watercolor paint?

Question

i have used acrylic paints for a long time and today i bought some watercolor paints for the first time. the only watercolor paints i have ever used were the roseart watercolors as a child. i would assume that actual watercolor paints out of a tube wouldn't be as simple as diluting it in water. what do i need to do to begin painting?

Answer 1

If you use poor quality supplies you will never get results that you will be happy with. I prefer "Arches" paper, but it can really depend on the price and you get what you pay for. Try to get 150 lb. paper at least. You don't need expensive brushes but you do need good synthetic ones. You will need a large one for wetting and painting large areas and a small one (than can be a liner to paint a thin line) You will need at least 2 more, possibly number 6 and 8. To check that it has a good point, wet the brush and tap the side to shake off the water. It should go to a point. Once you have some practice you can add some sable brushes to your equipment. As far as paints go there are some pretty good tubes of student brands but my preference is Winsor Newton if you can afford it. Any good book will tell you about what paints to buy, but you will ultimately have to make up your mind. I would avoid all cadmium colours until you have some experience. Never use white, (white is from the white in the paper) and ultramarine blue mixed with burnt sienna makes a terrific black and enough browns to suit most needs. All you need is a large white plate or even a styrofoam egg carton. You can try putting out the colours you need each time in the carton and then mixing them on a plate. If you let your paints dry in the carton it is also portable and they will keep indefinitely. Many artists have a large palette with a lid and they put out a whole tube of paint at a time in each of the sections and let them dry completely.
Good luck.

Watercolour is fun!

Answer 2

The best way for a beginner to start is to use red chalk (or some water soluble pencil, or even an ink pen) with a pointed brush (those Chinese brushes are great and cheap) and water.
Start by drawing your subject with the chalk; use simple lines. Let's assume you're drawing an apple. With your wet brush run a stroke along the inside edge of the apple and 'pull' the color out. This is the first step to modeling the form and giving it dimension. From there, you can pull out the outer edge of the subject opposite the imagined source of light and you'll have background color or a shadow. Keep on playing with it and don't forget to add the dark colors (as for the stem or spots).
Use tissue paper or a loaded brush to remove color or increase transparency.
When you've gotten the hang of working with just line, a brush and water, you may gradually add color. I would use only one color for a while before adding another.
One other piece of advice: don't try to mix colors from life. If the first color you chose is blue, then let the apple be blue.
Also, you can try to wet the area to be painted first in water, then drop color in or more water. Play around with it.
And if you must get a book, don't buy a technique book, just copy a master like Sargent (who used opaque white when it suited him).

Answer 3

when I first started I got a bunch of cheap paper to practice with and as you progress then you should buy more expensive products. Theres nothing wrong with keeping some cheap watercolors around for practice anyways, because they can be expensive! Especially paper. I dont recommend crayola quality however, haha. I like Kuretake Gansai Tambi, and winsor & newton for the more professional paint. Just have fun with it though! They are so great to work with.

Answer 4

It really is that simple. You don't put the paint in the water, though. Just put a small amount of paint on something you want to use as a pallette, and add water until you get a dilution you like. Keep experimenting, you'll have lots of fun.

Answer 5

What do you need to begin painting in watercolour? A really good book on how to do it, with very good tutorials, and a lot of patience. Watercolour is very hard to master. As Ken Howard (an English painter) says, painting in watercolour is like pushing around a puddle with the brush.

And practice, practice, practice.

Answer 6

look it up online...make a pallet, prepare your paper...and create!