New Blog - Jo Mackenzie Watercolors

What I Have Learned So Far

5/13/2021

This is everything I have learned so far about painting peonies. I am happy to share all of my mistakes and boo boo's. In the meantime I am thinking of winding down my Youtube channel and online presence overall. This is a hard decision and one I am in deep contemplation about. If you have feedback for me I would be glad to hear it as I am sure it will help me in the process . Maybe COVID was part of my journey in asking myself this essential question.

Guest Artist Karen Werner

4/24/2021

Once a week I will sharing an artist with you. The first one up is the amazing Karen Werner. Each one of these artists has been kind enough to give me permission to do this. I appreciate the generosity and hope you enjoy meeting the contemporary artists working today.

Thoughts and Observations

4/6/2021

Today I had thoughts about irony with our two dogs, the best masking fluid I have ever found and the concept of "hate watching" compared to watching films to increase my knowledge. Spoiler alert...I do mention the movie Breaking Waves . If it is one of your favorites I apologize.

Color , Shape, Value

4/3/2021

Isn't every thing basically three things? Color , Shape and Value? That is how I construct a face, or any other thing I decide to paint. I do not see individual things. I see color , shape and value and that in turn creates mass and hopefully a pleasing painting. If you want to know about this approach contact me.

Relax

3/16/2021

While we wait to get vaccines or are recovering from receiving one the word relax keeps going through my mind. This is a 14 x20 inch painting of good old Fig Newton. He is no longer here but he sure did know how to relax.
Yesterday I posted a video tribute to a friend of mine . You can watch that and subscribe if you want to see more stories and watercolor tips.

Fire And Heat

3/6/2021

This month the Daily Paintworks has a challenge where you are asked to paint something hot. These two things came to mind but it is always fun to see how other people solve the challenges. So far there are pictures of beaches and hot peppers. I noticed in painting the fire how much like water it is visually. It is fluid and has ripples. This observation surprised me because they are not opposites at all. In color they are but not in forms. You can see my fire video here and please hit the subscribe button so I can continue to make content to share. I don't make any money from this but the support is much appreciated.

I Found A Free Watercolor Class

2/10/2021

The Southern Atelier is offering a free Anne Abbgott class on Feb. 17th at 10 am. You can click on the link in the description of this video and go there and sign up. It is a week from today so it is coming up soon.
I also have ordered a free streamed classes that I am looking at and plan to review on my Youtube channel. It is interesting to see how other people work. I clearly am not a highly technical painter. I like to keep it simple but I am going to start using masking fluid again to keep the whites of my paper white.

How to Mix Warm and Cool Grays

1/30/2021

This week I posted two videos on my Youtube channel the one above is about mixing warm and cool grays. The next video which I loaded up yesterday is my first portrait of rescue collie Henry using only warm and cool grays.
Henry does not like it when I am in the studio. I do not use the hairdryer but he still hates the swish of the water so I keep treats in my pocket and call him in from time to time .
This is not great for my concentration but Henry needs this for now and he is food motivated so it is a win win situation.

How To Mix Watercolor For Temperature Changes

1/20/2021

It took me a long long time to begin to understand how temperature can be manipulated when mixing paint. I had a sense for how to do it but now I have a real strategic way to look at temperature and plug it in so that my work is more varied and planfull. I plan to make more videos like this because watercolor painting is more about what happens on the palette than it is about what goes on the paper. If you have questions you would like me to "tackle", leave them here and I will do it in a video or a live stream.

New Year New Attitude

1/18/2021

It has been a "minute" since I last sent our a blog post. I had been wondering what my new role could be during the period of isolation. I have decided to keep painting and teaching. The main way I am teaching is on my Youtube channel. I hope you will subscribe to it and make my spirits soar.

This was a recent video about creating compositions. If you like it please leave me a thumbs up and hit the subscribe and notifications button. If you do this you will invited to the next "live" Q and A session.

Jo Mackenzie Watercolors
Affordable Fine Art Watercolors
c/o Jo Mackenzie
Box 41
Adamant Vermont 05640
(phone) 802-454-7330
Contact Me via e-mail.

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