June Recap & Watercolour Treats Ahead: Here's Your Sneak Peek! 💛 (Patreon)

Hello and welcome to July! 🎨

First things first - Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians 🍁, and Happy 4th of July to all my friends in the US! I hope you're all celebrating with good food, good company - and maybe a little painting on the side.

July also means another thing in our world: it's World Watercolor Month - and I have so many watercolour treats coming your way. From colorful fruit, to the much-requested fish paintings using the wet-on-damp technique, to a brand new foundational watercolor series perfect for beginners and anyone who wants stress-free technique practice. Before we dive in, let's quickly recap everything we accomplished together in June - and if you missed anything, I've left links below along with some free swatch templates added by popular request. 💛

🦜 Green Parrot & Coconuts (Tier 2 & 3)

One of the largest, most complex compositions we've painted together! It brought so many essential watercolor skills into one project: intricate feather texture, granulating pigments, and rich colour theory work around complementary and analogous shadows. If you've been wanting to deepen your understanding of how color behaves in shadow, this tutorial is a wonderful place to explore it. Thank you to everyone who has already shared your versions in our Facebook Group and in the new Group Chat right here on Patreon! 🙏

🎥 Watch here: https://www.patreon.com/AnnaBucciarelli/posts/green-parrot-pt-159869275

💜 Purples & Violets — Our Pigment Deep Dive Continues (All Paid Tiers + FREE Handout)

This month we finally reached my absolute favorites - purples and violets. We covered some of the most popular options, from vivid Quinacridones to beautifully granulating Cobalts, and even ventured into iridescent purples, which were such a treat to work with.

🎥 Watch full review here: https://www.patreon.com/AnnaBucciarelli/posts/essential-ad-162235396

📄 Don't forget to download the handout - a great reference to keep on hand: https://www.patreon.com/AnnaBucciarelli/posts/essential-swatch-162185004

📐 By popular demand, the swatch templates I personally use are now attached (below) - sized for 12 × 16" paper, with a smaller version for 8.5 × 11" sheets too.

🐠 And the Much-Requested Fish Tutorials Are Coming! (Tier 2 & 3)

Betta fish are one of my most requested subjects - and they are finally on their way! We're kicking things off with one of my personal favorites to paint: Betta Fish — vibrant, colourful, and absolutely stunning when worked with the wet-on-damp method for those gorgeous, soft, painterly effects. I also have a second fish in the works that will use negative painting. More details coming soon - consider this your official notice that the fish are on their way! 🐟

🐉 Coming Next Week: Watercolor Dragonfruit! (Tier 2 & 3)

First up, arriving next week: a brand new Watercolour Dragonfruit tutorial. After the epic scale of the Green Parrot & Coconuts, I thought we deserved something a little more compact:) Dragon fruits are ideal for practicing crisp, clean edges and getting comfortable with what I call "the puzzle" method - building the painting section by section, letting each piece dry beautifully before moving on to the next. Satisfying, stress-free, and such a great skill to have in your toolkit.

💧 Introducing: The Watercolor Technique Lab! (All Paid Tiers)

Speaking of the puzzle method - alongside the Dragonfruit tutorial, I'll be releasing the first installment of a brand new series: Watercolor Technique Lab! (let me know if you like this name or if we should call it something else). So many of you have been asking for beginner-friendly content, and World Watercolor Month felt like the perfect moment to launch it. Each session is a relaxed, one-hour Watercolour Foundation built around the technique from the accompanying tutorial - no pressure, just grab whatever brushes and colors you have. I'll walk you through exercises I love myself: focused brushwork practice that makes more complex subjects much easier. The first one is coming this month - stay tuned! 👀

PS: ✈️ A heartfelt thank you to everyone who signed up for my first international watercolor retreat in Spain, 2027. It sold out really fast, and I am looking into more opportunities to teach in person, including more intimate local venues in Canada. Your enthusiasm has been overwhelming, and I cannot wait to paint together in person!

As always, thank you for being here and for making this community what it is. Your support means everything, and I cannot wait to keep painting with you through World Watercolor Month and beyond. 💛

~ Anna