Watercolor Painting for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide

Watercolor painting has a magical, luminous quality that many artists adore. If you're new to this medium, you're in for a treat. Here’s a simple guide to get you started.

Essential Supplies for a Beginner

* Paper: Look for 'cold-press' watercolor paper, at least 140 lb (300 gsm). It has a slight texture that's very forgiving.

* Paints: You can start with a basic set of watercolor pans (solid cakes of paint) or tubes. You don’t need many colors to begin with!

* Brushes: A medium-sized round brush (size 8 or 10) and a small flat brush will be enough for most beginner projects.

Two Fundamental Techniques

* Wet-on-Wet: This involves applying wet paint onto wet paper. It creates soft, diffused shapes and is perfect for backgrounds or skies.

* Wet-on-Dry: This is applying wet paint to dry paper. It gives you more control and is used for creating sharp, defined edges and details.

Your First Exercise: A Simple Color Wash

1. Wet an area of your paper with clean water using your flat brush.

2. Load your brush with a color and gently sweep it across the wet area.

3. Watch how the color blooms and settles! Try blending a second color in from the other side.

This simple exercise teaches you how watercolors behave. The key is to have fun and not be afraid to experiment. If you're eager to learn more, check out our Watercolor Still Life course to master the fundamentals.