Watercolor Fundamentals

A 12-hour course to master the fundamentals of watercolor painting.

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Are you in love with watercolor but always struggle with it and your results are far away from what you have envisioned?

If you realize that you can't handle watercolor, that it is so unpredictable, paints often spread and blend too quickly, or that it dries too fast or too slow, rest assured—you're not alone.

If you are often unhappy or frustrated with your paintings, it is usually just a misunderstanding of technical processes or a lack of practice. In this course, we will work on both!

This 'Watercolor Fundamentals' course is designed to support you in your artistic journey, offering a strong foundation in essential techniques that will help you to paint with confidence. Inspired by the incredible progress of my students, I created this course to provide you with the essential technical skills needed to master watercolor. By focusing on the foundational techniques, you'll gain the confidence to tackle more complex projects, ensuring your creative vision is supported by a strong technical base. Whether you're a beginner or refining your skills, this course will equip you with the tools to excel in watercolor painting.

Hello,
I am Olga Koelsch!


​I'm a watercolor artist, book author, and educator based in Norway. My journey with watercolor began in 2016 with a simple set of paints. Within a year, I made significant progress in botanical illustration and participated in prestigious botanical exhibitions across the UK, USA, and Japan.

By 2018, I began experimenting with modern watercolor techniques, particularly focusing on transparency, which led to my first custom orders. Today, I'm a full-time artist, with my work featured and licensed globally, including collaborations with Hobby Lobby, Home Decor, Next, and Karen Millen.

As an educator, I've had the privilege of teaching students from around the world, sharing my passion for watercolor. In addition to my YouTube channel and my book, “How to Paint Watercolor Transparent Flowers,” I’ve developed a series of in-depth watercolor courses which have received incredible feedback from my students. Your progress inspires me to develop easy-to-follow yet comprehensive classes that empower you to paint with confidence, offering a solid foundation of skills to support your creativity.

Hello,

I am Olga Koelsch!

​

I am a self-taught watercolor artist and graphic designer, based in Norway. I started in 2016 with a simple watercolor set. A year after starting my journey, I made progress in botanical illustrations and participated in botanical exhibitions in the UK, USA, and Japan.

In 2018 I started to experiment with modern watercolor and transparent techniques. Now I am a full-time artist and run shops on Etsy and Creative Market with my illustrations. Even robes with my floral designs were seen being worn by the cast members of 'The Real Housewives of Miami'! 

A year ago I started a YouTube channel to teach my watercolor techniques and it turned into a very supportive community. I am a mom of two kids and always looking for time-saving techniques and ideas. All of this inspired me to create my signature course where I could help everyone achieve their artistic confidence and at their own pace.

Course Projects

What My Students Say:

This is the best lesson on color mixing, I learned so much. The color swatching brought it all together for me. I love your little book of colors for various flowers, what a handy resource. I think it will also be helpful when I want to recreate some of the colors. I am such a visual learner, this was excellent.

I want to thank you so much. You explain things in such detail, demonstrating patiently all the while. I am not a beginner but I am wishing I had someone like you to help me understand where I so often went wrong and why. Learning through making mistakes is valid but without understanding the fundamentals, e.g. the properties of paint, that method of learning will always bring frustration. Your work is stunning and I am very much enjoying this course.

I found it invaluable and feeling more confident with the colour wheel, warm and cold and saturated and desaturated colours. Thank you

Course Content

 

In this video, I want to guide you through the different sections of the course and show you what you will be learning in a step-by-step created for you to understand and be able to replicate each action easily.

The course contains 45 video lessons, with over 12 hours of content.

During the course, you will learn to:

  1. Select the Right Materials: Choose the appropriate brushes, paper, and paints for your watercolor projects.
  2. Plan Your Artwork: Develop a solid technical plan, including composition, layering, and color strategy.
  3. Water Control: Effectively manage the moisture levels of your paper and brushes to achieve desired effects.
  4. Master Even Washes and Gradients: Create smooth, even, or graded washes while controlling the softness of edges.
  5. Explore a Variety of Watercolor Techniques: Try different methods, such as dry brush, wet-on-wet (both one-sided and two-sided), wet-on-dry, alla prima, and multilayered glazing.
  6. Learn the basics of Color Theory: understand the basics of color's main characteristics like hue, value, saturation, and color harmony. learn how to mix colors without making them dirty, work with a limited palette based on your available paints, assemble your cost-saving but efficient palette

Analyze and Correct Mistakes: Identify, correct, and learn from common technical errors to continuously improve your skills and start to earn as an artist.

Course Outline

Module 1 -
Materials:

  • Watercolor Paper
  • Watercolor paints - components and basic care
  • Basic steps with painting
  • Palettes
  • Watercolor paints. Main features
  • Watercolor Pigments
  • Pans vs tubes
  • Watercolor Brushes
  • Practice. Peony with filbert brush
  • How to prepare your paper
  • How to flatten buckled paper

Module 2 -
Washes and brushstrokes:

  • Thickness of watercolor layer
  • Washes. Organic shapes
  • Washes. 1 color
  • Washes. Multicolor
  • Edges of washes
  • Practice. Complex Washes. Monstera Leaf
  • Lights and shadows - introduction
  • Washes with volume
  • Interaction of water
  • Water control. Basics
  • Brushstrokes techniques
  • Practice. Quick sketch of Lavender bouquet
  • Practice. Painting a sea landscape

Module 3 - 
Main watercolor techniques:

  • Map of watercolor possibilities
  • Wet-on-wet Technique. Drills
  • Practice. Clouds. 
  • Alla prima technique. Practice. Abstract Poppy
  • Layered Technique. Introduction.
  • Layered Technique. Drills. Transparent flower
  • Practice of layered technique. Foggy mountains
  • Practice of textures. Snowy mountains

Module 4 - Introduction to Color Theory:

  • Color Coordinates
  • Color wheel
  • Complimentary Colors
  • Complimentary Colors. Examples
  • Desaturated colors
  • Desaturated Colors. Examples
  • Color Harmonies
  • Value Contrast
  • Color coordinates. Exercises
  • Perfect contrasts
  • Practice. Dramatic Landscape
  • Final Work. Summer field

How the Course Looks Like

 

In this video I want to show you what the course and its lessons are like. I recommend watching the sessions in order, as the course offers a sequential and logical learning path. Remember that you can always go back and watch the lessons as many times as you need.

All videos are in FULL HD, and you can adjust the speed, sound and quality.

Questions You May Have