Using watercolor to paint is hands down the most intimidating thing that every artist fears. Getting the water quantity right, making sure there is just the right execution of highlights/lowlights and using the right type of brushes, paper, and watercolors, everything plays an important part.
There isn’t just a single technique that goes into creating watercolor masterpieces; there are several, each with its own level of trickiness and complication. For artists who know their way around the watercolor realm, creating masterpieces is not a big deal. However, beginners have to suffer a lot initially.
Watercolor is deceptive, for you may never know the kind of result you would get in the end. Unlike oil paints and acrylics, which are easier to handle and use, watercolors are far more challenging. Therefore, before diving into using watercolors to create breathtaking masterpieces, you must master the basics. Once you get the hang of using watercolor, you will be surprised to know how flexible this medium turns out to be.
You can learn different techniques by watching a bunch of tutorials on YouTube. For that, you can use Spectrum internet bundles to make your life easier because only with Spectrum, you can enjoy ultra-fast internet speeds, at market-competitive rates.
Pivoting back to watercolor, do you know that watercolor painting started in the late 1400s? Artists of that time formulated their own watercolor pigment and kept their paint-preparing methods a top secret. In the 1800s, however, artists thought of making the watercolor pigment commercially available and thus the first paint store was set up, somewhere in Europe.
It’s kind of mindboggling yet amazing to see how watercolor painting works. Ensuring there is the right amount of water-to-paint ratio plays a key role in creating an aesthetically pleasing art piece. If you have a fling for watercolors, then you’re just about to get lucky because in this article, we will walk you through some basic watercolor painting techniques that will help you overcome the glitches that you often experience while working with watercolors. So, let’s not waste any more time and dive right into it:
1. Make sure to use ‘water-friendly’ paper
One of the most common mistakes that beginners usually make is that they settle for paper, which is not suitable for watercolor painting. For watercolors, you must use papers that are specifically used for this purpose only. You can get Arches Cold Press Watercolor paper, or Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolor paper since these two are the best kind that soak water perfectly and give you the most beautiful results.
2. Get your hands on the right type of brushes
Another thing to keep in mind while creating a watercolor art piece is the type of brushes that you’re using. First of all the ideal type of brush that is watercolor friendly is round one. This particular type of brush allows you to have control over the quantity of ‘water’ you’re considering to introduce into your artwork. Secondly, make sure that your round brush has Kolinsky Sable hair. Kolinsky sable brushes are popular for how they hold their shape regardless of the amount of pressure exerted on them and buying these would be a total investment.
3. Invest in good-quality paints
You will find an array of watercolor paints out there – some of them with mediocre quality, while some of them that are really amazing. Thus, it would be an investment if you would take your time before buying watercolors and then go for the ones that are the best in the market.
The best type of watercolor paints is from Winsor and Newton because they have amazing pigment and give good results when you have a limited palette and want to make a variety by mixing different colors together.
4. Know your way around Wet and Dry
Now comes the part where we can finally start painting. When you’re creating a watercolor artwork, you must make sure that you use the perfect amount of water. If you want to create an artwork with light and dark areas, then use water to achieve color saturation.
Also, if you want to go darker, then go for a dry-on-dry approach, or simply apply another watercolor coat on your already-dried coat. Watercolor paintings require a ton of patience, so we would recommend that before you get into painting, your patience is all-set and standing in the corner, ready to jump in.
5. Use paper towels to save the day
Now comes the most important one. Since you’re working with watercolors, you can’t overlook the inevitability of mistakes that are always lurking behind. Therefore, to rectify any mistakes that you may make, keep an absorbent paper towel close by and use it to dab on the mistakes while they’re still wet and then redo that part again.
6. Trust the ‘Flow’
Of course, brushes are good and everything, but have you let two different colors bleed into one another all by themselves? If you want to have dual-shaded goodness in your artwork, then trust the flow of water and let it do its thing. This technique is known as blooming and it gives your artwork a beautiful gradient that is difficult to achieve using brushes only.
The Final Word
Watercolor is difficult, but once you get the hang of it, you will find yourself hooked to this medium. Although it is speculated as a medium far more difficult than oil paints and acrylics, if you try and look on the brighter side, watercolors are way easier to handle. All you need is practice, use the right tools and you will be creating beautiful watercolor masterpieces of your own, in no time.
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