🎨 Beta Mode and Messy Progress!

Episode Description:

Join Zarah McIntosh of Watercolor Wizardry in this candid episode as she shares her growth journey as both an artist and online business creator. In this update, Zarah offers a behind-the-scenes look at building the Watercolor Wizardry Academy from scratch, focusing on hyper-realistic watercolor techniques and authentic community. Discover the challenges and rewards of launching an online art academy during its beta phase, learn about new watercolor resources—including a free step-by-step Affinity Photo guide—and get a sneak peek at Zarah’s upcoming workshops and hangout sessions.

Ideal for aspiring watercolor artists, creative entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in developing their artistic confidence, this episode dives into why using professional-grade watercolor paper and paints matters for hyper-realism. Zarah also discusses how the academy is structured, using Kajabi for online course delivery, and the value of daily storytelling to foster encouragement and connection in the art community.

Stay tuned for tips on art supplies, insight into Zarah’s business-building challenges, and how to become a beta tester and member of Watercolor Wizardry Academy. Want regular inspiration and progress updates? Subscribe to receive Zarah’s daily emails, join the workshops, or just soak up the real-life artist transformation as she nurtures creativity from the heart.

Keywords: Watercolor, hyper-realistic watercolor, Watercolor Wizardry Academy, online art courses, art community, Kajabi, watercolor supplies, professional watercolor paint, Arches watercolor paper, Winsor & Newton, Affinity Photo, step-by-step art guide, creative entrepreneur, daily encouragement, authentic storytelling, Zarah McIntosh, art workshops, beta tester, artist growth journey, building an art business, handmade artistry, creative confidence.

Zarah [00:00:01]:
Hey everybody. So it's me and I'm back. If you're new to me, I'm Zarah with Watercolor Wizardry where we're building the academy from the ground up, starting with hyper realistic watercolor. So we're in beta right now, which is ground level. And right now the membership is open and it's at the lowest price it'll ever be. And I'll probably be in there. This is probably the most I'll be in there because I'm trying to, you know, connect and build everything and all that. So yeah, so yeah, so I missed a couple of days of the podcast, so oops.

Zarah [00:00:37]:
But life happens, right? And it, it was just, you know, I was reorganizing my schedule and then busy and then like, I don't know, rabbit holes. So it doesn't matter too much that you might not hit everything perfect. It's coming back, it's, you know, getting back up and getting back into it again. So yeah. What's new? Created a new resource and it, I added it to the academy. It's a step by step guide on turning an image into a pencil sketch in Affinity Photo and, and how to export it. Trying the lowest file size now actually another announcement, I scheduled hangout sessions in the Academy. So I'm there on the weekend evenings, I don't know, 3 o'clock evening, but late afternoon and morning on Saturday or Wednesdays, Wednesday morning.

Zarah [00:01:41]:
So that's new and you know, I set that up. Yeah. So I created a new resource. It's an image to pencil sketch, step by step guide and I'm making it available for now as a, like a free resource for now. So download that if you want. Yeah. What's brewing? Working on Watercolor Wizardry Starter pack. That's a new thing.

Zarah [00:02:11]:
So before I had my supplies list available as an opt in or as free, you know, so you would know all the supplies that I use and all the supplies that I would recommend to beginners. Although I don't really recommend student grade necessarily, but if you have to, then sure. But for hyper, I do recommend just starting with the professional level stuff. It'll. It'll just make your life a lot easier. Brushes you can get away with, but the paper is the most important thing and Arches is my favorite. But there's other papers that are really good also. And paints.

Zarah [00:02:50]:
I do Winsor and Newton professional watercolor and. But there's other professional level paints out there if you're doing hyper because of the time that it takes to focus and all that and the, the, you know, the intention that you put into it. I would recommend just starting professional from the start. Okay, so platform progress. Kajabi is great. There's so many different ways I can do these freebies or offers or upsells or, you know, that part is super fun. I'm, I, I love business too. Like that part of it.

Zarah [00:03:29]:
Building an online thing, it would be nice to have an assistant because it is tedious and then I get stuck in decision mode and then rabbit holes. So it would be great to have an assistant. But at the same time, I do have fun putting it all together too. And you know, it's nice to know how the platform works too. So someday I would be helping other people set up their own thing on Kajabi or other platforms that kind of bring. They all kind of work similarly, but again, each platform you have to learn specifically how to do their thing. So yeah, so that's what I've been doing. Tinkering behind the scenes on Kajabi, setting things up.

Zarah [00:04:14]:
New schedule in the Academy. The hangout sessions for the weekend and the weekday. That's it. So sign up for our upcoming workshops. You'll get my almost daily ramblings, an encouragement. You'll get my weekly encouragement too. I think actually I should make sure that's set up too. So head on over to watercolorwizardry.com that's where everything is at.

Zarah [00:04:39]:
Yeah, the biggest thing we're doing is the Academy and it's in beta. So come on over. Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye.