Watercolor tips

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here are some tips for those who want to get started on using watercolors.

1, draw lightly in pencils or better yet use a lightbox and copy over your finished lineart on to a fresh paper. erasures will ruin the paper's texture.

2, clean water: will give you accurate colors. muddy water: will give you excellent textured backrground color washes.

3, practice on cheap paper.

4, if you want a darker more opaque shade, don't mix a thick batch of paint. instead paint over the area with the same color after it dries. this is called layering ^__^

5, don't use thick watercolors, its meant to be transparent. a thick mixture will crack.

6, use a medium brush. sable is best but you can always use synthetic ones. don't use very fine brushes, you cant load them with much paint. so u can't do washes with them. you can survive with only one medium sized brush, just be sure to wash it thoroughly in between colorchanges.

7, Grays are useful, use it. black is taboo for some artists but i tend to use it sparingly for areas that require deep shadows. purple is the accepted shadow color though.

9. paint from light to dark colors... watercolor is transparent ergo, you can brush black over white, but not white over black. if u really need to paint over something darker, use gouache instead. it works well with normal watercolors.

10. paint a familiar object every now and then. practice it's texture, highlights and shadows. and apply what you discover in your projects.

11. do not be afraid of the media! watercolor may be uncontrolable but the random effects generated by it can be used to your own advantage.


i hope this help. i have more but i keep forgeting it. just enjoy what you're doing and you can't get wrong ^__^