Category: Prima Watercolor Sets

TROPICAL WATERCOLOR SET by Prima SUPER HONEST Product Review!!

4/10/2023

So I THOUGHT the Current watercolor set by Prima was my favorite of all the little Prima palettes I've tested... until today! Today, I FINALLY feel like I found exactly what I've been looking for in these watercolor sets.

If you know me - you know I LOVE bright, punchy, even obnoxious saturated color, which for me, is tough to find in watercolor as a medium (and why I often turn to fountain pen ink painting).

The colors in Prima's Tropical watercolor set are so luscious, rich, vibrant, and TOTALLY me!! I can't wait for you to check them out!!

*All product links are affiliate and for U.S. residents only.*

Take a good look at the photo above. Does this look anything like what you'd imagine a tropical watercolor set might look like? Of course NOT! That's exactly why I tell everyone how important it is to swatch your colors BEFORE you start painting.

Case in point... the photo below shows what's hiding inside the Prima Marketing Tropical Watercolor Confections palette once you add the magic of water!

Gorgeous, right?! You would never know that unless you swatched them. Swatching totally eliminates the potential for a mixed-media mess of surprises as you're painting, and is a gift to your future self.

If you've been hanging out with me for my Prima watercolor series on YouTube, you know that I'm such a fan of swatching that I do it twice. Once on the little swatch card included with my palette, and a second time in a little watercolor swatch book I use as a backup in case I ever lose the card.

Make sure you click over to see Prima's Tropical Watercolor set in action as I paint this fairy watercolor lesson for the Celtic Collective.

I had SO much fun layering the colors from this set to create unique skin tones and hair for my fairy! But I think the bold blooms of color in the background just might have been my favorite part! I'm in love with the intensity of this palette :)

Wanna Create This Lesson Together
Step-by-Step in Real-Time?

You can find it in the Celtic Collective over at Awesome Art School! The Collective is an art membership that I co-host with my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon. Together, we provide super fun fantasy art lessons on everything from fairies and mermaids to castles and dragons!

We're only open for enrollment a few times a year, so make sure to add your name to the waitlist so you can get notified the next time we're taking on new members.

?Wanna see all the projects inside the Celtic Collective? Check out our Visual Index!

Wanna See MORE Prima Reviews?

I've done so many lately! I've been in love with Prima since I discovered the Complexions set back in 2019. Hopefully this playlist helps you decide which palettes might be a great addition to your art supply stash (again - none of these review videos have been sponsored, and I paid for each set reviewed with my own hard-earned money, so these are my honest opinions).

Need MORE Resources?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

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Fairy Watercolor Tutorial for MIXED MEDIA Beginners + Confections VINTAGE PASTEL Watercolor Set Review

9/9/2023

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*All product links are affiliate & for U.S. residents only.*

If you've been hanging out with me for a while on my Mixed Media YouTube channel, you know how much fun I've had exploring Prima Watercolor sets!

Today I'm swatching the Confections Vintage Pastel set and challenging myself to create something just with the colors provided in this cute little palette.

If you love a FREE full-length watercolor tutorial that's easy enough for beginners, you're in for a treat! Grab whatever pastel watercolors (or any watercolors!) you have, and come play with me!!

My mixed media watercolor rule of thumb is to ALWAYS swatch your watercolors (or ANY art supplies!) before using them.

I've learned this the hard way SO many times over, and now I love swatching so much that I actually do it twice- once on top of the swatch card included with my palette, and once again inside a little watercolor swatch journal as a backup - just in case I lose the little card that came with my palette!

Swatching helps to prevent SO many future mistakes and surprises! Trust me, I learned the hard way- and this my friend, is the solution that your future self will be SO grateful for!

As I've leaned into the whole swatching process, I've discovered watercolor swatching is super relaxing and really feels like quality time just for me to be. I can "get to know" my new art supplies, and chill with some music or a podcast in the background. It's kinda the best!

As I swatched this little pastel set, I was kinda surprised at just how LIGHT these pastel colors are. I knew they were going to be light, but they're even lighter than I imagined. It takes a LOT of water and TONS of pressure to get any pigment onto the paper at all!

I transfered the outline of a fairy photograph onto "the good stuff" - a sheet of 140lb. cold press, 100% cotton watercolor paper by Arches! This stuff is SO absorbent.

To get this project started, I decided to try a wet-on-wet pastel rainbow, but it BARELY shows up. Not a good sign... especially for someone like me, who LOVES bold color. I added a second rainbow layer and didn't get much more out of it, so moved on to my fairy's face.

Because the pastels were so light, I had to do a little more color mixing than I typically do, to try and get 3 shades in light, medium and dark to help me with my fairy face shading.

If understanding WHERE to add shading on a face is a mystery to you - I REALLY break this down in my How to Draw and Find Your Style book, and show it to you in action in this YouTube video.

Throughout today's fairy project, I really struggled with how light the pastel watercolors were, until I used the black color included in this set in the background. This move immediately pushed my fairy forward so she began to stand out. What a difference!

After the background was complete, I did a little more color mixing to darken some of the pastels to add dimension throughout. Easier said than done with this palette! LOL.

To keep things delicate - I decided to do my outlining and detail doodling in straight-up graphite with a mechanical pencil. I LOVE how this tied things together.

I hope today's video shows you how it even takes me time sometimes to fight through a project with my own expectations, art supply limitations, and the "ugly phase" (the phase EVERY project goes through that ALMOST can make you give up!)?!

I'm SO glad I didn't give up on my sweet fairy or these pastel watercolors!! Although frustrating for me initially, they were super worth it in the end!

?If you art-ed along with me - please share your work in the Facebook Group and add the hashtag #KarensYouTube.

Adding this simple hashtag enters your name into my virtual hat for a drawing of random winners on my next Giveaway day (always the 1st of the Month).

My giveaways are AWESOME too, by the way! From hoodies, to pencil pouches, art books, and more - it's SO worth it to play along!

LOVED TODAY'S PROJECT & WANT MORE?

Wahoo!! You might just fall in LOVE with the Celtic Collective. It's the fantasy art themed membership that I co-host with my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon, over at Awesome Art School :) We have an absolute blast creating beautiful lessons of mermaids, fairies, castles, unicorns and MORE for our students!!

?Want a sneak peek at ALL the projects inside the Celtic Collective? Check out our Visual Index!

LOVE HOW THIS PROJECT
DIDN'T REQUIRE A LOT OF SUPPLIES?

Right?! Sometimes I LOVE pulling everything out to create an art project, and other times, I'm super content to only mix a couple of art supplies. Today's really only used 3!! Not sure what other mixed media art supply combos go well together like today's grouping?

You need my FREE HOT DOG PACKET! Say wha????!

It's a free 32-page PDF filled with tried-and-true art supply combos my artsy friends and I have come up with together. Even better, I've got a WHOLE YouTube series all about it. Also for FREE!

Simply click the button below, and I'll send it straight to your inbox!

WATCH THIS PLAYLIST about the Hot Dog System to see these simple mixed media art supply combos in action!!

WANT MORE PRIMA SET REVIEWS?

I've got you covered!! I've been in love with these babies since I first reviewed the Complexions set in 2019 :) My next favorite is probably Current (all blues & greens!). CLICK HERE or press the play button below to see them all in a cute little playlist :)

NEED MORE RESOURCES?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

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PREVENT a Mixed Media MESS! THESE Art Supplies WORK with Watercolors Make a Masterpiece!

30/8/2023

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I get asked ALL the time about which mixed media art supplies can be layered ON TOP of watercolor (and other water-soluble art supplies!).

Today on my Mixed Media YouTube channel, I'm demo-ing a couple of my favorite art supply combos to use with watercolor, PLUS sharing an entire 32-page PDF full of tried-and-true mixed media art supply combos from other artists that you might want to try at home in your own projects!

As you'll in today's video, I'm referencing my FREE 32-page "Hot Dog Packet." The "hot dog system" is the EASY mixed media layering process I use when I only want to use a couple of art supplies to create a project and be done. The main way this differs from my Mixed Media Hamburger System, is fewer layers (no collage) and fewer supplies.

Since I of course don't have all the answers and love learning just as much as I love teaching - I reached out to a number of my artsy friends a while back, and asked them which mixed media art supply combos they loved.

I compiled all their answers in the "Hot Dog Packet" so you know exactly which mixed media art supplies to reach for to create a masterpiece instead of a hot mess express!

CLICK HERE or press the button below to download your own FREE copy of the "Hot Dog Packet" so you can follow along at home!

The "Hot Dog Packet" also includes BLANK "hot dog worksheets" that you can fill in with your OWN favorite mixed media art supply combos when you discover combos you love and want to use again. Enjoy!!

*All Product links are affiliate and for U.S. Residents only.*

During today's demo, you might notice I'm going to be watercoloring the "anime goddess" I drew on my YouTube drawing channel last week during my book review of How to Draw Anime and Manga for Beginners (highly recommend that book, by the way- grab it here on Amazon).

Today I'm using another cute little watercolor set by Prima called Essence. You can grab one off of Amazon here if you'd like. This is the third Prima watercolor palette I've reviewed on my Mixed Media YouTube channel. I'm not gonna lie, this particular set is not my favorite, but that's ok.

I think the Current set (blues & greens), is still my favorite (used to create this handsome dude below; watch that video here).

In case you haven't seen my other Prima watercolor set reviews, and are looking for a fine art quality palette - these little sets are NOT what you're looking for (Click here to watch How to Start Your First Daniel Smith Watercolor Collection).

Like anything, you get what you pay for. Prima watercolor sets include 12 watercolors and run around $25 or less on Amazon. They are PERFECT for beginners - especially if you've never tried watercolor, and aren't sure if you'll even enjoy it. The quality and value you'll get out of these little palettes in insane.

If you're NOT a watercolor beginner, I think these Prima palettes are are still "good enough" quality for just playing around and having a little fun. I can definitely tell the difference between these and my Daniel Smith watercolor collection. These are definitely a bit of a downgrade. But... they're an awesome size to use for travel if you enjoy art-ing on the go.

And I really do think Prima does a great job of compiling striking assortments of colors that go together well so you can sit right down and start creating a project with confidence. This is ESPECIALLY true with their Currents collection :)

If you were hanging out with me a couple of weeks ago on my Mixed Media YouTube channel, I demo'd three easy watercolor techniques for beginners. One of those techniques was wet-on-wet watercoloring, which you'll totally notice is used in the entire background for today's project.

Before I even dive into my watercolors, I prepped my watercolor paper used a little masking fluid, or frisket, so I can keep the stars in my background super white while I watercolor the rest of this project!

As you'll see in the video, after finishing my wet-on-wet background, I was feeling a little underwhelmed with the Essence palette and frankly the boldness of watercolor in general.

This is something I struggle with often about watercolor because I LOVE bold and vibrant colors. A lot of the time watercolor - even the expensive ones- can leave me wanting something more.

When I'm feeling like this, I might add in some Noodler's Ink (check this playlist out for WHY I'm OBSESSED with Fountain Pen Ink Painting) like I did in the piece below.

Other times, like today, I'll look to another mixed media supply to help me achieve the intensity I'm after!

Today, I was in the mood for gouache! In case you don't even know what the heck gouache is, check out this video. Long story short, gouache is an opaque watercolor that kinda looks like acrylic when it's dry. This is a good gouache set of 24 to try if you're in the mood to experiment with a LOT of colors for not too much cash. Spend another $20 and you can double the number of colors you get!

I learned everything I know about gouache from my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon! She uses it ALL the time and has some great info tucked into the Celtic Collective art club that we run together at Awesome Art School in case you're interested in trying this super fun medium with friends and diving DEEPER than you can into this world than YouTube.

Once my gouache layer was complete in today's project, I reached for my PERMANENT art supplies that I knew wouldn't reactivate either the watercolor or gouache layers. Some of my permanent favorites include posca paint markers, sharpie paint pens or acrylic paint markers.

What you want to stay away from if you want to doodle over your watercolors is water-reactive dye-based ink pens. These will bleed into your other layers and reactivate them.

I hope you found today's video helpful, and thanks for hanging out with me!!

What to Watch Next

Wanna learn MORE "hot dog style" mixed media art projects on YouTube? This playlist is for YOU!!

Wanna Create This Project With Me in Real-Time?

She's a step-by-step lesson coming up in the Celtic Collective for October! So excited!! Learn more about the Celtic Collective art club here, and join the waitlist to get notified when we're enrolling new members!

Need More Resources?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

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3 Watercolor Techniques for Beginners + Prima Woodland Watercolor Set Demo!

7/8/2023

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If you're a watercolor beginner or new mixed media, watercolors and water-soluble art supplies can feel a little intimidating and unpredictable.

In today's YouTube video, I'd LOVE to blow those feelings away for you by demo-ing 3 BASIC watercolor techniques to give you a dose of confidence:

✨Wet-on-Wet (creates beautiful blooms)
✨Wet-on-Dry (offers more control)
✨Dry-on-Dry (adds texture)

Let's get comfy with watercolors!!

All links are affiliate and are for U.S. residents - always use what you have on hand!

I've REALLY been enjoying working with a variety of my watercolor sets by Prima lately. If you've been hanging out with me on YouTube, you may have seen my videos reviewing both the Terrain watercolor set, and the Currents watercolor set. Missed those?Watch this playlist!

I first got into Prima watercolor sets with the Complexions set because I absolutely LOVED having a little palette of skin tone watercolors all in one place that I could dip right into, without mixing!!

If you're new to me, I'm OBSESSED with Daniel Smith watercolors, and have done LOTS of videos from How to Start Your first Daniel Smith Watercolor Collection, to How to use the Daniel Smith Dot Cards, and How to Build Your Own Custom TRAVEL Daniel Smith Watercolor Palette.

WATCH ALL the Daniel Smith reviews & demos in this playlist:)

Daniel Smith makes GORGEOUS, fine art watercolors. BUT... I know they're SO expensive!! Because of that, I'm always on the lookout for Daniel Smith alternatives for my students.

Prima palettes, while not a fine art product, are affordable, and offer great quality and value for their price point of $25 or less, if all ya wanna do is have a little FUN!!

I love how the colors in each Prima palette already all go together (making them perfect for projects!), plus they have cute, inspirational names for the sets and individual colors.

WHY Watercolor Paper is So Important

Before we get into today's project, I can't emphasize enough how IMPORTANT paper is when it comes to watercolor (or using water soluble mixed media art supplies).

You always need to be working on paper that's been created exactly for watercolor. If you don't, your paper will tear because it can't handle all the water.

There are two main types of watercolor paper I use: cold press watercolor paper (which is bumpy and textured, I love this one), and hot press watercolor paper (which is smooth, I love this one).

Typically I reach for cold press paper (shown above), because it's a little more like a sponge than hot press, and I love the texture.

If you'd like to learn more about watercolor paper - this vid's for you and will give ya all the deets!!

Wet-on-Wet Watercolor for Beginners

Let's dig into technique #1 for today. Wet-on-wet watercolor is exactly like it sounds. All you need to do to play with this technique is to first, wet your watercolor brush and drag it all over your watercolor paper (or on the parts where you intend to use the wet-on-wet technique). Then, wet your brush again, dip it into the watercolor, and place that directly onto your already wet paper. EASY, right?!

This super simple watercolor technique will make your paint spread or bloom quickly into all the areas where your paper is wet! It's soooo fun!!

Love that shade of turquoise? Me too!! It's from the Woodland Watercolor Set by Prima :)

Wet-on-Dry Watercolor Technique for Beginners

Wet-on-Dry watercolor technique is basically the opposite. It's simply dipping your watercolor brush into water, wetting your paint, and putting it on dry watercolor paper.

As you can see below, the second line of color demos the wet-on-dry watercolor technique, and looks much different from the wet-on-wet section above it. Wet-on-dry will give you a much harder line, and more control than wet-on-wet.

Dry Brushing Watercolor Technique for Beginners

To achieve a dry-on-dry look in watercolor, dip your dry brush (or whatever applicator YOU want - I'm using a sponge in today's video), into damp watercolor. The watercolor can't be too wet, you want it to kinda feel "tacky."

Then, tap or drag your brush or applicator around on your paper wherever you'd like this effect. This will create vibrant and VERY different marks on your paper compared to wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry watercoloring techniques.

Dry-brushing can really give you some awesome textures to create depth, and can kinda have the look of acrylics.

Ready for a little timelapse? Kick back and relax as I watercolor this adorable fairy in a jar project using all three of the techniques demo-ed today, for one of my online art clubs at Awesome Art School, the Celtic Collective!

Wanna Learn MORE About the Celtic Collective?

Or do the project featured in today's video step-by-step with me? Awesome!! I run the Celtic Collective art club with my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon. This online art club is all about fantasy art and features drawing, watercolor, and mixed media art lessons on fairies, unicorns, mermaids, mythical creatures, castles and so much more!! We'd love to have you join us! Learn more here.

What to Watch Next

Check out this FREE watercolor tutorial for beginners, as I teach you step-by-step how to paint watercolor poppies! Can you tell which watercolor technique I'm using from the image below??

Need More Resources?

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Obsessed with the CURRENT Watercolor Confections Set by Art Philosophy (PRIMA)!

24/7/2023

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If you've been following me for a while, you know how much I LOVE the Complexions Watercolor set by Prima. Since falling in love with that little palette for creating watercolor portraits, I've continued to add MORE Prima watercolor sets to my art supply stash- just like the Terrain set I reviewed last week.

While I was in Scotland for my last Scottish Castle Art Retreat, I happened to be in a little art shop and noticed the CURRENT watercolor set by Prima that I'm reviewing today.

It's kind of hilarious because I've been meaning to buy this little set forever, at home, and just hadn't. So, while in Scotland, I decided it could be an artsy keepsake from my trip, so into my suitcase, it went!

All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.

If you aren't familiar with any of the Watercolor Confections sets by Prima, there are TONS of things to love! First off, they're SO AFFORDABLE! A cute little palette of 12 half pans will only run you about $20-25 on Amazon, or just $2 per little half pan of color!

Love the paintbrush shown below and featured in ALL of my watercolor and fountain pen ink videos? ME TOO! It's by the lovely and talented Polina Bright. Learn more about WHY I love them in this video (or get 10% off your own brushes on her website using the coupon code KARENCAMPBELL at checkout!).

Last week on YouTube, I reviewed the Terrain watercolor set by Prima, and shared with you how much I also love the cute little swatching card Prima includes with their watercolor sets.

As you can see below, somewhere in my swatching journey over the years, I decided to DOUBLE swatch my watercolors using these cute, skinny watercolor journals - even when a swatch card is included with my set! The main reason I do this is because the little swatch cards are exactly THAT- small. It can be super easy for these little cards to fall out and slip away into oblivion when you open and close the palettes.

Because it's a LOT harder to lose an entire watercolor journal, I started doing this as a backup, just in case :) Plus- I've kinda just fallen in love with the mindless activity of swatching watercolors. It's like art therapy! There is no skill involved, and zero pressure of any kind. I simply put on whatever music suits my mood, grab a paintbrush and totally enjoy myself. Something about it feels kinda like spending time getting to know a quality, new friend to me.

In terms of the colors represented in the Current watercolor set I'm demo-ing today, I LOVED them. I did, however, feel there were a couple of shades that were SO similar to another one that they almost felt redundant.

I know!! That's if I'm being really picky. Instead of focusing on that, I tried to appreciate the subtle differences of the colors that felt alike, and challenged myself to use EACH and EVERY shade in the project you're about to watch unfold!

The project featured in today's video is from a lesson in my Celtic Collective art club over at Awesome Art School.

The Celtic Collective is ALL about fantasy art drawing and painting, all things fairies, elves, castles, unicorns, you name it!

If you'd like to learn how to draw AND paint this magical (dare I say, HOT?!) elf - hop over to the Celtic Collective for the step-by-step drawing and painting lessons in real-time (no timelapse!).

You're also in luck if you happen to be reading this in July 2023, because I'm currently taking on NEW Celtic Collective members right now (enrollment is also currently open for the Mixed Media Society and Fun Fab Drawing Club if those are more your style!).

Can't decide which club sounds more fun?! Me either!! I love them all!! There's a club for that too, called The Wonder Bundle. Buy two clubs, and get ONE ABSOLUTELY FREE!!

Enrollment for new club members only happens 3 times a year, so if you're looking for an amazing art community overflowing with FUN lessons designed to make YOU an awesome artist - I'd love to have you!!

If you're not in the mood to draw or paint along today, and would rather watch this hottie come together in minutes, meet me over on YouTube instead!

Think Swatching Art Supplies is Boring?

I used to feel exactly the same way (and at times still can if I'm doing it on a day when I can't sit still). I created the two books below to make the entire swatching process more fun! They're available on Amazons worldwide.

If you'd like to use these books for watercolor swatching, I have a little suggestion because these books have not been printed on watercolor paper. Pick a page from one of the books and use it as a reference! Draw the image(s) onto your own sheet of watercolor paper, and swatch away :)

And - in case you're a newbie here, or just need a reminder, paper is JUST AS IMPORTANT as the other art supplies in your stash (these are all my faves on Amazon). Sometimes paper is THE MOST important art supply - like in the case of watercolors and water-soluble mixed media art supplies.

Wanna learn MORE about how to choose the right paper for your mixed media art projects? This one's for YOU!

Want MORE Prima
Watercolor Confections Set Demos/ Reviews?

Here's the one from last week about the Terrain set:

The one below is about the Complexions set. I'm OBSESSED with this for creating watercolor portraits because I WAY prefer dipping my brush right into the exact color I want, instead of mixing my own skin tones!!

Enjoy!! And thanks for hanging out with me today!!

Need More Resources?

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MASSIVES Advantages of Buying Watercolor SETS - EVEN if You Have ALL the Colors Already!

18/7/2023

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I've been a fan of Prima Confections watercolor sets for years and can't wait to demo the latest palette I picked up. Instead of a straight-up product review today, I'd LOVE to share with you WHY I continue to collect watercolor sets (even though I have a bazillion colors already!), and how a prepackaged watercolor set can benefit YOU in your own art!

Today's video is perfect for watercolor beginners who might not know which watercolor sets to buy, people looking for a little stress relief/ enjoyable art therapy activities, and advanced watercolorists looking for ways to challenge their creativity by limiting themselves to ONE palette of color.

If you've been following me for a while, you know I'm a HUGE FAN of Daniel Smith watercolors and totally love creating my own watercolor palettes filled with shades I love.

I've also enjoyed watercolor sets by Prima for years - and recommend their Complexions Set to ALL my students because it's amazing to have a little palette filled with SO many perfect pre-mixed skin tones right at your fingertips.

These cute little sets by Prima like the "Terrain" one I'm demo-ing today, are a great "value set" because you get 12 colors for $20-25.

In case you're not familiar with Prima Confections Watercolor sets, these are NOT fine art quality paints, they're basically mid-range products and considered a "craft-grade" product. This doesn't mean they're bad in any way or that you have to spend more money on your supplies- they just may not all be light-fast, so if you're creating a gift or a commission for someone, your work could fade over time. Just something to be aware of :)

If you're just creating for fun, Prima sets are awesome because they're super affordable and the color combos they've developed are beautiful and richly pigmented.

How to Unwrap Watercolor Half Pans

If you're completely new to watercolor and bring a set home like the one I'm working with today, it may feel overwhelming to just get started.

Make sure youclick over to watch today's video because the demo shows you exactly how to unwrap each tiny half-pan of watercolor and assemble your palette before you start painting.

This can feel really tedious, but just pop on some music or a podcast and get going. Before you know it, you'll be ready to swatch.

Why You NEED to Swatch Watercolors

Watercolor swatching is something I used to ignore for YEARS! I just couldn't be bothered. I've got 3 kids and was always way too busy. Plus, when they were little, I had zero time to create, and didn't want to suck up all my artsy time with swatching before I even got to the good part of making something!!

Here's what I learned the hard way, and want to help you avoid...

I spent YEARS grabbing the wrong colors and diving right into my creation process. Years, throwing what I *thought* I wanted on my paper based on the color cap or what it looked like in the pan, etc.

There are SO many things wrong with those choices! For starters, check out the first color in the second row of the set I'm demo-ing today. It looks like a super dark blue, almost black right?

It's NOT!! When I took the time to swatch this set today, I was a little shocked at how light this blue came out on my paper. Check it out...

If the old me had grabbed this and started painting, expecting a dark navy to appear on my paper, I would've been SO MAD because it's totally not, right?! Swatching your set ahead of time REALLY helps avoid future frustrations like this and eliminates the guessing game of not knowing what's REALLY in your palette.

One of the things I really love about the Prima sets is they come with a tiny blank swatch card (shown above & below), that I can fill out myself and pop right back into my case.

I also love that the swatch card provided by Prima has been printed on watercolor paper (SUPER important if you're a newbie - never swatch watercolors or water-soluble products on just any old paper - you need a thicker, sturdier paper that can absorb the water - so always use watercolor paper or watercolor journals).

As you'll see in today's video, I not only swatch directly onto the swatch card that came with my Prima set, I ALSO swatch into a cute, rectangular watercolor journal at the same time. This might feel like overkill, but I've found that it can be easy to lose these little swatch cards for my watercolor sets, and I kinda love having a little reference book of colors as a backup.

Color Swatching Reference Books

To make swatching more fun, I've created a number of resources to help you. I've got a FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet and TWO books about swatching, my latest one, Swatch! Copy! Color! ...

and my Fun Fab Swatch Pad, created with my beloved Facebook Group a couple of years ago!!

You can swatch directly into the books for markers, colored pencils, and other dry products.

Remember, for watercolor swatching and swatching water-soluble art supplies, you always need to be working on watercolor paper or watercolor journals.

If you love the swatching backgrounds or faces in these books, feel free to freehand them into your own watercolor journals to make swatching even more fun for you at home!!

Why I LOVE Collecting Watercolor Sets
(Even Though I Already Have a Bazillion Colors!)

This is huge. And it totally goes along with why I always tell my mixed media art students to buy scrapbook paper pads or collections. It's so simple- whatever has been packaged into these sets - whether it's watercolors or scrapbook paper, already GOES TOGETHER!!

This may seem super simple, but this means you can do your art projects with CONFIDENCE AND EASE because you already know the colors and patterns will work together in your project. You can spend more time CREATING, and less time wondering what colors of paint to grab, etc! I don't know about you, but I'd much rather spend more time creating and less time planning :)

Another reason I love collecting watercolor sets is because it's fun when a set comes along filled with my FAVORITE COLORS!!

This might feel super simple too, but I've learned over the years, I gravitate to blues and greens. Why fight that?! Lean into it and own that part of you!! If you find a watercolor set pre-filled with your favorite colors - grab it!! The colors will make you happy and you'll enjoy your art time with them even more.

AND if you love your art, you're gonna wanna to MORE of it. And if you do more of it- you're gonna get really good at it!!

Sneak peak at NEXT WEEK's video in some of my fave colors!!!

Which Mixed Media Art Supplies
Go Well With Watercolors?

When it comes to combining other art supplies with watercolors to create a mixed media piece, there are a TON of things you can do! You do need to be careful, because not everything will "play nicely" with watercolor.

Before you add any art supplies on TOP of your dry watercolor layers, ask yourself :

DO I WANT THIS WATERCOLOR TO MOVE? (Because it will!).

If you're a watercolor beginner or mixed media beginner, it's important to understand that dry watercolor WILL re-activate if you add more water to it, or add another water-soluble art supply on top of it like I do in today's video with my watercolor markers.

If you really love the way your dry watercolor layer looks, and don't want it to re-activate, DON'T add any doodles or additional shading with a water-soluble product. Reach or something permanent like Molotow fineliners, colored pencils, etc.

If you DO want your dry watercolor layer to move or blend - try adding some shading with water-soluble supplies like watercolor markers, watercolor pencils or NeoColor IIs!

Not sure if your art supplies are water-soluble? TEST THEM OUT! Simply swatch them off to the side and add a little water. Do your lines melt into puddles, or stay put? This will help you feel more prepared before using the supplies on top of your artwork.

If you feel like you'd like some tried and true art supply combos to play around with at home, check out my FREE Mixed Media Hot Dog Packet! This is SUPER helpful and will give you tons of ideas, not only from me, but from a bunch of my artsy friends!!

Make sure you click over to WATCH today's video, because I have packed this one FULL of even MORE tips and tricks I didn't even get to here - like what makes a good composition, and how advanced watercolorists can enjoy pre-filled watercolor sets as well to challenge themselves!

Plus, I don't know about you, but it's so fun to just watch the timelapse of a project coming together isn't it?? Join me over on YouTube for today's super fun video!!

Wanna Learn How to Draw the Girl in Today's Demo?

Awesome!! She's a lesson in my Celtic Collective art club membership over at Awesome Art School. I run this club with my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon. This club is all about fantasy art and features online art lessons on fairies, unicorns, mermaids, mythical creatures, castles and so much more!! We'd love to have you join us! Learn more here.

What to Watch Next

If you're a watercolor newbie and need a fun and easy watercolor painting idea, look no further than this video:

If you'd like to learn how to create your own watercolor palette instead of using a pre-packaged watercolor palette created by someone else, check out these videos:

As always, thanks for hanging out with me!! I hope you learned a TON and had FUN!!

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Wanna Create This Lesson Together
Step-by-Step in Real-Time?

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DIDN'T REQUIRE A LOT OF SUPPLIES?

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What to Watch Next

Wanna Create This Project With Me in Real-Time?

Think Swatching Art Supplies is Boring?

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Watercolor Confections Set Demos/ Reviews?

Why I LOVE Collecting Watercolor Sets
(Even Though I Already Have a Bazillion Colors!)

Which Mixed Media Art Supplies
Go Well With Watercolors?