Painting With Watercolor – Tips and Tricks

July 4, 2010

Painting with watercolor is rightly considered to be one of the basic foundations of art due to a number of valid reasons. Watercolor painting techniques involve the deft application of semi liquid paints or solid pigments mixed with water on a texture or paper in a definite manner so as attain the results in the most expressive manner possible. Watercolors are a convenient mode of art because they are easy to blend and can be spread in manner by the painter who is able to hold the paint brush deftly and use it appropriately to carry strokes on the surface.

While painting with watercolor, one of the foremost tips is to practice, practice and keep practicing till one is able to ascertain the exact quantity of paint and water needed to acquire the exact shade as desired. In this regard, beginners are advised to use the minimum possible water during the painting session so that not only is the paper prevented from sinking but is also not damaged when the paints are applied.

Painting with watercolor entails the usage of many shades due to which one of the watercolor tips is to learn and grasp the art of mixing colors at the earliest. An interested painter must try his hand at experimenting with different colors and different shades by mixing them with water on a palette and as a result create a variety of new colors to suit his needs. Another worthwhile tip which should be kept in mind is that the beauty of the watercolor largely depends on the way in which it is applied and in order to excel the painter should master the watercolor trick of being able to use brushes of different types and sizes with a natural flair.

Being transparent in nature, when the watercolor is applied to the paper, it has been observed that it causes the color of the paper to shine due to which the final painting appears bright and glowing. One of the watercolor tricks in this regard is to emphasize the white of the paper on which the painting is being made by surrounding it with colors which are not as bright. Since the white of the paper is brighter than even the white paint, one can make use of the contrasting colors in order to effectively highlight the white portions.

One of the most useful watercolor tips which needs to be kept in mind is to work from light to dark and to mix colors for acquiring dark shades instead of relying on black. Since watercolor pigments constitute color pigments and gum Arabic, they need to be diluted with water for painting and depending on the quantity of water which is added one can acquire different shades ranging from pale and delicate to dark and strong.

One of the common watercolor tricks is to use a tissue, a damp brush or a soft towel to blot the paint when it is wet which lends to it a lift and retrieves the light. In order to achieve the same affect in case of dry paint, one needs to use a slightly damp stiff brush to gently scrub the paper and blot it with tissue.

Share

Categories: Watercolor Tips.

Comment Feed

No Responses (yet)



Some HTML is OK

or, reply to this post via trackback.