Watercolours can seem like a daunting media, especially when you’re first starting out! At first they can feel hard to control; things like blending and bleeding where you don’t want them to, not blending enough, appearing dry and scratchy or ending up like a murky brown blob… 

 

I know how this feels – I’m definitely not an expert, and I’m still looking for ways to improve!

The only way to get better, though, is through practising the right techniques. Below are some exercises (though they may sound boring!) I’ve found very helpful for getting the feel of watercolour, no matter what stage you’re at.

 

What you’ll need:

 

•      Watercolour brushes

•      Watercolour paper

•      Watercolours

•      Paper towel

•      Water

•      (Optional) Cling wrap, rock salt

 

(I’ll be going over which materials I use and started out with in a different article!)

 

Wet on wet:

 

This exercise is more abstract, and good practice for blending your colours and getting a feel for the paints without stressing about what the end result will look like. It’s easiest to use just one or two colours to begin; I’ve just used blue.

First, wet your brush (making sure it’s only damp, not dripping), and using only water, paint a square on your page. (I’ve coloured mine slightly in the photo so you can just see it.)

 

While it’s still wet, begin dabbing a light layer of your colour onto a few spots in the square. You will see it begin to spread a bit – this is what you want! You can start adding some darker spots onto the damp square, and watch how they bleed into each other.

 

It’s important to have the right amount of water on your page – too wet, and the water will form a thick layer on your paper and start pooling at the edges, and the colour will be weak. Too dry, and it won’t bleed or merge. Don’t worry if it doesn’t work the first time, it takes a while to learn how much water to use so keep experimenting! You can also try putting blotches of different colours, and see how they bleed into each other from a distance.

 

If your paper is too wet, clean and squeeze out your brush, and you can use it to soak up the excess water. If your paints are too dry, make sure you add more water. You shouldn’t have to press down with the brush and force the paint to spread it, it should flow easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wet on dry:

 

Next, we’re going to paint a gradient. This can be slightly tricky to start with, so paint a few to get the hang of it! ‘Wet on dry’ simply means you don’t paint your paper with water before you begin – make sure your brush and paints are still wet enough! Choose one colour to start with (I used red). Start by painting a very dark layer of your colour at the top of your rectangle (but keep in mind you will still need a lot of water). Adding more water as you go, begin blending the paint down. Wash your brush every so often so you don’t make the opposite end dark as well. The more water you add, the lighter your colour will get. When you get to the end, the colour should be almost clear. You might need to go over certain areas and add more paint, or push the paint up or down and blend it with a clean brush to ensure it looks even.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practice strokes:

 

This technique can be used to paint leaves and petals, but it’s also a great exercise for control. Controlling your brush is difficult at first, so don’t be frustrated by these! No-one gets them perfect the first time (or second, or probably third – for me at least!), so keep practising, and your control will improve heaps. 

 

Make sure your brush has enough paint on it, and then place the tip on the paper. Gently push down the whole brush to make the largest part of the petal, then bring it up and onto the point of the brush to form the tip. This stroke is best learnt through experimenting and practising! To make longer petals or leaves, don’t push the brush all the way down so the leaf is not as thick, and lengthen the stroke before you bring the brush up onto the tip. You can also add a spot of another colour at one end of your petal and let it blend for a nice effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texture:

 

This is more of a fun activity! Here I’ve put three ways to add some texture, but you can experiment with a lot more. The first is simply to press down firmly on your painting with a scrunched corner of a paper towel, and it will soak up the paint in that area, leaving white shapes and imprints. This can look good when the paints are darker, so there’s more contrast. (Make sure you don’t have too much water on your paper or it will spread over as soon as you lift the paper towel.)

You can add the second texture by simply sprinkling rock salt over your wet painting, and leaving it to dry. The salt soaks up some of the water around it, leaving little rings and light spots. (I’ve seen people use this when painting galaxies, but you can try it with whatever you want!) The last way is to press some semi-scrunched cling wrap onto your watercolour and leave it to dry. When you lift the cling wrap off, you can see light, spidery lines where the creases were. (I scrunched mine too much, so the effect wasn’t as obvious. If you try it, it can look good when you leave the cling wrap so it’s still mostly flat.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope these have helped you or encouraged you to try watercolours! In the future, I’ll be doing tutorials and videos to try and make everything easier to understand. In the meantime, have fun with your art!