What I learned after 365 days of painting with watercolors
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- Опубликовано: 18 окт 2024
- 7 things I wish I knew before I started painting with watercolors. I'm sharing my best tips and tricks for beginners watercolor artists to improve their painting skills fast!
Learn all I've learned over the last 365 days of painting with watercolors daily, so you can improve your painting much faster!
Thank you for watching!
✅ Stuff I use:
Kuretake Gansai Tambi "Art Nouveau" 24 Watercolor Set: amzn.to/3rjmDq3
Arches 100% cotton paper A4: amzn.to/40CDyB1
Akademie Watercolor Paper 100% cotton: amzn.to/43FkPG5
Van Gogh Black Watercolor Paper: amzn.to/3URYtNx
✅ My filming gear:
Canon M50 Mark II: amzn.to/3DQM5FB
Canon M200: amzn.to/3TZf5T1
Samsung A52: amzn.to/3fLbtVg
Rode Mic: amzn.to/3Uj09OR
Neewer Soft Box Lighting Kit: amzn.to/3DStY2t
Please know that most of the projects I do on this channel were not originally created by me. I'm either using templates I find online or taking inspiration from awesome watercolor artists. I do not sell any of the art I make, I'm merely trying to help you improve and, when you're starting out, taking inspiration from other artists to train really is the best way to go.
Music from RUclips Audio Library.
Disclosure: this page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Here's what I wish I had known before I started painting with watercolours. Let me know if it helps! Have a great day!
Thank you for this. I am just starting playing with paints and I have a lot of watercolors I enjoy learning how to use.
I would like information on what type of brushes are best for beginning watercolors versus brushes you would use for gouache and acrylic. Also, which three or five brush shapes do you think you used the most in watercolor painting? Were you surprised by any of your choices? Finally, what three tips or tricks did you learn from other online content creators, that weren’t in this video, that shocked you or amazed you at their simplicity or practicality that you wish you had thought of it yourself?
@@Familylawgroup It's a long process, but a fun one too!
@@Familylawgroup Hi! Awesome questions! Brushes are important in the sense that bad brushes or brushes that require you to constantly go back for more paint are very frustrating to work with. But you also don't need expensive, big brand names to get starter. I like Cotman brushes and Princeton brushes, Da Vinci have been great too and are cheaper. I love round brushes, in all sizes. I have a large flat one to wet the pages when required and a quill I absolutely love for big surfaces. and a very thin number 0 Cotman brush for thin lines and details. Those are the ones I use. A quill, a large, medium and small round brush and a 0 size one for details. I bought so many other shapes, fillbert brushes, flat brushes and whatnot because I saw other people recommend it but they didn't work for me. But I will say it's a matter of personal taste, so maybe get different shapes in inexpensive versions to see what works for you and go from there.
@@Familylawgroup Tips or tricks... there are so many, RUclips is an awesome place to learn anything, really! You have so many different creators with different approaches. For me, color theory was a game changer but not everyone can explain it in terms that a beginner will understand, at least for me, it took some searching. Can't think of anything else at the moment that was such a huge thing for me like that. I did watch many many many RUclips videos, still do. I've also started taking some Domestika courses that have helped a LOT.
PW4, also known as Chinese white or mixing white, is useful in changing the behaviour of staining pigments. It has low tinting strength and can be used to make highly staining colours easier to lift and more granular because the white will sit on top of the paper and partially block the other colour’s ability to penetrate the paper. I use it for sunsets and sunrises that contain a lot of magenta or purple if I want to be able to lift clouds.
Thank you! 😊 There's a lot to learn still 😀
That’s great to know… thanks 💝
That;s good to know. I've been looking at lifting agents, scrubbing brushes, etc.. best thing, I suppose is to not let the paper get stained in the first place. thanks!
White watercolor is useful for creating soft, slightly muted colors like pastels. It's also opaque enough to create a hazy look without being too opaque to see through the haze.
Thank you. I always use 3 watercups. So one is always perfectly clean for wetting the paper. And one thing I was happy to learn is to use a cheap or old brush for mixing my colours.
Yes, that's also a great option 😃
Thank you for your helpful video. I want to add some things I wish I had known when starting watercolour painting. The beginner watercolour painting tutorials on RUclips have been saying to begin with poor-quality watercolour supplies. The most important watercolour supplies are cotton paper. They have been advertising Canson XL paper which is a wood pulp paper. Another important supply is a natural hair brush like Sable or Squirrel/Mix. The type of paint to use is not watercolour paint made for children. The use of these inferior supplies will not give you the same outcome you see in professional watercolour artist videos. Yes, these poor-quality supplies are great for practicing or experimenting with different techniques. The wood pulp paper is good if you want your paints to stay on top of the paper and not like cotton paper. I have found that wood pulp shows granulating paints better on wood pulp paper.
Daniel Smith's watercolour paint has little to no drying shift. Their watercolour paints are very pigmented. Winsor & Newton watercolour paints are less pigmented and have a greater drying shift. I have found watching some comparison videos of different watercolour paint brands helpful.
I am so glad that someone else thinks why would I use white watercolour paint. I agree with you why would a professional set of watercolour paint set come with white and black paints. What a waste of money and useless paint !!!
There is a picture on your video of a blue sponge. I purchased this same spouge. It is hard as a rock until you wet it completely. When it dries it goes back to being rock hard. Please let me know how to use this sponge.
These are only my experiences and may not be someone else's ideas.
Thank you for your input, it's very helpful! 😀. I'm not sure about the sponge you're refering to. What part?
Where I saw the blue sponge is in your video advertisement on RUclips. I purchased this sponge on Temu.
I personally really like white for pastel colors!
Thank you for sharing. Watercolor has always been hard bc I didn’t understand the techniques 😂
Hi. I get it! I plan on going through all of them so you've come to the right place 😁
Haven't started yet... getting my supplies together...I chose Daniel Smith, but I got the 24 color set (It's still coming from Amazon)I'll pull out the basic palette and put them into my little handy-dandy paint on the go box. after working with these colors, I plan to work with a limited palette for a while . The Arches 140 lb... those two are checked off, but in the mail. Now for the brushes, sigh...i'm opting for the new synthetic squirrel hair the New York Central Oasis. I can get all the brushes I think I'll need for under $100, but I'm thinking of getting One natural squirrel/sable to see if there's a difference. I think that's going to have to wait to let my wallet cool down.
Sounds like an excellent way to start! Have you tried them out yet?
I’ll tell you why white paint in watercolour is valuable - IF you want to add a streak or two of lighter value on top of middle value then mix the lighter colour with white watercolour paint, yes it will lighten the colour which you need to take into consideration so therefore add more pigment to that lighter value. The white watercolour mixed in with your lighter value acts like a barrier between the darker middle value and the lighter value so that the lighter value keeps it’s lightness without being darkened by the reflection of the middle value it is on top of….
If you have your watercolour sheet on an angle taped to a board you are less likely to get rippling in your paper - that happens when you lay your paper flat because the watercolour has nowhere to go and just sits in the middle of your paper until it dries possibly causing blooms, however if you have your paper on an angle the watercolour flows down your paper allowing you to mop it up off the bottom.
Thank you so much! That was so useful 😃
Filling up your brush with lots of paint is essential in order to create deeply saturated washes and to avoid cauliflowers. It's not at all about "speeding up" the process.
I wish I was told to learn color theory as I learned to paint. One year in and I have a lot of expensive convenience colors I don't need, and my paintings look better for the restraint.
Yes. Color theory really helps when we're starting out and it's not as complicated as it seems.
I personally dont think people should get obsessed with clean water for watercolour, I sometimes do a couple of painting with a single pot. The hue shift is slight. Get some dirty water and smear it across the blank paper, slight shift then it dies lighter. But once you add some pigment the paper is white in contrast. But this is with artist-grade paint, I find student grade paint can make the water mud like with the filler. I also switch between 3 different whites fir different reasonings.
Yeah, it's a completely different experience with student grade or not so great quality paint, which is what most beginners use. 🙂
@@sandyowncrafts - My advice to anyone getting into watercolour is use the best materials you can afford, get into artist-grade pigments and cotton paper as soon as you can. As when you do it destroys your workflow. Better to work small and scale up, than to learn a new medium altogether
@@watercolourmark I agree, excellent advice. The materials really do make a difference in watercolors. What's your favorite brush brand?
@@sandyowncrafts - I use mostly Pro Arte for studio, as they are a good cost for larger sizes. Escoda travel brushes in a travel set, which I mostly use, either in the living room or urban sketching. But my current favourite brush is a number 8 Da Vinci travel brush. It is very versatile, a pleasure to use and looks nice.
@@watercolourmark I love Da vinci brushes. I'll have to try Escoda as well. Thank you.
Thank you 🙏
😀
Great tips thank you
😀
The drying shift continues to break my heart.
I know! That's why I like painting with Kuretake Gansai Tambi so much
I've never tried those before, but I always see them! I'll try them.
@@SarahAndBoston I love the colors, the vibrancy and how you barely notice any drying shift.
What i regret I didn’t knew sooner is that the quality of the paper matters more than the quality of the pigment.
Absolutely, such a game changer!!
I am new to watercolor, so is there a difference in the quality of different watercolor products, like there is acrylics.
Hi. What do you mean products? Different brands?
@@sandyowncrafts yes
@@sandyowncrafts yes
Yes. Student grade are less expensive, but do not have as much pigment. Professional grade are better because you get more pigment with less paint.
@@irenemcknight5020 For the most part, there's a big difference between student grade paints and professional watercolor paints and I find that, in watercolors, the paper and the paints you use make a huge difference in the outcome. If I was starting out I would rather get a small set of professional grade paints instead of a big set of not so good paints, that's why I always recommend Daniel Smith's Essential set for people in the US, where it's cheaper. Cotman for me was a pleasant surprise because it's very good quality for student grade, but there's still a difference from Winsor and Newton's professional grade paint.
What kind of brushes do I need?
Hi Susie. It depends on what works for you. I personally love round brushes. I end up using only 3 or 4 sizes, a fine one, a medium and a large. Have a great day!
I use three pots.
why do you overbrush your paint Ones you put down colour on paper you do not have to go over it again. Rewatch your own video you do it every time.
You're right! I've actually done a video about how this is a mistake but end up doing it anyway 😭
Thank you. I always use 3 watercups. So one is always perfectly clean for wetting the paper. And one thing I was happy to learn is to use a cheap or old brush for mixing my colours.
Hello, why is it better to use an old brush for mixing the colors? I don't use animal's hair brushes. Does it still apply? thanks