I got many questions about the color that I use. And it is in my fast track watercolor pdf guide. But then some people also ask me exactly what colors that I used to mix a specific color. And that’s not something I can answer because I mix the color with my eyes, not formulas. Let me make this clear, colors are important. If your painting has harmonious colors, it can look very pleasant and natural. So the key here is harmonious color, not pretty colors. Any color can be beautiful in the right context. That’s why I don’t really have a favorite color. But even if you do have a favorite color, I ..read more

To create a believable space in a painting, you need to create depth. But how do we do that when we are painting on a flat piece of paper? I’m sure you already know how because you’re looking at those things every day. Recently I went to Cannon Beach in Oregon. It’s the first time I was there. Even though I’ve seen countless photos of the place, seeing it in person was an amazing experience. I took some photos of the scenery. Even though I think I can never do it justice, I still want to give it a try painting it. The most distinct element in this scene is the depth. So I thought it is approp ..read more

 As our weather warms up and my schedule freed up a bit, I’m starting to do plein-air again. While an enjoyable experience, it is definitely not easy for me. Today I want to share with you a little bit of my experience with plein-air painting, how I approached it, and the challenges I faced. Plein-air painting has been romanticized in such a way that if you don’t do plein-air, it’s almost as if you are not a real artist. I fall into this “peer pressure” at times. However, plein-air is not easy. To me, it almost feels like a test; you have a limited time to produce a good painting under a ..read more

Most people say night scenes are hard to achieve in watercolor. Or watercolor is not a good medium to paint a night scene. And I would agree. But it’s not impossible once you are aware of the important elements of a night scene. And today, I want to share those with you. Because watercolor is transparent in nature. We typically can’t paint light on top of the dark. So unlike oil, acrylic, or even digital painting. We can’t tone the surface to a dark value and add light on top. We need to paint the color of the light first, then paint the dark in. It’s a bit unnatural because most of the lights ..read more

The beauty of watercolor lies in wet on to wet. But in order to achieve wet on wet, the paper needs to be moist. And if you are like me, you probably feel frustrated sometimes because your wash dries too soon. So what do we do? Today I want to talk about a very useful tool - the spray bottle. Let’s face it, watercolor is not easy. Especially when you want to connect big shapes while changing colors and add some wet on wet effects. I shared a video about wet on wet before. One of the tips I shared is to pre-mix your colors. I still stand by that tip, however, there are times I ran out of the mi ..read more

It can be hard to find a long period of free time to do a painting. It can also be very tiring as well. Sometimes we spent a whole day working and that left us with little time or energy to paint. Today I want to share with you a few tips to help you get into painting when you are living a busy life and starting to lose motivation to paint. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I have a day job, I have 3 boys, and I have this YouTube channel to run. So it can be a bit difficult to paint consistently. And sometime after a day of work, dealing with my 3 boys, and things in life ..read more

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday. I know this year might be especially difficult for families to gather. I had a good holiday with my wife and kids. And that’s one of the things I’m most grateful for this year. Since March I’ve been working at home and didn’t have many gatherings with friends and families. But I was very lucky to be stuck at home with my loved ones. Even though there are times I wish the house can be a bit quieter without kids, I am fortunate enough to keep my work and have a roof over my head. I have a job that supports my family, and I still get to what I love to ..read more

The beauty of watercolor lies in wet on to wet. But in order to achieve wet on wet, the paper needs to be moist. And if you are like me, you probably feel frustrated sometimes because your wash dries too soon. So what do we do? Today I want to talk about a very useful tool - the spray bottle. Let’s face it, watercolor is not easy. Especially when you want to connect big shapes while changing colors and add some wet on wet effects. I shared a video about wet on wet before. One of the tips I shared is to pre-mix your colors. I still stand by that tip, however, there are times I ran out of the mi ..read more

It can be hard to find a long period of free time to do a painting. It can also be very tiring as well. Sometimes we spent a whole day working and that left us with little time or energy to paint. Today I want to share with you a few tips to help you get into painting when you are living a busy life and starting to lose motivation to paint. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I have a day job, I have 3 boys, and I have this YouTube channel to run. So it can be a bit difficult to paint consistently. And sometime after a day of work, dealing with my 3 boys, and things in life ..read more

 We one week away from Christmas. Sadly we haven’t got any snow yet. So it’s not likely we’re going to have a white Christmas. But still, I want to share my process of a snow scenery painting. Snow is a beautiful phenomenon for us here in Seattle, it doesn’t happen that often even in the winter. So I’m pretty excited whenever there’s snow here. Because each season here in the pacific northwest has very distinct looks. I always want to paint some snow sceneries when it’s winter. There are 3 things to look out for when you are painting a snow scene: Not all snow is white - Yes the local ..read more