The right blend of watercolor techniques will help a beginner to learn this art without much stress. It is a great medium which can give an array of results. The paint is made of diverse pigments that are suspended in a medium.
Watercolor is a complicated medium to learn and use. But there are many methods you can carry out to aid with the learning mechanism. It is definitely a skill worth practicing. What is the reason for the radiance of a watercolor painting?
The white space of the paper radiates light and gives a true brilliance which makes the painting magical. Here I will help you get some ideas on watercolor techniques.
Watercolor Techniques
- Quality Brushes
Buying the best quality brushes will make the process better. If you are a beginner, try to buy a set of new brushes. You can choose from 000 to 5. Before using it for a serious work, take a small piece of drawing the paper. Experiment with different strokes with each brush. This will help in identifying your favorite brushes. But for smaller details, it is recommended to select small brushes. Especially, if you are going to start with this medium for the first time, it is not recommended to handle large size brushes.
- Artist quality paper
Buy the right type of watercolor paper to start with. If you want much-textured effects, handmade papers will be a great choice. You do not have to struggle much to do textured look.
When working with this medium, always remember to paint from light to dark. Each segment of the painting demands a lot of planning and patience. If you want to keep an area white, leave it as such. When you need a dark area, paint each layer-wise to get the desired effect.
There is a clever trick with the watercolor brush. It is very simple and always gives some abstract result to the work. First, clutch the brush between middle fingers and thumb. Now pull the brush bristles backward using your index finger and spur forward.
As it is a slender medium, color building on the paper requires several steps. But it also gives the advantage to mix color on the paper surface itself. Two colors, when applied together, will result in a blended color. When working with human figures and flesh tones, this feature would be quite helpful.
Ever thought of using salt to make texture on the painting? Yes, it is possible! Take the area you want the texture to appear. Apply the paint and before it gets dry, sprinkle some salt over it. The crystals suck up water giving creative patterns on the paper. When the painting is dry, simply wipe off the salt.
