Am I imagining it or did January and February just fly by?! I’ve been so busy taking care of our house and family things (with a little bit of knitting, weaving, and sewing thrown in) and Steve has been very busy with YouTube and Patreon videos, video classes, and live videos. His four part Strathmore class on spontaneous watercolor painting is now available on the Strathmore YouTube channel, and Steve will shortly post the class videos to his Mind of Watercolor channel. Please keep checking back for those videos. Steve also created a four session course for Etchr that debuted in November 2023 entitled “Mastering Watercolor Landscapes.” You can find this course at Etchrstudio.com, along with his past workshops.

We’re very pleased to share with you that Steve was awarded an Honorable Mention for a spontaneous landscape painting he submitted to the Splash 25 Art Competition this year. That painting, along with the other winners, will be displayed in the upcoming The Best of Watercolor magazine, which will be available in bookstores some time this summer. This annual magazine is presented by Artists Magazine and American Artist. We are grateful to be a part of this prestigious collection.

As always, if you happened to have missed any of our January and February videos that were posted for all viewers on YouTube, here they are with a list of links to them all.

You will also find the additional links to exclusive content on Patreon (only accessible if you’re a Patron). If you’ve not become a Patron yet, please consider supporting this channel and receiving additional, helpful content.

5 Exciting Ways to Improve Your Composition in 2024

Getting better at seeing and producing great compositions can be fun and satisfying if you understand a few key design concepts and study strong examples. I’ve got 5 ways to analyze a composition you may not have thought of and perhaps can use to make some breakthrough compositional designs of your own.

Spice Up Your Line in Line and Wash Watercolor Paintings! Two Demos.

Line and wash watercolor can be such a great staple in your tool box. It’s fun to explore how that line can be expressed and made more organic which is exactly what we’ll do in this video. #archespaper

Easily Paint an Architectural Detail with Watercolor & Colored Pencil

Here’s how I approached a favorite photo of an architectural detail with Arches hot press watercolor paper, graphite watercolors, colored pencils and gouache. #archespaper

10 Hours in the Mind of an Artistic Genius – Franklin Booth Pen & Ink Master Study

Pen and Ink Master Study of Franklin Booth’s work. #archespaper

Patreon Exclusive Content

Studio Tips – Color Index vs Color Cube. – Here’s a brief look at the Color Index books, books I used as a graphic designer many times but they also have some validity for choosing color palettes in your paintings. I was reminded of these books recently while seeing an ad for Sara Renee Clark’s color cube. So we’ll briefly talk about them and the differences.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/studio-tips-vs-96188371

Video Extras – More on Composition – The follow up video on composition I promised.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-extras-on-96327229

Video Extras – Part 2 Spice Up Your Line & Wash – Here is the promised part 2 from the public YouTube video last week on expressive line and wash techniques.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-extras-2-97193862

Video Extras – Lily Seika Jones – Here is a quick look at Fantasy Artist and Watercolorist Lily Seika Jones
https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-extras-97730621

Video Extras – Rock & Boulder Mini-workshop – Here is a mini rock and boulder workshop I hope you’ll enjoy. Many of you have requested more on rocks and it should be easy enough to follow along if you wish to paint with it.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-extras-99338157