What is loose watercolor anyways? A simple exercise

When I rediscovered watercolors, I painted with a tight grip, a small brush, and timid strokes. As I practiced more and got more comfortable I started painting looser.

My tight grip became more relaxed, I swapped my small brush for a bigger one, and my strokes got bigger and bolder.

I’m currently working to improve my loose painting, something I anticipate will be a lifelong pursuit! For me personally, it’s a style that is ever-changing. It also looks different for everyone. I would say that loose watercolor painting for me is when I don’t paint exactly what I see and intentionally leave out details.

For me, loose watercolor is an attempt to capture the essence of the subject rather than replicate a copy of it onto paper.

I think it is natural for us to attempt to duplicate what we see onto paper by default. If we have visual guidance like a reference photo or a real-life object, we will likely want to follow it as closely as possible. We can get lost in the details and sometimes even obsess over trying to make it look just like what we see.

And then when it doesn’t turn out “right” all we see is where our painting has missed the mark. Believe me when I say this has happened to me and still happens to me. Yes, even when painting loosely.

Perhaps this is why loose watercolor painting is considered a more “intermediate” technique or style:

You can’t rely on a photo to give you all the answers to exactly what to put on your paper.
Which means you must make decisions on what details to keep and what to leave out.
After leaving out lots of details, you hope there is still enough information to capture the essence of your subject (and that it doesn’t look like a blob of color)

But I believe so much of the beauty of watercolor comes out when we let loose with it! So that’s why I keep working on it and trying to develop my loose style.

Inside of Paint With Me, my membership community, I wanted to help the community give loose watercolor painting a try. So last month, I shared a few different exercises and lessons on how I approach loose watercolors.

I thought it might be fun and helpful for you if you’re wanting to give loose painting a try so I pulled an exercise out from our member’s library to share over on YouTube.

The below video is a simple exercise that shows you how I approach painting a feather in a loose way. I hope that you enjoy giving this a try!