How to Use Watercolors

When done correctly, a watercolor painting can be a thing of beauty. The light, airy pigments offer a dreamlike, impressionistic quality to most any subject, creating amazing pictures. As with any artistic medium, time and practice are all it takes to paint successfully. Here is how to use watercolors.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Palette of watercolor paints (tubes or cakes)
• Small mixing tray
• Water
• Watercolor paper
• Assortment of paint brushes
• One large, soft brush for washes

1. Set up your workspace. As you will often need to change the water you are using, you should find a workspace that is convenient to a water supply. Lay out your brushes and watercolors.
2. Pick your subject. Watercolors are ideal for landscape painting, so consider some outdoor scenery or a still-life setup.
3. Apply a broad background wash to your paper. Mix your chosen background color with plenty of water. Dip the wash brush into the watery mixture and sweep across the paper. If you would like a fade in your background, add more water to the mixture as you approach the top or bottom.
4. Allow the wash to dry on the paper before proceeding.
5. Use less water and thinner brushes when painting the actual picture. To provide opacity to your painting, simply dip a brush tip into the water and circle it on the watercolor cake until your desired shade is reached. You can also paint over areas that have dried slightly to increase opacity.
6. Tint areas of your painting if desired. Allow the sections of the painting to dry completely. Mix a watercolor shade with plenty of water and sweep over the desired area. This is mostly a trial and error process, so keep playing until you find shades and tints that work for you.
7. Allow the finished product to lay flat and dry completely before matting and framing.

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