5 free watercolor video tutorials ~ learn to mix colors ~ mindfulness art activities
mixing watercolor paints on a paint palette
I’m sharing some of my favorite mindfulness art activities.
They happen to be great learning activities, too, especially for beginners! These art activities will teach you all about color. These art activities are great to practice, to improve your painting skills. Learn how to handle watercolor paints, create gradients and dilutions of transparent paint, and mix colors to get your own unique and beautiful colors!
Do you know how to mix watercolor paints to get beautiful, vibrant and clear colors?
What about unusual color mixes with textured effects?
I recently bought some watercolor paints from Beam Paints. These watercolor paints are special because they are handmade by a First Nations, Canada artist, using local, sustainably sourced natural ingredients like honey and tree sap, and they are packaged with biodegradable natural packaging (no plastic). The colors are brilliant and lovely, and they even smell amazing!
It feels so different to use handmade watercolors like this. I can feel the love and care that went into them. And I love knowing that I’m supporting a business that cares for the world and strives to be intentional, because that’s how I want to be, too. Painting with these paints feels like a special, mindful art experience!
I’ve made several video tutorials about mixing colors using Beam Paints. I’ve linked them below.
I am not sponsored, I am an artist sharing the materials that I actually use.
Learn more about Beam Paints here.
Note that you should get similar color mixing results from any brand of paint, but there will be variances.
How can painting be a mindfulness art activity?
Arrive and be present.
Center yourself by focusing on your breath, and what you observe in the painting process.
Notice what thoughts, sensations or feelings arise.
If you find yourself getting distracted by your mind, return to this moment and your breath.
Swatching colors as a mindfulness art activity
In this video I show you how I make color swatches, and how they look on different types of paper.
Swatching colors is a great way to learn about your paints and art supplies.
Painting watercolor swatches is a mindfulness art activity, because it requires you to slow down and focus on what you are doing. In addition, it brings you into the physical realm of the senses. You can enjoy the color spreading across the paper (sight), the aroma of the paints which contain honey (smell), the tactile sensations of the brush and paper, and the movement of your hand as it guides the brush (touch), and the sounds like your brush handle ringing against the rim of your water jar like a bell, or your breath (hearing). When you are engaged at the level of the senses, you are fully present in the moment.
It’s easy to be aware of when you drop out of being fully present in the moment. You may become aware of an inner mental dialogue that tries to take you out of the sensations of the present. The mental dialogue could often take the form of voices that criticize your mistakes or try to convince you that what you’re doing is a waste of time. Don’t believe these voices, and don’t attach your attention to them. Simply observe this inner dialogue, and return to painting. With time and practice, it gets easier, I promise!
Observing your thoughts, without getting attached to them, is the most basic skill of mindfulness.
It’s a skill that will serve you, not only in art activities, but in all areas of your life!
Making color wheels is a mindfulness art activity
In this video I show you how to make color wheels using two different primary color systems: Red, Yellow, Blue, and Cyan, Magenta, Yellow. You can mix many colors from these two different sets of primary colors. The resulting color mixes will differ somewhat.
Making color wheels is an ideal mindfulness art activity for beginners. Learning how to mix colors, engages the senses and brings you into the present moment. It’s easy to be fascinated and mesmerized by the magic of color mixing, and creating the colors that you love.
Creating color wheels also forces you to slow down and practice mindfulness, as you carefully mix and apply paint to the paper. I think you will find this to be an enjoyable and relaxing mindfulness art activity!
Mixing colors is a mindfulness art activity
In this video I show you how I mix unusual colors with interesting textural effects.
Watch the paints mix together and create new unusual colors.
In this video, I show you how to mix paints on your paper, instead of in a palette. When you mix on your paper, you’ll get irregularities and interesting effects. Some of these paints are granulating, which means that they have large particles in them that settle into the paper unevenly, which creates textured looks.
Watching paint as it moves, interacts, mixes and dries is hypnotic. It really brings you into present moment awareness, which is the purpose of mindfulness. Mixing colors can even inspire awe and appreciation for the beauty of colors and paints!
Mixing colors is a way to play, experiment and observe. All of these activities bring you into mindful, present awareness.
Art activities are my favorite way to practice mindfulness!
Testing watercolor paints for lightfastness
In this video I show you how to do a lightfast test of your watercolors, to see if your watercolors will fade.
This was my first video on mixing watercolors. This video shows the Primary Trio, Graphite (black), and Bread (ochre). I show you how to mix the primary colors to get all the colors of the rainbow.