The secret to painting with watercolors

I have been painting with watercolors for 4 years now
and let me tell you once you get the knack of it watercolor
is a wonderful medium to paint with. The secret is simple;
practice and find your style. My style has come from
learning and watching a man by the name of Luvon Shepard.
He teaches painting at RIT (NY) and Geneseo among other
places. He started with me in 2005 when I took a beginners
class with him. Ever since I have grown to love the medium
and have done a lot with it. Let me tell you it's an excellent
talent to have and it is a great to give as a gift and just
very gratifying.

For me it was my ability to draw and my sharp attraction
to my color pallet that got me hooked. Luvon gave us a
list of about 10-12 colors he found to be the most useful
over his 30+ years of painting. The true key is
finding a nice mix of the pallet to create hundreds
of new colors. Next, is finding a balance between
lights, mid tones and darks. Over exaggerate at bit,
show off the power of the colors, it's amazing!!
Don't forget to frame your piece, it just
creates a professional clean feel and takes your
work to the next level.

I enjoy doing baseball portraits like these by Mark Chiarello. Look at
the face he painted, see all the layers and the over exaggerated use
of lighting, that's what I'm talking about! He's good.