Is Advancing with Watercolor: 'The Great Rivers' Composing with Value Patterns worth it if you’re shopping in Drawing & Painting?
Quick answer
| Best for | Watercolorists who can paint a landscape but struggle to make it read clearly; artists ready to stop guessing at value placement. |
| Skip if | You’re looking for a beginner’s “how to hold a brush” intro, or if you don’t have time to do the compositional drills this week. |
| Price | $25 |
| Format | Video course + compositional exercises |
| One-line take | A focused module that treats value patterns as a structural tool, not just a color exercise. |
If your watercolor paintings look “pretty” but lack punch, or if you find yourself adding details until the focal point disappears, you are likely fighting a value problem. You might have great color mixing skills, but without a strong underlying structure, the image gets muddy or flat. Advancing with Watercolor: “The Great Rivers” Composing with Value Patterns is a $25 course designed to solve exactly that. It moves beyond simple color application and teaches you how to organize an image using distinct value ranges to create immediate visual impact. This is the kind of structural thinking that separates a casual sketch from a finished piece that demands attention.
What you’re actually buying
At $25, you are purchasing a specific method for simplifying complex scenes. The core of this module is the value pattern—a technique that organizes an image into three distinct zones: light, medium, and dark. This isn’t about painting more; it’s about painting less in the right places. The course walks you through how to extract these patterns from a reference photo, showing you how to see the underlying shape of a landscape before you even pick up a brush. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
The curriculum builds on the concept of the value scale, reinforcing the water-to-pigment ratio that is critical in watercolor. Unlike opaque media, watercolor relies on the paper’s white for your lights and the accumulation of pigment for your darks. By mastering the 10-step value scale, you gain control over that ratio, ensuring your darks are truly dark and your lights remain crisp. The course uses the “Great Rivers” theme to demonstrate these principles, showing how a river scene can be reduced to a powerful Notan-like composition that guides the viewer’s eye instantly. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
What makes this offer stand out is its focus on proportion within value. Many artists know they need strong values, but they don’t know how much of the canvas should be light versus dark. This course teaches you that the mid-value often plays the largest role, with lights and darks acting as accents. You get a clear framework for deciding where the “heavy” parts of your painting should sit, allowing you to add nuance and color later with confidence. It’s a structural toolkit that turns a blank sheet of paper into a planned composition. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
Why it’s on our radar
This course is interesting because it addresses a specific bottleneck in watercolor development: the gap between seeing a scene and structuring it. Most tutorials focus on technique—wet-on-wet, glazing, lifting—but fewer address the composition of value. By framing value patterns as a way to “keep the main subject in view,” it offers a practical solution for artists who feel their paintings are cluttered or lack a focal point. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
The approach is also unusually direct. It doesn’t just tell you to “simplify”; it gives you a six-way framework for doing so, similar to Notan but adapted for the specific demands of watercolor. This specificity makes it a high-value resource for intermediate painters who are ready to stop relying on intuition and start using a repeatable system. For $25, you get a focused lesson that can change how you approach every future landscape. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
What actually matters
Before you buy, consider your current skill level. This course assumes you are comfortable with basic watercolor tools and techniques. If you are still learning how to wash a paper or control water flow, you may want to start with a more foundational course. The value here is in composition, not in learning how to use a brush. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
Second, check if you are ready to do the exercises. The course is built around analyzing reference photos and creating value patterns. If you only want to watch videos without doing the work, you won’t get the full benefit. The real value comes from practicing the extraction of value patterns from your own references. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
Finally, consider your subject matter. While the course uses rivers as examples, the principles apply to any landscape or outdoor scene. If you primarily paint still lifes or portraits, the specific examples may feel less relevant, though the underlying value structure logic is universal. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
Mid-check
If you’re ready to strengthen your compositional skills, See current options to get access to the full module.
FAQ
Is this course suitable for complete beginners? It’s best for intermediate watercolorists. If you’re new to watercolor, you might benefit more from a course that covers basic brush control and water management first. This course assumes you can execute your ideas and focuses on what to paint. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
Do I need specific reference photos to follow along? No, the course includes examples, but you’ll get the most out of it by applying the value pattern method to your own reference photos. The principles work for any scene you want to paint. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
How long does the course take to complete? It’s a focused module, not a multi-week program. You can likely work through the core concepts in a single sitting or over a weekend, depending on how much practice you do. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
Will this help with color mixing? Indirectly, yes. By establishing a strong value structure first, your color choices become more effective. You won’t be fighting to make colors pop; the structure will do that work for you. (Advancing with Watercolor: “The)
Bottom line
If your watercolor paintings feel flat or cluttered, Advancing with Watercolor: “The Great Rivers” Composing with Value Patterns is a sharp, focused tool to fix that. It teaches you to see and structure your images using value ranges, giving you a clear path from reference to finished piece. For $25, it’s a worthwhile investment in your compositional skills.