As artists, we all are beginners at some stage. Watercolours, in particular, can be challenging to work with at the beginning. Watercolour painting allows you all the freedom of expression with countless hues and shades.
It is a fact that we learn from our mistakes. But if you wish for an ideal beginning to your watercolour painting journey, you need to be familiar with the basic tips and tricks that all artists wish they knew before starting in watercolour painting.
Here they follow -
- Use paper that works with water-soluble mediums
As beginners, we are not aware of the types of surfaces we paint on or the watercolour paints we prefer. The choice of supplies can affect the quality of your drawings, and when using watercolours, the type of paper makes a huge difference. If your paper isn’t designed to handle water-soluble mediums, it will start to wrinkle and bulge as you paint on it.
So, as a fundamental trick of watercolour painting for beginners, it is suggested to avail of paper that is intended for watercolours and offers a stable as well as durable surface to work on. You can opt for Winsor Newton paper, Arches Watercolour Sheets or Fabriano Artistico Watercolour Sheets. They are 100% cotton and double sizing for durability, available at King’s Framing & Art Gallery.
- Don’t push for perfection. Try to get better step-by-step
Watercolour painting is sophisticated and a bit tricky to master. As you practice, you become familiar with how various colours can be overlayed and how the paper reacts with the colours, and you learn about multiple mixing techniques.
For beginners, our expectations are usually higher than what we are capable of producing. As a beginner, it is imperative that you keep evolving, progressing, and getting better one step at a time. You can accelerate your learning curve with the best watercolour drawing supplies available.
- Always keep the sketch outlines faded
Watercolour layers are usually thin and transparent. So, for your paintings to look better, you must keep pencil sketches and outlines as light as possible. I would recommend a #4 graphite pencil; it is light and does not muddy the colours when overpainting the lines. After outlining the initial sketch, you can fade away the lines slightly using a kneaded eraser. It is suggested that you use watercolour pencils or water-soluble pencils for initial sketching.
- Start light and wait to dry before layering
In watercolour art, you must start applying paint as light and transparent as possible. You can progress to darker shades by gradually layering colours, and remember to allow the layers to dry in between. Wetting the paper first will help it not grab too much pigment, whether you’re using cotton or cellulose fibres, for it will be already saturated.
- Have separate brushes for different colours and also replace your water
Before going for the next colour, you must ensure that you remove all pigment from the brush. Using separate brushes for light and dark colour shades is also suggested. Replacing your water frequently is essential as it can affect the colour shades.
If you follow these tips and tricks, you will be able to accelerate your watercolour painting progress. You can avail yourself of a complete range of watercolour drawing supplies from King’s Framing & Art Gallery.
