Emma Lefebvre has been dabbling in art since she began doodling in her binder at grade school. She attended an arts high school for 3 years, where her love for visual arts started to dwindle. Then came a time where she lost her love for it. It wasn’t until she began struggling with depression and anxiety that the only thing that seemed to get her out of the house was the idea of walking through an art store. She came home one day with a cheap set of watercolours and started to paint.

It wasn’t long until Emma found an amazing art community on Instagram that was equal parts inspiring and encouraging. Shortly after, she decided to use her background in teaching to spread the therapeutic effects of watercolour. What started as quick YouTube video turned into a successful YouTube channel of creativity, calm, and inspiration. You can follow Emma’s watercolour adventures on YouTube’s EmJ Watercolour Studio channel.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Emma’s story

Pep Talk

Chapter 1: Supply Guide

• Everything you need to start
  • Paint
  • Paper
  • Brushes
  • Extras
• Caring for your supplies

Chapter 2: How to Use Watercolor -How Do they work?

• Activating your watercolors
• Loading your brush
• Water to paint ratio

Chapter 3: Techniques

• terms and techniques
• Practice techniques
  • Value Scale
  • Light Wash
  • Blending and mixing
  • Color Bleed
  • Wet on Wet
  • Wet on dry
  • Blotting and Lifting
  • Fun Techniques to add texture
• Mistakes and how to fix them
• How to work with inexpensive materials Water Control
• Light and Shadow
• Using White Space

Chapter 4: Color Theory

• How To make a color wheel - Primary colors
• Secondary colors
• Tertiary colors
• Analogous colors
• Complementary colors
• Warm and Cool Colors

Chapter 5: Color Mixing

• Working with a limited palette - Color Chart
• Value Scale
• Mixing Contrasting colors
• Mixing Muted tones
• Favorite color mixing combos

Chapter 6: Lets Get painting

• Loose Florals
  • Peony
  • Rose
  • Leaves
• Detailed Florals
• Tulip
• Freesia
• Leaves
• Trees
• Plants/Cactus
• Landscape 1
• Landscape 2
• Animals
• Food
• Water