“Why is watercolor so hard?” is a common question I hear from beginners. Some people complain that watercolor medium is hard to control. Some even believe that they will never master it.
I used to have the same belief when I started watercolor painting. I thought watercolor was not for me and I got a lot of frustration when painting in watercolor. After learning about the medium and embracing its nature, I started seeing improvements in my artwork and enjoying it more.
In this blog post, I will explain why people think watercolor is difficult and give 4 tips for beginners to get better at watercolor painting.
Watercolor is a challenge for many people because it acts in a very different way from other materials such as oil, acrylic, and pastels. Beginners find it hard to control the way watercolor works and the final results sometimes are not as what they expected.
From my experience and observation, I think four factors make watercolor hard to paint:
- Watercolor paint is hard to control
- Watercolor is unforgiving. You cannot cover mistakes in your painting.
- Lighting in watercolor painting can be tricky
- Timing is important and it takes effort to master dry time in watercolor painting
I will explain in more detail in the next sections.
Watercolor is Hard to Control
Watercolor is hard to control because of its fluidity. Watercolor needs to be moistened or diluted with water to work. Watercolor paints contain pigments and a water-soluble binder called gum arabic binder.
Unlike other mediums like oil or acrylic when they stay where you put your brushstrokes, watercolor pigments spontaneously spread on paper. This is why watercolor is unpredictable.
Watercolor is also difficult because the colors and color value you get on paper might look different from those in the palette. The colors usually look darker when they are wet and get lighter when the paper is dry. This is because a part of the pigments are sucked into layers of fiber, leaving the rest of the pigments on the surface of the paper. It is also because the density of the pigments in your brushstrokes is lower than the density of the pigments in the watercolor tubes or pans.
You will need to practice controlling the wetness of your paint and paint more than one layer to get the right color value. Adding too much water or too little water is a common mistake in watercolor painting.
Watercolor is Unforgiving
Why is watercolor so hard? One of the reasons is watercolor is unforgiving. You cannot cover mistakes you made in earlier layers because watercolor is transparent.
You can test its transparency by creating a wash on watercolor paper, waiting until it dries, and then creating another wash that partially overlaps the first one. You will see a darker color where the two washes overlap. If you use two different colors for the washes, you will get a third color where the first layer is mixed with the second layer. This is the glazing technique in watercolor.
Mistakes are unavoidable, even for experienced artists. You can try different ways to fix the mistakes such as lifting colors or wiping it with tissue paper before it dries, but the wash will not be as smooth as in the beginning. Fixing watercolor issues when the paper is dry is even harder because some pigments have already sunk into the fiber. This is why it can be frustrating sometimes when you paint with watercolor.
Lighting in Watercolor Painting can be Tricky
In watercolor painting, we usually don’t use white to create highlights. The light source comes from the reflected light from the white paper to the audience’s eyes. The more color pigments on the surface of the paper, the less light we can see.
When painting with watercolor, artists need to plan ahead and usually start from light colors to dark colors. Because of its transparency, you cannot put lighter colors on top of darker colors in the same way as when you paint with acrylic or oil.
In color mixing, some people might have a habit of adding white to lighten the color tone and adding black to create shades. This should be avoided because it makes the colors opaque or muddy. The right way to tone up watercolor is to dilute it with more water. To tone down watercolor, add more pigments of the same color or mix it with other colors but not black.
To keep the white from the paper for highlights, you can use masking fluid. Masking fluid will cover a part of the paper so you will not paint on it.
It Requires Practice to Master Dry Time in Watercolor Painting
Watercolor dries much faster than acrylic and oil. This makes it challenging to create a smooth wash of watercolor. Painting too slowly in watercolor will cause brushstroke marks on the artwork.
It is also important to be patient and wait for previous layers to dry before applying new layers of watercolor. For example, you cannot get the glazing effect when you add the new color to the wet paper because the new color will mix with the previous layer.
When you use the color lifting technique, you will need to wait for the paper to be about 90% dry. Lifting colors too early when the paper is still very wet or too late when the paper is already dry will not get the expected result.
It takes time to practice until you can sense when is the right time. Dry time relates to the wetness of the paper, the brush, and the mixed color on the palette. There is no formula for timing in watercolor painting. The only way to master it is to practice a lot.
Is Watercolor the Hardest Medium to Learn?
Besides asking “Why is watercolor so hard?”, beginners also wonder if watercolor is the hardest medium to learn. I think each medium has its characteristics and requires a unique approach. It will be difficult for any art medium when we are not familiar with it. When we understand the medium and practice it often, it becomes easier.
Is Watercolor Harder than Oil?
It depends on how familiar you are with each medium. I don’t know much about oil paints and the oil painting process, so watercolor is easier than oil. However, this might not be the case for artists who have spent hours painting with oil paints and just tried out watercolor.
Watercolor and oil are very different. Below are some differences I have observed:
- Watercolor paint is transparent while oil paint is opaque.
- Watercolor dries fast while oil paint requires a few days or longer to dry, so it is easier to fix mistakes in oil painting.
- Watercolor pigments spread on paper while oil pigments stay where you leave brushstrokes. For this, oil paints seem easier to control than watercolors.
- You need to work from light to dark in watercolor painting. For oil painting, you need to work from dark to light.
- Watercolor paints can be activated quickly with water. With oil paints, you need to thin the paints, prime the canvas, and create a base layer for value (lightness and darkness). So, oil painting requires more preparation than watercolor painting.
Is Watercolor Harder than Acrylic?
Acrylic seems easier to control than watercolor. Acrylic paints can be thinned with water or acrylic medium. It is opaque so you can fix mistakes by adding more paint. The colors on the palette will look the same as on paper or canvas. You can use acrylic paints in the same way as oil paints, meaning from dark to light. However, it also requires knowledge and practice to be good at acrylic.
Acrylic paints are different from watercolor paints, so you might not get some stunning effects as in watercolor painting. Watercolor can create dreamy effects using the wet-in-wet technique. With its spontaneity, watercolor creates a unique artwork with natural textures.
Is It Easy to Learn Watercolor?
It might sound funny to ask if it is easy to learn watercolor while many have asked “Why is watercolor so hard?”. However, learning watercolor painting doesn’t have to be difficult for you. With knowledge and regular practice, you can become better at watercolor.
You will need to learn about the characteristics of watercolor paints, the golden rules in watercolor painting, watercolor techniques, what watercolor supplies are good, etc.
Regular practice allows you to get familiar with the medium, the tools, and the techniques. It is important to get a lot of feedback from experienced watercolor artists and learn about how to self-assess your art. The feedback loop will help you progress faster.
Read on for 4 tips for beginners to get better at watercolor painting.
How Long Does It Take To Get Good At Watercolor?
It varies from a few months to a few years. It depends on how much you understand the medium and how often you practice. Practice makes perfect. It may sound cliché but there is no shortcut to success in watercolor painting rather than regular practice.
As mentioned above, creating a good feedback loop can help you improve your watercolor skills faster.
It took me 8 months to get familiar with watercolor. Below is my first portrait painting in watercolor and the one I painted 8 months later.
I spent almost every day painting with watercolor, on different topics from flowers to birds, and human portraits. I read a lot about watercolor techniques, watercolor supplies, and so on. Hard work paid off! I have much more confidence in painting with watercolor now.
4 Tips for Beginners to Get Better at Watercolor Painting
If you get this far, then congratulations! Below are 4 tips I concluded from my own experience in watercolor painting.
Embrace the Characteristics of Watercolor Paints
Instead of trying to control it the same way as you expect from oil and acrylic, let watercolor work on its own. Allow watercolor to spread on paper, bleed into each other, and dry naturally. You will get very unique and stunning effects for your artwork. Have fun with the unpredictability of watercolor and let it surprise you.
It’s Okay to Make Mistakes
Making mistakes is a quick way to learn lessons. Don’t be afraid of experimenting with new techniques and allow yourself to make mistakes. A watercolor sketchbook can be a safe place to practice painting and making mistakes.
If you feel frustrated or even have an art block, take a break and try out these 10 effective tips to remove an art block.
Learn from Experienced Artists
Learning from experienced artists is a very good way to improve your art skills. If you can afford their courses or workshops, sign up and start learning from them as early as possible. You will get great knowledge and tips that they spent years to learn.
You can also watch tutorial videos or read blog posts to gain more knowledge about watercolor painting. Knowledge is the key to success!
Be open to constructive feedback but also be selective in choosing the feedback. People have different skill levels and perspectives so their feedback might or might not apply to you.
Practice, Practice, and Practice!
Make time for practicing watercolor regularly. It can be daily, twice per week, or once per week. The more frequently you do it, the sooner you will become better at it.
Try different watercolor ideas so you can learn different skills. For example, try abstract watercolor painting to activate your imagination, paint layers of leaves with the negative painting technique, and paint human portraits to increase the complexity.
Conclusion
We have gone through the four aspects that answer the question “Why is Watercolor so hard to use?”. Watercolor is challenging when you are new to it. With an understanding of the watercolor medium and applying the four tips, you will get better at watercolor in no time.
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