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Watercoloring ,

Negative Painting with Watercolors: Create Depth and Distance

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Shelby Abrahamsen (Foxsy)

Class Description:

Discover your next favorite watercolor technique: negative painting! This fascinating method has you paint around your subject rather than painting the subject itself, creating stunning depth and luminosity. Perfect for painting florals, landscapes, or any subject where you want to create captivating depth and atmospheric effects. Through step-by-step demonstrations and guided practice, you'll figure out this versatile technique that will become a go-to in the future.

What You Will Learn:

  • The fundamental principles of negative painting and how it differs from traditional watercolor techniques
  • How to plan and visualize negative space compositions before you begin painting
  • Step-by-step methods for building layers while preserving your subject's form
  • Distance (directional) negative painting technique for creating movement and flow
  • Deep negative painting strategies for achieving dramatic depth and dimension
  • How to use value and temperature shifts to enhance the illusion of space
  • Troubleshooting common negative painting challenges and how to recover from mistakes

Supplies You'll Need:

  • Watercolor paper (140lb cotton paper)
  • Watercolor brushes: (Large mop or flat for washes; Small (04), medium (06-08), and large rounds (10-12); Opt: medium angle shader)
  • Watercolor paints
  • Two jars of water
  • Cotton rag or paper towels
  • Masking tape
  • Heat tool (optional, but recommended)

About Instructor

Shelby Abrahamsen (Foxsy)

Shelby is the co-founder of Foxsy and the creator at Little Coffee Fox. She is a professional watercolorist, letterer, and artist with a passion for teaching others to reintroduce creativity back into their lives. Shelby lives in Chicago, IL with her husband Jon and her pets Summer, Basil, and Korra.

229 Classes

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Class Details:

  • 📊Level: Intermediate
  • ⏰Time: 2 Hours, 17 Minutes

Class Pass includes:

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Access Everything Foxsy Has To Offer

Be Part of the Foxsy Revolution

Join a thriving community of over 2,300 students, all united by a shared love for creativity. Together, let's paint a brighter, more creative future.

  • Access 311 classes with 250+ hours of content.
  • Work through over 400 lessons and 70+ projects.
  • Access the Watercolor Academy, Drawing Bootcamp, & Modern Lettering Academies.
  • Join weekly live classes.
  • Get personalized feedback on all projects.
  • Get real answers to your questions with Creative Support.
Access Everything Foxsy Has To Offer

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    There’s always another challenge in the next class. Really appreciated the personal feedback when I submitted projects.
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    As a chronic copier of other people's art, the tips offered here will help me with my own creative process and prevent the block that I feel with "what next"."
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  • "This was so helpful! I loved the way Shelby broke down the basics in a succinct way and tips to use while practicing. Lastly, I appreciated Shelby mentioning that everyone is going to have a unique bounce lettering style.

    As someone who is new to brush lettering in general, I've been copying a lot of what I see. I need that consistent reminder to avoid potential frustration, especially as a beginner!"
    Kelsey
  • "I loved this course. I loved how it showed the lesson and then a project that corresponded with that project.

    The explanations were amazing and helpful and I really felt confident in doing the project. This was probably the best watercolor lesson I've ever taken and enjoyed."
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  • "I really enjoyed this course. Instructions and examples were clear and practical and the feedback was really kind and helpful.

    It has improved my lettering knowledge and given me confidence to keep practicing."
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All Foxsy Memberships include:

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  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support

Monthly Membership

$29 / month
Go Monthly

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support

Yearly Membership

$164 / year
Go Yearly

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support

Lifetime Membership

$599 Never pay a subscription fee again.
Get Lifetime Access

All Foxsy Memberships include:

  • Access to the full 250+ class library
  • Access to The Watercolor Academy, The Modern Lettering Academy & Drawing Bootcamp
  • Access to exclusive weekly live classes
  • Fox Den Community Access
  • Project feedback from Foxsy Pros
  • Unlimited creative support
All plans come with a 30-day Money Back Guarantee.
Cancel anytime in your dashboard.
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Ratings and Reviews

5.0
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15 Ratings
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What's your experience? We'd love to know!
bakerra
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

I only watched as I wanted to see it on my computer screen, I will watch-pause and paint-watch it later. Absolutely amazing how it creates depth!! Unfortunate that you couldn't finish, but really appreciated the fact that you did the "mix from orange to purple" at the end. That's pretty amazing. I struggle with mixing colours and you explained and demonstrated it very well all the way throughout! Thank you!!

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Helpful?
kathya-butkus
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

I had so much fun with this. I can’t wait to do more with more colors and different shapes. It’s a great way to get some brush miles in! Practice!

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Helpful?
Bobbie
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

There are lots of tips and tricks it really shows how you should be layering with negative painting

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jisuki
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

Negative Painting is one of my favorite watercolor effects I've always wanted to learn! To me, as a beginner to watercolor, it's also one of the most challenging methods to paint. It focuses on a lot of layering, water control and patience. I found it to be a wonderful way to get a "feeling" of how the layering reveals one of the beautiful aspects of watercolor especially with creating visual depth. Shelby is so helpful in this class of how to be patient in the learning process and to keep practicing! I let go of trying to make it perfect and just have fun because I'm learning something new. I definitely saw an improvement from the last time I attempted this method which is a HUGE WIN for me! I highly recommend this class!

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melissa-garrett
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

Very cool! I will need some more practice to get it right, but what a valuable exercise!

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shr
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

This was awesome, Shelby you are a marvelous teacher! I have rewatched this several times already.

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LindaH
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

It was a Great Class Shelby went into a lot of the details and how's of this style of painting I learn some new helpful things too

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shr
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

Excellent, I loved following along, have always had trouble practicing this. Shelby you are an excellent instructor, you explain everything well and are so encouraging!

×
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Helpful?
bakerra
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

I only watched as I wanted to see it on my computer screen, I will watch-pause and paint-watch it later. Absolutely amazing how it creates depth!! Unfortunate that you couldn't finish, but really appreciated the fact that you did the "mix from orange to purple" at the end. That's pretty amazing. I struggle with mixing colours and you explained and demonstrated it very well all the way throughout! Thank you!!

×
Preview Image
Helpful?
kathya-butkus
Posted 1 year ago
Live Class Review

I had so much fun with this. I can’t wait to do more with more colors and different shapes. It’s a great way to get some brush miles in! Practice!

×
Preview Image
Helpful?
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