3 Tips to watercolours
Just a simple blog post today, but an important one!
When you’ve gone out, spent your money on the best, or nearly best watercolour supplies, and have begun your watercolour journey, you don’t want to come unstuck by making a few rooky errors..
So here I’m sharing some basic tips to keep in mind when using watercolours.
- Look after your brushes! Don’t leave them in the water pot EVER! Sometimes you can buy these wire holders for the top of your water, which holds your brushes up so the tips don’t touch the bottom of the pot. I personally don’t use them. I always wash the brushes, and then lay them flat. When packing them away or traveling with them, I use those little plastic tubes they come with to protect them. If you leave them in the water, even while your still painting, they eventually loose their tip, bend and flatten out. And that is not a good thing!! So just don’t.
- Have a minimum of 2 water pots at any one time. I actually have 3, as I also use this bleed proof white paint, and I don’t like the white mixing with the watercolour paints. So, what is each pot for? Well, you’ve got your warm colours, reds, oranges, yellows, etc. Every time you use these paints, you wash them out in the warm water pot. (Not warm water, just warm colours). When you use your cooler colours, blues, greens, blacks, etc, you wash them in the cool water pot. This stops contamination of the paints and creating muddy pictures. Especially important when using yellows.
- Make sure you have enough water in your paint mix. This is the most common issue I have with my students, and the hardest habit to break. It’s loading up your brush with so much pigment, and little water. REMEMBER, its watercolours, and the emphasis is the WATER. Have your paints really watery, and that way, you’ll be able to create those translucent strokes, great bleeds and gorgeous layers. If the paint is going on thick, you loose all that energy, definition and beauty that watercolours create. So if you think you have enough water on your brush… think again!! Ha ha
So there you have it, my 3 tips to watercolours.
If you want to learn more about watercolours, using my online resources or attending an in person class, click the link below for all your watercolours needs!