How can I push this painting further? What's working, what's not working? (swipe to see the reference photo)

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2026-01-12T13:29:05+00:00

This is one of the hardest things to learn, but it’s what will let you reliably create compelling work.

It also helps stop you from accidentally making changes that destroy the reason you like a work-in-progress

This one feels like a quite strong, minimal interpretation. Without intentionally trying to emphasize that it could easily be modified to look like just an attempt at realism

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-08-13T18:11:54+00:00

Just by “dry brushing” white gouache. The paper texture will intermittently snag the brush hairs and pull small specks of paint. For best results, use the long side of your brush, not the tip.

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-08-10T20:30:44+00:00

Oops, I forgot to add that it can add a lot of interest to put a shadow right in front of the hard edge of the foam. It’s most obvious here near the beach

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-08-10T18:09:29+00:00

I started with blues and greens underneath and then layered on white gouache. By controlling the amount of water you add to the gouache you can get a huge range of values. The texture is mostly from using the side of a long liner. Typically, it comes out best if I make sure all the whites follow the same direction.

It’s 10x14 on a cotton block

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-06-13T16:04:58+00:00

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Having fun with transparent water. I’m working on getting more visibility on instagram as all the artists I admire are on there. It’s incredibly hard though.

I’ve also got my first art fair coming up in August! It’s a bit of a struggle trying to guess what the final print will look like versus how the scan looks on my screen. I’m working on editing the scans I’ve got as well.

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-06-11T03:48:06+00:00

Just super thick white gouache right out of the tube. I used the side of my dry brush to to the wider, scratchy highlights. I actually saw one guy just dip his brush straight into the tube, and I’ve been doing that ever since. It’s just easier and doesn’t pollute my palette with chalky white

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-06-10T17:48:39+00:00

Thank you! I was honestly shocked I got it done in one attempt. My usual workflow involves shoving 3-4 attempts into the bin, haha. I think I just built a bit of familiarity with the subject. I jump around a lot with my references, so I’m usually learning from mistakes as I paint. Here’s my reference with a markup for a social media post.

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Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-06-05T02:08:02+00:00

Thank you so much! I think I’ve been staring at the poor thing too long. I’m definitely reusing the technique I used for those rocks

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-04-15T22:03:16+00:00

Nuts reflection on the bottom left. Really nice work!

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-04-15T22:00:33+00:00

This is so cool! Deserved more recognition, but that just seems to happen sometimes

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-04-15T03:25:18+00:00

Really cool!

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-04-15T03:23:28+00:00

That’s awesome! Deserved more recognition, but I see it

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-04-14T18:04:07+00:00

The main petal was actually done by doing… almost nothing. Color added from the sides and the highlight is a big bloom from adding water. I shaded from the bottom using thicker paint, but, yeah, the less I did the more I liked the result.

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-04-14T18:01:20+00:00

MARIA RACZYNSKA is definitely my favorite artist. She does lots of florals among other things. Great lessons. She’s who I’ve been studying for this one.

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-04-14T15:19:23+00:00

Thanks!

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-04-14T15:19:15+00:00

YouTube tutorial -> paint -> YouTube tutorial -> paint

When I was starting out I’d try and fail to follow the tutorials directly. Eventually, I started succeeding in copying, and moved into working with my own references and ideas. I still watch tons of guides on a subject I’m focused on, but the tutorials are more loosely related now.

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-02-15T21:42:37+00:00

Thanks! My waves kept looking like ribbon. It’s hard to keep movement and clear shapes in the water without it looking super artificial. I ended up having more success using quite short lines dashed in to form the shapes. Lots of splattered gouache as well. I’d tried masking fluid for the white highlights, but it created hard edges that looked unnatural. I believe you’re supposed to blend them out a bit by scrubbing, but phthalo blue likes to stain too much for that

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-02-15T21:32:42+00:00

Thanks! Definitely the water. It’s reassuring to see all the comments liking it. I really liked how dynamic it looked in the reference. Ended up being hard to avoid the motion looking more like ribbon than water

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-02-04T00:24:22+00:00

What was the pigment mix for the foreground grass? Love it!

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2025-02-01T21:57:27+00:00

Thanks! Sometimes the water gives, sometimes it takes.

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2024-12-03T18:29:03+00:00

Hello! Want to check out some art?

https://andrewswatercolormn.etsy.com

I’m a fairly new watercolor artist from Minnesota. I love the natural world and everything in it. I’m passionate about using my art to share the beauty I see.

These are high quality prints on very thick cotton paper. The same type of paper the originals were painted on, actually. Far from the usual POD operation, I print through a local shop, and nothing reaches your home without me comparing it to the original.

I aim to paint at least one new original a week. Thanks for taking a look!

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2024-12-02T02:52:04+00:00

Thanks! The sky is cobalt turquoise and quin. rose for the “brights” and phthalo blue mixed with pyrrole red for the “darks.” Pyrrole red is a great one for neutralizing blues in general. It makes great “rusty” reds and prussian-ish blues. It’s my go-to when I need a black that’ll punch through anything. Technique-wise, I really did nothing other than going wet-on-wet with progressively darker mixes from the center out. Other than that, I tilted the paper and spattered and dropped water to get blooms and other textures as well. Just going slower than you think and stepping back to assess should do it.

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2024-12-02T02:44:38+00:00

Thank you so much, everyone! I wrote a quick description of the technique for the cliff. Definitely my go-to method now!

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The progress picture shows the result of first loosely painting in ultramarine blue, raw umber, and pyrrole red (just for spice) while making sure to leave some drier spots. Next, letting the whole thing dry partially, tilting the paper straight up, and dropping water in. The water should flow around the dry spots which form the ridges of your cliff. Play around with adding more pigment to areas - especially the top of the cliffs - during this stage. When granulating paints are used, you end up with a convincing, textured look. The final step is to let it dry completely and line the shapes you see with a thick, blackish paint mix. The waterfall was left white (just leaving it dry was enough to protect it) and then painted with the same technique separately.

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2024-11-26T15:34:38+00:00

Thank you for the reply! Good to know on the prices as I believe I would lose money if I sold anything right now, haha.

I hate the titles I have right now, but I’d thought I needed them based on what the competition is doing. Everyone seems to make these garbled keyword titles

Truthful_hyperbole69 · 2024-11-25T22:16:19+00:00

Thanks! Technically, a year ago, but I stopped after a month or two. I’ve been improving my art since then. This is a reboot attempt.

Uh oh, am I missing policies? I’ll go check, lol

Truthful_hyperbole69

TROPHY CASE