Carol Sue Witt

We all love animals! The popularity of circuses, zoos and aquariums has attracted humans of every age, size, color and country, for centuries. Who knew giant fish could be trained to perform?    I guess Sea World did! But about the art surrounding this topic…. paintings in all mediums have featured pets and exotic animals since kingdoms collected these treasures. They were hung in palaces in ornate frames, larger than life size and were stolen by conquering armies. In recent times, pet portraits have been a heart warming commission to honor a faithful pet. I know, I’ve done many of them. We LOVE our animals. This one, one of my favorites, was of my niece, Joan and her adorable companion, a King Charles Spaniel.  And Jeff's  adorable puppy who is now huge!....   A nd our beloved Addie, smart and very sassy! But there are those species who are endangered and in need of both awareness and fund raising to extend their future on this planet. It’s a cause I care about too. One of my favo

 Hello, artists, We have somehow survived the pandemic...for me it has been through my artwork. My workbook "Paint With Me...watercolor my way" is   almost completed. My goal is to have copies available in October. There are 10 guided painting lessons to complete, each with a different emphasis for design, color and complexity. Supplies, lessons learned and lots of color mixing approaches are covered.  Each page has room for your own notes. It is a beginner's book but many longtime painters may find this information useful. My goal is to keep the cost under $40. If you would like to pre-order, just let me know. Meanwhile I am delighted to offer a watercolor workshop in July on 3 Watercolor Wednesdays, July 7,14 and 21. It will be a "mixed class" available on both zoom and in person with distancing at my home studio for 6 vaccinated Austin area artists. Contact me for pricing and a supply list:                             carolsuewitt@gmail.com I selected this s

                                                                                     Steppin' Out in Austin... is available as a notecard in my Etsy store,                                                                       Watergirl Art Etsy is a very popular site for those who have small businesses. During Covid, it has become even more popular. The word "etsy" has no particular meaning but in Greek it is "just because" which might be all the reason you need. For me, I find my expenses could use a little help as this is an expensive craft. There's always something new I want to buy, shows I want to enter, custom framing or a class I want to take.  I fought the idea of it for several years because I thought it would be too technical, too time consuming and too costly. I really just want to paint. In January 2020, I made the decision to open my own store, Watergirl Art, and have been pleased with the ease in all of these areas. It is relatively inexpensive

 Water is the most mesmerizing subject to capture! It is emotional, as it can be ominous and brooding as a storm approaches, or, peaceful and quiet on a sunny day at the beach. And watercolor is the perfect medium , in my opinion, to attempt to paint it. It is reflective, often moving in several directions, has foam and tiny particles in it and changes color with every ripple. So for my March class I decided to start with a giant ocean wave as it reached its peak. I suggested using transparent watercolors so that the colors could be seen as glazes were added and I painted on a 15"x22" piece of paper to honor it's size. So....how do we recreate a massive force of nature with all of its elements on a flat piece of paper? Here's how we attempted it: 1. Using a reference photo which was copied in color and also black and white ( easy value study), I sketched a transferrable image. Some did their own but I usually provide the sketch.                                        

Notice: Waterloo Watercolor Group has rescheduled my live demo of this process that was to be aired   on Thursday evening Feb 18th due to severe utility outages in the Austin Texas area  . I will post the new date as soon as it’s available.    Jump In...... If you haven’t tried creating an underpainting for your paintings you may be missing an opportunity to enrich your colors , loosen up and/or get out of a slump. This method is not new but it escapes some beginners as well as advanced watercolorists because a) it’s scary b) you do give up some control and c) it’s not the way you usually start your paintings. Guess what? Those are all good reasons to try it. How else will you grow? It literally jump starts your creative processes whether you had already sketched a scene or you were not sure what to paint. I was first introduced to a 3 color underpainting at a workshop given by Lian Quan Zheng in 2018. We actually painted this entire painting with just these 3 colors: Napthol Red, Han