
You’re completely new to watercolor painting and you’ve just purchased a new set but you’re not sure how to use them. Or perhaps you’re considering purchasing a new set and you’re not sure how they work…
No worries!
In this post, you’ll learn all about the basics of how to use watercolor paint!
Let’s get started…
I also made a video demonstration on how to use watercolor paint. You can check it out below:
I won’t go into too much depth about watercolor supplies in this article, however, you can check out the following posts to learn more:
Choosing your paints
Complete guide to watercolor paper
Everything you need to know about watercolor brushes
Make sure you have your jars of water, and paper towel beside you before you begin:
Before you begin your painting, you first have to prepare your workstation.
You’ll need a flat surface to put your watercolor paper, you can use an easel with a board or any flat table.
Watercolors are available in two different forms: tubes and pans. There are two ways to use watercolor tubes, first by using them straight from the tube, and second by squeezing the paint into a palette. If the paint dries, it can always be reactivated with water.
Watercolors are very low maintenance when it comes to storage. I would advise getting a palette that has a cover to avoid the buildup of dirt. When you’ve finished your painting session it’s always best to give your paints some time to dry before closing and putting them away to be stored.
When traveling with watercolors, it’s best to let them dry so that the colors don’t mix in the wells. Caked pans require a special tin where they can be secured and don’t fly around.
Now that we’ve discussed how to use watercolors, and store them let’s talk about the different techniques to get you started. There are two main techniques you need to know: wet on wet and wet on dry.
Wet on wet refers to taking a loaded brush and painting onto a paper that is also wet. This technique is suitable for creating backgrounds, painting over large areas and results in soft feathery edges.
The wet-on-dry technique involves painting on a blank, dry piece of paper or an already-dried layer of paint. This technique is used for painting details and creating sharper edges. Let’s get into it:
Water-to-paint ratio: The more water you add to a color, the lighter in value it will be. With practice, it’ll be easier to tell how much water you should use. You can try this practice exercise where you choose any color, and gradually mix in water to lighten the tone. The image below shows an example:
2. Watercolors are transparent- Unlike other mediums, watercolors are transparent. This means that when you add a new layer of paint, the previous layers can still be seen. This won’t work if you paint a lighter color over a darker one. Because of this, you should always paint starting with the lightest values and ending with the darkest values.
The image below shows an example of how to build layers. This technique is also referred to as glazing:
3. Different stages of wetness- As you saw with the wet-on-wet technique when you drop pigment onto wet paper, the paint will bleed and create a feathery shape. However, depending on how wet the paper is and how much water your brush is the outcome will be slightly different.
For example, if the paper is damp and the brush is soaked wet it will create a bloom. If both the paper and the brush are damp, the paint will spread less. If you want to learn more about the different stages of wetness then sign up for my email newsletter and receive my free watercolor beginner principles e-book below.
Can you mix different colors together?
Yes, you can mix different watercolors together in the mixing area of your palette. It’s always best to clean your brush before picking up the second color. For example, if you want to mix blue and yellow, take some blue paint and release it into the mixing area with your brush. Next, clean your brush and then load it with yellow. This way you can freely mix your colors without the risk of making them muddy.
With a warm and cool version of each primary color, you can mix almost any other color. I also wrote another post on how to master watercolor mixing if you’re interested in learning more.
I hope you have enjoyed learning how to use watercolors and found this post helpful! If so I would love to hear any questions or thoughts in the comments below.
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2 Responses
Very well detailed
Thank you!!