OpenTube

The Watercolor Rules I'm Breaking (And Why) | Beyond the Swatch Podcast

Watercolor Scientist

1,223 views

The first episode of Beyond the Swatch is here! Let’s question watercolor’s “never” rules and make room for painting with joy and curiousity!

Let me know in the comments: Which watercolor “rule” do you break all the time?!

✨ Want more watercolor science? I offer a lot of awesome perks for my YouTube and Patreon Members!
Join here:
🌐 Patreon: membership

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
5:54 Rule 1 - Never use black paint
12:25 Rule 2 - Never use white paint
17:15 Rule 3 - Never use opaque paint
26:50 My recommended rules
28:28 Conclusion

🎨 Check out some of the paints that I used in this video!
I am an affiliate partner for Da Vinci Paint Co. I am not sponsored and DVP does not pay for my art materials or my time. I receive a 5% commission for anything purchased using my affiliate links. This helps pay for paint, paper, and supplies for my videos. Please use the links below, and thank you!
Ivory Black PBk9: https://davincipaints.com/ivory-black...
Lamp Black PBk6: https://davincipaints.com/lamp-black-...
Titanium White PW6: https://davincipaints.com/titanium-wh...
Lavender PV15/PW6: https://davincipaints.com/lavender-pe...
Da Vinci Red PR254: https://davincipaints.com/da-vinci-re...
Indian Red PR101: https://davincipaints.com/indian-red-...
Yellow Ochre PY43: https://davincipaints.com/yellow-ochr...
Burnt Sienna PBr7: https://davincipaints.com/burnt-sienn...
Cobalt Blue PB28: https://davincipaints.com/cobalt-blue...

Find me on Twitch! I stream about twice a week - these are cozy hangouts with me while I run watercolor experiments and putter in my studio:
twitch.tv/watercolorscientist

The Swatch Archive is now live!
Browse hundreds of high-res swatches of your favorite paints. It is completely free on my website. No paywall or sign up required - just a pigment nerd playground for anyone who loves watercolor. Explore it here:
🌐 https://watercolorscientist.com/swatc...

#Watercolor #WatercolorTips #WatercolorMyths #WatercolorTechniques #WatercolorScientist

11 Comments

@richardpena7153 5 hours ago

I love your point of view!!!!!

Generally, I mix my own darks and neutrals. Every now and then, I need a bit of black.

It's the same with white. Generally, I don't use it. Sometimes I need it for something pastel.

I do mostly whimsical and abstract paintings.

I do believe sets of rules begin to get stymie creativity.

Breaking rules can lead to something amazing.

@dkhellams7903 15 hours ago

I really benefit from the questions you teach us to ask.

@amandahodgin9316 1 hour ago

I’m not an experienced painter. I bought some inexpensive but still nice watercolours on Amazon when I started because I wanted to do some basic painting for my papercrafting projects. Then the lockdowns of 2020 hit and I was bored and lonely and decided to try actually painting with those watercolours. I remember trying very hard to make a pretty, pink (like bubble gum) from the pallet of paint I had. I was so frustrated that I could never get a nice, pastel colour. Little did I know that a bit of white paint in the mix would be the answer.

I’m an avid photographer. I have been most of my life. I have a dear friend in my photography club who is waaaaay more experienced than I am. He says that the thing to remember about the “rules” is that there are no rules and in art, there shouldn’t be. He prefers to call them helpful guidelines to get you started having some success but to always be bold and try breaking the “rules” so that you find your own style. Art is expressive and it needs to allow creators to be expressive. If breaking a “rule” means that you are able to express yourself in the manner you want, then go for it. Do your own thing and tell the story you want to tell through your art. Different art movements often come about because someone decided that they wanted to try something new. How boring life would be if we always followed the rules.

@xargothunter5746 12 hours ago

I love and agree with everything you say. I hate ultimatums that has no base in anything really material. I can only really think of three rules that are hard to avoid, and neither are about watercolours and all of them are technical and ruins your painting if you do not follow them. Like fat over lean in oils. Do the opposite and see your painting slowly crack and fall apart, especially if you use a lot of impasto layers.
We do not really have this in watercolour, so do what you like.
If you are happy with where you end, the road you took is less important. If you do not like the result; black, white and (very) opaque paints might be playing tricks on you. Learn, adjust and go again. You get to paint another painting! :)

@isabellalucia7820 17 hours ago (edited)

Love the blood moon poppies painting! Now I want to see it with reserved white and in acrylic and oil pastel and watercolour pencils, just to see how the light plays across it.

…’scuse me while I go play!

@parleymanderson7527 16 hours ago

This might be a hot take, but think the reason so many "rules" got passed around is because so many (intermediate) artists learn about them somewhere, tested it out once or twice without learning the full extent of that technique, then conclude the rule must be true. I think it's especially apparent in the part of our community that focus on pigment information. As much as I like to learn about pigment infos, a few swatch sheets or quick sketch can't show you the full extent of a pigment performance.

@isabellalucia7820 17 hours ago (edited)

These rules are useful for artists transferring from acrylic/oil where white and black (or umber) are essential mixing colours.

Perhaps your new rule should be to add “… until you understand your pigments/techniques so well you’re bored and beginning to experiment.”

@Bethikathebunny 16 hours ago

Hmmmmm……. I don’t know if I have any watercolor rules, except to re-wet my purple brush in the mildly purple water spot.

@isabellalucia7820 17 hours ago (edited)

I’m not a fan of opaque watercolours BUT the reptile-painting course I’m doing with Jane Blundell (yes, that Jane) used four different ways to add white (reserve, paint, pen, ink) last week! Shake scales are too fiddly for making fluid in a sketch book, so we were discovering alternative ways to create the lights.

Again - rules to be broken once one gets past the beginner stage and starts to experiment.

@isabellalucia7820 17 hours ago (edited)

No Black rule is good for beginners learning to see shadows (which are rarely black), as is the choice of indigos and greys that use black. As with any new craft, rules can and should be broken as your skills advance.

PBk11 is brilliant for fur, so if you like drawing animals…

@woohoowoohoowoohoo28 16 hours ago (edited)

I remember I used to use the tube of watercolor paint I have now to mix other color , It was a great decision , I have some crazy new watercolors that i feel insterting , but remember , pls never use black and white , but to mix pastel watercolor , we still need that , so only use white when you know about the color you want to mix