Painting Creatively With Watercolors

In the October 2010 issue of Watercolor Artist, Donna Zagotta shares her secrets to making creative figure paintings. Here she demonstrates her process step by step.

“More often than not, I improvise the colors in my paintings by putting them down on the paper and then responding to what’s there,” says Zagotta. “If I like the colors, they stay. If I don’t, I change them. I work this way—responding to and adjusting the colors—until the whole thing pleases me and I get butterflies in my stomach. That’s how I know the colors are right in paintings such as Evening Conversation (at right; watercolor and gouache on paper, 15×11).

Learn more about Donna Zagotta’s painting process and see more of her work in the October 2010 issue of Watercolor Artist, which also includes: painting evocative landscapes on a large scale, how to choose the right paintbrush for the job and 12 new watercolor tools to try!