8 Tips You Should Know Before Beginning Watercolors

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Have you ever heard people comment about how temperamental, unforgiving and hard watercolors are? Don’t listen to them!

Here are the 8 things you should know before beginning watercolors. I truly believe if you apply these few tips, you will be able to improve your watercolor skills much faster and not waste time, money or supplies.

#1 Buy the correct paper!

Yep. Purchase paper intended for watercolor. This seems so simple, but it’s really important. There are three main types of watercolor paper- Hot Press, Cold Press and Rough Press.) Most watercolor artists tend to use Rough or Cold Press watercolor paper because they absorb the pigment well and have a ridged/textured look and feel.

Hot Press is smooth, Cold Press is bumpy/textured and Rough Press is even more textured. There are thinner and thicker types of watercolor paper too. I prefer 140 lbs. or higher for thickness and quality. It’s really a preference…try each type and discover what you like!

It will be a waste of time and money if you attempt to paint on regular paper.

Make things easier for yourself by actually purchasing paper intended for water-soluble mediums. If you truly want to improve your skills, save mixed media sketchbooks for other projects other than watercolor.

There are so many wonderful brands for watercolor paper. I have a full list of recommended watercolor supplies HERE! These are brands and products that I personally use and enjoy!

#2 Invest in a few great brushes

If you had to only purchase 1 watercolor brush, I suggest a round tip #6. My favorite watercolor brush on the planet is Princeton Heritage Round Tip #6. It’s great for detail and medium sized strokes. #8 is fabulous too!

When it comes to brushes, I truly believe it’s better to focus on quality over quantity. Especially for watercolor, I strongly suggest you invest in a few great quality brushes rather than own lots you hate to use.

For other brands and watercolor brush recommendations, check out MY LIST!

#3 Pick your Paints!

There are various types of watercolors to choose from and you’ll likely need to try a few to see what you like the best. There are watercolor pans where the pigment is compacted and you’ll need to add water to hydrate them and begin painting. You can also choose watercolor tubes, which are ready to be squeezed onto a palette and are typically more vibrant. You can always purchase an empty pan and fill your own with watercolor tubes.

Similar to paintbrushes, I believe it’s better to focus on quality over quantity.

Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, and Holbein are among my favorite brands. Check out My Amazon Storefront HERE where I share links to my favorite watercolor paints and supplies…. You can find my lists for Top Quality (splurge) and Good Quality (save) and I promise you’ll love all of these options!

#4 Use two clean jars of water

I know this may seem silly, but it’s a game-changer! Have a folded paper towel nearby and TWO clean jars of water- one for cool colors and one for warm colors…or use one for darker colors and one for lighter colors. This is up to you, but I promise it’s super helpful!

#5 Test and plan your color palette

Trust me, I know how excited I get when I have new art supplies ready to go and all I want to do is START PAINTING…..but testing your colors and planning your palette is important and fun!

I suggest cutting a 9”x12” piece of watercolor paper into 2 inch strips…you should have 6 of those from that one piece of paper. Starting with a limited color palette is a good idea. Choose 5 colors you think go well together and test them onto your strip of paper. Use a pen or pencil to write the name of your paint underneath each swatch if you’d like to remember what you used.You can even give your color palette a name! It’s a good idea to have cool and warm colors in each palette. You can use mixtures of complementary colors, analogous colors, earth tones, etc. Have fun creating a variety of color palettes…save these somewhere in your creative space where you can easily use these as reference!

I would not worry too much about planning composition in the beginning- that can happen later! For now, just enjoy the process of creating, watching your watercolors blend and flow.

#6 Pencils are important!

Totally up to you whether you use a pencil to sketch before you watercolor. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. If you choose to sketch before, I have two important suggestions: Sketch lightly and use a high quality pencil. Erasers are important and you must have a good one or you will have marks on your paper. I have used every pencil on the planet and the best one in my opinion is THIS ONE…Blackwing 602 Soft by Palomino. Seriously….it’s the best graphite and eraser…trust me, I have tried them ALL!

#7 Light To Dark & Layering

When beginning a watercolor, it’s usually best to start with light, translucent colors and add darker pigments later.

Super important tip: if you want to layer your watercolors, make sure you let your paint dry completely on the paper before adding another color on top of it.

If it’s still wet, it will bleed and blend with the color already on your paper. When you let the layers dry completely, you can overlay or layer watercolors on top of each other for a beautiful effect!

#8 Practice Makes Progress!

Don’t forget…practice makes progress, not perfection! I truly love how imperfect watercolors can be. They flow freely and organically and although you may feel less control as the colors bleed together, I believe they are always beautiful- imperfectly perfect! If you feel like you don’t love the end result of your piece, just remember you can cut your paper into small pieces and use them for gift tags, bookmarks, or note cards. Sometimes a portion of a painting is prettier than the whole piece.

I hope these tips help you as you begin to dive into the wonderful medium of watercolor!

Have fun exploring with watercolor and don’t forget to check out my favorite supplies and my online courses!