Jason NicholasCreator, The Inkspired Life · Sketchologist™ Sketch Boldly . Live Creatively.

Intensify Watercolors: Thick Paint for Vibrant Colors

14 Jul 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:02

In this segment of the YouTube tutorial, Jason Nicholas demonstrates how to achieve more vibrant watercolor hues by applying paint thickly with minimal water. He explains that reducing water and using a denser paint application intensifies color, then visually illustrates the effect by zooming in on the brushstroke. While demonstrating, he engages with a viewer named Laura, thanking her for watching and acknowledging her input. Jason also discusses pigment choices, comparing an Indian yellow pigment to a lemon yellow he calls “taxi‑cab yellow,” holding the colors up to the camera for comparison. The overall purpose is to teach viewers a simple, layer‑free method for richer watercolor results while fostering community interaction.

Chapters

So it's a really cool way to— instead of adding layers and layers on top of layers, you can really intensify your watercolor by just going really thick. Less water, thick paint, and then you'll get it. You can kind of see it happening there. I should zoom in a little bit. Where's she? Ha! That might be better. All right. All right, you guys can hear me now. I like hearing it, but you need to find a balance. Yeah, you're right, but then I'm not one of your most prolific watchers. Laura, any second you watch me is valuable, and I always appreciate your time. So, and your input is really, really appreciated. Indian yellow, maybe. Yeah, maybe it's Indian yellow. Here, I'll hold it up closer. So this is what I'm talking about here. I call this lemon yellow. This is like the, um, taxi cab yellow.