How to Start a Watercolor

Where to begin with a watercolor? This time I start loose, knowing I can paint my white accents in gouache. After a colored pencil lay-in, I lightly establish the local color, then the background tones, and finally I use white gouache to sharpen edges and paint the lighter values.
VIDEOS SHOWING OTHER WAYS TO START:
1. Detailed, transparent only: • Street Painting in Wat...
2. Urban streetscape with fountain pen: • Street Painting in Ind...
3. Watercolor and colored pencils: • Watercolor + Colored P...
WATERCOLOR PIGMENTS
1. Raw sienna: amzn.to/2PycXm8
2. Lemon yellow: amzn.to/34gV6UN
3. Cadmium red : amzn.to/2NrXEZA
4. Transparent red oxide: amzn.to/2Y6NhxD
5. Alizarin crimson: amzn.to/31YSOZa
6. Anthraquinone blue: amzn.to/2WrK1h8
7. Titanium white (gouache): amzn.to/2XSOld4
WATER MEDIA PAINT SETS
• M. Graham gouache primary set: amzn.to/2Zwd6rt
• Winsor & Newton gouache primary set: amzn.to/2JiDMbo
• Holbein gouache set: amzn.to/2KW4s1j
• Royal Talens gouache set (8 colors): amzn.to/2MGftGf
• Shinhan Pass watercolor/gouache hybrid set: amzn.to/2xw7EvV
• Caran d'Ache pan gouache set: amzn.to/2PfQTxX
• Holbein Acryla Gouache (matte acrylic): amzn.to/2L0g3MT
• M. Graham watercolor landscape set: amzn.to/2JpBAyy
OTHER MATERIALS
Pentalic watercolor sketchbook: amzn.to/2L989y2
Richeson travel brush set: amzn.to/2xwq1Rr
Richeson “Grey Matters” brush set: amzn.to/2YeNO0P
Connoisseur "cat's tongue" brush: amzn.to/2UaBJJj
Water cup: amzn.to/2soTw2L
Homemade easel: sellfy.com/p/LnZ8/
Tripod: amzn.to/2xrRaFc
Water-soluble colored pencils set: amzn.to/2DKmT5o
Water-soluble colored pencil: amzn.to/2J4QTJJ
VIDEO TUTORIALS:
“Watercolor in the Wild” gumroad.com/l/watercolor
"Gouache in the Wild" gumroad.com/l/gouache
“Casein Painting in the Wild” gumroad.com/l/casein
"Gouache in the Wild" (DVD): kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX004...
“How to Make a Sketch Easel” (DVD): kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00Z...
Animal Painting vid: gumroad.com/l/paintinganimals
Casein in the Wild: gumroad.com/l/casein
BLOG POSTS WITH MORE GEAR INFO:
Gouache Materials List: gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/201...
Watercolor Materials: gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/201...
Check out the work of Louis Munroe, our artist-host at Rokeby: www.louismunroe.com/
BOOKS BY JAMES GURNEY:
Color and Light: A Guide for Realist Painters: amzn.to/2JhWtfc
Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist: amzn.to/2LbVHhc
Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time: amzn.to/2xyamRM
OTHER OFFICIAL SITES
Instagram: / jamesgurneyart
Pinterest: / gurneyjourney
GurneyJourney Blog: gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/
JamesGurney Website: jamesgurney.com/site/shop
Facebook group "Sketch Easel Builders": groups/40300...
“LIVING SKETCHBOOK” APP
Experience one of James Gurney's sketchbooks on your smartphone or tablet.
For iOS at iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/app/livin...
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CAMERAS and AUDIO:
Canon M6 (time lapse, video, and stills): amzn.to/2J4RTgX
Canon PowerShot Elph (point-and-shoot): amzn.to/2Ji1Vid
Zoom H2N digital audio recorder: amzn.to/2XXAOfP
Rode Video Mic GO (microphone): amzn.to/2UQGTc9
Thanks for ordering through my links. Any Amazon order you place through any of my links will give me a small royalty, at no extra cost to you, and that helps support my work.

[@ariweaver1543]

Wonderful! I've only been painting for a couple years, and I've been watching and enjoying your videos for over a year now. I've finally come around to painting everyday objects and views in my own life. For a while I only wanted to paint super dramatic scenes, but seeing you consistently find the beauty in things I would overlook is slowly rubbing off on me. :) I'm starting to look out my back door at the view I'd always considered too boring to paint, but now I'm suddenly intrigued by the angles of the branches in a small tree, the shine of the patchy pavement after a rain shower, and so many other things that now I want to try to capture. Thanks so much for helping me see more beauty and interest in the everyday world that surrounds me!

[@JamesGurney]

Hi, Ari, your comment is music to my ears. There's magic in commonplace things.

[@annestevens3307]

Ditto

[@Milesjart]

This comment is what it's all about. Thanks for writing that out.

[@adamthorntonillustration9281]

Hi Ari, I was just about to write almonst exactly the same comment, then saw that you had already done it! TBH, I'm still at the stage where I think the dramatic scene is preferable, but it's very good to know I'm not (or wasn't) alone!

[@offroutegaming8249]

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[@Bdb83]

The whole video I couldn't get over the fact he found another guy that likes to paint folding chairs. Lmao

[@windshearahead7012]

Code Underground artist, lmaoo 👩🏻‍🎨

[@HarryDinesOut]

I can't get over the fact that he visited a mansion just to paint a folding patio chair!! lol

[@kayaeki]

Wholesomeee gaha

[@willrothfuss8470]

Yeah he'll paint anything. Plop a black rolling garbage can down in front of him and he'll paint it like a cel from a Disney animated feature.

[@toonybrain]

Code Underground LMBO Check out the mountains and scenery at about 5:03, yet the chair is what rivets them.

[@i.george2321]

first some pencil, then a big mess. then some detail. at the end: pure magic and behold: i still cant do it! lovely

[@rbrunet4755]

So true! Haha. He's a wonderful painter.

[@nalcarya]

The trick to learning is accepting, embracing the mess aka ugly stage and not trying to add detail immediately. I improve so much faster since I realised that :)

[@whitestguyuknow]

@@nalcarya in a video I just watched of his he describes himself as a pilot flying through fog and just trusting his instruments in order to fly up out into the clear. It makes me feel more confident in myself and my own drawings and paintings because I always feel that moment and get pretty dejected and sometimes lose my passion to keep going because it just feels like a mess and it's taking so long and I just doubt myself. But knowing that someone who's such a great artists, who creates pieces very often, many many more than I ever have, *still* feels that way with each piece and just has to trust that the more time and effort you put in will ultimately lead you to the finished product

[@msf2126]

Haha..i know the feeling. I dive in all concerned with perspective and detail.. But just watching these iv got bolder with starting in blobs.. And its helping. Long way to go...

[@zeusolympus1664]

@@nalcarya yeah especially for watercolor you don't know what will happen next after that ugly stage. Its a bit nerve wrecking.

[@Bastard01g]

This video shows exactly how much patience you need to have, as a painter. My grandfather was a superior paint artist, he had many techniques dialed. He often went to places and took photos, so he can paint them later at home. He loved to make huge oil-color paintings of nature sights. Some of those paintins now remember me of him and how great he was.

[@jayashrimalondewatercolour9994]

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[@joannetiffany8047]

James you turn the most average objects into the most intresting pieces of art, it's simply amazing and the reason why i adore your art and you as an Artist.

[@TiffanysFineArt]

Joanne Tiffany Joanne. I love that you have an Amdrew Tishler playlist! Lol he is amazing too!

[@opendstudio7141]

If you haven't notice yet, he paints the light and everything else is an incidental stage. We may have more in common with moths than we think. :)

[@avikdas1577]

you can change any subject into a masterpiece!

[@dannythebear743]

Fantastic painting... I can’t understand how on Watercolor painting.. the start looks like a hot mess and then magically, you end up somehow with a brilliant painting like this.... must take a special mindset to be able to envision that

[@stanleyhape8427]

Actually it's called setting dust. Once the painting is approximately 90% done you LIGHTLY sprinkle the setting dust and let it set. The setting dust will make any color corrections and define edeges to objects in the painting.

[@rubenspaul5271]

Yes, That is the charming of watercolor. And you also need a set of high quality paint affordable to do enough excercise. Here is an online store of brand Paul Rubens, which is what you are looking for. paulrubens.aliexpress.com/store/5140092

[@lr9171]

That's watercolor paint's identity

[@Akash-xq7kw]

2:10 will be my end look of painting

[@jitshreyachowdhury9917]

🤣🤣🤣

[@jitshreyachowdhury9917]

Same here bro

[@chelseawhite7117]

It’s absolutely mind-boggling to be able to watch you take this painting and really bring it into that photorealistic level of detail. I do have to point out, however, the irony of being in a stunning place like a mansion in Hudson Valley.. and the thing the group is painting is a folding chair

[@gothtechsupport2337]

i didn't think anyone could make a simple folding chair seem so angelic

[@jeanneratterman4174]

There was a woman in an art class i took back in 1983 who loved shoes. Her “shoes” were gorgeous on the feet of her subjects.

[@user-py2zy1gz1z]

I found your book in a bookstore in Seoul. I was watching . and there was your face in it! I realized then that it was your book!! OMG. It was so nice to meet you! I just bought a book and came home. Most of the time I will depend on the translator to read books, but I am satisfied!

[@JamesGurney]

Thank you. I'm so happy that my book is in Korea.

[@user-py2zy1gz1z]

I will always support your channel. From Seoul.

[@catherinecervas3726]

Just saw that note, “Binge-watching my videos will make you happy.” So true! 🙂

[@mindseye4914]

Even though I saw each second of it I ask myself how how how did he do it??? You are sooo damn good!!

[@jeffhreid]

Such a mundane subject but James makes out the nobility and sublime in the everyday. Remarkable

[@hieunguyenminh8045]

So that's how you Gaussian Blur in traditional paintings. Awesome

[@Bhodisatvas]

One phrase that stuck with me the most in this fantastic video was 'air in the shadow', it describes a much overlooked aspect of making a good painting as many paint shadows without taking into account that it is still real space with colour and light.

[@nancycampbell7959]

I do indeed believe you, that binge-watching your tutorials will make me happy. Just need to make the popcorn.

[@cjesterhuizen419]

Wow...that subject matter as plain as a garden chair can be executed so vividly. Really enjoyed this, thank you .

[@mohammeda1858]

You’re a wholesome person, keep it up! I wish you all the best. All the love from Saudi Arabia, I hope you visit us one day.

[@traekas7228]

Now, THIS is the kind of ART/PAINTING that I’ve always wanted to do. As a young person, still dependent on my Parents, I was able to paint like this under the strict tutelage of my Art teacher. This was back in the 1970s. It’s been over a decade since I last took an Art Class @ a Community College. TYSM, James, for these great how-to videos. I’m almost positive that your videos will inspire me to, once again, pick up my brushes & canvases.

[@nickagarrie]

I used to paint.add 15 years of life....I realize how important it was and is to me at 40.As I dip my toe back into the waters is youtube.and this channel. Fuel to my fire sir.thank you.

[@RandalfElVikingo]

I was never good at drawing or painting, but I always wanted to. At least I can do a last try.

[@RandalfElVikingo]

I was never good at drawing or painting, but I always wanted to. At least I can do a last try.

[@bennydelarosa9064]

Thank you for the demonstration! That watercolor painting looks fantastic and much more realism.

[@RampantDaydream]

Thanks, Mr Gurney. Your Art, books and tutorials are very inspiring!

[@alisonhendry2928]

Your skill just amazes me every video. I love how you just paint anything. And I love how you mix media. I need to let go of my transparent only fixation! I am still a groupie! Love to watch your posts. You have so many things to share! Thank you!

[@aartadventure]

Thank you for sharing your years of practice and refined skills with us. It is such a joy to watch you create James!

[@Rhynni]

Thank you for just being so free and adventurous with your painting - I feel such a sense of liveliness and joy that comes across every single painting you create. Thank you for sharing this!

[@olivier7466]

Its a simple chair but the way you painted it !!!. When amazing and great are not just good enough !!

[@gillianshen4016]

The painting looks infinitely more stunning than the original

[@mado86100]

Thanks James! You are a great educator and a you're work is delightful.

[@patrikahlvik8607]

So much joyfulness in your paints

[@andreasmartini9327]

Diggin' the ruff zen approach of your process!

[@catherinecervas3726]

Beautiful painting! The light through the chair is fantastic! Thank you for sharing your processes.

[@telldpablo]

Thanks for so generously sharing your knowledge, experience and techniques. I am fascinated by how you take simple, ordinary things and make them interesting! I especially have enjoyed your videos of late. Thanks so much!

[@GuenevereSchwien]

Great one, simple composition but an elegant painting. Loved the break down of steps and thanks for sharing the new technique!

[@priscillahoang8824]

wow i never thought watching someone paint a chair would be so relaxing! beautiful colors and direction

[@madi_as_rabbits]

This was so helpful! I always stress so much when my art looks like a mess in the beginning but you turned it into such an articulate masterpiece! Loved your soft voice and kind words about art. precious. 10/10

[@virginiarinkel7544]

Thanks for the tip on how to smear the background in certain spots. This still takes a bit of practice, but I love the idea of softening the edge. Thank you!

[@dejasimmone9644]

You are a great inspiration to me. Whenever I get stuck I look at you and learn so much.

[@karenvc8005]

Just beautiful and amazing, James! I love that you don't fall apart when the paint bleeds into one another but just seem to push through. I am still learning watercolor after many years away from drawing and painting. I used gouache in a color theory class in art school and really liked it but dropped away from painting when I declared as a ceramics major. I will definitely add the white titanium to my kit, along with pulling out my flat brush. Thanks for a great tutorial. Who knew a folder chair could be this exciting?

[@crystalheart9]

The beauty of your work amazes me.

[@facom40]

Congratulations James, it's amazing !

[@k3n972]

I could watch you paint real time for hours. I love watching people paint, I love how you do it . It's amazing and beautiful

[@nickcook4184]

Gorgeous. Thank you. I've been making art and painting for a long time but recently started (again) to use watercolors. This was a great demonstration and clear instruction.

[@sureshparmar8284]

Wow!, the sun shinning through, pure genius.

[@joeydefawnhendrix8561]

Thank you!! I've started working with watercolor and really struggling getting used to handling it, this is so useful 💕

[@patriciachianelli7507]

I really like the subject matter you pick for paintings. You know how to pick a scene and paint it at it's best angle.

[@mschingacor]

Oooh i want to be brave and try this out. Absolutely magic painting

[@Vitrianna]

Wow! Just wow!

[@blownonpurp]

So happy I stumbled on these videos! Love your videos/ artwork James!

[@rydellgarcia5266]

3:10 when im at this part everytime i do watercolor.. i always knew i fuck up already and theres no going back... but him.... he can still manage to continue. man thats pure talent. im jealous.dang it

[@gundiart1755]

The peace this video evokes is understandable 🖤

[@kimq4549]

I love watching your video. Its calming.

[@magdalena-lisarobertson4143]

I love the precision and flexibility of your technique. Thank you so much for sharing so generously your artistic practice. Invaluable.

[@NetTubeUser]

You, sir, are a gem for the artist community on KZbin.

[@Abe-rz1nm]

I love how you've taken a very simple subject and found so much complexity in it - beautiful result.

[@lisagiuliani8167]

Your videos and paintings are just incredible!!! You've single-handedly ignited such a passion in me for painting!!! Thank you so so much for sharing your techniques!

[@ChillFrost]

it's okay if they melt with each other -james me back in college: OH NOOOOOOO THIS IS EPIC FAIL!

[@SheridansSojourn]

Such a talent and teacher. Thank you!

[@judwatkins9478]

Wow! You teach with great economy, and yet you always give specific advice on technique. This is perhaps the most helpful watercolor tutorial I've seen. Many thanks.

[@nitewolf5514]

Saying thanks for all the great videos. They've been such a tremendous help and have made sitting back to just paint fun again.

[@suresh.karthikeyan]

You make paintings look so easy with your simple techniques. Inspirational🙏

[@Quokka838]

How beautiful!

[@barrywebber100]

There's no substitute for talent, skill and ability, and plenty of practise! A beautiful painting, thanks for posting.

[@callmedeno]

Make it look easy there James :D I started watercolor and naturally would be interested to see you doing it more!

[@Doppe1ganger]

Gorgeous, looks so fresh and illuminating, love it.

[@felixscholz]

It’s a wonderful painting and a wonderful video tutorial, thank you so much for it. The part I love most is that you show that there aren’t any rules in art. That everything that brings your painting towards the direction you want to achieve is “allowed”.

[@makasia4872]

I just started reading your book about color and I can't get over it, that you speak how you write

[@chancebriggs2171]

Super relaxing. I love being recommended channels such as yours!

[@douglascueva]

I like James Gurney's videos. They remind me of my time watching PBS as a kid, or watching wishbone. Very informative stuff.

[@nagwagi2000]

So impressive! Such a master of the medium!🔥

[@Bartyron]

You make it look so easy. Amazing as always!

[@briancoyne6700]

James. you are my 21st Century Bob Ross! It was a pleasure hearing you speak at the Yellow Barn in Glen Echo, MD. I bought your book on Light and Color in Barnes and Noble in 2012 and have been a student of yours ever since. Thank you!

[@arrakis1519]

Dude the way you popped up the videos at the end are so cool

[@Giulia4151]

This is unbelievable, literally, even I am seeing the whole process, it suddenly turns into magic! I'm in love with this folding chair hahaha

[@nguyentai464]

Omg so beautiful omg omg . Love your drawings as always . Thanks for sharing

[@joannepeyton1654]

Love your techniques and style. Picking up watercolors again after 40 years. I got frustrated with the drawing part. Went to acrylics and pastels, because for me drawing wasn’t necessary. But after watching Karen Rice, and now you, I’m getting so inspired to give it a go. Will definitely start simple (like the peach I just did.) Thank you, appreciate the time you put into your tutorials.

[@amyreesor8128]

never appreciated a folding chair more than this one. really amazing to watch this. Thank you so much

[@jenniferalarza9643]

I started watching your videos after a first year of fine arts university where I barely learned anything, I purchased color and light and with that and your videos is how I learned to paint. Now that I live surrended by nature, this makes me want to go paint in the wild

[@MichelleRamirez8]

James, you are the coolest! Your videos are a treat and I always look forward to the next one.

[@jenny123311994]

This video is so helpful! I've been drawing all my life and now I'm experimenting with other mediums; I learnt how to use acrylics and oils but watercolours confuse me. Now I have a new understanding of watercolours! Please do more of these types of videos. Thank you!

[@imranq9241]

An artist is somebody who can take a seemingly ordinary subject and make something no one would want to throw away!

[@gerridauer9092]

The look of light coming through the chair is amazing.

[@devanjackson509]

I like the fact that you start with your primary interest and begin painting the negative spaces around it as opposed to using a viewfinder.

[@CaptainCretaceous91]

You know, I'm amazed he starts off with sketching the contour lines. Whenever I draw, I have to start with the basic shapes, then the lines.

[@liviariviello9474]

Quella seggiola è diventata viva!! Complimenti e grazie per i suggerimenti!

[@lotusjoy1208]

Awesome video. Thanks for the demo. Very inspiring. Loved it!

[@saurabhbhardwaj6753]

As always- simply inspiring :) Thanks James for your hard work as always!

[@Kephirus]

Mr. Gurney I've began my voyage in the art world recently I thank you allot for your work, this channel and all your crafts are very paradigmatic to me. I wish you well , a youg fan from Portugal

[@santiagoavril4436]

You just gotta love the sound effects

[@julianachandler2975]

Thanks for another great video. I love the way that you approach painting in such a non-fussy way.

[@platoschauvet]

really really beautiful, I love how you see such beauty in such simple things. Stay safe and healthy, sir, we need you!

[@DORIS4LT]

Thank you for the amazing tutorial. The sped up video of the whole painting process is much easier to follow than the "abridged" version! :D

[@joeblogsart]

Pay attention to this guy. He's really good, definitely someone worth investing your time in watching. His demonstration of knowledge and art through this painting demo speaks volumes unto his skill. I've never seen anybody so precisely articulate the stream of consciousness going through an artist's mind while at work. Excellent naming of the videos, too; they're the answers to many questions people don't know how to ask. I'm going to keep watching more!

[@kleerude]

I feel like I’m watching an old PBS show. Very calming ☺️

[@simonetriesman9067]

Wonderful and relaxing to watch!

[@Niseryusei]

GREAT PAINTING! Fun video! Thanks for sharing

[@eternalardor2092]

One of the best videos I’ve ever seen

[@joefilmco]

This is so lovely to be witness to, and it brings me a sense of much needed calm.

[@sugarcandy654]

Absolutely beautiful, this has inspired to go paint!

[@viewfromthetop176]

Thanks for sharing your video. You're a wonderful artist, and perhaps that's an understatement! A simple subject comes to life! That's the signature of a Master Painter.