The BEST advice from 25 years of watercolor painting

UPDATE: At 3:31 where I talk about neutral tint, I explain that I like it because it contains just a single pigment, however this is incorrect. It is actually a blend of three- PBk6, PB15, and PV 19. And it turns out that Daniel Smith and American Journey both use these same three pigments in their neutral tint color. I honestly can't remember why I thought AJ brand Neutral Tint only had one pigment, but that is incorrect. It is however, a very "neutral" black that doesn't have a cool/blue undertone if you are in need of a black like that. Thank you artists and I'm sorry for my mistake!

I've gathered up the ten best things I've learned in my watercolor painting career of about 25 years. Level up faster by learning these 10 lessons in less than 20 minutes!

🎨 CONTENTS 🎨
00:00 1: How I pick reference photos
01:31 2: Do more of what you like
04:52 3: Paint fast
06:30 4: The most important supply
09:21 5: Consider how you display your art
12:50 6: The 3 principles
13:57 7: Embrace the wateryness
14:35 8: What I do when a painting "fails"
15:42 9: Find your palette
16:32 10: How I plan my paintings
17:32 Bonus Tip

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🎨 I'm Jess. I show artists (that's you!) how to harness the 333 method by teaching you the techniques, principles and properties of watercolor so you can experience the joy of watercolor with your first painting, without wasting precious time and supplies.

My favorite thing to paint are dogs, they are so expressive. I'm so proud to have won three ribbons (so far!) from the Minnesota State Fair and even more proud to share everything I've learned about watercolor with artists like you. Let's paint!

🎨 Tell me about your watercolor experience in the comments!

[beatrizdavis]

I just started watercolor paints. Great advice 😊

[pintoraficionado]

Concise, useful, intelligent. Thanks.

[juliabroadley]

Great tips im just starting in watercolour

[pjpony]

I just finished a commission and although I didn't hate it and it did challenge me (a lot), but it turned out good and I completed both in two days. I will be more careful next time.😁 You would have liked my painting commission. It was black and white.

[lulabelle]

Great tips. Love your artwork
Hmmmm American Journey Neutral Tint Pigment info names 3 pigments - carbon black, chlorinated copper phthalocysnine + quin. violet. Seems typical = DaVinci pigments basically Lamp black, phthalo blue, Quin. Violet

[jc-aguilar]

Thank you so much for all the knowledge sharing. I wanted to note that colors with fluorescent dyes fade in less than 4 months. Often very bright pink colors have them like Opera Pink. Several people have tested and found similar results. Just check the pigments used, they will list if a dye was used. We have good pink substitutes that don’t use fluorescent dyes like pink paints with PR122. Here is a video that shows the fading after 4 months:

[xargothunter]

Thank you for an interesting video. I am very fascinated by how different artists work with and think about art. <3
I am from Europe so American Journey is not available here unless we import it directly I think.
I had a look at the pigment information on their website as I thought a single pigment neutral tint sounded interesting. I don't know if they has recently reformulated their neutral tint, but on their downloadable color chart it is listed as a rather generic multi pigment paint.
Can you maybe tell me what pigment is in the version you got? It looks a lot like carbon or lamp black on screen.
Merry Christmas from dark and cold Denmark.

[joykruczay]

I have the same question as an earlier poster. The AJ Neutral Tint did not have the pigment info on website. The artist pigments org site had it listed as PBk6, PB15, and PV 19. That was updated a few months ago.This is what my W & N contains, as one needs cool and warm colors to be neutral. What pigment is yours?
In your supply list it is the pigments I have listed.

[carolgehman]

I saw a short where you were talking about NewYork 300 pound watercolor paper from Jerry’s. Do you still recommend it? Thanks!

[Terridickert]

I signed up for January challenge and haven’t received acknowledgment, supply list…no response. ?