September 11, 2026
How to improve at watercolor when tutorials aren't enough
Working through tutorial after tutorial and book after book teaches you a lot, but it doesn't make you independent. You can repeat an exercise, but you can't paint the landscape or the garden you have in mind. What gets you unstuck is a method that pulls all that information together: small building blocks you can put together, a teacher who looks at your work from the outside, and people moving along the same path as you. That's exactly what happened to Fanny, who started watercolor without ever having drawn in her life.
Can you start watercolor if you've never drawn?
Fanny started in February, at 47. Ever since she was a little girl, people had told her she was "all thumbs" and would never be able to draw. She had never gone past stick figures, and that idea had stuck with her.
She was going through a hard time and was looking for a hobby that would let her switch off completely. She went into a shop and bought a book of minimalist landscapes and a tiny palette. That day, she spent a whole afternoon painting, and she has painted every day since. For her, the brush became "a magic wand".
With 3 daughters, the youngest just 4, a full-time job with trips to Paris every week, and her parents to help out, she still found the time:
- in the morning around 6:30, before anyone else is up, for 1 to 1.5 hours
- on weekends
- and later in the evening, once everyone is in bed, for 2 hours.
As she puts it: "when something really matters in your life, you find the time."
Why do tutorials and books end up holding you back?
Fanny went through several stages. First came beginner books, very gradual: a relaxed sketch, then several washes one after another to bring out the shadows and the light. The results were decent, with no blending, but it was enjoyable.
Then the real difficulties showed up, especially how much water to use, and she stopped making progress. She took an online course on the basics, slow and detailed, which finally explained to her that there's water on the brush, on the paper, in the jar, everywhere. After that course, she couldn't find anything at an intermediate level: "it was a desert." The in-person classes near her were all full.
So she bought more books, often too hard for her level, and watched content online. Every session taught her something new, and that was exciting. But every time, she also saw how much there was left to learn, and that was a bit disheartening.
Her conclusion: she had taken in tons of content, but she still couldn't paint her own garden. She needed to channel all of it, with a teacher and an outside eye to tell her where she was and where she could go next.
There's also a bubble effect. On social media, the algorithm kept showing her flowers, flowers and more flowers, always painted the same way. She never saw landscapes or other painters.
What does a structured method change?
In my French program, Fanny started with 15 days of masterclasses, then the live sessions. What struck her was how much things were simplified: key concepts tied to strong, memorable words.
- The Power Rangers: when she discovered them, she realized she was missing bright colors. Her lemon yellow was too pale, she couldn't do anything with it. She reworked her palette and ordered new colors.
- PaPoPa for blends: she remembered it, and since then it works every time. Before, nothing happened because she wasn't using nearly enough water.
- Watercolor LEGO: in the live sessions, she saw she was missing some pieces of information, so she went back and forth with the theme workshops (sky, forest) to build her small bricks, which she then puts together.
How do you keep up with live sessions as a beginner?
The first 2 live sessions were a bit hard, because they move fast and you have to get used to the vocabulary. Having done the masterclasses first helped her a lot.
The reassuring part: at the end, lots of people show their painting. You can see that everyone has ups and downs, even the most advanced painters, so you dare to show yours.
When she watches the replay, she plays the video at 1.25x during the waiting times, goes back to normal speed when I'm painting, and pauses whenever she needs to.
On the forum, she noticed something surprising: even with the same method and the same colors, every student ends up with a completely different result.
What improves the most in just a few months?
After 2 months in the program, Fanny can create a glowing, luminous mood. She had often read about "color vibration" without knowing what it meant. Until you've done tests, added lots of water and followed a method, you can't get there, and you don't get any light.
Her biggest progress is with shadows and light, especially negative painting: you paint the shadows and the light appears. She now sees shadows and light everywhere, in clothes, in her garden, with the direction of the light and very gradual shifts in value. Even figures, which aren't her favorite subject, went from stick figures to real people.
What I take away from her journey: she improved her brushwork, her color mixing and her ability to let pigments flow into each other. She changed the way she sees. And she got rid of a belief that had followed her for 47 years: "I'm not cut out for art."
FAQ
Should you throw out what you learned from tutorials?
No. Fanny doesn't disown any of her early watercolors: they remind her of good times and of the drive she put into them. Every stage feeds her artist's soul.
Do you have to attend the live sessions in real time?
No, it's a bonus. Fanny is traveling on live session day and often watches the replay, which lets her go at her own pace. The only difference is that she can't show her painting at the end.
How do you deal with being impatient to improve faster?
By putting things in perspective: after 7 months of painting, you need to give it time. The goal isn't to create a masterpiece every time, but to be happy to be there and to have fun painting.
If you want to finally create on your own, with a proven system instead of copying tutorials, this is exactly what you'll find here 👇
Discover The Loose Watercolor System