WATERCOLOUR - GETTING STARTED

A beginners guide - this is aimed at the person who has considered learning
to paint with watercolour, but has never started...

Painting with watercolour can become a very addictive pastime. I have seen people take it up and become so absorbed with it, their life takes on a new direction. Apart from the social side of classes, workshops, exhibitions, art societies etc. there is the unpredictable nature of the medium that has fascinated artists for hundreds of years.

Watercolour is not a medium to be mastered or conquered. The accidental effects and unpredictable behaviour of the different pigments are what make watercolour so interesting. For me, the fascination with watercolour comes from experimenting and discovering things I don't know, rather than the mastery of what I do know.

Getting started with watercolour requires very few materials. For the exercises that follow, here is all you need:

Brushes
#2 Taklon fibre liner brush
1" flat brush (Taklon fibre) long bristles are best

Paint
Burnt Sienna
Indigo

Paper
1 sheet of Cotman or Bockingford 300gsm paper cut into 8

Also
A white plastic plate or flat lid for a palette
Masking tape and a piece of cardboard to tape down your paper.
An old towel to cover your work table and wipe your brush on.
A pencil

Buy the best you can afford, but remember, some of the most beautiful, expressive, water based paintings were done on cave walls with mud and a stick!

These few things will allow you to get aquainted with working in watercolour without spending a lot of money on equipment. If you want to add to this go to tools and materials and click on the links to find out more about different materials

EXERCISES TO GET STARTED

                     Paint a Bird

Paint a Hat

back to painting lessons

Home  I  Lessons  I  Materials  I   Gallery  I  Store  I  Bio  I  Contact   I   Copyright