Reading Paint Tubes

Reading Paint Tubes

Breaking down watercolor paints and decoding their paint tubes so we know exactly what we're getting when we drop money on watercolor paints.
July 27, 2023 — KATHERINE TALCOTT
How To Do the Wet-In-Wet Technique for Watercolor - Tutorial Tuesday

How To Do the Wet-In-Wet Technique for Watercolor - Tutorial Tuesday

Wet-in-wet describes the technique of adding watercolor to an area where the paint is already wet, achieving one of watercolor's signature looks.  This is one of those techniques that you've gotta channel Elsa and just let it go!!!! Can you tell we are in the "Frozen" phase of toddlerhood?! 

 
 

 

Here are links to all the supplies used in the video.

**Fill out the form at the bottom of the page to get my full list of favorite supplies! 

 

If you love this content, sign up for my Tutorial Tuesday Newsletter by clicking this link! You'll get each week's video delivered straight to your inbox.  You'll also be the first to know about any updates or promotions! 

 

Happy Painting! 

 

May 17, 2021 — KATE TALCOTT
Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist

Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist

Imagine you’re in third grade--your habitat diorama not only extends into several shoe boxes, but at the center of your Stonehenge of micro dioramas lies a lake with real water in it.  Now imagine you are a Freshman in High School and you stay up all night perfecting your Monopoly themed “Freshman portfolio” and have your first coffee the next morning.  Fast forward to your senior project where a solid essay would have sufficed, instead you insisted on putting on a production of The Fantasticks--not only staring as the main ingenue but also directing and producing the play.


Sounds impressive, right? Well, sure it was! And did I get extraordinary praise and accolades for these elaborate and (dare I say) over-the-top projects, of course I did.  Was I a total brown nosing teacher’s pet?!?! You bet your booty I was!


All my life I have received great praise and derived a tremendous sense of satisfaction and self worth from going above and beyond in all that I do.  I relished the moments when people would call me a “Leslie Knope.”  My perfectionist tendencies have served me well both in the classroom as a student and as a teacher.  It lent itself well to role as a librarian.  I’ve always considered my “prior proper planning” to be my winning feature! I was ready for anything.  You should have seen the dossier I gave to my mother when she came to help us out when I gave birth to my daughter.  There were five pages about the dogs alone! 

 

Kate looks at her painting with her coffee cup.  She doesn't look content, as if she is looking for flaws.


Until about a year ago, I felt like this quality was not only a main part of who I was as a person, but also the biggest thing that I had to offer this world.  About six months into my new role as mom, I started to struggle with postpartum depression. It became pretty clear that it is impossible to be the perfect mom, doing all the right things.  The depression made it increasingly difficult to do simple tasks, let alone excel at them.  I felt like if I didn’t do everything perfectly then I was a bad mom, a bad wife, and ultimately a bad person.  


Right around this time, a little thing called COVID-19 (maybe you’ve heard of it) arrived on the scene and made it infinitely clearer that nothing was predictable.  Oh, did I mention that right around this time I decided to start my watercolor stationery goods business?!?! (A true perfectionist move--to jump into a large project even when you’re in way over your head.)


Now, I don’t regret starting my business at that time.  It actually was incredibly helpful in getting me through my PPD (along with therapy and medication) but my mindset at the time was “I’ve gotta do it all” and “nothing but the absolute best”.  Needless to say, this led to a pretty quick burnout and many a panic attack.  I had gotten my shop up and running, sales were going well, everything looked professional, but I was a HOT MESS.  I wasn’t sleeping well, I could hardly eat, my stomach was in knots, I didn’t have anything to give back to my family emotionally.  I was no longer able to do my best work.  Something had to give. 


In working with a parenting coach, Christy Keating at The Heartful ParentI realized that this perfectionist lifestyle, while serving me well in the past, no longer worked for me.  In having a child, a family, and a business, as well as my own self to care for, I could no longer pour myself into projects in the same way.  That was a game for my 20 year old self. (But honestly, I probably could have used a lot more balance back then too).


With juggling multiple areas of my life, the planning and predictability, the “perfect-ness” if you will, was no longer serving me.  It was actually holding me back.  Instead what I needed was a plan with flexibility--a plan that allowed me to step back and say, “actually my daughter needs my attention right now,” or “I could really use a nap.”  


I know this message may seem counterintuitive to most small business owners--we’re constantly told to hustle hustle hustle, no rest for the weary, no pain no gain, blah blah blah. But since deciding to take a step back and break up with my perfectionist ways I’ve actually been able to be more productive during the times that I am working.  Additionally, I have an exponentially better relationship with myself and my family.  


This year, my word of the year is GENTLE, so I am constantly remembering to be gentle with myself.  This means gentle with the goals I hold myself to, gentle to myself when I don’t meet expectations, gentle with myself when I need a break.

Kate sits with her planner looking happy and relaxed, smiling at the camera


If this sounds like something that might be a good step for you, I wanted to share a few things that helped me leave behind my perfectionist ways. 


  1. Breaking up with my to-do list.  Now I don’t totally go rogue or anything. I still have tasks and goals, but rather than having 100000 things to do each day for the whole week and feeling like a total failure when I only accomplish one of them and everything else gets derailed--I now have a list of what I need to accomplish for the week and a few bonus items if I have the time.  Each day I take a look at the list and think about what I’m in the mood for that day.  Some days I’m really in the mood to write delightful blog posts and other days I just want to paint.  Some days I need to just do some yoga and play with my daughter.  I try to plan my days intuitively, based on how I feel that day.  Obviously there are going to be times when we can’t do this, but by living intuitively most of the time, it helps us not burn out when we have to put our nose to the grindstone.  This is one of the benefits of being my own boss.
  2. Knowing it’s okay to not follow through sometimes. Whenever I would say I was going to do something, you can bet that I made that bitty boo happen.  Did I kill myself doing it?!?  You betcha.  But did I do it?!?!  Of course. Many times these things didn’t even really matter to anyone but me. For example, I made a goal with myself this year to send one letter a day.  Old me would have freaked out if I didn’t stay on top of it.  Old me would have made it happen even at the expense of other more important things.  New me is not doing a great job with my goal of one letter every day, but when I am able to write a letter here and there it has been much more enjoyable when it’s being written out of pleasure rather than sheer stubbornness. There is strength in releasing tasks that are not serving you at that time. 
  3. Saying NO! This is one that I know a lot of folks, especially people pleasers like myself have trouble with.  When making my goals for this year, I made sure to be pretty clear about what I did and didn’t want to accomplish, and I’ve gotta say, it’s helped make it a whole lot easier to say no.  If it doesn’t serve my goals, it’s not happening.  I’ve had a couple requests to create materials for styled shoots for wedding vendors and since I am stepping back from weddings this year to focus on my products, this was an easy no.  And you know what?!?!  It felt good! 
  4. Watercolor as a Medium. While the above list works well for anyone in any line of work, I have to say that watercolor itself is great for helping me let go.  I don’t know if you know this, but water doesn’t exactly do everything you want it to.  Watercolor is an art form where you can plan and manipulate the paint as much as you want but sometimes water will still have her way with your painting.  I’ve actually found a lot of peace in this.  I’m learning to love the unexpected beauty of water’s wily ways with every painting.
  5. Therapy and Medication. I would be remiss if I forgot to mention these two crucial ingredients.  Therapy has helped me to unpack a lot of why I feel like my perfectionism determines my feeling of self worth.  Medication has helped take the anxiety out of letting some things go.  Rather than focusing on the things I’m missing, it has helped my brain to quiet down and focus on what I am doing in the present.


I know I am not the only one who struggles with these feelings.  I hope these little tips are helpful for you too.


If you want to know more about how I broke up with my to do list, I’ve provided a little handout cheat sheet so you can try it too.  Sign up for my email newsletter to get the PDF.  My newsletter is where I share all my discount codes too! EXTRA bonus! Woohoo!

 

 

February 23, 2021 — KATE TALCOTT
A Guide To My Essential Watercolor Supplies

A Guide To My Essential Watercolor Supplies

"What supplies should I use?!?!"
This is one of the most commonly asked questions I get from folks wanting to learn watercolor. 

When I first started, I didn’t know where to begin, so I found a list like this and started exploring.  Everyone has different tastes, but this is what I like.  As you play around and explore your style, you will probably find things that work better for you, and that’s great! It’s all part of finding your groove. 

In this blog post, I’ll share a little bit about the types of supplies you need to get started with watercolor.  This is mostly aimed toward folks who are a bit more serious and ready to invest a bit of money for high quality supplies, rather than a basic Crayola set.  The one thing about watercolor that I’ve found is that the quality of supplies can make a world of difference.

Be sure to check out the link at the bottom to get my FREE supply list. 

 

PAPER

You can’t just use any paper for watercolor painting.  I mean, you can, but don’t be surprised if the water just slips off the paper and bleeds all over the place.  Here are a few things to consider.


TYPE OF PAPER: 

Watercolor paper is specifically made to allow the water to stay wet on the page long enough for you to work with it, but also to not move around.  There are tiny ridges called tooth on the surface that help grip the water and keep it in place.  There are two types of paper that are most often used.  Cold pressed watercolor paper and hot pressed.  Hot pressed is smooth and dries faster.  Cold pressed has deeper tooth and allows you to manipulate the water and paint a little longer.  I work exclusively with cold pressed watercolor paper.  


WEIGHT: 

You also want a sturdy weight. I use 140 lb cold pressed paper for things I'm going to scan.  I prefer 300 lb cold pressed paper for custom portraits.  The sturdier the paper (aka the higher # lb), the less buckling you’ll have.  Have you ever accidentally dropped your book in the bath and all the pages start to wrinkle? (No?!?! JUST ME?!?!) Well imagine if that buckling happened to your beautiful watercolor painting you just made.  That is why you want a sturdy paper.  


FORM:

Watercolor paper can come in individual sheets, pads like a notebook, or blocks.  A block of watercolor paper is like a pad where there are multiple sheets but all the edges are sealed together.  This also helps your paper from buckling.  There are ways to pre-treat your paper to stop it from buckling, but this is great if you are lazy like me! Sometimes it will still warp a bit if you use a lot of water on the page, but I try to avoid that by putting tape around the edge for some extra security.


BRUSHES 

BRUSH TYPE:

Round: This is what I use for the most part.  These allow you to use pressure to get a really thick stroke and a very thin stroke with a light touch.  I find that these are the most versatile.  


Flat: These are great for getting good crisp lines or filling in a large area with paint.  I don’t use these a ton, preferring the flexibility of the round brush, but some people love them! 


Wash and Mop: If you like doing washes (think sunsets or big meadowy fields) this is going to be a great brush for you.  If you like mostly small detailed painting, this might not be necessary.  I think it is always good to have at least one, just in case.  I don’t use it a ton in my work, but it is really handy when I need it.  It helps you cover a large area with water without parts of your painting drying up first.  


Rigger: These are brushes with really long bristles.  These are good for detail lines and since the hairs separate a lot, it can be good for adding texture.  I don’t like using these as much because I don’t feel like I have as much control, but they can be especially great for watercolor lettering.


Animal hair or synthetic: If you’re vegan, this is a very easy decision.  If you’re not, it can be harder.  When synthetic brushes first came out, while they were cheaper than animal hair brushes, the quality just wasn’t the same, but synthetic brushes have come a long way since then.  There are many wonderful synthetic brushes out there.  If you’re just getting into Watercolor, I suggest synthetic brushes because they are cheaper and still give you incredible control.  


SIZE:

Brushes come in different sizes and what size you get really depends on what you paint.  If you are working on a large scale, you probably wouldn’t really need an itsy bitsy detail brush and a size 1 or 2 would be just fine.  If you are working on a teenie tiny scale, the detail brushes may be the only thing you need.  If you’re just starting out and want a good assortment to cover your bases, I recommend getting a 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 round brush and a size 12 mop brush.


BRAND: 

There are so many brands out there and I have tried a bunch.  In my early days I got a bunch of brush sets off of Amazon trying to find a favorite.  Let me tell you, I got a lot of duds.  Buying brushes is really hard to do online because you can’t quite get a sense for how they spring and wiggle around.  After much trial and error, I’ve found I really like Princeton Select, Princeton Snap, and Princeton Velvetouch brushes.  You can check out a video of my favorite brushes here.

 

PAINT

Okay, so you have your brushes and your paper! You’re almost set to go! Let's talk paint! 


FORM: 

Watercolor paint can come in many different forms.  It can can come in in a tube, like a tube of toothpaste--these come out wet.  It can come in pans, which kind of look like eyeshadow--they are hardened, dry watercolor that you activate by wetting it.  Lastly, you can get watercolor in liquid form, almost like calligraphy ink.  I mostly use tube watercolor for my realistic paintings, since I like the flexibility of painting with wet or dry paint.  I like using liquid watercolor when I am doing watercolor lettering because it helps the paints blend smoothly and requires less set up.


QUALITY: 

Watercolor comes in different quality levels.  There is normal grade watercolor and there is professional grade.  Here is where you don’t want to skimp.  Getting professional grade watercolor makes sure that the paint is really smooth and won’t clump or look grainy (called granulation).  When you’re searching for paint, make sure it says "professional-grade" on it.  If you’re getting paint from a small business, usually in pans, check the reviews.  Some colors perform better than others, just based off of what they are made from.


COLORS: 

This really depends person to person.  If you’re just getting started, you can really get away with a red, yellow, blue, and a black (neutral tint is my preference instead of black). With these four colors, just like you learned in elementary school, you can make most of the colors.  If you paint a lot of florals, you might want to add in a pink and a green.  If you do mostly oceans and skies, you might want some more blue variants.  As you paint more, you’ll find you start to get your favorites. Some of my favorites are: yellow ochre, neutral tint, phthalo turquoise, prussian blue, and oxide of chromium. 


BRAND: 

I really like Winsor & Newton professional watercolors tubes. For liquid paint I like Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Liquid Watercolors.  Liquid watercolor is great for watercolor lettering.  For an opaque white, I will either use a Winsor & Newton gouache or Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed-proof White.  



WATER 

Y’all! This is the easy one! You can use water from your tap and just a couple of cups to hold it! Pro tip - make sure it looks very different from your coffee cup!

 

 

November 11, 2020 — KATE TALCOTT
Behind The Color-Coordinated Coffee Mug

Behind The Color-Coordinated Coffee Mug

“I don’t know how you do it? I didn’t even have time to brush my teeth!”

This is something that has been said to me on many occasions when I tell people I’ve just started a business before my daughter turned one.

September 09, 2020 — KATE TALCOTT
Kate working on new watercolor artwork

7 Things That Led Me To Opening My Own Watercolor Business

Helloooo folks! Welcome to my new blog. I thought I’d start off the party by sharing a little bit about how Kate Talcott Artistry came to be! I thought about writing my whole long story, but honestly TLDR, I’ve worn a lot of hats before arriving here: teacher, tutor, waitress, librarian etc. What has stayed constant is that I love learning and trying out new things. Watercolor is an artform that teaches me something new every time I pick up the paint brush.

If you’re wanting to learn a new skill or take your hobby to the next level, I’ll be peppering this blog with great tips and tricks for hobbyists and creatives alike. To kick it all off, here is a list of 7 things that led me to starting my watercolor business.

 

1. My creative drive

I’ve always loved being creative and learning new skills. Whether it was making up plays as a kid, snazzying up a vintage dress for prom, or my affinity for picking up crafty hobbies (friendship bracelets, making iMovies back in the early 2000s, stop motion videos, knitting, felting, scrap booking, hand lettering, quilting etc)--I’ve always like to explore different materials and push the limits to give it my own spin.

 

2. Workshops and classes

I had to learn somehow, right?!?! I took a class at this charming local paper store called Paper Delights with Sarah Simon, also known as The Mint Gardener, and I fell in love with watercolor. I took another class that Sarah was teaching through The Watercolor Summit, where I learned from a ton of different artists and started to learn more about the ephemeral art of watercolor. I was hooked.

3. Lots and lots of practice

Once I had the basics down, it was all about practice. I would spend hours working on the same leaf stroke shape. I would mix colors to see what hue it made. Finally, I bit the bullet and tried not to wince every time I ‘played around’ on my expensive watercolor paper. I learned more about which supplies I liked and didn’t like.

4.Support from family and friends

Andy, my husband, is the most supportive partner I could ask for, he even decided to join the family biz making it a heck of a lot easier to focus on the painting side of things. I also had great examples--both my parents made big career shifts to follow their passions. My dad went from opera singer, to boat captain, to doctor. My mom went back to school in her 40s to become a teacher. They showed me what it looked like to take brave risks and work hard. My friends and family have also benefited from the honing of my craft. Birthday presents have consisted of pet portraits, silly signs, hand-drawn cards, and more.

5. Tough Love

My friend Morgan can be credited as the main catalyst for taking my love of watercolor from hobby to business. She is not a woman to mince words. One day she took me aside for one of her famous “kitchen talks” where you speak of VERY SERIOUS THINGS and told me that it was time. “No more playing around,” she said. I had to take it to the next level. She offered me an opportunity to make a design for her Denver based garden store, Birdsall & Co. After seeing photos of my work in her store,an actual tangible product, I was hooked.

6. A can-do attitude

I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge. Not one to half-ass things, once I made the decision to make my business official we were getting the business license, LLC, and domain name that week. When things started to pick up, I realized that if I wanted this business to grow at the rate I’d hoped, we’d need more manpower. Andy’s marketing background, artistic eye, and keen energy for thorough research and precision makes for an excellent compliment to my planning obsessed, big-ideas brained, creative self.

7. Becoming a mom

I had always planned on being a stay at home mom. You can imagine my surprise when instead of going to bed in those early sleepless nights, I decided instead that I needed to paint. I found that painting gave me a sense of autonomy and fueled a part of me I didn’t know I needed. That and coffee, coffee also was a main source of fuel. (Let us give a big shout out to my Mr. Coffee--the true hero of this story.) My goal in being a stay at home mom was to be home and care for my daughter. Well, this way, we’re doing both. Andy and I have always valued creating a home that is filled with love, care, and creativity. We love that this business allows us to do just that.

Want to hear more from little ol’ me? Sign up for the newsletter to get shop updates, watercolor tips and tricks, and delightful musings from yours truly!

August 26, 2020 — KATE TALCOTT