Watercolour painting for beginners: paints, paper, brushes and first exercises
TUREFF• •0
Watercolour has a reputation for being difficult, mostly because it behaves differently from every other paint. Once you understand that water does half the work, it becomes one of the most rewarding mediums to learn, and it needs very little space or equipment.
What you need
Paints
- Pans are small dry cakes you wet with a brush; easy to carry and good for beginners.
- Tubes are moist paint you squeeze onto a palette; better for mixing large amounts.
- You do not need many colours. A warm and a cool version of each primary (two reds, two yellows, two blues) plus a brown such as burnt sienna lets you mix almost anything.
- Student grade paints are fine for learning. Artist grade paints have more pigment and are worth upgrading to later.
Paper is the single most important thing to spend on.
- Look at weight: 300 gsm (140 lb) paper is the common standard, because thin paper buckles and pills when wet.
- Cotton paper holds water evenly and lets you lift and layer; wood pulp paper is cheaper and fine for practice but less forgiving.
- Surface: cold-pressed (also called "NOT") has a slight texture and is the usual all-rounder; hot-pressed is smooth for detail; rough is heavily textured.
- Tape the paper down on all sides to a board with masking tape to reduce buckling.
Brushes
- A medium round brush with a good point does most things.
- A flat brush about an inch wide for washes.
- Synthetic brushes are affordable and work well.
Also: two jars of water (one for rinsing, one clean), a white palette or plate, paper towels and a pencil.
How watercolour works
The colour comes from the ratio of water to paint. More water gives a lighter, transparent tint; less water gives a stronger colour. There is usually no white paint: the white is the paper, so plan where you want light areas and leave them unpainted.
Wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry
- Wet-on-wet: you wet the paper first, then drop in colour. It spreads and blends softly, with no hard edges. Good for skies, backgrounds and soft shadows. You have limited control, which is part of the charm.
- Wet-on-dry: you paint on dry paper, or on a layer that has fully dried. You get crisp, controlled edges. Good for details and shapes.
Most paintings use both: soft wet-on-wet underneath, sharper wet-on-dry on top.
Common beginner mistakes
- Overworking: brushing back into an area that is drying. This makes mud and streaks. Put the paint down and leave it.
- Too little water: dry, scrubby strokes. Load the brush more fully than you think.
- Muddy colours: mixing too many colours, or painting over a layer before it is dry. Mix with two colours where you can.
- Blooms, also called cauliflowers: wet paint running back into a damp area. Sometimes they are lovely; to avoid them, wait until a layer is either fully wet or fully dry.
- Cheap thin paper: it makes everything harder than it should be.
- Rushing: a hairdryer on a low setting helps, but most of watercolour is waiting.
First exercises
- Value strip: paint one colour from full strength to nearly clear in five steps, adding water each time.
- Flat wash: fill a rectangle with even colour using a loaded flat brush, working in horizontal strokes with a bead of paint at the bottom.
- Graded wash: the same, adding water with each stroke so it fades from dark to light.
- Wet-on-wet sky: wet the top half of a page and drop in blue, leaving gaps for clouds.
- Colour chart: mix every pair of your colours in a grid to learn what you can make.
- A simple subject: a piece of fruit, a cup, a leaf. Light wash first, let it dry, then shadows.
Fill a few sheets with exercises before attempting a full painting; it is faster progress than it feels. Share your first attempts or ask about a problem you keep running into in the comments.