Just like any art form, watercolors could be very intimidating and confusing for beginners. It may be difficult at first but practice would surely make it easier and eventually, hone your skills as an artist. There are things that you need to understand first before wetting your brush with paint.
Of course, you would need to have the right materials. You would need brushes, pencils, old towels and of course, the watercolors and some 300gsm paper. You may also need some tissue when it comes to painting techniques. There are some painting techniques which can be easily learned by novices:
• Flat wash technique. This is basic technique for watercolour painting. Wet the surface area where you will be painting the wash. When the surface is wet, apply the color pigment from top to bottom, the horizontal bands slightly overlapping. Let it dry. Once it is dry, you would notice that the color of the wash looks like it is fading in and out evenly.
• Glazing technique. This is similar to the wash technique, the color which are ideal for glazing are permanent rose or cobalt blue. Just like the wash technique the color pigment is applied over the paper. You just have add layer after layer until you have reached the desired color or effect. But before you apply the next layer, it is important that the wash or the underlying layer is completely dry.
• Wet in Wet. A very simple way of adding color to your painting. You just add the color pigment to a wet paper. Since the paper is wet, it can give you a blurry and undefined effect.
• Dry Brush. The opposite of the wet technique. All you need to do is apply the brush with the color pigment on a dry paper. You could add a bit of water. If the wet technique would provide you with blurry images, this one would give you the opposite. The lines are hard and defined.
• Dropping in Color. Another technique that provides great effect. All you have to do is place a pigment to a wet portion, it will blend and create an unpredictable and vibrant effect.
Basic coloring techniques are not the only things you need to learn. Learning what colors to pick and use are also important. Even if you are tempted to put all the colors you like to use on your palette, you just have to limit the colors you will be using given the fact that you’re just beginning to paint.
To capture the interest of the onlooker, the focal point should be obvious and well positioned. A watercolor painting does not have to be detailed or have the finest detail. With watercolour painting, it would be the interesting details and textures which could bring the painting into life.
Using watercolors would be difficult at first, but with practice, your artistic skill is bound to improve. Aside from practice, the most important thing, is loving and enjoying art and painting with watercolors.
