In the first photo I thought you were making Sashimi models! 
Awesome work.
Still practicing
Any tips from those who understand the subject?
I’m a new youtube student, don’t expect much. LoL
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Watercolors seem simple, but it takes a good deal of practice to get the technique down. You need to mix in just the right amount of water to paint (more trial and error and also depends on the paint you’re using). Too little water and they won’t blend properly, too much and they’ll spread, get messy, and leave colors uneven.
Once you get the ratios down the most important thing (in my experience) would be to work from light to dark colors, paint in layers, and make sure to let each layer dry before moving forward with the next. Paper is very important too, but it looks like you’re already using a textured watercolor paper.
I never went too far with watercolors, I always preferred oil or acrylic personally. It looks like you’re making good progress though, and just like with yoyos the best thing you can do to improve your skill is practice. Keep at it, watch videos, and develop your technique.
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Thanks a lot for the tips and and support!!
Most important thing is that I’m enjoying learning.
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Definitely, that’s what it’s all about.
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Hi. I am a fellow aspiring artist who’s been using youtube to further my art. I’m still learning - probably always will be - but over the last 3 years of studying I feel like I’ve learned a decent amount to hopefully help you progress. Don’t know if you’re just doing it for fun, or you’re serious.
It’s a bit of a rant, but here you go.
It all depends on what you’re trying to improve on. If you’re going for nature scenes, important things to study are composition, perspective, and understanding your basics like shapes and values.
I would do all of my beginner studies in a black/white or monochrome. Drawing circles, lines, boxes and basic shapes in perspective, then shading them based on different lighting situations. If you can’t paint or draw a 3 dimensional ball or box in space with proper lighting without reference - you’re learning the wrong way. It’s like learning how to do a Takeshi Combo before you even learn a green triangle. Without a strong foundation, everything you put on top is going to crumble.
The rule of thumb is, if your values are correct, then you can put any color there. It’s like having a recipe for a hamburger. You have the basics - a bun and a burger patty (black and white) and everyone knows that’s a hamburger, if you can make a really good burger with 3 ingredients, then anything you add to it is just enhancing the original flavor. So adding sauce, pickles, lettuce, grilled onions, or go crazy and add bacon, avocado and truffles gives it that extra pop and uniqueness (color). It’s still a burger, but the additions are the palette of choice the cook or “artist” is choosing to express themselves. Color within itself is a huge massive undertaking of study. Understanding cool and warm, mixing, how they react to each other when paired differently in different situations, understanding saturation, vibrancy, etc… that’s too over whelming for beginners. Get your values and shapes down, color will come later. Note: Monochrome means 1 color only, so it doesn’t have to be boring black everytime you study - black is best because you can get so many shades of value - other colors only do this if they’re dark in nature - like yellow isn’t a good option - I like a dark blood red/brownish color.
Observe the world and look at everything around you, take note of how it looks, take pictures of things that look interesting to you and paint those using some of your memory to help guide you. Painting from reference photos on the internet is not a great way to study as a beginner. You are translating the world you see from 3D to 2D format. A camera already did that, it’s the photographers weapon of choice, just like a pencil, pen, brush and paper is yours. So you’re now translating a photo’s translation of the world, which is okay if you’ve studied from real life and have a good understanding of how to translate a photo in your own style. You want to paint or draw from real life as much as possible, you are the camera.
When you wake up in the morning and see a haze over the sky with the sun peeking out as it rises - you see what looks like fog, or mist. Things in the distance have a sort of muted fuzzy look to them because of this. Those are tiny dust particles in the air that causes things in the distance to lose their value and clarity - it’s called Atmospheric Perspective. Meaning, everything close to you is more vibrant, saturated, and has high values. As things go further away, they lose their vibrancy, saturation, and value - blending into the background.
Perspective is probably the toughest subject for me. So I suggest to just start learning and understanding the horizon lines and other basic concepts. Watch videos, takes notes, then repeat them like it’s a school exercise so that perspective becomes so engraved into your brain that you don’t think about it. This is still something I’m practicing, my perspective skills are god awful.
Overall, your art is very good imo. All you gotta do is keep painting and then look up the things I mentioned. Once you get to these core subjects, a lot of the other things to study kinda just pop up in your recommended feed.
Another thing I’d suggest is, whatever painter, or artist that inspired you to start painting. Copy their art. It’s called a “Master Study.” You’re basically using it as a way to have a conversation with the original artist. You do this a lot when studying the masters of the past like Velázquez, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrant, Sargent, etc. Apply the same concept to whatever modern artist you like. You’re not trying to copy them, then sell the painting as if it’s yours. You’re trying to copy them, then understanding WHY their paintings are attractive to you, it’s PURELY used to study.
Here’s some of my art for reference. When I was studying, all I heard non stop from some of my favorite artists was “Women are tough.” “I can’t paint women.” “getting women right is so hard.” So I practice painting them quite often. I understand the reason why too. If you’re 1mm off on your canvas, that’s like half an inch in real life which can be the difference of turning a normal girl into a quasimoto. If you zoom into the digital, it looks like crap but looks cohesive from far away. That’s inspiration from Sargent, and copying his art style.
"good artists borrow, great artists steal.” - Picasso
Again, I have no former training, am not a professional, and am still learning a lot every day. If you need more help hit me up in the PM’s so I don’t clutter a thread. Hope it helps a bit. Enjoy!
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Danm… Thanks for the tips man, I’m just starting this journey, have a lot to learn, but I will keep this in mind.
Ps. Just sent you a PM. 
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Ok wow that’s insane
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thank you <3
Buying one of those watercolor sets that has a bunch of colors in a tray or tubes for $5-10 is a huge mistake. Cheap watercolor sets have very little pigment in the paint and you end up with anemic looking colors. Except for Crayola brand watercolor sets. They’re cheap but the pigment is rich. Not the best but not bad in any way. Using way too much water with watercolor paint is a beginners mistake. To me, watercolor is a lot more difficult than oil or acrylic. If you go crazy with layers you can destroy the paper and lose that looseness that most of best watercolor paintings have.
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Yeah I wouldn’t recommend going cheap with paints either, but there’s some decent more affordable watercolors now though. I bought some Daniel Smith watercolors last year that were pretty nice for like $4-5 a tube and I believe they had sets as well, but realized i’m still not a huge fan of watercolors. Definitely agree it’s more difficult, maybe that’s why I gravitate to oil! 
And wow, that’s an extremely detailed post and some very nice work @suspense - You have some skill!
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Yea I was trying to cut it down, but it felt like I was leaving out info and it turned into a bit of a rant @^@
Thank you, I truly appreciate it <3
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