The Basics of Watercolour Painting | How to start painting with watercolours
Watercolour painting is a fascinating technique that offers many possibilities for creativity. It can also be challenging, but with practice and patience, you can learn to master the technique and create beautiful paintings. Here are some tips on the basics of watercolour painting:
Supplies
- Watercolour Paints: You can choose paints in tubes or pans. For beginners, pans are often an easier option due to their portability and ease of use.
- Watercolour Brushes: You will need brushes in various sizes and shapes. A good basic set for a beginner includes a round (size 6 or 8), a flat (about 1 cm wide), and possibly a small detail brush.
- Watercolour Paper: Use high-quality watercolour paper (at least 300 g/m² or 140 lb) made from cotton or a cellulose-cotton blend. The paper's quality decisively affects paint absorption and how the water behaves.
- Water Containers: You need at least two water containers: one for rinsing brushes and one for clean water to dilute your paints.
- Palette: You'll need a palette for mixing colours. The lid of a watercolour pan set often works well.
- Tape: You can use painter's tape to secure the paper to a board, which prevents it from buckling when wet.
- Other Supplies: Paper towels or a clean cloth are useful for drying your brush and lifting excess water off the paper.
How to Get Started: First Steps
- Prepare Your Workspace: Set out your paper, paints, water containers, and brushes. If you wish, tape the edges of your paper to a board.
- Get to Know Your Colours: First, test what each colour looks like on paper. Paint a small swatch of each colour and try diluting it with water to see its different shades.
- Practice with Water: Try painting on the paper with just water and then drop a little paint into the wet area. Watch how the colour spreads. This is the basis of the "wet-on-wet" technique.
- Try a Wash: A wash is an even layer of colour. Practice painting a flat, even area with one colour. You can also try a graded wash (gradient) by starting with a strong colour and gradually adding more water to your brush.
Basic Techniques
- Wet and Dry Techniques: Watercolour painting uses two main techniques: wet-on-wet, where paint is applied to damp paper, and dry-on-dry, where paint is applied to dry paper. Also, try using a dry brush on wet paper and a wet brush on dry paper.
- Layering (Glazing): Watercolour painting is often done in layers. Start with light colours and add darker colours in layers. Let the previous layer dry completely before adding the next to prevent colours from becoming muddy.
- Use of Water: Water is the most crucial element. It dilutes paints, blends shades, and moistens the paper. Too much water can lead to uncontrolled "blooms" or "cauliflowers," while too little water can make the paint look dull.
Tip: Watercolour Pencils – The Union of Drawing and Painting
Watercolour pencils are an excellent way to combine the precision of drawing with the softness of watercolour painting.
- Basic Use: First, draw on dry paper with the pencils just as you would with regular coloured pencils. Then, take a clean, damp brush and sweep it over the areas you've drawn. The pigment will dissolve and turn into vibrant watercolour paint.
- Details: Watercolour pencils are fantastic for adding fine details, such as hair, blades of grass, or textures, on top of a dried watercolour painting.
- Blending: You can blend colours directly on the paper by drawing different colours in layers and then activating them with water.
- On the Go: Pencils are extremely convenient for travelling. All you need are the pencils, a sketchbook, and a water brush (a brush with a built-in water reservoir), and you're ready to paint anywhere.
Deepen Your Skills
- Colour Palette and Mixing: It's important to understand how different colours mix. A colour wheel can be helpful to see the basics of colour theory. You can also paint your own colour wheel with your paints. A greyscale chart can help you measure the values of grey in your painting.
- Composition: Understanding composition is important for creating a balanced and pleasing painting.
- Use of Light and Shadow: With light and shadow, you create depth and form in your painting. In watercolour, light areas are "painted" by leaving the white of the paper exposed.
Practice Makes Perfect
- Start with Simple Subjects: Begin with simple subjects like fruits, leaves, or geometric shapes before moving on to more complex landscapes or portraits.
- Don't Be Discouraged by Mistakes: Mistakes are part of the learning process. Watercolour is known for being "unforgiving," but many "mistakes" can also be incorporated as part of the artwork.
- Seek Inspiration: You can find many useful videos and tutorials on YouTube. Books and courses are also great sources of learning.
Watercolour Tubes vs. Pans
Watercolour Tubes: Paint squeezed from a tube is fresh and highly pigmented. It's easy to control the intensity of the colours and mix large amounts of paint at once, which is useful when painting large areas.
Watercolour Pans: Pans are ready to use, small, and lightweight, making them excellent for travelling or painting outdoors. They are economical as the paint is used gradually.
Which is Messier? Opinions are divided. Working with pans is clean because they are dry, but the paint must be activated with water. On the other hand, you can neatly squeeze the exact amount of paint you want from a tube onto a palette. By trying both, you'll find your own preference.
Remember, the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the process!
See Daniel Smith Watercolour Tubes via this link
See Roman Szmal Watercolour Pans via this link
We are happy to advise you on getting started with watercolour painting. You can send us a message or visit our shop on Itäinen Pitkäkatu in Turku.