We have quite a few wonderful watercolorists here, and I'd sure like to be one myself. I'm not there yet, alas. Any suggestions on moving this in the right direction would be welcome. I'm not so much interested in the likeness or the anatomy, which are things I understand, but rather I need to hear about style and technique at this point. This is 9x12 on 140lb cold-press.

Click to view attachment

I agree the texture of the skin is a little "heavy" in places, but what I noticed first is the faulthty perspective. I'd like to see the right eye and eye brow smaller than the left. In my opinion perspective, especially in the eyes, is more important than texture.

I see a beautiful painting Ernest.. The skin however does look a bit rough ..Burnt umber is the base for darker skin tones. To that you can add cadmium red light and/or cadmium orange along with a some raw sienna. In the shadows, add ultramarine blue, or ultramarine violet .I tend to use just enough water to keep the brush damp - too much water causes puddles and creates the potential for runs and bleeds.For washes, I usually use just enough water to make the paper damp, and do the wash in sections...quickly, to avoid "drying lines".As one area of the painting dries, you can work on other areas... by working in one section and then another while the first dries, you can avoid runs and bleeding. Putting one wet colour right next to another wet colour is only going to cause frustration. Wait until that first color is dry. The skin on your woman looks like you may have used a small brush to apply...It may not be too late to do a light wash of clean water over the face and then blend in again using a larger soft brush to smooth out those choppy lines.. not all will be even when you watercolor but the effect will show. For the most part I use a Dagger saber brush.. 1/4". it gives me the flatside to produce smoothness and washes and the tip gives me a more controled area. I use a short liner brush for hair and eyes and detail. When you have too harsh of lines between tones you can take a bit of water and apply on the area and wiping your brush and going over that area with a dry brush until you reduce the harness.. I love washes .. .. once your painting dries to touch you can add a light wash in shadow areas using blues or even light greens.. building with each wash..allowing each to dry .. Makes a huge difference from a plain Jane watercolor to an exciting playful watercolor.. Honestly you are well on your way to some very lovely paintings.. .. Practice on a scarp piece of watercolor paper and get the best color , see how it dries ,,and smoothness etc. , then apply it to your painting.. I hope I haven't muddied your mind..I am far from a written instructor .. Carol

Thanks for all the tips! Seems to me that with art, I usually need to hear things several times, explained different ways by different people, before they really "click" for me. Each time I hear things, I try again, and learn more. So thanks!

The only advice I wouild add to the above would be, don't fiddle!If you go over the same area again and again, the paint tends to lose it's vibrancy. Better to get it on and leave it!

Yes, I find that's my problem with watercolor pencils. Thanks Steve.

This is probably the best tip of all, since I think it's what mostly went wrong with this particular painting. The corrollary, of course, is to learn how to do things right the first time -- the advice to try things on a scrap of paper first is clearly useful there.

Ernest, I am thinking by looking at this that you used watercolour pencils, am I correct? If so, I find that they can be quite granular on the paper when water is added and if the initial laydown of pigment isn't even, it will leave uneven pigmentation as you have here in the skin tone.

Don't be afraid to use water to really dissolve the pigment and also really look at the skin tones to see what colours you can find. Blues, purples, greens all find a home in skin tones besides ochres and pinks.

Watercolours are for the most part transparent and need to be built up in layers. However, you can easily muddy a piece by adding too many, often a couple of layers will work to your advantage best and leave clean, transparent layers with the paper still coming through as it should.

Hi Jeanette,

Thanks for commenting. Nope, these are Grumbacher "Academy" watercolors in tubes (are these any good, by the way, or not? I don't have the experience to tell, but I suspect they're student-grade). The graininess comes from a combination of two factors: the burnt sienna paint seems to get clumpy when rewetted, and the paper (Canson Montval Aquarelle, is this crap too?) was getting worn out in the spots where I kept reworking things.

Ernest I use Van Gogh tube and my choice of paper is Strathmore...400 series.. 90lb for just practicing and heavier for the keepers.. I have even used Bristol Vellum paper .. turns out pretty good if you don't have too many mistakes..

Even using student grade watercolours, you shouldn't get this streaky effect. Some watercolours are granular, in that they dry with a more graded, speckled effect. It may just be that you didn't dissolve the paint in enough water perhaps.

I never use any paper under 140lb simply because it buckles too much and isn't strong enough for scrubbing back if needed. I've used aquarelle paper and haven't had problems with it.

You have lots of potential in this piece and I'd love to see you do it again with layers of washes, different colours for shadows and lost and found edges, especially in the hair.

I wish I was good in watercolor ..i have tried and I dont even get close to your painting ernest so I am not a good person to say what looks right or not .