How to Paint with Watercolors

Painting with watercolors is as diversified as the colors you can get from the actual paint. The outcome you receive is dependent on different factors, including how much water you add to the paint, what type of brush you are using, and what effects you are after. Here is a basic guide on how to paint with watercolors.

Watercolors are lumped as any paint medium that works with a water base, as opposed to oil-based paints. Watercolors can be found in cake form and tube form. The idea of watercolors is to add water to make different consistencies in the paint colors. It is recommended that you use both types of mediums to see which one you like best.

Choosing Your Paper

Paper plays a big role in how your watercolor painting will look. Look for heavier papers that are often graded in pounds. As a rule of thumb, the higher the pound, the better quality of paper you are buying. For instance, 22-pound paper is lighter than 50-pound paper, and is used for printing off a printer. A lot of artists use paper in the 300 to 400 pound range, as this paper is sturdy and absorbs water better.

If you want to use a textured paper for your painting, consider cold pressed paper. This type of paper is rough. It is good for artists who want a grainy look to their picture. On the other hand, hot pressed paper is extremely smooth.

Common Watercolor Terms

There are a few terms you will hear when getting into watercolor painting. They are as follows.

"Wet on wet" means painting on a piece of paper that you got wet with water first. This type of painting produces bleeds in your colors. You can wet a portion of your paper instead of the whole thing, if you want to capture a bleed in just one or two particular places in your painting.

"Wet on dry" simply means painting on a dry piece of paper.

"Graduated wash" is a term used when an artist starts with a large paintbrush and graduates downward to a small paintbrush for the same object. It also entails gradually adding more water to the paint as you work your way down. This type of painting technique is often used for skies and valleys that take up a major portion of the painting.

"Saturated" watercolors are as the name implies, saturated with more water. "Unsaturated" watercolors will give crisper colors, as they do not contain as much water.

"Transparent paints" are ones that produce thin, pale tones on the painting canvas. Transparent paints are also referred to as glaze paints. This type of paint can be lifted off the paper easily, if you make a mistake, and can be painted over as well. "Opaque paints" are more difficult to work with than transparent paints. They are bold and thicker than transparent paints. You may recognize opaque paint as tempera or poster paint.

Watercolor Pencils

A recent addition to the watercolor family has been the introduction of watercolor pencils. These pencils are used to draw a picture and then take a wet paintbrush to filter out the colors to fill spaces in the painting. The pencils have become quite popular with artists, as it allows them to control their color output easily.