Watercolor is a material that allows you to create very beautiful paintings, with fantastic designs. However, many beginners may be reluctant to start using them, as it can be difficult to learn at first. That's why I decided to create this post about watercolor for beginners, so you don't give up yet!
Top watercolor tips for beginners
1 – Keep calm
That's right, calm down! Why do I say this? I'm a little fussy sometimes, so I used all that hustle for my first watercolor works. However, painting with watercolor is the opposite of that. If you're like me, when you start painting with watercolor, you'll realize that it takes a lot of calm. I would even venture to say that it is a kind of delicate painting.
Another factor to take into account is that watercolor is not a type of painting that can be 100% controlled. When it dries, it can look a little different from what we imagine when it's still wet. It can create certain spots that give a unique and characteristic effect to the designs, so don't get frustrated with that.
2 – Choose the right and quality materials
Well, don't do like me. At first, I bought more expensive watercolors because I thought “I'm still learning, so I won't spend a lot of money yet”. The thing is, the quality of the material makes a lot of difference and therefore using inferior materials right from the start will create some frustration. I speak for myself, I even thought that I had no way of painting with this material. However, I decided to buy better materials and it made all the difference!
Also, in this watercolor post for beginners, I will also show you what materials you need. Come on!
Watercolors
I often use Winsor & Newton. watercolors. The prices are more or less affordable and they are good materials. My first set was the 12 color one.
Brushes
There are different brush sizes. I advise to have several sizes. The large ones are very useful for covering larger areas, while the small ones, for example, size 1, are for small details. As with watercolors, the quality of the brush also matters, since brushes with better quality are able to carry more water, that is, watercolor. This helps a lot, as you don't have to keep picking up paint from the pallet.
Paper
Watercolor requires its own heavier paper. As it takes a lot of water, if the paper is lighter, it starts to bend even when the paint is wet. This will be disastrous, as the folded paper will push the watercolor into the lower parts of the fold, creating ink deposits.
I recommend using 300 g/m2paper. However, you can also buy a pad of watercolor paper with less weight, just to test. However, it is best to use a higher grammage.
Ceramic pallet
To create the colors, you need a palette. You can use plastic, but this material gets stained over time. Therefore, I recommend using ceramic, which is easily washable and does not stain.
My Winsor & Newton set already has the pallet included, but it only has 3 dividers. So, if you use more colors, you may want to have a separate palette.
Two glasses with water
To hydrate the watercolor and clean the brushes whenever you change color, you need water. Why two glasses? The second glass makes all the difference. When changing color, let's clean the brush in the first glass of water. However, this water gets dirty and can contaminate the following colors. Then, always run the brush in the second glass of water to clean any ink residue that may remain.
Kitchen paper
Finally, always have kitchen paper handy in case you need to remove excess water from the brush.
What types of watercolor are there?
I already wrote a post about types of watercolor, which you can consult here. I will briefly tell you what the different types are:
- Watercolo pans: These watercolors come in solid state. Just wet the brush, pass the tablet and then the palette, to create the set of colors you want. You can also go directly from tablet to paper, without having to put it on the pallet.
- Tube: Tube watercolors are pasty in shape, ideal for creating a large amount of paint. Just like the tablets, you need to mix with water.
- Liquid: Liquid watercolors do not need to be mixed with water unless you want the most transparent color. Its colors are more pigmented and strong.
- Watercolor pencils: they are used for small details and you can pass a wet brush over them to create the watercolor effect.
- Watercolor markers: they are used as if they were normal markers and, like pencils, you can use a wet brush to create effects.
How to deal with watercolor?
This is perhaps the most important point of this post about watercolor for beginners. That's because beginners usually don't know how to use watercolor or what to expect from this medium.
You have to accept that watercolor does what it wants! This is because it is made up of a lot of water, which moves a lot, just as the paint when it dries leaves some visible brushstrokes. That's why people think that using watercolor is very difficult.
Another issue is that sometimes when we make a mistake, we panic. “Oh no, more ink has dropped in here!” – don't worry about it! These accidents can be seen as an opportunity to create a more creative and unique effect. If you let things flow and accept these little accidents as opportunities, you'll enjoy the painting process a lot more.
The most essential part of watercolor is water, as it is what creates the transparency and fluidity of the paint. Always remember this: water will flow and move a lot, as well as evaporate and dry quickly.
English 
Portuguese