About Watercolor Methods
Welcome to Watercolor Methods! I’m Tony Conner, a self-taught watercolorist like you!
My own watercolor journey was challenging and frustrating. My self-education included many resources - books, videos, classes & workshops along with a lot of trial and error.
The learning process often felt a lot like “ two steps forward and three steps back”.
Watercolor Methods was created especially for those who want to learn this beautiful, unique painting medium while avoiding the common pitfalls and overcoming the many challenges quickly.
My Watercolor Journey
Many aspiring artists will tell you that they have drawn and painted their entire life. It’s the same story with me.
Art classes were my favorites in elementary school.
My first exhibited painting was hung as part of a selective school-wide art show. It was a painting of a giraffe in a zoo done when I was a first-grade student. As I recall, it was quite unusual for a first-grader to have a painting in that show.
I continued producing pictures through my elementary years - although many of them were in the margins of my schoolwork papers, something that didn’t go over well with my teachers!
Teen Years
My first oil painting done at the age of 14.
I received an oil paint set for Christmas at the age of 14. It was a formative moment, opening a new world.
Painting in oil was new and different from anything I had previously tried. Working in this new medium clarified my interest in the landscape and seascape as favorite subjects.
A seascape in acrylic from my teen years
I continued working in oil paint while expanding into acrylics and watercolor in my teen years. The work from that time is a variety of subjects but still predominantly the two favorites - landscape and seascape.
A seascape done in acrylic from this period is shown.
It was during this time that watercolor emerged as a true painting medium for me.
Watercolor seascape from an old sketchbook
Stepping Aside
An early watercolor sketch
Despite encouragement from my family and teachers, I chose a more traditional path. I left college with a business degree and embarked on what would become a twenty-year business career.
Although, seemingly set aside, the creative urge often bubbled up through the layers of commitment and responsibility associated with both career and family life. Those urges were resolved mostly through small sketches and studies, rather than finished paintings.
What also emerged through those simple, hesitant efforts, was a clear interest and budding passion for transparent watercolor.
My work life was a success but was also increasingly unfulfilling. The initial creative ‘bubbling’ started to become more of a boiling as my sketch habit developed into a regular occurrence that satisfied the urge but also sparked new visual curiosity and creative discovery. Little did I realize another urge that was developing sub-consciously.
Corporate life has a particular rhythm and routine that includes many recurring events and activities. One of those is employee development programs.
It was at one of these development seminars that (finally) my epiphany occurred. In one of seminars, our group was asked to answer a simple question - “What would you do if you could do anything?”. Everyone was to write an answer on an index card. Our seminar leader then went around the room and asked us to read what we had written. I had written, and read out four words that would change my life
“to be an artist”
When all had read their answers, we were asked to raise our hand if we had written something that we could actually accomplish. In a group of about 35 people only myself and one other person raised our hands.
Epiphany
The Journey Since
“Silent Streaming” - my first acceptance into a juried exhibit and first sale
That moment, almost forty years ago, started me on a journey that I think of as an apprenticeship to this beautiful medium and the unique set of skills and disciplines it requires.
Although I had some success within a few years, being a self-taught watercolorist required a good bit of effort and initiative. Like most, I started off painting things and more or less copying them as I saw them.
As I worked to develop my painting and skill, it became obvious that the most important skills and concepts are not really taught in traditional classes and workshops. For the self-taught watercolor painter, acquiring useful skill in color, composition, light and form has to mostly be done on one’s own.
Passing It On
“Dirt Road” - recent watercolor painting. See more in the gallery below or on my artist’s website.
About twenty years ago, I began teaching watercolor painting to others. One of my goals was to teach those important ideas learned only by way of a lot of individual effort and search.
I was determined to offer classes I would like to have taken myself
That same idea is the foundation of Watercolor Methods. It’s intended to be a resource with easy access to essential skills and concepts - many that you won’t find anywhere else. I sincerely hope you find it to be a valuable resource for your own watercolor painting journey.
One of the best places to start is the painting blog with posts on all sorts of topics on watercolor painting. Its free and you’ll find something new just about every week. Make sure you subscribe to my mailing list for updates and exclusive tips.
Find formal, in-depth painting courses - some of them FREE - in the Watercolor School.
Thanks for reading my watercolor journey. I would love to hear more about you! Feel free to introduce yourself with the contact form below.
Happy painting!
Regards
Tony Conner
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