If you want to paint with watercolors and prefer using it in your art projects more than the other form of painting mediums (acrylics, oils etc.), but you have no background whatsoever, then here is a quick guide for you on how to paint with watercolors. Watercolor painting has been used in fabrics and wood panels in many years, but the most common way to paint with watercolors is on paper. There are two different kinds of watercolor paper; a smooth finish and a rough finish, but I recommend you to use the watercolor paper with a rough finish for it is easier to control the flow of the water.
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Painting with WaterColors
You can start painting different kinds of scenery such as landscapes, still lifes, animals, buildings etc. But first you must prepare the following materials:
Water Color Painting Materials
- watercolor paper
- brush
- watercolor medium.
Make a Rough Sketch
Sketch an outline of a scenery that you want to draw, for example: flowers in a vase. Use a pencil and lightly draw an outline of flowers in a vase on that paper.
Damp the Paper
After drawing the outline, damp the watercolor paper into a basin filled with water, then take the paper out and slightly shake it off and dry it. As the water is slowly receding from the paper, quickly get your brush and start painting the outline of the drawing that you did. (use a squirrel round brush) When the tint of color of the wet brush is dropped onto the wet paper… this is called a “wet on wet” technique. The colors will spread out very quickly onto the paper until the colors itself runs out.
Apply Different Kinds of Techniques
When your wet brush makes contact with the wet paper… this will create a “bleeding effect” on your painting which is good in creating some of the outer petals of your flowers. This will create a blurry effect, giving the picture a feeling of dept. And start painting the outer part of the vase too. When the watercolor paper is almost dry, don’t be afraid to splash colors onto your paper, remember that you are making a painting of flowers in a vase, so having different shades of color known as the “overlaying effect” on your painting is a must effect. And when the paper is somewhat totally dry, add color to your brush (use a small flat brush) and apply the finishing touches on the stems of the flowers and on the edges of the vase known as the “flat wash effect” to sharpen and to enhance the details of your painting.
Let it Completely Dry
When you are finish with your painting, let it sit and let it completely dry. I know that it will take some time to dry the painting, so use a blow-drier to quicken the process but don’t use it too close to your painting because you might accidentally smudge the painting.
And there you have it… that is how to paint with watercolors. It is fun and easy as long as you have the will and the dedication to do so.
