painting with Watercolors” by Katerina Ewing. I didn’t learn anything and I am a newbie.
Date published: 2022-05-20
Overview
About
Mary Murphy loved art from a young age, but her initial career path took her in a different direction, towards life as an award-winning speechwriter. After 20 years behind a pen though, she picked a brush back up and the rest is history! She honed her skills training with artists such as Martha Deming and Jim McFarlane, president of the American Watercolor Society, setting up an in-home studio so she could paint nonstop. Her exuberant floral paintings began to accumulate local and national recognition and awards, and now she’s thrilled to bring her passion to the Craftsy community.
Trailer
01: Underpainting
Meet Mary Murphy, your guide to simple and stunning watercolor techniques. In this first lesson, Mary introduces the underpainting, the base of any good watercolor. She demonstrates a few masking techniques and shows how complementary colors help balance a painting and create surprising effects.
19 min
02: Size & Composition
Why you're painting is often just as important as what you're painting. Mary looks at the intention behind each work as a way of highlighting how to plan size and composition using thumbnails and sketches. She also offers a tip for scaling and paints a miniature square floral.
21 min
03: Creating Texture
Mary will show you how to use a variety of household materials, from credit cards to table salt, to add texture and visual interest to your watercolors. Then she paints a scene near her home to put those principles into practice.
23 min
04: Exploring Water Media
Learn how to complement your watercolors with other mediums. Mary introduces gouache and acrylic, which offers the exciting option of subtractive painting. Then she shows how watercolor grounds can help provide even more texture before combining all elements into one of her works.
14 min
05: Brushes & Paper
The tools you use determine so much about what your painting will look like. Mary introduces a variety of brush types and techniques, from scumbling with a mop quill to writing with a rigger. Then she shows how paper weight and texture can give your final product unique effects.
27 min
06: Pigments
No two watercolors are created equally. Mary walks through what makes some pigments transparent while others are opaque. She also introduces the concept of granularity, which helps produce more life-like skin along with skies and clouds, before finishing with a primer on staining pigments.
18 min
07: Rescuing Techniques
Painting in watercolor means always having a chance to correct mistakes. Mary takes a painting she'd abandoned long ago and attempts to recover it in real time. In the process, she shows how to critique, introduces rescuing techniques and teaches how to check for value.
29 min
