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Recommended art supplies
Paper
Any paper that is made of 100% cotton will be fine. I can recommend Arches, cold pressed, 140 lbs (300 gsm). On other papers you may get slightly or very different results. The size of the paintings ranges between A5 (5.8″ x 8.3″, 14,8 x 21 cm) and half imperial (15″ x 22″, 38 x 56 cm).
Brushes
I recommend Silver Black Velvet brushes in various sizes, mostly: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16. For tiny details spotter brushes are perfect. We will also need a scrubber brush, for example Winsor&Newton Galeria (long handle). An old brushes for applying masking fluid will come in handy as well as any bigger wash brush for the backgrounds, but a round 16 will be fine too.
Paints
I recommend using artist-quality paints because they are more intense and efficient. The particular brand does not matter as long as you use artist-quality paints. Pigments are more important. I use primarily single-pigment colors (but you don’t have to!). For each project, I use on average 3-10 colors. I recommend Winsor&Newton Professional, Daniel Smith, or any other professional brand paints. Below you can see a conversion chart I have prepared for you.
My 17 colors arranged in Sojourner palette
Other equipment
- a palette (since March 2022 I use American Journey Sojourner porcelain palette; I used to use Mijello Fusion 33)
- masking fluid (I use Winsor&Newton with a yellow tinge)
- a light pad for transferring an image to your watercolor paper
- an HB pencil
- an eraser
- a kneaded eraser
- a gatorboard or a drawing board
- a masking tape
- a paper towel
- porcelain/ceramic plates for mixing colors
- a hairdryer
- water containers
- a spray bottle
- a pinch of joy
- a handful of patience
- a jar of excitement
- a cup of coffee/tea
Let’s get started! :)
What the Learners Say
I have had a lifelong dream to learn how to paint watercolor and have tried several other artists who have excellent reputations for their tutorials but through sheer luck came across Krzystzof (“Chris”) Kowalski at esperoart.com and have seen my ability flourish beyond anything I could have imagined. My watercolor skill, in following Chris’ superbly filmed and superbly taught tutorials has surpassed anything I’d learned from previous watercolor tutorials on Patreon or Skillshare, etc. No one has come close to the level of detailed “coaching” and instruction Chris provides in his videos where his camera shots of how he’s painting are incredibly helpful, his breaking the tutorial into defined sections and incredible explanations as to why he’s doing something a certain way (or not), his keeping things as simple as possible but being sensitive to the aspiring artist’s different skill levels, and his incredible website which has whole e-books about how to plan and execute your own painting and understanding paints that’s far beyond anything I’ve found online but not “overwhelming” is absolutely superb.Besides all that, he is an extremely caring and generous person who will answer questions if you email him, which is something no other online watercolor instructor has ever been willing to do.You can find your own painting level with Chris as he has various tutorials for beginners through advanced and has a variety of landscapes, florals, and birds so that you can grow and become more confident through his incredible teaching. I look back at the paintings I’ve done with him since starting not even a year ago and can’t believe I painted them myself but he is such a gifted artist and teacher that you, too, will be amazed at your own skill as you progress through Chris’ incredible tutorials.
Debby HallWhen I was searching for an on-line watercolor school, it was Chris’s subject matter, vivid colors, and composition that caught my attention. A few weeks later, I discovered so much more. The tutorials give not only detailed, step-by-step videos, but throughout Chris gives commentary about why he is doing something and tips he’s learned along the way; priceless wisdom and experience! Chris eagerly shares all he knows to help make his students successful, a truly skilled teacher.
The lesson on color theory was so comprehensive, yet easy to understand, that it taught me things that up until now I found difficult to comprehend. The techniques Chris shared for enlarging and transferring an image have been invaluable to me, reducing both my time and effort. Best yet, as he continues to learn new things, Chris shares with this students, students share with each other, and the forums become a fresh wealth of information.
Finally, Chris is impressively responsive to live chat, emails, and forum discussions. I especially appreciate his critique of my paintings. He is always able to spot that which I could not and offer insightful suggestions for improvement, all while giving encouragement and consideration to individual style. I feel like I stuck gold the day I decided to join this watercolor school. I’ve learned so much, have so much more to learn, and I know I’ll learn it here!
ChristineI fully appreciate this way of teaching. Every aspect of painting is very well explained and put into light with the videos. I have been able to do quick and great progresses with Esperoart. Chris is always looking for giving us new informations.
Fabienne WarnantChris’ tutorials are comprehensive and complete. I learn something every time I watch a video or work through the instructions. These are the best online watercolor classes I’ve tried. Chris is responsive to questions and eager to help. I’m so glad I found this great learning opportunity. It really has improved my painting and understanding of techniques, color theory, shapes and forms. Can’t wait to see what’s next!
MertI can’t say enough in praise of the content Chris provides for us, the videos accompanying each project are well planned out and executed making it very easy to understand and follow. I have learnt so much about watercolour, both how it works and colour theory from Chris. Before I joined Chris I was really floundering around finding watercolour a really difficult medium to work in , but Chris through his excellent teaching and thoughtful approach has enabled me to see where I was going wrong. Besides that he helps me to truly see the subject that I am painting, his work is exquisitely beautiful and I hope to produce such work myself one day, with his help I believe this is possible, he always has the time to answer any queries and to address any problems that I may face , I feel so lucky to be part of his school.
MargaretI am so happy to be able to write this testimonial regarding this wonderful watercolor school! When I began painting, I could not find any good artists teaching in my city, so I turned to the web and found Chris. His tutorials have been amazing and challenging! But, I believe that challenge has made my skills improve and grow. Chris has been there every step of the way for me and others in his school. He has provided one-on-one help and advice so that I was able to successfully complete several pieces. His work is exquisite and his teaching style and videos are very well done and easy to understand. I look forward to many more wonderful projects. Thank you so much Chris for starting this fantastic website!
TerriI wanted to update my testimonial because just looking at the previews of the monthly project is an inadequate expression of all that is offered to the members of Chris’s online school. I’m speaking of the very lengthy tutorial on colour theory and how the colour wheel works in relation to the actual paints we are using.
There is also a very comprehensive two part series on mixing greens, which I think a lot of people struggle with in any sphere of watercolour. This is developing my knowledge way beyond the task of painting a flower, the way Chris explains everything in a calm, logical and progressive way is an enormous help.
I’m printing off all the accompanying notes and now have effectively my own book developing, which is going to be a very precious resource for me
MargaretI joined Chris over a year ago first of all on his patreon and now his online school. I do desperately needed to understand how watercolour works and behaves as I didn’t find it an easy medium. I chose Chris to teach me because he has such a passion for this medium and uses it in such a beautiful way in painting flowers. Not just any flowers but living breathing vibrant flowers which are a joy to behold as they come to life on my watercolour paper. I could have never been satisfied with a more botanical style as thst sort of painting doesn’t resonate with me, in my view cut flowers used for that purpose are already dying and show the vibrancy and life of growing flowers. Chris is the most amazing teacher he explains everything in a clear concise way, helping me to understand how to make this medium work. I’m blown away by the time dedication and care he puts into every tutorial in order to give us the maximum possibility of success, for myself I’m thrilled with the success I’ve had with some of my paintings where previously I only experienced failure with watercolour
MargaretTried his school for one month and just extended it to an annual subscription. His real time tutofrials are clear and easy to follow, and most important is the individual feedback. Wonderful!
RodI joined Chris’s school in order to learn to do backgrounds – having previously done only botanical painting. Chris is a patient, caring teacher. He comments personally on your work and gives lots of help.
AnneI needed help. As a long time self taught watercolorist and not satisfied with my work I enrolled in his course. Chris has a deep knowledge and passion for watercolor. Chris leaves nothing out and gives the student everything from the beginning to the completion of the painting he explains the “why” of paint color choices and and shows how the watercolor paint to water ratio works. Most important to me was he showed how to mix his colors and his pallet was always shown. Everything was shown stroke by stroke. I cannot thank Chris enough. My paintings now are not muddy, they are cleaner and more colorful. His teaching enabled me to do a black and white tonal study with red strawberries. Yes and I even painted Chris’ Spring Iris which was my favorite. Thank you so much Chris for your Esperot (so much more included here) and your wonderful teaching that enabled me to improve my paintings!
LizzyPreviews of selected tutorials
Examples of available tutorials
Questions & answers
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It counts from the date of payment. A monthly subscription renews every 30 days from the date you signed up.
Once you have an active subscription, simply login to your account with your username or e-mail and password. To log in, go to the main menu > Log in. Note: When you complete the sign-up process, please log out and log in again to ensure you have access to my school. You will find the log in/log out button in the main menu on the right-hand side. After logging in, you will be automatically taken to the main school page.
Tutorials in the monthly membership on this website and on Skillshare are not downloadable; you need internet access to watch them online. Individual tutorials bought from the Gumroad shop can be downloaded to your device, allowing you to keep them forever and access them anytime without the need for internet.
So long as you are a School member, you can access all School content.
You can complete the tutorials at your own pace. There are no deadlines and you don’t have to hurry. As long as you are a School member, you have access to all tutorials, so take your time and enjoy the process. There is no particular plan, each tutorial is an independent project.
Although I try to explain every step precisely, you should have some basic knowledge about watercolors. I would like to push your boundries a bit and encourage you to try something more challenging. There are hundreds of free watercolor tutorials on YouTube and usually they are for beginners, so there’s a lot to choose from. In my school we will go a step further. This doesn’t mean it’s not a place for beginners! There are beginners in my school who successfully finished complex (in my opinion) tutorials. This is why I don’t really like to divide tutorials into any levels, because we perceive the dificulty level in very different ways.
As long as the time allows me I always try to comment and answer all your questions. However, I can’t guarantee that I will always give you a feedback and answer quickly. I work on my own and it’s not my only work, so sometimes it can be difficult and just physically impossible, especially with the growing number of new members. You can always email me, use our Facebook Group to find support in our lovely community or you can also chat with me on the live chat on my website.
You are free to cancel your membership at any time. When you log in to my website you will see a little bit different menu. One of the items in the menu will be “My Account” where you will find the details of your membership. You will also find an option to cancel or change your membership on that page. Once you have canceled your subscription, you will be able to access your data and account until the end of your billing cycle. After that date, your subscription will no longer be active and access to your account be restricted.
It depends on the particular tutorial and the difficulty. The length is between 40 minutes to 7 hours. I try to show you every step of the painting, that’s why some of them are very long. You can always speed up the videos. Some parts of the videos are speeded up if I paint something repeatedly.
Yes, almost all of my tutorials have my voiceover. There are also some old videos in my school which I recorded long time ago. At that time I didn’t intend to make tutorials and these videos don’t have voiceovers (some of them have subtitles). I thought that it would be a loss if I deleted them, so I decided to leave them for you. You can treat them as demonstrations to watch and relax.
Of course! However, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Terms and Conditions, especially a section “Avoiding Copyright Infringement”. In short – when you want to publish your painting somewhere online it would be very nice if you mention that your painting is based on my tutorial.
I accept credit and debit card payments (securely processed by Stripe) and PayPal.
Yes. All prices are in U.S. dollars.