Benefits of Watercolor Journaling

Series Summary

The art of watercolor painting has been practiced since the time of the ancient Egyptians, when frescoes were created by a process of applying water-based pigments to wet plaster. Watercolor painting also has a rich history in Chinese and Japanese art, and has been used to add color to beautifully illuminated manuscripts in cultures throughout the world. What we think of as modern watercolor painting began to develop in the 1500s with Albrecht Durer's landscape studies. The popularity of this medium spread and spawned many disciplines of watercolor painting, including the 17th century British school and the California style of the 1920s.

So you want to learn how to paint like an artist? In these free art lessons on video you'll learn how to create a watercolor journal. Our expert will show you what art supplies and materials you will need, especially the types of paints and brushes, as well as how to use text an borders in your journal entry. Soon you’ll be on your way to becoming well-versed in the world of watercolor.

Video Transcript

"On behalf of Expert Village, my name is Libby Caldwell and I'm here to tell you about watercolor journaling. I got involved in journaling when I looked back on journals from a long time ago and the memories of the occasion just came right back, far more than a photograph. I've got many photographs of events, but when I journal, for example, this, what makes it different from a photograph is that you decide what to put in, what to take out and these were some flowers, it's a very simple journaling piece, but I've labeled everything. Now if this was a photograph, I can't add things to the photograph like this and in the words I put the weather, where I am, the date, the time, who else is there, what they're talking about. And also I was fascinated by people in history like Anne Frank, who journaled, and this is another journaling piece that I did. This is my daughter and this was the night before her dog, and this was her dog, who was sick that night and had to be put to sleep. But this brings back more than all the photographs that we have of the dog so this is something that I wanted to teach people, how to really enrich your memories and be able to re-live the experience. This is another piece, it's a very simple painting, but I was at the beach with my mother and just a few words that I've written here help me re-live the whole thing. I can remember it just as if it's happening again. So this is why I got into journaling and teaching the workshops that I teach. This is the piece I'm going to demonstrate for you today. It's Snoopy Rock which is right here in Sedona and I'm going to teach you how to paint with watercolors and watercolor pencils and explain how to do the writing as well."