Watercolor painting is fun and beautiful. It is considered easy to start painting with watercolor paint but many people also complained that it seems hard to control the medium.
Don’t worry! In this blog post, I will share with you X tips to learn watercolor painting from scratch and how you can advance your painting skills. I will also share helpful resources for learning watercolor.
Some people say it is hard to paint with watercolor. Watercolor is very fluid so you cannot completely control how it works and the effects it creates. I have explained in more detail why watercolor is hard to use.
However, I think it is not difficult to start watercolor painting. Everyone can buy watercolor paints, some brushes, and paper sheets from a stationery, and then start painting. Unlike oil and acrylic paintings which need more steps in preparation, watercolor painting is very straightforward. All you need is to dip your brush in water, get some pigments, and paint on paper. It may sound too easy but my point is anyone can quickly create a painting with watercolor paints.
It will be more challenging and require serious learning when you want to create watercolor paintings that look like done by experienced watercolor artists. Some may say that those artists are gifted and were born knowing watercolor painting. I heard people talk about me like that too, but they didn’t know how hard I had to learn and practice to get where I am today.
Art doesn’t have clear formulas like Maths, but it does have processes and principles. As long as you learn those processes and principles, and practice to gain experience, you can become good at art.
Can I Learn Watercolor Painting by Myself?
Absolutely yes! Learning is a process that involves knowing, understanding, applying, and getting experience. With a lot of great resources available online nowadays, we can learn almost anything on our own. You can learn watercolor painting from different resources without going to an art school. Here are some suggestions to help you learn watercolor by yourself:
- Reading books about watercolor painting and other art books. For example, the book “Color and Light” by James Gurney is an excellent book for all artists.
- Watching online watercolor tutorials on YouTube or other platforms
- Reading watercolor blogs, such as this one.
- Buying online art courses and following the pre-recorded tutorials from art instructors. Domestika and Skillshare have a lot of amazing art courses.
Learning watercolor painting on your own is possible but if you want to get better fast, besides regular practice, you also need feedback on your paintings and guidance from an experienced teacher. This is when learning with an art instructor brings in the values.
For example, in this watercolor portrait painting course, you will learn everything from how to sketch a portrait and how to use different watercolor techniques to create a realistic but also artistic portrait painting. Furthermore, you will do a lot of homework after each class and receive constructive feedback from me in the next class. This course is designed to help you as a learner progress quickly within 12 classes.
Can I Learn Watercolor Painting Online as a Beginner?
Watercolor painting can be taught and learned online. It is so convenient when we have online platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet to carry out classes. Learning art online doesn’t make it less interactive because learners can watch their art instructor demonstrate painting through a video call, and ask questions right in the online class. Learners can also submit their artwork online via Messenger, email, or other online services. Based on that, the teacher can give the learners constructive feedback.
The advantage of learning watercolor painting online is you can learn it from anywhere and anytime. You can choose to learn from the artists you admire but they are living far away, for example, in another country. If you are a busy parent, you can also learn it online at night time when your kids already go to bed, or any other free time.
The downside of learning art online, especially when you learn with a tutor or a teacher, is that you will depend a lot on the internet connection and other technical elements. For example, if you don’t have a dedicated high-quality camera, your art teacher will not see your artwork clearly and can’t give you a lot of feedback during the classes.
How Do I Start Learning Watercolor?
Choose Watercolor Topics You Like
You can start first by choosing the topic that you want to paint in watercolor. There are many things you can paint such as botanical subjects (leaves, flowers, fruits), animals, human portraits, still-life objects, landscapes, and abstract painting. It is okay if you want to try them all eventually, but you still need to choose which one to start first. You can check out 20 different watercolor painting ideas to get inspiration.
Buy Watercolor Supplies
What do you need to paint with watercolor? Below are the basic tools you will need to paint with watercolor medium:
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolor paints
- Watercolor painting palette
- Watercolor brushes
- A painting board
- A jar of water
- A watercolor sprayer
- Tissue papers or cloths
In addition, you can also buy an easel, masking tape, masking fluid, pencils, and an eraser.
Watercolor supplies affect the quality of your final painting. If you are serious about learning watercolor and want to create stunning artwork, I highly recommend investing in good materials from the beginning. The cheap and low-quality materials will prevent you from improving your painting skills. Read more about different watercolor supplies and which ones are commonly used by experienced artists.
Learn the Fundamentals
What are the fundamentals of watercolor painting that you need to learn? Start first with regular watercolor terms such as glazing, hue, and value. These terms will help you understand the language artists use in their tutorials or books. You can not learn from the artists if you don’t understand what they are talking about. I have gathered 80 common watercolor terms that you can read and download as a PDF file for free.
Many people jump into painting without knowing the elements of a painting and what makes a good painting. There are four pillars of a painting, including shapes (or composition), colors, light, and edges. You can learn these four pillars and the eight golden rules in watercolor painting that I shared in my blog post.
Learn the color theory to understand more about colors, the relationship between colors, and how to combine different colors to create a mood for your painting.
Learn Watercolor Techniques for Beginners
In watercolor painting, there are many different techniques that you can try. The most five common techniques that are applied in almost all paintings are listed below:
- Wet-on-dry technique
- Wet-on-wet technique
- Glazing technique
- Creating a flat wash
- Creating a gradient wash
Follow my guidelines and practice these five watercolor techniques for beginners, you will have enough to create a lot of amazing paintings.
You can also expand to more advanced techniques such as negative painting technique or watercolor techniques that create more textures.
Learn How to Mix Watercolor
Watercolor paint from the pans or tubes is too pure and vibrant. Artists usually mix the colors together to create the colors they want for their paintings. Mixing colors effectively can create color harmony for a painting. Mixing colors without consideration might end up a muddy artwork. Read more tips for mixing watercolor and experiment with your paint. It’s also fun to do color-mixing exercises.
Practice Watercolor Painting Regularly
There is no shortcut to success in watercolor painting. The more you practice, the better you will become. Start painting something simple but do it every day for about 20 to 40 minutes. You can change the topic so it will be less boring. It is also important to keep gaining new knowledge, experiment with it, and get feedback on your artwork. This is when learning with a teacher will be helpful.
Learn Watercolor Painting from Experienced Artists
Create a list of artists you admire and their websites or social channels. Artists usually share their artworks and some also share free tutorials on Youtube. This is a great way to learn how the artists create their work. You can try the techniques and see which ones work best for you.
Don’t hesitate to buy books or courses from the artists because it will save you a lot of time in painting.
If you want to draw and paint portraits, consider my watercolor portrait painting coaching course where I share a lot of knowledge and my experience in painting portraits in a realistic style.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Watercolor Painting?
Watercolor painting is very easy to start with. It takes less than 15 minutes to learn a technique and try it out on paper. You can easily create a simple painting of an object or a plant with watercolor paint right away.
To get better at painting, never stop learning! Even masters in watercolor also need to learn and improve their skills. In addition, no one can be good at painting everything, so we always have new aspects that we are not good at. For example, I can paint realistic portraits with watercolor but I haven’t tried landscapes much. This could be the next topic I can try and learn more skills.
More Tips to Learn Watercolor Painting as a Beginner
Besides the tips I already shared, there are more things you should keep in mind as well in watercolor painting such as preparing your paper before you paint or how to know your color palette better.
Stretch Watercolor Paper Before Painting
Watercolor paper warps when it’s wet. This creates color puddles and causes uneven washes on your painting. To avoid this, you need to stretch the paper before painting. Read my blog post about 5 ways to stretch watercolor paper to get more ideas.
Avoid These Watercolor Mistakes
Watercolor paint is transparent so it’s impossible to cover up mistakes. A common mistake many people make when they get started is to have too much or too little water in their brush, their paint, and the paper. Avoid these 5 common mistakes in watercolor painting when you paint.
Art Block
Art block is a real thing and it can stop you from improving your painting skills. It is when you feel uninspired and don’t know what to paint or how to improve your painting techniques. Luckily, I have explained what causes an art block and how you can overcome it.
Create Your Own Watercolor Wheels
A watercolor wheel is a great tool to help you understand your watercolor paints and how to use them in painting. In case you don’t know yet, there are warm and cool hues, and mixing those will create different secondary or tertiary colors. The paint from different brands also works differently. That is why I highly recommend you create your watercolor wheels when you get started. Read my article about how to create watercolor wheels.
Try Plein-air Painting
Painting is not just about the work of the hand but also how we see and understand the subjects. Plein-air painting is a great opportunity to practice your observation and learn how colors and light work together in real-time.
You can bring a small set of watercolor supplies to a park, or a street, or go to a historical place on your own or with friends and start painting. Try to paint loosely and capture the whole scene before the sunlight changes.
The Takeaway
I’m glad that you keep reading until now. It is never too late to start learning watercolor painting. With the right guidance and regular practice, you can improve your painting skills and enjoy the medium in no time.
If you are interested in learning with me, check out my watercolor painting courses. Sign up for my newsletter to get free watercolor tips via email.
