I learned a lot through the exercices of tints, tones ans shades, as well as progressive mix of complementary. I have experience with watercolor but I usually use a brush ( best results is sable for me). I enjoyed experimenting with the colors to change tints, tones and shades, and then obtaining neutral tones with complementary colors. After this, when I prepared my color chart for the morning light, I could feel that I understood better how to  quickly modify the shades to obtain the color I needed. For the finch, I felt more at ease mixing my colors. Waterpen is a bit tricky to ajust to,  for water quantity and also the need to remove color on tip at every mix and change of color. Great exercice, thanks. I can see improvement. Still need to go slower and plan for layers and drying time, but better result for sure. Happy!

Unfortunately, this lesson ended quickly when I discovered the Koi Water Colors palette I ordered didn't come with gray or black, and most of the colors were fluorescent. I will order a new palette and return to this lesson.

Did anyone else get a set of watercolors that doesn't have black and grey? I got the materials for the course, but my palette of paints is totally different than the instructors. Frustrating.

I have been exploring watercolors for a couple of years. This exercise was enjoyable and challenged me to look closely at the variety of colors. Making color palettes is one of my favorite aspects of watercolors. Most of the palettes I’ve made for nature journaling are for flowers, leaves, & birds. I noticed how many of the colors repeat throughout the subjects I’m painting.

This was my first experience working with watercolors.  It was fun but at the same time difficult to get the color exactly as my eye was seeing it in the pictures.  More practice will be needed!

1.  This isn't my first experience, but definitely my first experience trying to closely observe and match colors.  I found it easier to mix the warmer colors than the cool blue.  2. I used a photograph I had taken of an American Lady in a pollinator garden where I work.  It was late in the season and the butterfly was a little beat up, but it was feeding on Zinnia's and I thought the colors with the sky looked really beautiful together.  My challenge was definitely with the blue, which I never ended up getting "just right." 3.  I noticed that the colors of the butterfly itself could all be achieved by beginning with the lightest color and then mixing in other colors from there to work darker.  It was interesting that this butterfly's palette is so seamless.

This was a refresh for painting with watercolors, definitely easier then I expected. Although the paint bleeds easily, the product can be very impressive. While focusing on the image I discovered the purple patch of feathers in the shoulder.

This was my first true experience with watercolors and a water brush, I bought them a while back and I have been so excited to reach this point in the course. Color mixing is a lot of fun and I must admit addicting, it is late and I want to keep going... here are the swatches I created for the two images (poor lighting for the photo). I think they came out pretty close to the actual colors I was trying to achieve. Some colors definitely took longer to create than others. By closely focusing on certain colors, over time I could see more depth and tones in the colors within the image. I look forward to taking my nature sketching and journaling to the next level by adding color! .

I'll definitely have to play around a bit to get to know the various colors - I was a little surprised that some of them had opaque characteristics. And the water brush will have a learning curve too - never tried one of those, but I can see how it would be useful for little field studies! Creating the color palette was fun. Relationships - three of my swatches shared a color - I noted the corresponding number from the pans beside each swatch.

I was unable to upload picture.  I have never used pan water colors but have minimally used tube water colors.  I had difficulty using the water brush because the paints became too diluted.  The second attempt was with a brush and I seemed to be able to get more pigment.  Color mixing is difficult for me but I want to keep learning this skill.  Thank you.

My bird picture had so many erasures on the page;I decided to put the handsome guy on a background. Hopefully In April; I will be taking a drawing class at Schlitz Audubon Center. I am trying to improve sketching. I created a color palette with 'paints gray' white, ochre, van dyke brown, and mixed in a few blues. It took awhile to getting a color that was close to some of the feathers. the feathers on the head seemed to match several of the tail feathers. the beak also blended into the feather shades. I would have liked to see the wings in an open position. the colors are some times different. Gray Crowned Rosy Finch

I have used watercolors before.  YouTube videos, Udemy classes, and Liz's classes.  More difficult because there are so many ways to use! I think I got the colors right but when you paint anything in nature the colors constantly vary.  I find it hard to see shadows because I focus on the object so much. You have to figure how detailed or your interpretation of the subject.  Mine usually end up being abstract art!

I've been working with water color for a few years, but following tutorials that guide me through color mixing. It was hard to mix on my own and try to match what I saw in my yard and I'm not sure I could create the same colors again, at least now. More practice is needed for sure.

My experience with watercolors and my knowledge of color wheel is good and have been practicing for a long time. But to transfer the same watercolor to birds and animals is very difficult. I feel I need more practice. I tried to create a color palette for Hoopoe and felt I was able to get the right colors, but the application messed up the entire process. Yes, while focussing on the tones, tints, and shades of species, nature's palette is amazing, and to recreate it without spoiling its originality needs a lot of patience and practice. Overall it's a very experimental practice for me though I have worked on watercolors.

First experience with dry watercolors! It really takes some keen observation skills to catch how each individual color contains a few other colors. For example, when I painted the crown and head, I thought gray and white; however, as I got into it, I noticed there was also just a tinge of blue. I spent a lot of time with the pink because it is so subtle, but key part of the shape and form of the Hepburn. Here are the names of my colors: Steelfrost, Burnt Velvet, Unpopped Corn, Bubble Pop, and Streak of Pink. The last two are the pinkish-tinge, but in two different locations. Great activity!

I defnitely need some work in mixing water colors.  I don't have any experience in painting so this was really fun to try.  I believe I need more patience in mixing my colors and then blending one color to another.  I feel like my image in blocky and I need to develop my skills in working in the details.  Try, Try again!  I did find this very enjoyable which is half the battle. :)  

Fun mixing colours!! I do need to get more shades though. I used water color pencils as that is what I have.

My first experience with watercolor was in middle school. I liked the whimsical flow on paper when capturing landscapes and flowers. Though initially I thought it wasn’t as forgiving as Oil painting to apply changes. The subject of my painting today was a Fuchsia ‘wind chime’ shaped flower. Initially it looked like a combination of pink , purple and green. Though I started working on painting it quickly realized that it’s a combination of shades in between. The transition from pink to the deep purple requires adding in some darker’Prussian blue’ . The lighter pink was a mix with white , or just adding more water to the rose color. Sometimes I just left a white space to give it three dimensional feel. 

I had a little experience with color theory back in junior high school - but that was ages ago. As a quilter, I have played with colors in fabric but have not done any work with watercolors or mixing my own colors. This was fun.   First I tried just working with tints, tones, and shades. Then I tried getting the colors for the finch. I struggled mostly with the nut brown color on his back. I never did get that as close to the correct color as I wanted. 

1.  This course is my first experience with water colours. Until now I have been scared of them, particularly of letting go .  They are much easier than I expected which is LOVELY. 2.  I tried 2 colour palettes outside  - a Crucifix Orchid and a Bromeliad.  The colours seemed more vibrant outside even though it wasn't sunny.  Sometimes I was almost there with a colour then went to far and had to start again.  Some were easier.  It's all a challenge! 3.  Yes - negative space, shapes, how does the orchid flower work, is that big ant thing a pollinator, is this red on the bromeliad its flower or why is it red.

Making My Own Colors I enjoyed this exercise. Prior to creating a palette based on colors in a photograph, I decided to make test swatches for each of the colors in my watercolor box. I think this step helped me to achieve better accuracy when making my own colors. It also gave a foundation for noting “recipes” for tints, tones, and and shades I can refer to when I actually paint a watercolor of the flower.

I have used watercolours before and have really enjoyed it. I'm not too good at mixing colours though, but I thought this was really fun! It's wonderful when you get the exact colour you were hoping for. The ones I did were of the two photos provided, and in especially the case of the gray-crowned rosy-finch, I was surprised how many bright colours I was able to pull out of what seemed like a drab picture. It forces you to slow down and look at the colours of something very closely, and I definitely enjoyed that.