Michael Solovyev from Canada shared his favorite palette and watercolor techniques – including an interesting way for working with Watercolor Ground.

Here’s a Q&A with Michael:

If you could only take three colors with you to paint on a stranded island, which three would it be?
Any normal person would say that they would take the three primary colors, because that would give them the opportunity to mix any color and feel free in their maneuvering and experimenting. But no way! I want my own personal primary colors; I just can’t imagine painting anything at all without Indigo, Quinacridone Sienna and Perylene Violet. If I don’t have at least one of these colors, I would feel like a child who has been robbed his most precious toy in the world.

Tell us about a recent art show(s) you participated in.
So far this year I have taken part in more than 30 exhibitions and events in 17 countries. One of my favorites about a month ago was the Watercolor Festival in Leiden, Netherlands. It’s a very well organized event – one big reason why it was great is that every single student in my workshop had a full set of the indicated colors from DANIEL SMITH, which made my teaching very easy. But most importantly, I saw friends whom I hadn’t seen for several months or even years! Tell me, where else could I enjoy a cigar with my friend and wonderful artist Stella Canfield? Or a cappuccino with Angela Barbi and Tere Lojero? Roberto Andreoly, Jan Min – I can’t even list them all… It was really cool!

What is the best piece of advice another artist has given you?
I think that would be the advice from my own teacher, which sounds a bit like a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery: “Any fool can draw what is visible. Learn to draw what is invisible.” I’m still not sure what he expected from me, but you must admit, it sounds cool.

What are you excited about working on next?
I need to find a good solution for me to remember to dry my brushes. When you paint several artworks a day, the brushes simply don’t have enough time to dry and they tend to fall apart. It’s very hard to force yourself to keep multiple sets of materials so that they rest during breaks.

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Join us online each week for an Up Close and Personal Conversation with Daniel Smith CEO and Owner, John Cogley and guest artists from around the world. On Thursdays (2:00pm Pacific), John highlights various features of our products and answers your questions. On Fridays (10:30am Pacific), a guest artist follows up to share how they incorporate those features into their art. Click here for the upcoming week’s Zoom links.

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