Watercolour Recommendations for Beginners

There was a time not so long ago when most anyone (especially girls) could do art. The only known portrait of Jane Austen was painted by her own sister, an artist of no great consequence, but an artist nonetheless. Now, because life is so busy, very few have the time to dedicate to visual art. Unless you want to make it into a career, it seems that there's no point in doing it, right?

Wrong!

Off the top of my head, I can think of several reasons why it's beneficial to do art even if it has nothing to do with some of your main interests or your career.

First of all, it's relaxing. ("What? Getting that looking so perfect can be relaxing??") Absolutely, and the problem is the word perfect. There are many types of visual art, from bullet journaling to drawing like Alan Lee. Bullet journaling is a way of recording ideas in a creative way. It's art just like the portraits and paintings that Alan Lee draws and paints for a living. So yes, it can be 100% relaxing if you look at it the right way. No one's judging you (or should be judging you,) and don't judge yourself! Look at it with an eye for improvement, of course, but don't give up because it didn't turn out the way you wanted. There's no reason you should expect yourself to just be good. If you're just doing it to be relaxing, then let it stay relaxing!

Secondly, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17 (ESV). Everything good and beautiful is connected in some way, because it is all created by God. Piano affects math and vice versa. Your understanding of art can be benefited by your understanding of math and angles. And even if what you're learning (take Chemistry for instance) doesn't seem to directly affect anything in your life, the very exercise of doing is building your character and your understanding of God's wonderful world!

There is no way that you can pick up a hobby like art and not benefit from it!

So why not?

I have chosen watercolour as the subject of this post, because of my personal preference to the medium. Coloured pencils are probably the easiest, the most pain-free and the least messy of mediums, but watercolour is (as a general rule) probably cheaper and more relaxing. (Again, my personal preference must be taken into account.)

Watercolour: Supplies

Most of you probably know what you need to pick up to start watercolour, but in case there are any 100% beginners out there, I'll give you a list.

1. Watercolour paper---I am not experienced enough to recommend a specific brand. The general rule is to find something that is textured enough to soak up the water well, but not so textured that you can't paint in the details. If the paper is too smooth, water will tend to pool or take forever to dry. I used cold press watercolour paper from Master's Touch: Fine Art Studio ® (Hobby Lobby's brand) for these paintings. (A plus is that it's usually on sale.)

It was great for the small details of the face, as well as for soaking up large washes of paint as in the middle picture.

2. Paint----I have been using Schpirerr Farben since a friend bought them for me, and I have really been loving the paint. Before that, I used Hobby Lobby's brand of watercolour. A lot of their paints come in tubes, and I have a couple things against those. First of all, they're just difficult to get out in the right amount. If you get too much out, you can't put it back in. I wasted a ton of paint when I used tube paint. Secondly, once they dry out, it's almost impossible to get the lid off or---if you do (good for you!)---you can't get it out of the aluminium tubes. Because the pan watercolour comes dried out, it can never "dry out!" (In fact, I still have a watercolour set from my grandmother. I've had it for probably ten years, (and I have no idea how long she had it).

3. Watercolour brushes---Again, I haven't experimented with many different brands, but Schpirerr Farben makes brushes as well and, due to the quality of their paint, I think I can recommend them pretty soundly. I have been using Hobby Lobby's brand Master's Touch: Fine Art Studio ® for some of my work, and my experience has been positive!

4. You need a palette to mix your paint in. You can get these anywhere.

5. Paper towel to dab your brush on. Preferably thick enough to soak up water easily without shredding too much. (Just in case you feel tempted to try it, toilet paper does not work for watercolour.)

6. Water in any cup, bowl or dish you like!

A few Recommendations

1. First of all, I can't recommend the Watercolour with Me Series enough. My dad got this for me last Christmas, and I really dove into it over the summer. I had a lot of confidence with my drawing skills, but my watercolour skills especially lacked practice.

This book is made out of watercolour paper, and you can paint right in it! There are instructions and recommendations of colours, as well as a picture of the author's version of the subject you are painting. The best part, in my opinion, is that the blank page on which to practice your own rendition isn't blank. The little animal or tree or is lightly drawn in!

I cut down a lot of time not having to draw before I painted, and since I really needed to work on watercolour and not drawing, this was a huge plus! If you're looking to jump right into watercolour without having to draw well enough to clearly represent your subject, this is perfect. (Of course, I do suggest that you practice drawing so that one day, you can do your own paintings, not only ones from books like these.) Nevertheless, I saw my watercolours skills skyrocket this summer, and I can point definitively to this book series.

(I didn't have to draw any of these; I got to focus just on the painting!)

2. My second recommendation would be to look at other watercolour artists! We all know one. She created possibly the most famous children's book ever written: Peter Rabbit. From little creatures to landscapes, Beatrix Potter used watercolour to its fullest extent. My favourite thing about her work and watercolour in general is the watery, almost impressionistic look, especially when it comes to landscapes. In watercolour, it's ok to omit detail!

Lastly, I'll include a few of the pros and cons that come to mind about watercolour.

Watercolour: Pros and Cons

The Pros:

1. It dries quickly and cleans up easily.

2. The supplies don't take up much space.

3. It's relatively cheap.

4. Your work is easy to store: the paper doesn't get wrinkled (as opposed to sketch paper) and it's thin enough to fit in a lot of places (as opposed to a canvas.)

5. You can paint almost anywhere! (I took a paint set on a 15 mi., three-day hike!)

6. Paints combine super super simply; your colour options are almost limitless.

The Cons:

1. It's easy to make mistakes or splatter the paint somewhere that you don't want.

2. And you can't cover up those mistakes with an eraser or white paint. (If you catch it early enough, you can probably dab up paint with a paper towel, though.)

3. It can be difficult to control.

In my opinion, the pros far outweigh the cons! And you can get better all the time, so that the cons become less and less a problem. It's much more a case of "it might be harder starting out." But like everything, you'll get better with practice.

It's not hard to get the supplies, they're relatively cheap compared to other mediums and watercolour is a fascinating style to work in.

I hope this helps or inspires you to pick up some art, just for the fun of it. If you decide to start this medium and begin practicing, let me know. :)