"I love color, and I love how watercolor expresses color -

the subtle blending that only watercolor can achieve. What a wonderful way to express light and feeling. Why is watercolor so often referred to as joyful or exciting? I can only share my own personal reasons why watercolor painting is special to me. The excitement starts for me when I face that startlingly white, empty sheet of beautiful rag paper. It's not just a sheet of paper; it's a carefully crafted work, made from living organic substances. The first time my brush makes contact with that paper, there is a synthesis of living things. Water, color - very often formulated from natural sources, and the cotton, which becomes the paper. These three are all living. Their interaction is soft, mysterious, and pleasing. As each succeeding brush stroke is applied to the paper, the interest increases and deepens. The very unpredictability of the medium and the expression taking place rivets one in a kind of suspended hopeful anticipation. As the painting progresses, the emergence of color and light brings a sense of something spoken, achieved, and expressed. The unknown in every watercolor painting is owed to the spontaneity of the interaction of the paper, color, and water. The artist's creativity is the catalyst that brings these together to create a painting.

Watercolor swatches of yellow paint labeled as transparent, transparent, and no camouflage, with handwritten notes describing the paint colors and brands.
Watercolor painting of three vertical rectangular color swatches: yellow at the left, light green in the middle, and dark green at the right.

Hanza Yellow and Phthalocyanine Green

Hand-painted watercolor color test palette with notes and labels in black ink, showing various color mixes and blends, arranged in columns and rows.

These are some of the greys you can achieve with that mixture of AY, Cobalt Blue and Permanent Magenta

Three watercolor paint swatches of different shades of red, labeled as 'semi trans.', 'opaque', and unnamed. Handwritten notes and color codes beneath each swatch indicate paint details and artist information.
Swatches of watercolor paint in shades of red and pink, labeled 'RBL' on the left and 'Scarlet' on the right, with handwritten notes at the top.
Watercolor swatches labeled with names, including Phalo Green, Phalo Green + Phalo Blue, Phalo Green + Titanium White, and Phalo Green + Vermilion.

I love the mixture of phalo green with all sorts of yellows. With Hanza yellow, you can achieve the most brilliant green grass imaginable. See above.

Two watercolor swatches labeled 'PM+UB' in blue and 'PM' in red, on textured paper.
Three vertical watercolor paint swatches labeled CoB, PHB, and UB, showing gradient variations of blue hues.

mixing a luminous brown

Watercolor is about light and contrast. In this video, I attempt to illustrate the beauty that watercolor can achieve through the simple movement of the brush, and the right mixture of colors - how it can create form and feeling, and leave the most pleasing marks on your paper with its light and contrasts.