Birgit O'Connor and The World of Watercolor Painting

First get rid of the expecations of what you do in the studio, and be willing to learn a lot about creativity, focus and a get ready to have some fun, consider Plein air painting. 

Here easle I used is a Traveler Series Watercolor Package click here

View the Beach painting demo on Youtube

Online courses

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Based on my "Fearless flowers" courses, in this episode, we explore when painting how to get out of your comfort zone, and grow to be more bold and dynamic.

In the Fearless Flowers series, both the interactive and independent study options are available. For immediate access to any of the lessons I suggest the independent study option, full courses

Single lessons

Schedule of interactive courses

Join my mailing list, courses, brushes and more at www.birgitoconnor.com

Today were talking about what if you’re doing a painting and use photos that someone else took as your reference material, can you use it for a show, can you sell it, can you claim it as your own?

Are you using your artistic vision or copying an image?

What if you took a class and are inspired by the instructor, and use their lesson and reference material, is it now yours?

Is there a subject matter that you would like to hear about? Drop us a line and let us know 

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Pushing through the fear.

Do you feel the need to always be perfect?

What kind of artist do you want to be?

Do you want to have the control you want over your brushstrokes, and if you don’t it can depend on the brush and the amount of water it’s holding?

Are your paintings to weak and wimpy, and are you afraid of the darks? Try to relax and think of every painting as an experiment.

We will be looking at a few white flower paintings and talking about the brushstrokestrokes, background and where do you want to direct the viewers eye?

How to get the wobble out of the paper, try ironing it.

Framing options

When painting on a half sheet size painting 15"x22" the standard size frame I usually use is a standard 22"x28".

The standard mat never seems to work as well so I have mine custom.

You can go to your local craft store or framer for more information or custom frames, which can be pricy.

I was looking online for online frame options, and the standard frame size can work but again, I'm not sure if the online mat option is as good as custom cut.

I like Cheap Pete's but they don't ship the larger size frames

Here are some online companies you can try, but you may want to call them before ordering.

ArtoFrame

Picture Frames

Website  www.birgitoconnor.com

Online courses Watercolor courses

The course we reviewed today was from the interactive 6-week course

Interactive white flower (runs in sessions) 

Independent study

Sometimes it’s difficult to get started and paint again, it can be because of some life circumstance, the holidays, or we're just not inspired.  Not everyone enjoys the isolation of the studio or is a self-motivated artist, some enjoy painting with other artists, especially watercolor.

With the pandemic, many people haven’t felt creative and have been absolutely paralyzed, so what are some of the things you can do, let’s talk about it.

 If you’re interested in taking an online course, or joining “Watercolor in Motion” take a look at my upcoming schedule on my website or go directly to my school 

In this episode, we discuss the approach of painting a cluster of Monarch Butterflies.

We will be covering what you might think might be a failure could be an incredible abstraction, along with paper surfaces and color mingling.

Online Courses

Website 

Monarch Butterfly Mug 

Monarch Tote bag

Values help to invite the viewer into the painting, so in today's episode we are having a discussion about why they are important, to help create a push pull effect and prevent paintings from looking flat.

In today's meeting will talk a little bit about how to get that fine spray in a painting by using an atomizer, a Kemper tool or a toothbrush.

We will also discuss a value study app and talk about some of the challenges you can face when doing a plein air competition, and how all these challenges can help you grow in your creativity.

Value study app

Kemper spatter tool

Monarch garden online course all levels

Monarch Migration Full course

Shop

Home website

In this episode will be having a conversation about where your inspiration come from?

Have you ever thought  of where you painting from in your body? Is it your head, your heart, your fingertips, wrist, arm, full body and what kind of experience is it for you?

What about commissions, do you enjoy doing them or is it a chore, and how can you move away from realism into something more painterly.

These are just some of the things that will be talking about  in today's episode we're going to be talking

The wonderful thing about being able to mix your own granulating color combinations is that you have a wide variety available to you without a large investment.

Granulating colors can help to add texture to objects such as wood, rocks, landscapes  or abstract paintings, but if you are looking for clean clear washes for skies or flowers, then you may want to avoid it.

The real key here is to use Mars black as your foundation, then blend it with any one to two earth or cobalt colors, and apply color to a wet surface, let it sit, or run down the paper, and leave it alone, try not to over-brush it or you will loose the effect.

Find it at your local art store, or favorite art supplier.

Amazon link

• Mars Black WN  https://amzn.to/3F2R0Tt