G&B Blog

Enamel is widely considered one of the very best surfaces on which to mix watercolors, however, when it is brand spanking new it can cause them to bead like crazy.  Enamel breaks in beautifully over time with use.  In this post I explain how to break in or prime new enamel mixing areas in a few easy steps.

In this post, I will speak directly to customizing the colors in your palette, and how to adapt your choices to your practice and preferences, by walking you through they way I assemble my own watercolor travel palettes.

Plein air painting, or painting outdoors, is a wonderful experience that many people are unfortunately too intimidated to try.  There are so many benefits to painting in nature that you just don't get inside a studio - and there are plenty of challenges to keep it exciting too!

In this post I'm going to go over some basic supplies you'll find useful, how to pack them, a few environmental and safety considerations, and a couple tips and techniques to help you get started.

One of the things I love even more than talking about different varieties of heirloom vegetables is sharing and exchanging heirloom vegetable seeds with friends and neighbors.  If you have a backyard garden or anything smaller, then you know typically sized seed packets go a long way, and generally contain more than you need in any single season (especially if you are a glutton for different varieties, like me).  So, I plant some and give the rest away in little hand decorated seed packets.  This is a project I always look forward to and take great delight in.  

The perfect sketchbook is hard to find, especially if you are a watercolor artist.  If you've read my post on choosing the perfect sketchbook, you know the struggle is real, despite all the options.  At last, we are delighted to share our own line of sketchbooks with you.  Each sketchbook is made by hand in our studios using the highest quality materials and traditional techniques.

One of my favorite watercolor tools is the color pyramid. Painting one is an enjoyable way to quickly put a few colors through the paces - and it leaves you with both a pleasing painting and a useful reference tool.

I am pleased to announce a limited set of dates for Summer 2020 in beautiful Boulder, Colorado! I will be teaching both a Foundation Watercolor Workshop and a Next Level Watercolor Workshop, offering both during each set of dates. 

In this post I'm going to lay out a few key points that revolutionized my understanding of color and helped lead me to the "aha!" moment of really understanding color temperature - and, most importantly, allowed me to enjoy color mixing and accomplishing it with ease.