Welcome to the forum, @Selflearnerviolinist !

I'm only a couple of years into playing - but also a self-learner - so don't read too-much into what I say here.

What I found was that initially I simply spent time "managing a straight-bow" - largely hair all flat on strings and not having the darned thing wander all over the place.

People are different of course, and some "see/feel/hear" things more readily than others - the first thing I noticed was the extra weight on long bow strokes close to the frog.  Oh - and I STARTED with full bow strokes - I read varying approaches to this - like only using the middle 1/3rd to start with - but that's not how I went about it.

With the extra weight close-up to the frog if you're trying to play something slow, and soft, it's easy to get "scratchy sounds" close to the frog.  That's where ( from my own learning perspective ) you can do three things - (1) use the pinkie to press down more, lightening the downward pressure on the strings (still flat bow).  (2) tilt the bow so less hair is in contact with the strings. (3) do both !

It is almost like "bow-control" is a second-instrument - that demands its very own study from what's going on with the left-hand.  There are a huge number of subtle techniques - not just to do with pulling the hair across the strings - but also in terms of developing certain rhythms and so on.

Others, with a more formal learning background may be able to give you more specific guidance - I am just telling it "as I saw it" LOL and probably don't express myself particularly well or use the appropriate terminology....

Best of luck with your journey !

damfino said ...
....... it's all about weight distribution if you are trying to keep the same volume/sound for the whole bow. The frog end is heavier, the tip is lighter, so it's all to compensate and keep an even pressure.

  Which brings to mind an exercise I used to do - and should perhaps return to from time to time - and that was to repeatedly draw full-bows across different open-strings and attempt to repeatedly do this - take 5 seconds, then 10, seconds, then 20 seconds and eventually 30 seconds for a full bow-stroke, whilst maintaining as even and consistent tone production as possible.   The 30-second test is quite difficult as the motion is so slow, and muscle-control is so finely tuned, it's easy to come to a halt on the string....!

  What I learnt from this exercise, especially once you start going slower, in the 10 - 20 second strokes is that you have a LOT of time to watch the bow, figure out how your right hand, fingers, wrist, fore-arm, elbow and shoulder are all working together whilst moving and really think about what's happening as you "correct" the bow to keep it "in the lane" and extract a consistent and steady tone from the instrument.  

Do this exercise on ALL open strings (to experience the shoulder movement as you repeat the exercise, moving down from the E to the G) - and do nothing with the left hand.

It certainly taught me a lot ( may not have made me a better player, but I started to really understand the issues and arm-mechanics involved in bow-control ! )