Modern Watercolor Techniques
A course by Ana Victoria Calderon
Painter and illustrator.
Ciudad de México, Mexico.
On Domestika since 08/09/2016
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, Painter and illustrator
On Domestika since 08/09/2016
Paint with watercolors in a technical and creative way
- Best Seller Spanish with subtitles in English
- 99% Positive reviews (6.1K)
- 125105 students

Paint with watercolors in a technical and creative way
- 99% Positive reviews (6.1K)
- 125105 students
- Online and at your own pace
- Audio: Spanish
- Level: Beginner
- 32 Lessons (3h 20m)
- Available from the app
- Spanish, English, Portuguese, German
- Unlimited access forever
Can you imagine creating new universes with watercolor? Experiment and surprise yourself with the infinite possibilities that this technique offers with the help of Ana Victoria Calderón, illustrator, designer, and visual artist. After ten years of dedicating herself exclusively to painting, she has developed her own style inspired by nature's mysticism. Her work ranges from prints to book covers and she has collaborated with international brands like Papyrus, Vanity Fair, Ray-Ban, and Editorial Santillana.
Together with Ana Victoria, learn how to master watercolor step by step and use it in a fun way to create unimaginable results. There are times when the technique itself, because of its nature, acts on its own. In this course, you will discover how to take advantage of these unexpected "mistakes" for your own benefit. Study the basics and then go beyond traditional watercolor by experimenting with different materials and a modern approach.
Here you will lay the foundation for using watercolors, but you build on this technique in her other two courses: Techniques Applied to Watercolour Illustration, where you can learn how to become a freelance illustrator, and Creation of Color Palettes with Watercolor, to achieve color combinations that reflect your personality.

Featured review
Excellent beginner’s course that covers the essential skills for watercolour painting and provides some exercises to practice before moving onto more complex illustrations. I love Ana’s modern and whimsical style so the illustrations covered in the course where fun and inspiring. She gives a lot of tips to explore the media and experiment. I would recommend this course to anyone starting with watercolours.
About this course
Course table of contents
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U1U1. Introduction
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U2U2. Before we start
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U3U3. Introduction exercises
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U4U4. Experimental watercolor
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FPFP Final Project
Begin by getting to know Ana Victoria Calderón’s work and influences, as well as the reasons that led her to devote herself to the world of watercolor.
Next, briefly review the materials needed for the different exercises that you will do, and then learn the purpose for each.
Learn the basic aspects of working with watercolors, such as transparency levels, water control, gradients, and paint saturation, as well as understanding the weight and precision needed to start using the brush with greater control to achieve fine details.
Once you have understood the basics, it's time to experiment by mixing the watercolors with other materials such as other types of paint, salt, chlorine, as well as homemade materials, and analyze the reactions.
To finish the course, create a complex illustration applying the techniques learned from the experiments you liked the most.
What is this course's project?
Make an illustration of a nebula or galaxy using watercolor, acrylics, and other resources, putting into practice all the exercises completed during this course.

Projects by course students
Who is it for?
Designers, illustrators, artists, and art enthusiasts in general who are interested in learning how to paint with watercolor from scratch, as well as those who want to improve their technique.
What you need
No prior knowledge is required to complete this course.
Regarding materials, you will need a watercolor sketchbook, a pencil, a pencil sharpener, an eraser, watercolors, round brushes for watercolors in different sizes (especially a fine brush for smaller details), black ink, acrylic paint or white ink, a glass for water, and a palette.
It is optional, but recommended, to have table salt, alcohol, nail polish remover, bleach, and a variety of inks and watercolors (liquid, tube, metalized, etc.) that you may already have but don't know how to use. They will be useful for experimenting.

Reviews

A course by Ana Victoria Calderon
Ana Victoria Calderón is originally from Cancún, that's why a good part of her work is intimately related to nature and full of organic elements and symbolism.
She graduated from Universidad de las Américas in Puebla (Mexico) where she studied Information Design while working on her degree in Plastic Arts.
It is quite common to find her illustrations applied to prints, bags, notebooks, ceramics, kitchen items, greeting cards, book covers, and all kinds of products. She also licenses her art to companies such as Hallmark, Papyrus, Trader Joe's, among others, and has collaborated with Vanity Fair, Elle, Editorial Santillana, Travesías, Ray-Ban, and Dr. Bronner's.
Contents
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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Influences
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U2
Before we start
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What are we going to learn?
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Materials
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U3
Introduction exercises
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Transparencies 1
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Transparencies 2
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Transparencies 3
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Gradients 1
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Gradients 2*
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Gradients 3
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Pressure and precision 1
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Pressure and precision 2*
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Pressure and precision 3
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Monochromatic activity 1
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Monochromatic activity 2*
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Monochromatic activity 3
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Monochromatic activity 4*
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Monochromatic activity 5
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U4
Experimental watercolor
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Planets 1
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Planets 2
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Giving shape to experiments 1
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Giving shape to experiments 2*
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Shaping our experiments 3
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Shaping our experiments 4
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Galaxy 1
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Galaxy 2
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Galaxy 3*
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Galaxy 4
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Galaxy 5*
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Galaxy 6
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Galaxy 7
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Galaxy 8
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FP
Final Project
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Modern Watercolor Techniques
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What are Domestika's online courses?
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need for completing a specific final project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the instructor and other users, thus creating a dynamic course community.
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amatista.acheron
Es un buen curso, te explica desde el principio lo que puedes hacer con la acuarela, las técnicas de principiantes para poder trabajar con acuarelas, al final llevándote a un proyecto en el que ocupas todo lo que ves.
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monugrafer
Me encantò este curso Ana Victoria! Realmente una clase muy ágil e interesante. Me divertí mucho con la acuarela experimental, estoy disfrutando el tratar de aprender la tècnica. Un placer. Saludos!
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lesliekimble79
Great course! I loved it and the instructor is really good!