In today’s post I will share all of my tips to help you begin Watercolor Painting. I absolutely loved the look of watercolor on paper, and one day decided to try it and have never looked back!
As a novice artist, Watercoloring is one of the most satisfying forms of art to try. I share many easy watercoloring ideas on my blog and make sure to give them a try!
What do you need to begin watercolor painting?
The idea of watercoloring is that the color moves with water. As you will need to add a lot of water to your paper, you will definitely need a watercolor sketchbook or a watercolor paper pad.
You will also need watercolor paints or cakes. I started my watercoloring journey with a basic Artist’s loft Watercolor cake set that I bought at Michaels. It is super affordable, easy to use and comes with wide variety of bright colors.
I have a set of Royal and Langnickel brushes and I just bought a cute storage clipboard set that has all kinds of storage. Storage makes me happy too 🙂
I also grabbed these notecards that are A2 in size by the Recollections brand, these are not watercolor paper but work well. I then moved onto these Strathmore Watercolor Cards which are amazing to use!
How do you start watercolor painting?
Just pick up your paint brush and paint. To pick up paint, drop water drops onto your watercolor cake and massage the water into the cake. This will lift the color onto your paintbrush and you can apply it to the paper.
I started by experimenting with these Easy Watercolor Flowers. These are simple shapes to paint and the color + water do all the work for you.
Can you teach yourself watercolor?
Yes. Especially these days with Youtube videos there is so much one can learn easily in the comfort of ones home.
I would suggest that you give yourself time to progress. You won’t learn it all or like what you paint right from the start.
I took up a100 days of Watercoloring challenge- where I painted everyday for 100 days. It could be a lettering piece, an abstract, or a floral- but using watercolors. The 100 day project is a global art challenge that allows you to grow and learn. When you do anything for 100 days straight, you are bound to improve 🙂
I put together a recap of how to begin watercolor painting in this 100 day project video. Enjoy!
I have used oil paints as a teenager (which I used to love!) and have always been a fan of acrylic paints. But watercolors- oh man, they have always felt daunting.
I love the soft look and feel of watercolors but have always been scared of trying them. Hence I started this challenge.
To try something new. To explore something new. To make new mistakes and learn. And boy have I enjoyed the past few weeks!
The first month you begin watercolor painting might be a bit challenging. I would stare at the paper and push color around and frown because I didnt know if what I did was right or wrong. Only by painting more and more was I able to figure what works and what does’nt.
CONCLUSION:
To begin watercolor painting, you don’t need much. Just grab some basic supplies and start. If you enjoy the art and you can always upgrade your supplies as you grow.
Hi I’m Smitha! I live in Minnesota with my husband and two daughters. You’ll always find me painting florals in my sketchbook. And I love the sheer joy of making something with just my hands! But my bigger love is capturing it all on camera Read more.
Thanks for stopping by today! If you learnt something from this tutorial, do share this post with a friend or on social media! Tag me @smithakatti #smithakatti I’d love to see what you create!
