Painting activities are now increasingly popular among various groups of people because they offer many benefits. Being one of the enjoyable hobbies to pursue, painting can also help reduce anxiety and stress levels. Below are some watercolor painting techniques specifically for beginners who want to unleash their creativity.
Watercolor Painting Techniques for Beginners
Painting is generally done using canvas and watercolor, employing specific techniques to produce beautiful results. At first glance, painting with watercolor may seem easy to do. However, watercolor has its own characteristics—it dries quickly and leaves little room for error.
Watercolor is a painting medium that uses pigment as a water-soluble solvent and has transparent properties. Painting media with watercolor can vary from canvas, paper, leather, fabric, wood to papyrus. Mastering watercolor painting techniques and developing them well allows you to draw anything you desire. Here are some techniques for painting with watercolor for beginners:
1. Wet in Wet
The wet-in-wet technique involves applying color to pre-moistened painting paper. The result of painting with this technique appears faded, with the degree of fading depending on how wet the paper is. This painting technique can also be used after washes technique, provided that you wait for the paper to dry.
2. Flat Wash
Watercolor painting technique involves wetting the painting paper with water before applying color. The purpose of this technique is to facilitate color mixing on the painting paper. Coloring the paper can also be done by moving horizontally, moving from top to bottom, or with overlapping movements.
3. Glazing
The next painting technique is glazing, which is quite similar to the washes technique. However, in this painting technique, thin and transparent brush strokes are made on the dried painting surface. The purpose of this technique is to make improvements to previous coloring processes that may be deemed unsatisfactory.
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4. Dry Brush
The opposite technique of wet-in-wet involves applying watercolor to the dry surface of the paper. The purpose of this technique is to make the painting look fresh, realistic, and dry. Moreover, using this technique can also help determine the painting theme effectively.
5. Lifting Off
The last technique involves removing applied watercolor from dry paper or painting media. However, it is recommended to avoid certain colors that are difficult to lift off, such as magenta, black, and navy blue. The process of removing watercolor can be done by moistening the area to be removed with a brush and water, then absorbing the color with tissue and paper to cover other areas.
Things to Consider when Painting with Watercolor
When painting with watercolor, there are also several important things to consider:
a. Use a color palette
For beginner painters, it is highly recommended to use a color palette to obtain more colors for painting with better quality. You can create various types of secondary and tertiary colors using primary colors such as blue, red, and yellow. Use plastic or wooden pallets that can be washed after use, but you can also use disposable paper palettes for practicality.
b. Provide two clean water glasses
After preparing the watercolor to be used, do not forget to provide 2 clean water glasses next to the painting area. You can use one glass of clean water to wash the painting brush after using a certain color, and use the second glass to moisten the clean brush and dip it before painting. Replace the water in the glass with clean water immediately if it appears murky with black or brown color.
c. Moisturize the brush with clean water
Make it a habit to always moisten the painting brush with clean water before applying it to the paper or painting media. To obtain a brush with a pointed tip, you can hold the brush and shake it while the brush is still wet. Do this on tissue paper so that water and watercolor do not splash everywhere.
d. Mix the color
Before applying watercolor to the painting media, you can mix it with water first. For colors with dense pigments, you can add more water so that they do not lose their color density. Meanwhile, for colors with soft pigments, you only need to add a little water so that the color remains soft but not too thick.
e. If using bottled paint
You can transfer a little watercolor from the bottle to an empty palette hole, then add a little water and stir it in a circular motion to even out the color. Make sure not to add too much water so that the watercolor does not become too thin or faded. If you want to mix two colors, make sure to do it in another new palette hole.
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f. Brush strokes and observe the results
When starting to apply watercolor to the painting media, you can stroke the brush from one side to the other, creating thick lines. Then tilt the drawing paper so that the watercolor can flow down and not pool on the surface of the paper or painting media. You may notice that the watercolor on the painting paper is much lighter than the watercolor in the bottle, but it still appears harmonious in color.
g. Wait until the painting dries
After finishing the watercolor painting process, it is recommended to wait and let the painting dry completely, approximately for 30 minutes. Avoid touching or rubbing the painting surface if you do not want the painting to change or be damaged. After the watercolor dries, the painting colors usually appear lighter than when the painting was wet.
These are some Mjcarew.com tips for painting with watercolor specifically for beginners:
- Learn the characteristics and colors of watercolor by trying to apply them on painting paper to understand how dark or light the colors are.
- Color the painting by starting with light colors before using dark colors.
- Try to use high-quality brushes with characteristics of bristles that are not easily loose or shed so that you can produce good painting results.
- Make sure to know the type of paper used so that you can paint with the best results.
That concludes a brief explanation of watercolor painting techniques for beginners that you can master first to create captivating paintings. You can practice brushing on paper or canvas frequently to understand the color characteristics and get good painting strokes.