How to Use Water Color Paints

Learn how to use watercolor paints.

Watercolors originated in Great Britain during the late 15th century, when water-soluble paints were used on parchments. Nowadays, watercolor painting is a popular art form with both amateur and professional artists around the world. Painting with watercolors only requires a few materials, and there are no harsh solvents required in the process. Although watercolor techniques are generally simple to learn, they can be difficult to master. Learning how to paint a flat watercolor wash is necessary when learning how to use watercolor paints.

Things You'll Need

• 1-inch flat brush
• Watercolor paper
• Pencil
• Palette
• Jar
• Paper towels
• Binder
• Metal clips
• Water

Instructions

1. Gather the brush, paint, paper, pencil, palette, jar, paper towels, binder and metal clips. Lay a sheet of paper on the binder, then clip the paper to the binder with the metal clips. The binder will provide a slope for the paper, so the lowest part of the slope should be facing you.

2. Fill the jar with water, and place the jar behind the paper. Place the palette beside the paper, then squeeze a liberal amount of paint onto the palette. Arrange the rest of the supplies where you can easily reach them.

3. Draw a fairly large square on the paper with the pencil to create boundaries to paint within. Mix up the paint with your brush, then dip the tip of the brush in the paint. Paint a straight line starting at the upper left corner of the box to the upper right corner of the box.

4. Refill the brush with more paint from the palette. Begin painting a new stroke starting directly below the first stroke, slightly overlapping the previous stroke. Use a damp paper towel to catch any drips.

5. Continue to fill in the box with paint strokes, dabbing the brush with more paint between each stroke. Once you come to the final stroke, slow down and adjust the brush up to use the flat edge. Once you come to the right end of the box, end the stroke with a downward pull.

6. Repeat this procedure until you feel comfortable holding the brush and creating even strokes. Once you are done painting, rinse the paint out of the brush in the jar of water. Blot the wet brush onto a paper towel to remove the excess water.

7. Dump out the water in the jar, throw away used paper towels and store the painting materials and supplies. Allow the painting to air dry.

Tips & Warnings

• High-quality paints, brushes and paper will make painting easier.

References

• Painters Studio: Watercolors
• Watercolor Painting: Beginner's Guide
• Watercolor Painting Tutorials: Painting a Flat Watercolor Wash