DIY
The Ultimate Guide to Learning Watercolor Painting for Beginners
Aug
This is part 1 of 2 of the Get Started with Watercolor Painting Guide. You can find Part 2: Color Blending and Brush Techniques here. This tutorial is all about the basics – supplies, brushes, paper, and so much more!
YAY! It’s a happy day if you are ready to get started with one of our Watercolor Painting Kits. This guide is the perfect way to learn the basics of watercolor if you are just getting started or want a refresher of all of your supplies and basic techniques.
If you have experience with watercolor, scroll on to a big list with lots of Watercolor Painting Tutorials that you can try once you have mastered the basics.
So let’s get started!
How Does Watercolor Compare to Oil or Acrylic Painting?
The first thing that’s worth knowing about watercolor is that is quite different from oil and acrylic. If I had to compare it to other painting media, I would compare it to Alcohol Inks or other inks because watercolor is more liquid.
Because of its liquidity, watercolor is wonderful for showcasing movement and abstract colors and shapes. With acrylic and oils, you are able to create harder lines and narrative subjects but with watercolor, your lines will always be softer and more wispy. Even narrative subjects – plants, flowers, food, people – will look more abstract.
This quality makes watercolor is a truly beautiful medium!
Is Watercolor Beginner Friendly?
Because watercolor differs so much from oil and acrylic in that it’s more liquid and moveable, in my opinion it’s a lot easier for beginners. That doesn’t mean that it’s only appropriate for beginners. There is lots of room for growth as you gain more experience with watercolor painting.
Just take me for example. I do not have a hand for figurative drawing and painting. I’m not terrible – but not great. That’s why I stick to terrarium building…candle making…and other types of stylish crafts. That’s more my speed.
But I do love watercolor and feel quite confident with it.
What Tutorials are Right for Beginners?
To get started, the first thing I recommend is to learn your Color Blending and Brush Techniques. That’s how you wet your brush, how you wet your paper to move color in lots of different ways. It will open up a whole world of possibilities! After that here are some other beginner friendly Watercolor Painting Tutorials:
Supplies for Getting Started with Watercolor Painting
I recommend starting with the basics. If you don’t want to grab one of our kits here, get the following items.
1. Watercolor Paper (start with 140 lb or heavier)
2. Round Brushes (sizes around 4-12 are ideal)
3. A Liquid Watercolor Set
4. A Painter’s Palette with Divots
5. A Container for Water
6. Paper Towels
There are A TON of other supplies you can consider such as acrylic paint in white or metallics, white paint pens, Microns or technical pens, wax or white crayons, masking fluid and so much more. But these are all fun additions and not necessary to getting started.
What Brushes Should I Use to Paint with Watercolor?
When starting with watercolor you will only need round brushes. After time, you may want to add flat brushes or even sponges. But I rarely use them.
All brushes are sized – the smaller the number, the smaller the brush and thus the smaller and more precise you can paint. The larger the number, the larger the brush and the more surface you can cover with one brushstroke.
What size of brushes you choose is up to you. For a standard paper size (around 8×10) you will likely want brushes are sized around 4 through 12.
What’s the Difference Between Dry & Wet Watercolor Paints?
Now this is a hot topic! And likely some painters will disagree with me. I do not love dry watercolor. And when I say, “do not love” I am being generous!
You will always add water to your watercolor paints, so to me, it just makes more sense to choose liquid. Dry is great if you are traveling with your watercolor or interested in plein-air painting. It’s lighter weight and easy to travel with.
But there are a couple of drawbacks with dry watercolor paint.
1. Because you are working straight from the color palettes and they are right next to each other, once you get the paint wet, the colors will blend and muddle. So after a few uses, all your colors will cross contaminate each other.
2. Dry watercolor will damage brushes faster. Because you have to smash your brush into the dry watercolor to get the pigment on your brush, your brushes will fray. With round and tapered brushes, this is even more of a problem.
3. It’s harder to blend colors together to make unique colors without damaging the original color. Again, with a dry palette don’t be shocked if everything becomes muddled and mixed.
With liquid watercolor paint, you will still add water and you will be working from a painter’s palette, that will likely be washed after each use.
What’s the Difference Between Cold Press & Hot Press Paper?
Cold press paper has a gorgeous texture to it while hot press is smooth. Cold Press Paper is more common because the texture gives it the ability to absorb more pigment and water. Hot Press Paper is often thought of as a paper that is better for advanced painters.
One of the benefits of hot press paper is that you can make writing or thin lines look smooth. It’s also a great paper when you are adding pen and ink to your watercolor.
What Thickness of Paper is Ideal?
Because watercolor paper needs to absorb so much pigment and water, you will likely want 140 lb or heavier paper. And always be sure that your paper is noted as Watercolor Paper – for example Bristol and other heavier papers are not as ideal.
Paper that is lighter weight than 140 lb may buckle and warp when it becomes wet. But don’t be afraid to experiment and have fun with your materials! That’s a part of the joy of crafting.
How Do I Make Colors Darker or Lighter?
To make darker and lighter colors is dependent on how much water you add to your watercolor. With acrylic and oils, you will mix white paint with your color to make a lighter shade. But with watercolor, a tiny amount of pigment and a large amount of water will make a light color. And a large amount of pigment with a small amount of water will make a dark shade.
You can always darken and lighten the watercolor as you work by changing your ratio of water and pigment. Sometimes even after the watercolor is dry. With watercolor, your painting is a work in progress that allows room for error.
You can even remove pigment by pressing your paper towel into the pigment and lifting some away.
How Do I Capture White When Painting with Watercolor?
If white paint is not mixed in to make lighter colors, how do you make white? This is one of the most common watercolor conundrums – but there are several solutions.
1. You can use the white of the paper to act as a white.
2. You can protect the white paper from the pigment in several ways – by using masking fluid or a creating a wax resist.
3. You can use acrylic paint, colored pencils, gel pens, or paint pens on top of the watercolor to add white.
All of these are commonly used, and no one will tell you that you have to be a purist and only use watercolor in your watercolor paintings.
We could cover this topic is a whole separate blog but for now, the easiest way to get comfortable with this idea is to read through our Watercolor Wax Resist Tutorial here.
Can I Blend Colors Together?
Absolutely and emphatically YES! Watercolor will blend just like other types of paint so that you can make a whole rainbow of unique colors – lime greens, true indigos, rusty oranges, lemony yellows, and peachy pinks. And this is an example of when black and white watercolor does come in handy.
What is the Difference Between Student Grade or Artist Grade Materials?
Student Grade materials are more affordable and often not as a hight quality while Artist Grade Materials are professional quality. You will often see painting materials described with these monikers. Although Artist Grade may be tempting, it’s really not necessary in the beginning.
I recommend always starting with Student Grade and then once you get to know your medium, switch to Artist Grade if you want!
What Watercolor Tutorials Should I Try Next?
Here are all our Watercolor Tutorials in order from easiest to most advanced.
Beginner’s Watercolor Tutorials
The Best Flower, Succulent, and Cactus Watercolor Painting Tutorials
Advanced Watercolor Tutorials
I hope you are inspired to continue your Watercolor Painting journey! If you are ready for the next step, make sure to check out our Color Blending and Brush Technique Tutorial here.
Let’s Be Friends!
Insta | Pinterest | Enews | TikTok
Looking for something similar?
I am officially inspired. These colors are lovely!