There's something irresistibly charming about a duck with its bottom in the air, completely unbothered by the world. For the fourth of six mini paintings I'm preparing for a gallery show, I wanted to capture exactly that — a duck feeding in a pond, feet up, head submerged. What followed was a lesson in trusting the process, knowing your materials, and learning when to be brave with dark values.

I kept seeing other artists using the Da Vinci Eye app on Instagram and I figured — why not try it myself and bring you all along? The app superimposes a reference photo over your paper through your phone camera, so you can see both your brush and the image at the same time. I decided to skip the sketch entirely and paint a loose panda straight into the overlay. Spoiler: it is extremely strange to paint while staring at your phone instead of your paper. Here is everything that happened.

What happens when you skip the sketch, squeeze paint straight onto paper, and just trust the water? You get a moody, atmospheric blue elephant that practically breathes. In this post, I'm walking you through every decision I made while painting this large-scale portrait on 18x24 rough Arches watercolor paper — from my initial color-blocked wash to the final scrubbed highlights and watercolor ground tusks. Whether you're a loose watercolor lover or just curious about granulating pigments, there's something here for you.

Today I'm painting a tuxedo cat in real time—no speed-ups, no rushing. Using just three colors (mostly one!) and Fabriano 1264 cold press paper, I'll show you how to create a striking, modern cat portrait in less than 20 minutes using wet-on-wet techniques and the magic of granulating pigments.

In this watercolor tutorial, I challenged myself to paint a complete scene—a woman riding a horse—in under 30 minutes using only one color. The result? A loose, atmospheric piece that proves you don't need a full palette to create depth, dimension, and emotion in your work. Join me as I share my process, from setting up a value grid to embracing the happy accidents that make watercolor so magical.

Today, I'm doing something a little different—I'm painting a loose elephant head on hot press paper in real time, so you can see exactly how the paint blooms and moves without any speed manipulation. I'm working small (4x6), using bold reds instead of realistic grays, and challenging myself to embrace hard edges that normally make me uncomfortable. Sometimes the best way to grow as an artist is to paint what scares you, even if it's just on a tiny piece of paper.