What are some good tips for painting with watercolors?

Question

I practice so much but I just can't seem to get the hang of it. When I draw, I press down very hard and when I paint I do the same thing also. I know that's not what your suppose to do with watercolors because you need the hiteness of the paper to show through a little. Also, what are some good techniques to just do a simple painting ?

I meant whiteness, not hiteness, sorry for the typo.

Answer 1

draw lighter so the lines wont show after ur done painting , don't use too much water, let the intensity of the hues show as much as u can that way you wont need to do layer after layer which could damage your paper, also try dry brushing , wet your brush and then with the brush only dio it in the paint and put the colors down , this will make colors darker, you can also wet the paper with a clean brush , a cloth or your hand in the areas you want dark tones and then pick up pigment and put it on top of teh wet areas , you can aslo wet the paper a lot and throw in different colors then you can blow the water or put the work vertically and let it drip or "blee", you can aslo add salt or sugar on the paper and weit it , paint it and let it dry , this will create different textures, you can also do glazes these are fun to do , there are many books on water colour tricks n techniques , have fun.

Answer 2

With watercolors you can work the following ways 1)You can wet the paper and then paint on it. 2)You can put salt on wet paint and let it dry. It takes away the color a bit. 3)plastic wrap for food makes an interesting texture 4)wax paper makes an different texture if used crumbled 5)rubbing alcohol can be used and it leaves a white image behind There is a good book called watercolor class by michael crespo

Answer 3

Try taking a big flat brush and wet the paper before you start painting... but don't make it so wet that you see water running around. Let it set for a while until the paper's damp but you don't see any puddles.

Answer 4

After wetting the paper..try to use some sugar in the water u use..this would make the colors more easy to Handel..that increases the cohesiveness of the colors

Answer 5

several techniques are used for watercolor
wet the paper then add color on the edge of the wet area (transparency)
or use the ink technique make it opaque add more pigments
use contour line with a thin brush then mix colors for example brown with yellow and light blue
cover the area with color then add water
never wipe the paper never use kleenex :P

Answer 6

First, you need to approach it as 'moving water around',
rather than painting. I have my students
master ink washes before moving on to color. Learn to
'work' with the water, rather than trying to 'make' is do
something. Considerations: How heavy is the color mixture, what type of w/c paper are you using, and what
type of brush do you need to work (and is that work -
wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, scumbling, etc.).

Answer 7

Try holding your paintbrushes towards the end to lighten your touch and free your painting..
Go to your local library for some books on watercolor, that'll help.

Answer 8

I can provide you a good free link they can provide you some real expert tips on watercolour:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=152
Enjoy.