In this series of videos, you'll follow along as American Journey Ambassador Artist Ward Jene Stroud creates a gorgeous watercolor painting of a butterfly while sharing his tools and techniques. Throughout the videos, you'll hear the thought process behind the artistic decisions a painter makes. These tutorials are filled with handy tips from an experienced artist and teacher, as well as Ward's infectious optimism and wonder. His clear and informative teaching style makes watermedia approachable instead of intimidating.
We hope you enjoy this series and were inspired to get into your studio and make some magic happen!
Part One: Digital Composition
Ward demonstrates digital tools as a means to compose, edit an image quickly in real time and shorten the steps needed to go from photograph to painting. Through his demystifying approach, you'll gain the confidence to add digital tools to your studio practice.Part Two: Tracing the Image
In part two of this tutorial, Ward demonstrates how to use a digital projector to save time in tracing the important features of a resource photograph. Using a mechanical pencil, he loosely outlines the crucial areas of the composition that he wants to focus on while describing why he's choosing to highlight certain areas.Part Three: Adding the Background
Ward demonstrates how to prepare Kilimanjaro watercolor paper on a background support and how to make amazing backgrounds with unique techniques. Using a Cheap Joe's Pseudo Squirrel Quill Mop brush and a spray bottle, he 'dances' water puddles across the surface in preparation for creating foliage.Part Four: Painting the Butterfly
In this video, the background has dried and it's time to paint the star of the show, the Monarch butterfly, with American Journey Watercolor. Learn to mix your own dark colors to lay in those all important dark values. Watch how Ward holds the brush, how he loads the color, and how he decides where to use more or less water while painting.Welcome to Cheap Joe's Sketchbook, a place where artists can gain creative tips and ideas for their next art project. This art blog will inspire you to try new mediums across the art spectrum while gathering knowledge on different painting techniques.
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Welcome to Cheap Joe's Sketchbook, a place where artists can gain creative tips and ideas for their next art project. This art blog will inspire you to try new mediums across the art spectrum while gathering knowledge on different painting techniques.