Watercolor Painting For Beginners – A Simple Guide

Watercolor painting is one the most interesting and equally creative form of giving shapes to your imagination. The combination of various colors laid rightly adds magic to the canvas and your creative world, too. Even though, there are several experts in this domain, but they certainly have undergone their first works as a beginner, too. Are you too willing to try your hands on water color painting? If yes! Here are few insights recommended by acrylygiessen.com for a better grab on your paint brush even if it’s a starter!

Right from the Stone ages, paintings have found a special space. Several historians even today keep exploring cave paintings that were created long ago in the Stone Age during the Paleolithic period. However, in absence of the privilege to be able to use water colors like today, painters those days used a combination of  ochre and charcoal and mixed it in water to use as colors. But, as a beginner today, you can always use paints and paint brushes to make your favorite paintings.   

Is watercolor paint a good choice for beginners?

Watercolor paintings are considered as one of the most common choices when it comes to painting. There are pretty good and impressive reasons behind the same. The watercolor paints are considered as one of the best mediums for beginners at painting. Being fun and easy to use, they are also comparatively cheaper as compared to mediums of coloring and painting. Even as a beginner, it is easy to prepare and work on your paintings using watercolors.

How to become good at water coloring?

Although as said before, watercolor paints are one of the easiest colors to work with but, handling the watercolor medium isn’t a child’s play.  Mastering the highest level of water coloring needs a lot of hard work and excellence of its technique. Years and years of dedicated learning produces an awe-striking watercolor painting outcomes. Even though, there isn’t an end to what can be created with water colors, but usually water color paintings include- landscapes, portraits, or still life. 

Beginning as a new comer in any field needs you to know the fundamental techniques of the stream. Similar goes for water colour painting, too.

Fundamental Techniques involved with Watercolor Painting

Watercolor comprises varied hued paint pigments that are usually water soluble and needs water as a medium for rightly spreading on the paper. Watercolors aren’t opaque like the acrylics or other mediums. In fact, they are prone to transparency and reflect the paper whiteness.

Watercolor Paper

Watercolor paintings are drafted on paper. This mean the quality of your paper, its texture and most important the thickness cannot be compromised. Using too much water in your paint can even damage your paper finally lead to its tearing. So better be careful. 

Pigments and Gouache

Most of the watercolor artists use watercolors with added opaque pigments of lead white or body colors, this is commonly called gouache. Using this method, you can always create better works with lesser transparency. This also helps in intensified colors depiction.  

Know your brush

Most of the new beginners tend to confuse with what brushes to start with! So, first of all, if need your first paintbrush for watercolors, go for three round brushes. Choose from small (around size 3), medium (5-6), and large (12). This will help you remain versatile even in the beginning.

You can also choose a bright brush which is flat but has shorter bristles. Easier to control, this can be your great support as a beginners. Choose from brushes labelled- “#4 bright”, “#12 bright”, etc.

Best watercolor painting brushes

Here are a few top names amongst the best brushes for watercolours that you can choose to opt for-

1. Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Watercolour Brush
2. da Vinci Russian Red Sable Brush Set
3. Princeton Good Mop Brush
4. Isabey Kolinsky Sable Round Brush
5. Raphael Kolinsky Sable Fine Point Round Brush

Tips to choose the best watercolor brush

1. Know your art piece lingo. Once you know your lingo, you can easily choose your set of brushes, accordingly.
2. Each time you choose your brush make sure to think for its long term usage. Its not a one day affair rather it’s going to be your art tool, for a longer duration so make sure you choose the right one.
3. If you are looking for bigger canvas works, make sure to go for bigger brushes. However, you can choose a few thin brushes for detailing.
4. Move out of the so called concept of “natural vs synthetic.” A paint brush is a brush! Until and unless it’s doing the job right, it doesn’t matter.
5. Ignore the price of your brush. If you find it good, buy it.

Know the colors and their combinations

There is a huge pallet of colours to choose from when it comes to watercolour painting. To begin with you can go for the following colours-

• Ultramarine Blue
• Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) or Prussian Blue or Monestial Blue
• Cadmium Red or Vermillion or Scarlet Lake
• Permanent Rose or Alizarin Crimson or Quinacridone Rose
• Cadmium Yellow or New Gamboge
• Lemon Yellow or Cadmium Yellow Light
• Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna

Well! With so much detailing you can definitely start your water-coloring journey. To start with here are a few easiest things recommended by acrylgiessen.com, you can paint in watercolor. This includes- flowers, parks, beaches, animals, lakes or streams, nightlife, houses, etc.

Photo by Evie S. on Unsplash