Linda Kemp: Negative Painting Techniques - Watercolor Flowers

First watch as Kemp walks you through some shape making exercises. In these exercises she shows you what to look for in order to make shapes interesting and then how to build up a shape with simple negative painting. Next she walks you through her color choices, what’s she’s looking for and why.

Next she dives into the painting, using fresh paints straight from the tubes, she creates the background working wet into wet. She starts with light values and very wet paint. As she continues to work wet into wet, she begins building in her middle and backgrounds with increasingly thicker and darker paint. She will show you how to complete a finished underpainting and while it’s drying, shows you her finishing techniques on a painting she created off camera.

In Linda Kemp’s Negative Painting Techniques Watercolor Flowers you will find:

• Watercolor lessons on brushwork, layering, glazing, wet-into-wet, and negative painting
• Step-by-step instruction to achieve a complete understanding of how to paint loose and direct

You will love this video if:

• You want to learn negative painting techniques
  
• You like to paint in watercolor
  
• You are a fan of Linda Kemp’s teaching style
  
• You enjoy building wet into wet

True Beginners:

True Beginners may find this workshop complicated but a great first look at a style and approach to watercolor painting. Kemp does a nice stand alone chapter on her colors but she doesn’t cover colors in a true beginner fashion. You’ll still be able to pick up a lot from her workshop lessons. For the painting itself, try and focus on making sure your paper stays wet and be aware of the tells that your paper is getting too dry. Also pay attention to the values of your pigments. Some come out of the tube much darker than others.

Advanced Beginners:

For Advanced Beginners this workshop is a great foray into negative painting and wet into wet painting. Her lessons on shape and her first background layers will be a great way to get you more familiar with your own watercolor materials. Be aware though that value matters, so make sure the paints you’re using to try her techniques are comparable values even if they aren’t the exact same colors.

Intermediate:

Intermediate painters will really begin to appreciate how easily Kemp works with wet paper and how effortlessly she cuts in interesting shapes. If you haven’t tried negative painting or are generally a wet on dry painter, you might find a new way to approach painting.

Advanced:

While there may not be a whole lot of new technical information in this workshop, if you are trying florals or negative painting for the first time, you will appreciate Kemp’s clear teaching style and fearless approach to wet into wet.