Underneath the color, the water, the light, the composition — woven through it all— is ingredient we haven't expressly talked about. You.

No matter how much experience you have, or how much success you've found, you are never NOT in your paintings. There is only one of you that will ever exist in all of time. Only one person who can make the art you're here to make.

Learning to paint mostly isn't about the techniques. It's about becoming more yourself — and revealing that to the rest of us in what you make.

This episode is my spiel about how precious it is that we do this thing, this making of paintings on watercolor paper - as only we each can.

Thank you for being here. I'm so glad you're listening - and painting.

Cara Brown — Watercolorist — Teacher — lifeinfullcolor.com

Compositoin! It's a step back to consider what goes in and what doesn't, what variety to include, how elements relate to each other - and then how all of that will be bounded in shape and size. I'm sharing my thoughts on how it is that consider all of this in my paintings - my process of composing a painting. I don't follow rules, I don't even think too much. It's a felt thing. In case reflecting on my process is helpful, here it is!

The "round" painting I menonted in the episode is here: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/gallery-available-originals/eternal/

Go to my website - below - to see the outcome of composing all my paintings over the years.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

We started this series with color. Now, with several episodes of painting experience behind us, we come back to it — and it looks different from here.

This episode draws from my second color workshop - where we limit the paints we work with. I start with an idea that genuinely blew my mind when I first realized it: the primary colors we all learned in grade school aren't the real primary colors.

We also look at what happens when you deliberately limit your palette. I've painted with six paints, with four, and with just three. What I've found is that a limited palette doesn't just create harmony and cohesion in a painting — it grows you as a color mixer.

And there's an exercise: invent colors in your head and try to mix them. Olive green. Straw gold. Terra cotta. Navy blue. Red wine. Sepia. It sounds simple. It's kind of mind-blowing. And it is how you actually learn to mix color — by doing it.

I periodically offer Color II - Limiting, Layering and Claiming Your Colors in person in the studio and live online. You can sign up for my email newlsetters on my website: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com, where you can also see all my art and the workshops I offer, incuding this one!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.