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There is always more to learn.

I'm constantly promoting the teaching of other artists who have influenced me, because I feel strongly about learning and growing as an artist. Recently, I attended a four-day workshop with Matthew Bird. Though it was the second workshop I've taken with him, I learned a lot! 

There are many ways...

Matthew prefaced his teaching with there is no "right way" to paint. He went on to explain:

While there are certainly wrong ways to paint with watercolor, there is no "right way" to paint. Often you can achieve the same result using different methods, so it's good to explore various techniques to find what works best for your process. 

He proceeded to explain his reasoning for painting the dark backgrounds on his gorgeous still lifes first (though watercolorists traditionally work light to dark):

...the way I process value, I find it better to establish my darks first so I have something to compare the middle values to. There's no "right or wrong" in when you paint your darks, it's what process work best for you in your studio to get the results you're after. 

My workshop piece (above) - the signature is very small, but it reads "Jan Helton after Matthew Bird" because this painting is copied from Matthew's and is not my original work.

A great workshop.

Above, you can see by the students' workshop results what a great instructor Matthew is! Some takeaways for me:

• painting dark backgrounds
• painting glass
• painting marble (the countertop)
• planning a painting (color, composition, size, shape...)
• sealing and framing a watercolor painting without glass
• learning how watercolor pigments are made

Artists generally live solitary lives, so it's always nice to spend time with other creatives! Thank you to Matthew Bird for generously sharing his time and expertise!

Paint. Love. Repeat