How To Make Simple But Useful Watercolor Swatch Cards

I’m excited to finally be sharing this blog post all about my watercolor swatch cards. This post will walk you through you how I make them, what they tell me about the paints, and how I organize them for storing and easy reference.

At this point my swatch card collection contains 80 cards even though I don’t own 80 tubes of paint! More than 50% of the colors are from paint samples given to me by watercolor artist friends.

So I know you probably have some paints to swatch, so let’s get started!

SuppliesSusan ChiangNovember 13, 2018swatch cards, swatches Comments

This Is How I Make My Monthly Desktop Wallpapers

I don’t know about you but I always appreciate seeing how things are made so I decided to document the process of how I make my monthly desktop wallpapers for you.

Just in case you don’t already know, I make a free monthly desktop and phone wallpaper to gift to friends on my email list. I’ve been doing this since April 2017 - shortly after I started this blog!

How ToSusan ChiangOctober 30, 2018watercolor video Comments

Are You Wondering How To Start Watercoloring?

So you’ve bought watercolor supplies. You know they are good supplies and you’re excited to use them. You’ve got everything out on the table. But now what…are you wondering what to do next?

If you’re sitting there wondering how to actually *start* watercoloring, I’m going to give you a few ideas in today’s blog post.

The suggestions I give below are ways of getting started with watercolors that have worked for me. There are many ways to approach starting and learning with watercolors besides what I’m suggesting, but I hope that this gives you some ideas. The methods will vary based on your own personality and how you like to learn and explore new things.

Creativity & Inspiration, How ToSusan ChiangOctober 23, 2018watercolor beginner Comments

Behind the Scenes: Custom Ultrasound Watercolor Art

I’m still not sure if “behind the scenes” is the right term for this but in today’s blog post and video I am sharing the story behind where the idea of painting these watercolor ultrasounds came from and the process of how I paint them.

So where did this idea come from?

Well - it wasn’t an “idea” that I came up with while brainstorming one day or anything. And to be honest, I love that it didn’t originate that way.

Create With MeSusan ChiangOctober 16, 2018watercolor video Comments

You Deserve To Spend Money On Good Watercolor Supplies

Whether you consider yourself a skilled watercolor artist or a beginner, one thing is for certain: you’ve spent your fair share of time investigating watercolor supplies.

I’m also pretty sure about another thing: at some point in time you have thought to yourself, “if I just buy ‘X’ tool/supply/product, it’s going to make my art better”.

Which, if you’re a beginner, is often followed immediately by this thought: “Too bad I’m not good enough to be using ‘X’ supply yet.”

In this blog post, I’m going to share why you deserve to use better quality or professional grade supplies, even if you’re “just a beginner”.

Supplies, Creativity & InspirationSusan ChiangOctober 9, 2018Watercolor Supplies, Beginner SuppliesComment

How To Paint Ballerina Figures With Watercolor

Today, I’m sharing with you how I painted these simple, abstract ballerina figures using watercolors.

I received this question from a student in my online watercolor course, Just Watercolor and thought it would be a great one to share on the blog.

Here was her exact question:

I absolutely love your ballet girls. How did you do them? How did you keep them simple and abstract? Was it a happenstance movement of a brush that created them initially, or were you trying to create exactly that? What inspired them? How did you do them? How big are they? Did they turn out differently than you envisioned? Did you make mistakes and have to start over?

How To, Create With MeSusan ChiangOctober 2, 2018ballerina, watercolor people Comments

How To Mix Pastel Colors Using Watercolor

If you’ve ever wondered about how to make pastel colors using watercolors, I’m sharing all about it in this blog post.

You might have heard that when painting with watercolors, white is not used. So if that’s the case…how do you make pastel colors, right?

Susan ChiangSeptember 18, 2018watercolor tutorial, watercolor techniques, pastel colors Comments

The Best Watercolor Supplies To Buy On Amazon

Amazon has made a lot of things available at just the push of a button and while it can be dangerous for the wallet, it does mean access to many art supplies at affordable prices. Not to mention, miscellaneous tools and supplies that I find myself using quite a lot.

Today I’m going to share with you what I think are the best watercolor supplies you can get on Amazon.com.

SuppliesSusan ChiangSeptember 11, 2018Watercolor Supplies Comments

Easy Watercolor Peach Painting for Beginners

I painted a bunch of peach slices the other day to digitize for September's monthly wallpaper and decided to film it just in case I wanted to share it with you. It’s not the best quality, but I thought it might help to share the video and talk through what I was thinking when I painted them.

How To, Create With MeSusan ChiangSeptember 4, 2018watercolor tutorial Comments

How to Digitize Watercolor Paintings

It’s said that no experience in life is ever wasted, that everything you learn is valuable. This is true for me when it came to digitizing my artwork.

I spent 13 years in architecture learning and using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign for graphics and presentations. So when it came to digitizing my watercolor paintings, I pretty much already knew how - which was so helpful!

For those you that are just figuring this out and are less familiar with the software programs, I’m going to show you how I get my watercolor paintings into my computer and cleaned up using Adobe Photoshop.

How ToSusan ChiangAugust 21, 2018adobe photoshop, digitize watercolor Comments

10 Fun Watercolor Techniques To Try

If you're just getting into watercolors or you've been painting for a while, sometimes it's fun to just experiment with techniques that you don't normally use when painting. I usually only paint using the basic watercolor techniques (see #1-#3) , but some of these are really fun to play around with, even if it's not for a final painting.

I especially love playing around with experiments like this if I find myself at a loss for ideas or not wanting to sit down to paint any subject in particular!

So here's a quick round up of 10 fun watercolor techniques that you can give a try (if you haven't already!)

Create With MeSusan ChiangMay 21, 2018watercolor techniques Comments

Watercolor Tutorial: Herringbone Pattern

When I decided to “doodle” this pattern into my sketchbook last year and record it, I had no idea that it would be so popular. I posted a video of it to Instagram and it has (for some crazy reason) been shared by quite a few of those viral video accounts.

I want to be on the record to say, I am the first person in line to agree that this pattern is by no means a crazy feat or even close to being a masterpiece. I actually came across a hilarious comment from someone responding on one of those video accounts that basically asked: “Why is everyone so amazed by this, it’s not like she’s Picasso.” I laughed and still can’t agree more!

Create With Me, How ToSusan ChiangMay 14, 2018watercolor tutorial, herringbone Comments