Author name: Anastasiia Petriaeva

I’ve been asked quite a few times about the Chinese calligraphy brushes I use in my watercolor work, so I decided to put together a small guide.

Sometimes the problem is not your drawing or technique, but how the elements are arranged within the frame.
I’ve covered 7 common composition mistakes and simple ways to fix them.

Learn how paper moisture controls hard, soft, and lost edges in watercolor, and when to use each type to create depth, selective focus, and a sense of motion.

Discover how hard, soft, and lost edges create form, atmosphere, and depth—and guide the viewer’s eye to make your paintings feel more alive.

Warm light does not always create cool shadows. Discover how sky color, ambient light, and reflected colors from surrounding surfaces shape the shadows in your paintings.

A simple method for checking the direction and length of daylight shadows, with practical guidance for drawing figures, trees, street lamps, and other vertical objects.

Learn how the placement of vanishing points affects perspective, proportions, and viewing angle, and why a technically correct drawing can still look unnatural.

Why does water usually look darker than the sky? Explore the optics of reflections, essential tonal relationships, and the fascinating exceptions that help you paint convincing watercolor landscapes.

Discover how simultaneous contrast changes the way we see color and how thoughtful color relationships can make your watercolor paintings more vibrant and luminous.

Why I reach for Payne’s Grey instead of black and how pigment formulas, granulation, and undertones vary across brands. A practical guide to choosing the right grey for your watercolor palette.