The answer to water control problems when using watercolor.

Water control and pigment-to-water ratios in watercolor always cause a problem. Whether you're a beginner or have been painting for a little while, water control is difficult to get right! THIS exercise is going to help you tremendously in understanding pigment to water ratio and get your techniques just right. In this tutorial, I'll show you step-by-step how to work through these watercolor practices.
Don't miss the FULL-LENGTH TUTORIAL, where I answer the three most common questions I get from my students...
**The Complete Beginner's Guide to Watercolor: Your Common Questions Answered: • The Complete Beginner'...
Also, The Complete Beginner's Guide to Watercolor: • The Complete Beginner'...
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MORE VIDEOS on Water Control:
THREE Water Control Tips When Painting With Watercolor: • THREE Water Control Ti...
Frustrated With Watercolor Puddles?! Here's What To Do… • Frustrated With Waterc...
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**Credit to Brienne M. Brown for showing me Tea-Butter exercise!
www.briennembrown.com/
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MUSIC: paid for and licenses acquired from Artlist.
00:00 - This exercise IS YOUR ANSWER to water control.
17:19 - How to apply this to your painting
23:05 - Don’t miss this!!

[@JennaRaineyChannel]

Don't miss my NEW course The Art Within. In it, we cover watercolor fundamentals, drills, and practice. We also discuss finding your own creative style and how to get into "flow state" for optimal creative mindset. Check it out: www.jennarainey.com/the-art-within // If you want more monthly watercolor tutorials, check out my Patreon! I offer ad-free tutorials, Patreon-exclusive tutorials each month, and live art classes. Check it out here: www.jennarainey.com/patreon

[@weiengng2736]

Watched. You're very detailed in explanation. It's good. Helps a lot. Thank you.

[@thelanes6448]

This is Joseph Zbukvic - watercolour master - Watercolour Clock. He explains it in his book ‘Atmosphere & Mood in Watercolor. ‘. It has obviously filtered down over the 20 years and influenced many artists. You explained it really well and you credited Brienne and she credited Joseph. I love how explanations keep evolving. It helps the people like me who need to read and then usually see the technicals to really understand. Thank you

[@JennaRaineyChannel]

Glad you liked my explanation, Tracy, thanks for sharing!

[@learningkey5788]

Consistency level analogies - summary - 1) tea - very thin watery/transparent , base layer, good for lightest values of darker pigments for large are to cover e.g.sea 2) coffee- just less transparent more darker value than tea, good for second layer, different pigment gives different consistency 3) Milk - thicker consistency, good for wet on wet shadow blending 4) Cream - thick / not move much at drip test, good for very dark values, no transparency, spreads like fire cracker when wet on wet 5) Butter - darkest tone and touch/heavy/tacky, good for dry brush effect, diffuses only at edges when used as wet on wet

[@gracealleman4102]

I like using q tip in place of brushes.

[@thisisaskinredwalker]

Oh my gosh, this has helped me soooo much!! I've been nervous with using too much pigment, mainly just because I'm unsure of the outcome and, in my head, it felt taboo. (You're using watercolor, use water...pffft) but when you were digging in your pallette to get more and more pigment, it kind of just opened that door of, huh....I guess I CAN do that! The consistency examples helped a TON! Very helpful! Thank you so much!!

[@Pebblesmas]

@Apsalara i always think: you can do anything, if you wonder: can i do that? Than you just have to try it, you'll even learn Things so much faster plus.. Isn't that fun? 😃 Following the "rules" too much makes a persoon rigit, try and perhaps you find your own way, sometimes that is better than the "rules", plus there are amázing Artists that do Things different.

[@mikuenjoyerXD]

​@@Pebblesmas I agree sometimes people can be too rigid. People should see the art rules more as like a malleable guideline and they should actually just really listen to what feels right for them

[@citigirl3238]

Great instruction! Also, for anyone who doesn’t want their watercolor to bead up on a new palette, I learned a trick years ago. Take a plastic non-scratch scrubbie and rub it (dry or wet)on new plastic palette in all directions just hard enough to take sheen off. the surface should then take the paint with less or no beading up.

[@sandineal1255]

Yes, I worked that out myself as well. Makes a huge difference! ❤

[@BiologieMe]

As a beginner I really hadn't thought much about consistency and what that means to watercoloring. I guess I just thought it's all "watery" and haven't explored enough with my paints/pigments yet so this has been a great video to opening my eyes to the different ways to use my watercolors. I'd love to see you do a short tutorial on using your favorite (or most often used) consistencies because I'm wondering if you work in stages, letting parts dry and coming back later or if you are able to do it all in one sitting?

[@karltobar2810]

Hi Biologie: just swinging through. Most watercolorists often do need to wait for areas of paint to dry, and it is even necessary for glazing techniques. Some artists hate waiting so much that they use a hairdryer to speed things up. I'd rather not have a hairdryer constantly sitting in my workspace, so I choose to wait. (I hate it.)

[@jenniferalvarez4041]

@@karltobar2810 I've considered attaching a hook to my desk side and hanging my smaller tool that looks like a mini hairdryer (which is a Ranger Heat-It Craft Tool).

[@karltobar2810]

@@jenniferalvarez4041 Great workaround; thanks for the feedback.

[@beebee8018]

This is one of ‘the’ best examples of watercolour consistency. I have done 3 online courses with famous landscape artists and none of them were able to show students how to do this correctly, we came away baffled and I learned the hard way by trial & error coming to the conclusion myself of the tea, coffee, milk, cream & butter which is perfect. So Well done ✏️🎨🖍.

[@harlijohnson7080]

This maybe the weirdest comment ever, but you have the most beautiful hands. They remind me of my moms hands, sadly she passed away almost 2 years ago. As a little girl I remember always telling her how pretty her hands were, which is one of the only positive memories I have of my childhood.

[@ardentabacist]

So glad that I found you here. I have been an art teacher/artist for years and though I am teaching the same concepts/rules I have not been able to put things into words the way that you do. So wonderfully. Thank you for this help!

[@joanneferguson9297]

I have heard about the tea, coffee, milk, cream, and butter consistency before, but having you show butter as a dry paint really helped.

[@JennaRaineyChannel]

Glad it helped, Joanne! 💕

[@barbriley583]

I’m 76…saw the headline and hurried to watch…low and behold it was about WATERCOLOR???? Lol❣️

[@curtisjones9157]

I'm just trying to learn how to get some color on paper and it not be mud. I don't have a Art supply store nearby and bought some cheap practice stuff from Walmart. I've got hopefully better Paper, better paints and better brushes (bristles falling out)coming through Amazon. I've been looking for videos that teach you something about paint and not a bunch of talking. This video is so great. I'm decent at drawing, still learning how to use Value correctly and wanted to be able to put Color to be able to one day say now I've almost became a Artist. This video actually helped me understand that watercolor paint does not need to be watered down running everywhere mess. I've got a long way to go. I've given up a few times from frustrating attempts to watercolor. This is a confidence booster. Now I've got to practice. Thank you.

[@JennaRaineyChannel]

Glad this has been a confidence booster. Here's a video I did on avoiding muddy colors, hope this helps too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3zGnJeeiJ6FoKM

[@kathygus]

That was the most clear explanation I have heard on my watercolor journey! Thank you.

[@bouvmama1279]

The more I work, the more issues I uncover. This video is helping me so much! My earlier 'techniques' have involved a lot of paper towel blotting and poking my brush directly into paint. You are an excellent instructor.

[@jangold6787]

Thank you, Jenna. This helped a lot! It was a light bulb moment. I've struggled with my paints being too watery especially when doing wet on wet now I feel like I get it.

[@JennaRaineyChannel]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mariac.aversa2475]

Can't wait for your new book! Just bought your other two. Thank you for your teachings!

[@betseyanderson7165]

Thank you soooo much! This helps me so much and I am excited to do these exercises! I hope you know what a GREAT teacher and artist you are! 😀

[@aeli999]

I keep watching this video, when it's part of another longer video and this solo version. It is so helpful. I am still in the stage of too much or not enough water, but I'm getting better at it and videos like this help so much. I've seen the comparison to various kitchen liquids before but the examples they used were mostly products that I have no familiarity with aside from tea and milk. lol

[@anitam2602]

Thank you Jenna! I’ve just started following you and I’m an absolute beginner but this video gave me a great help to learn to play with values! You’re a great teacher also for an Italian student still struggling with English 😊

[@sirhans15]

I’ve done this for years but have never had anyone explain it to me. Thank you!! So helpful!

[@christierella]

You are extremely generous with sharing your skill set, because of this, I believe you will have even greater success than you have now.

[@clairebarnsley5525]

Wow Jenna, you are such a pleasure to listen to, and your instructions are clear and doable! Thank you.!

[@Anne5440_]

Thanks for this! It has really made so much clearer to me. You have given me a major breakthrough in understanding. I years ago did a painting of a lava flow that I really struggled with and worked on over a couple of years. Since the la palma eruption I saved videos of it to try another lava painting. Now with this understanding I think that will be much easier. I also think a lot of my efforts will benefit from this video.

[@lora9664]

So good I watched twice. Really good for not only beginners but people like me that have been at it for almost two years but couldn’t figure out what went wrong in their paintings. I am going to do this exercise to get better at water paint ratio. Really excellent.

[@lindas1407]

THANK YOU for this Jenna!! 🙏🏻 SO helpful - I had been adding water randomly and not understanding how the process works. Great to have it explained so well. 😊

[@annemiekebelgraver7400]

A fantastic tutorial in which I learned a lot! Very clear explanation, thank you! 👌

[@peggyeagan9153]

Your video was really helpful and gave me a concrete way to understand consistency of my paint and how it works on dry and wet. Great exercise.

[@melaniewatson7196]

Jenna, thank you! This is one of my biggest problems (along with a million others). It helps me that you teach the basics. I need a good foundation. It's not as much fun as painting flowers, but it's so important.

[@jodymbmw3460]

One of mine as well.

[@janetuchlinski6421]

I had no idea I've been winging it with my watercolor sketches until now. THANK YOU!

[@alicechampagne7091]

This is a wonderful way of explaining the different watercolor consistencies. Oh, how I wish I had this information when I started painting 20 years ago! I am going to teach a beginner watercolor class soon and will definitely share this video.

[@kami_kauai]

Thank you so much for these explanations and demonstrations! As a beginner I have been struggling with the water and pigment ratios; I was beginning to understand but this video has really helped a lot to pinpoint the important factors! I'm very inspired :)

[@mathildemaaloe]

Thank you very much for teaching this in detail. I have seen " the light" and is dying to test this out !!

[@dldusdk1978]

One of the best watercolor teaching. Thank you. It was super helpful.

[@rosebrazel7775]

This has been so helpful, I have really been struggling with water control and paint consistency. Thanks so much. ❤

[@lisaharner3720]

I’m just a beginner and this cleared up a lot of questions for me. I’ve watched your beginner video a few times and was confused why my colors and results were not consistent with yours. A real lightbulb exercise! Thank you.

[@bobbiegraham7729]

I've seen thus explained but never as clearly. Thank you so much. Looking forward to your book, you've been busy! ❤ Your Misty Jungle demonstrates this pretty well too!

[@MichelDespres]

Wow !! Thank you very very much ! This will help me so much with my values. You're such a good watercolorist and a generous teacher.

[@cynthiamoon4315]

Oh thank you! This was soooo helpful. I'm going to practice this for sure. 💛

[@rebeccapage4411]

Another beautifully presented lesson🤩. I paint in a completely different style, but this explanation allowed me to crystallize how I think about water and value control.

[@halnewhouser1217]

Hi Jenna, I thought your lesson is and was very helpful. Because it show the time it takes to mix all of the vakues shown. Love it.Hal

[@allisonhollier118]

Oh my gosh, this was sooooo helpful. I even took notes on my paper. So the next night I started working on bleeds… so when it didn’t run, I knew what to do to fix it. This video made a night and day difference.

[@fernandsavoie6641]

Thank you! What an informative video. Outstanding as usual.

[@aayeff]

Nicely explained and demonstrated. Thanks.

[@abaddon_bomb1900]

Thank you! This helps so much for beginners!

[@Pebblesmas]

Thank you 4 an amazing video, again New lessons i have not seen before, and great lessons and practise possibilities, loved it!

[@meloniemacdonald6884]

Amazing video! I've been looking for a video like this for some time. Thank you, Jenna!

[@akelley.73]

Thank you! This helped so much! It seems like such a simple exercise, but it helped me recognize the 5 stages of paint consistency.

[@annadeehinckley2130]

I love this so much. Thank you for posting it.

[@anidaralopez5676]

Wow....what a great way to explain things. Thank you!

[@DaveQuail]

Thanks Jenna! Great tutorial as always!

[@k8marlowe]

This is so incredibly helpful. Thank you so much!

[@debbievaughn8502]

Brilliant video for us beginner!! Thank you!

[@Dawnasy]

You Jenna…are the bomb! Thank you!

[@stinar37]

This is gold! Ty!!

[@aspenguy]

I've been moving backwards instead of forwards! I started watching your videos in a helter skelter order and results of course have been all over the place. This video has been very helpful and will help me get a better start. Thanks!

[@joeodell4006]

This was so helpful! Thank u! I hadn't been able to figure out how the spreading happened in a slow way like the cream. I love it!

[@JennaRaineyChannel]

Glad it was helpful!

[@monikasturm2575]

Also the paper sizing can effect the water absorbency. Stonehenge let's the water sit in top longer than others that suck the water of a wash in like a man stranded in the desert. When she laid down the wash at first I thought, "Oh the water will dry before she gets to the tea part." Then I remembered seeing the Stonehenge tablet in the thumb nail and realized it would be fine. 😅

[@floydfloart1240]

I have this book, I guess I really need to get it out. I’m just getting to the point where I’m realizing that watercolor is supposed to move and flow. I started out using it more like acrylic, but was never happy with my results. I’m so happy I kept at it, thanks for sharing all your knowledge.

[@lpooqw]

Fabulous!!! Thank you so much ~ you are so generous!

[@tarotbysemaj2424]

Lovely examples and a great tutorial. TCMCB, those are good things to remember when working on pieces. I love how you broke it down and then showed the after as how you might apply it to our work. As a beginner in the world of Water Color, I find I have more FAILS than success. Though it is a journey and someday I may actually get to a point that I can paint. Enjoyed your sharing, your enthusiasm and your teaching style. I look forward to watching more videos to learn. ✨🧡✨

[@jeannettemattice9237]

Thankypu so much for your precious time.

[@florida-freedom]

REALLY great video. Thank you Jenna!

[@ApexAlphaFoxtrot]

This help me discover wide range of possibilities with just 'one color'! Appreciate the lesson 🥹

[@JennaRaineyChannel]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@codiuart]

It's really difficult to control the amount of water when using watercolor, I used too much so my strokes were not as I wanted. Thanks to your video tutorial I can rest assured to finish my next paintings. Your sharing is great, I appreciate your contribution.

[@shelleyjennings4344]

Thank you for an excellent explanation. ❤

[@justvisiting4122]

This is a great! Thanks so much I appreciate you and your husband so much!

[@carrollwilson5169]

Great video. Can’t wait for that new book, the samples shown look fantastic 💗

[@purple0hairstreak]

I was initially very confused because in my country, we usually drink tea and coffee with milk. Then it clicked that you meant tea and coffee black! 😅

[@angeladelionado1465]

Great video. Very helpful. Thanks

[@jbahnman]

Thank you, I had just put down in the survey about water blending. Thanks again .

[@denisemorgan]

This was a wonderful and helpful video !! Thank you 😊

[@judemakray8982]

Excellent. Thank you very much.

[@alicemcpherson7961]

Thank you so much!!!! This helped me so much.

[@kerrygrieve5644]

Really excellent video Jenna. Thank you!!

[@mjpete27]

Hullo Jenna, Excellent instruction of basic paint density! I know different paints react to the consistency according to their recipe in spreading out and so forth. I have also discovered the hardness of water was something I never considered until I had troubles with my watercolor paints when traveling! I know you do not want to introduce to many variables when teaching I believe you balanced this very well. Thank You.

[@kecall]

Such a helpful tutorial! Thanks!! :)

[@michemman]

Hi Jenna Use a glue stick and a wet tissue on your plastic palette or tin palettes! (stops staining and beading on new palettes) and even at your stage, it will stop the beading. Have fun! New to your channel....thanks again! In kindred spirit Eliza Dulwich Hill, Sydney Australia x

[@cindymatthews5905]

Excellent teaching!

[@o0mew0o]

This is very helpful. Thank you! My mantra these days is "you are worthy of your supplies" (I read this in the comments on Dr. Oto Kano's video) so I don't feel bad using a lot of paint like in cream and butter consistency. I always had the issue of my paint spreading too much in the skies to the point there are no clouds. Wet on wet is difficult to master because they react so differently in different drying stages. Would love to see a video on it! If you have one already then I'll look for it.

[@tjlova8098]

This is so informative and helpful, thank you. But one of my biggest problems is that I get a blob of darker color somewhere on whatever shape I'm making (for instance, if I'm doing a leaf it will be at the tip). It's so frustrating! But I did watch your video where you said you practiced for hours every day for a long time before you got it right, so I'll keep chugging away.

[@ThelmaGrace1930]

Very helpful! Thank you so much!!

[@ralpherson93]

This is just what I needed! -- It should not be a surprise to me; but I just started a week or so ago and painting has yielded mixed results, but after doing these swatches, I can already see I can use them :) thanks for the video!

[@dfentner]

This has been extremely helpful. Thank you

[@susierodriquez5409]

Thank you. This was very helpful

[@clairev5895]

very helpful; thank you!

[@akhilaak3785]

Thank you a lot. Great tutorial .

[@janicelacy3290]

Thank you Jenna! This very very helpful. I would love to see a video on BLENDING!

[@amymckee5075]

Great exercise!

[@oliver704521]

Awesome my friend we thank you so much for your knowledge⚘

[@debbiesday8270]

Thank you so much. I learned a lot today!

[@daniellecoulter1879]

Very useful. Thank you.

[@kdcraft89]

This goes along with another of your videos, about the 5 stages of watercolor painting. First two related to drawing (shapes, details) Next three relate to light, mid-tones and details. Now it's clear what consistency the paint needs to be for various stages. Some teachers demonstrate their techniques, which is great, but you explain the theory behind them, which is something many of us need to develop our own ways of working.

[@monikawiedmann8594]

This is super helpful, thanks!

[@Mary.inthegarden]

You are an amazing teacher👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@darlenemcgrady9694]

Wow...Soooooo helpful! Thank you!

[@kimhollis9416]

This was so helpful - thanks

[@melindamclaughlin7467]

Thank you Jenna!

[@MS-kb9tn]

This was very informative and easy to follow.

[@ColorfullyOptimistic]

Awesome tutorial as always. Water control is def one I struggle with.

[@angelafeather1301]

Very helpful Thank you so much