36 Watercolor Painting Ideas for Beginning Artists and Seasoned Professionals (2024)

FAQs

What is normally painted first on a watercolor? ›

Work from light to dark

In watercolor painting, it's recommended to add light colors first and gradually introduce darker tones. This is because of the translucent nature of watercolor paints – if you add darker paints first, you can't make them lighter.

Start with the primary colours – yellow, red and blue. I recommend getting a warm yellow like cadmium yellow or yellow ochre, as well as a cool hue like lemon yellow. Add the secondary colours next – green, purple and orange. Add a brown and black for darkening your mixes and you've got the makings of a simple palette.

Before you start painting you need to mix some paint. Choose any color you like. Begin by getting your brush nice and wet so that it soaks up plenty of liquid. Then load it with water and press it against you mixing palette to release a puddle of water.

An excellent illustration of what was said is the work of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), who can be considered the ancestor of watercolour technique in Europe. His amazing picturesque watercolour works made on parchment or paper are evidence of a returned artistic interest in nature.

The answer is: Work from light to dark! This is the traditional approach to building up a subject in watercolors. It's one of the first things newcomers need to grasp, and it's actually quite unique to watercolor paints… Painting like this often requires a bit of forward planning.

When working with watercolor paints, you want to begin with the lighter colors and then work towards the darker ones. We do this because in watercolors, the white comes from the paper, not the paints. So due to the transparency of the paints, your light colors wont “pop” when painted over darker colors.

Acrylic paints are more vibrant and opaque than watercolor paints. They're also more versatile, easier for beginners, more durable, have a longer working time, and are more durable.

Choosing a palette is very personal – but you for sure need to include the primaries – yellow, red and blue. This will give you a foundation for mixing plenty of additional colors. The DANIEL SMITH Sketcher Half Pan Watercolor Set is the perfect place for beginning watercolor painters to start.

The benefit to painting the background wash first is that you are less likely to mess up the foreground object. For instance, if you were to carefully paint in the subject first (say, a red rose) and then paint in the background, you would risk getting the background paint on the rose, which might mess it up.

What is the most basic watercolor technique? ›

There are 2 basic watercolor techniques that will be fundamental to your practice—wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry. In this tutorial, I cover what these terms mean, when to use each of the two techniques, and how to do it successfully.

If you're aiming for a soft, diffused look for your background, you might want to paint the watercolour background first, using the wet-on-wet technique. This method allows the colours to blend seamlessly on the page, creating a gentle gradient effect. It's ideal for skies, landscapes, or abstract backgrounds.

The three English artists credited with establishing watercolor as an independent, mature painting medium are Paul Sandby (1730–1809), often called the "father of the English watercolor"; Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), who pioneered its use for large format, romantic or picturesque landscape painting; and Joseph Mallord ...

Monet may have used watercolors as he worked but they were not his medium of choice for his major works.

In general, if you want the background color to show through and become part of the subject, then paint the wash first. If you want to keep your background and your subject clearly and distinctly separate, then be sure to use masking fluid to mask your subject before painting your wash.

The process for successful watercolor painting, is to avoid the areas to be left white and apply the lightest washes first, gradually working your way towards darker washes. Try to cover large areas fairly loosely in the early stages of the painting, applying tighter detail towards the end.

No rules. But the traditional approach to using watercolor is to paint from light to dark. Thus if your background is light value, you might paint it first. On the other hand, if your background is dark value, you might paint it last.

From a professional point of view, with interior painting, it makes the most sense to paint your trim first, then ceilings, and then your walls. It's much easier and faster to tape off trim than to tape off your walls. And you definitely don't want the hassle of taping them both.