How to Paint With Watercolors for Beginners: Your First Lesson

1. 1

   Step 1: Set Out Your Watercolor Paints, Brushes and Sketchbook

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   Lay everything out before you wet a brush. Allison uses a pan set, a size 8 round brush, a student watercolor sketchbook, two jars of water and a paper towel she reuses until it falls apart. A sketchbook is a smart start. You can play and make a mess without worrying about wasting good paper. Save the nicer paper for later lessons.

   Tip:

   Put the paint on the side of your painting hand so you never reach across wet paper.

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   Used in this stepwatercolor sketchbook landscape

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2. 2

   Step 2: Wet the First Watercolor Pan With Clean Water

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   Dip your round brush in the clean jar and touch it to the first pan of paint. Swirl a little to soften the top. You want enough water that the brush picks up a good load of color, not a faint tint. Pan paint is dry and hard, so it needs a few seconds of wetting before it gives up much pigment.

   Tip:

   Drip a drop of water onto every pan before you start. They will all be soft by the time you get to them.

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   Used in this stepPrinceton Neptune round watercolor brush size 8

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3. 3

   Step 3: Paint a Small Square of Watercolor on the Page

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   Lay the loaded brush on the paper and make a small square of strong color at the left end of where your swatch will go. This is the darkest end. Use the side of the brush, not only the tip, so the paint goes down in one smooth patch. Do not scrub. Let the wet paint sit on the surface.

   Tip:

   Write the color name under each swatch in pencil so you can find it again.

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   Used in this stepPrinceton Neptune round watercolor brush size 8watercolor sketchbook landscape

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4. 4

   Step 4: Pull the Watercolor Swatch Into a Light Gradient

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   Rinse the brush in the dirty jar, blot it on the towel, then dip it in the clean water. You do not have to clean it completely. Touch the wet edge of your square and drag sideways. The color thins as it goes, from the darkest shade to the lightest. That one strip shows you every value the paint can make.

   Tip:

   If the gradient stops short, add a little more clean water to the brush and keep pulling.

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   Used in this stepPrinceton Neptune round watercolor brush size 8

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5. 5

   Step 5: Swatch Every Watercolor in Your Paint Set

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   Clean the brush completely, then repeat the square and gradient with the next pan. Work through the whole set in rows. Some colors spread and bleed more than others. Some granulate into speckles. You only learn that by trying. This also trains your hand to judge how much water to pick up.

   Tip:

   Keep this swatch page. It is the best guide to your own paints you will ever own.

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   Used in this stepPrinceton Neptune round watercolor brush size 8

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6. 6

   Step 6: Let the Watercolor Swatch Chart Dry Before Adding Layers

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   When the chart is finished, stop and look. Darker swatches used less water. Lighter ones used more. Watercolor is transparent, so every layer you add on top darkens it. That means you work light to dark, and you wait for each layer to dry fully before going back in. Rushing this is the most common beginner mistake.

   Tip:

   Tilt the page toward a window. If it still looks shiny anywhere, it is not dry yet.

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7. 7

   Step 7: Practice Watercolor Brush Pressure: Touch, Press, Lift

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   Pick one brush and one favorite color. Touch only the tip to the paper, press down so the belly of the brush spreads, then lift back up. You get a thin start, a wide middle and a thin end. Try twisting and swirling too. There is no right answer here. You are learning what the brush can do.

   Tip:

   Hold the brush further back on the handle for looser, freer marks.

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   Used in this stepPrinceton Neptune round watercolor brush size 8

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8. 8

   Step 8: Paint Watercolor Leaf Shapes and Drop In a Second Color

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   Use the same touch, press and lift to make leaf shapes with a round brush. Round brushes are the best shape for leaves. While a mark is still wet, touch a second color into it and watch it spread on its own. Allison drops a teal into a blue circle. That bloom is watercolor at its most fun.

   Tip:

   Drop the second color in while the first is still shiny. Once it goes matte, it will not blend.

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   Used in this stepPrinceton Neptune watercolor brush set

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9. 9

   Step 9: Lay a Watercolor Wash With a Flat Brush

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   A flat brush covers big areas fast. Wet a patch of paper with clean water, then touch in some color and pull it across in wide strokes. This is the brush for skies and backgrounds. Try the edge of the flat brush too. It makes crisp lines and stripes that a round brush cannot.

   Tip:

   Load more water than you think. A flat brush runs dry quickly over a wide area.

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   Used in this step3/4 inch flat wash watercolor brush

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10. 10

    Step 10: Add Fine Watercolor Details With a Size 0 Brush

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    Finish with your smallest brush. A size 0 round is for details: dots, thin lines, tiny curls and eyelashes. Use the same touch, press and lift, only smaller. Fill the rest of the page with marks from every brush you own. By the end you will know which brush to reach for, before you paint anything real.

    Tip:

    Keep this practice page too, next to the swatches. It is your brush cheat sheet.

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    Used in this stepPrinceton Neptune round watercolor brush size 0

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Keep going

How to Paint Snow in Watercolor: Snowy Evergreen Branches

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Tools we recommend

• Liquitex

  Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint Set (24 tubes)

  Artist-grade pigment at student pricing, buttery enough to blend and thick enough to hold a stroke. The set most acrylic painters start on.

• Benicci

  Benicci 16-Piece Artist Brush Set

  Every shape you actually reach for (round, flat, filbert, liner, fan) in nylon that keeps its point and does not shed. Comes with a palette knife and case.

• FIXSMITH

  FIXSMITH 8" x 10" Stretched Canvas (12-pack)

  Pre-primed cotton canvases in a bulk pack so you can just start painting. The low-stakes surface for practicing before the big piece.

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