Watercolor has always been my favorite painting medium. It is portable, versatile and allows for spontaneous bursts of creativity. I love the freshness and transparency of the pigments as they dance with water and light on the luminous paper surface. Watercolor is magical and mysterious and a lot of fun once you know a few basic rules.
Water is the first ingredient
Make sure you have a lot of fresh water available when you paint with watercolor because water always comes first. The brush is mainly used to drop color into the water. It is rare my brush even touches the paper surface. It is tempting to move the color around with the brush but it is better to let it go where it wants to. Sit back and watch the beautiful dance of color and light.
Start with a good foundation
A good drawing or clearly defined area on the paper will give your watercolor a place to go. In this example, I lightly sketched flowers on a watercolor block using a .5mm mechanical pencil. Regular sketching keeps coordination sharp but if I am out of practice it can be the most difficult step in the process. Thank goodness for erasers!
Allow the colors to dance
In this painting I used Holbein tube watercolors squeezed into an airtight palette. I first painted the flowers with a light wash of Isoindolinone Yellow Deep making sure the brush was saturated with color and a generous amount of water. While the areas in the flower were still shiny and wet with color, I picked up a concentrated amount of Brilliant Orange and Quinacridone Scarlet and dropped them onto petal edges.
At first glance it looked like it was going to be a disaster of red blobs and I was tempted to use my brush to manipulate the color but I resisted. After drying, the petals looked absolutely perfect. The colors danced with the water on the paper and I didn’t have to move my brush!
Light Brings Colors to Life
The light on the subject was soft and diffused and although it looked very pretty, I felt stuck and couldn’t go any further in my painting. Light brings colors to life and shadows create drama so I waited until the late afternoon sun came into the room. It was then that the flowers really came to life with light and shadow. Now I could see where I needed to go with the painting.
Shadow brings dimension
Adding darker washes to the petals gave the flowers the dimension I was searching for. I painted in the leaves with medium wash of Sap Green and painted the darker areas with another layer of Sap Green and a touch of Prussian Blue then I added more details to the flower.
Knowing when to stop
At this point in the painting session I wasn’t sure about painting a background or adding more detail so I decided to stop. Another wonderful feature of watercolor is there are so many ways to interpret a subject and I can always come back to it at a later time. I photographed the flowers with my phone if I decide to paint more detail later.
Use the Best you can afford
Art supplies aren’t cheap. Artist quality watercolors, paper and brushes do give you the best results even if you are just starting out. Instead of buying a lot of inexpensive watercolors, go with the best and buy mixable colors like Quinacridone Red, Hansa Yellow and Pthalo Blue. You can always add more colors to your palette a little at a time.
Buy quality watercolor paper. Painting on low grade paper can be very disappointing. I like painting on blocks as they are very convenient and don’t need to be stretched.
You don’t need a lot of brushes. Buy a good brush that holds a lot of water and has a good point. I love squirrel hair brushes. I bought mine in France over 25 years ago and it is as good as new. Just take care of them by keeping them clean and they will last a lifetime of creativity.
my favorite watercolor supplies
I have created links to my favorite watercolor supplies, some are affiliate links through Amazon. If you do decide to purchase something via an affiliate link through Amazon, yours truly will get a little something in return, yay!
Holbein Basic W/C set (Love this set)
M.Graham Desert Southwest W/C set (beautiful for landscapes)
Daniel Smith Introductory W/C Set (The Basics)
Airtight Palette (great for studio and travel)
Collapsible Water Bucket (lot’s of water holding capacity)
Arches W/C Paper Block 7.9″ square
Squirrel Hair Brush
Mechanical Pencil .05mm
If you would like information regarding my watercolor classes and mindful art workshops, please contact me.