What is watercolor painting?
Watercolor painting (also called aquarelle) is a method of painting in which the paint used is made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution.
What do you need for watercolor painting?
First, we need watercolor paper. And I mean paper that is specially made to handle the flow of water and paint. You can choose between watercolor pads, books, or individual sheets. I recommend pads because, whether you use them for practice and studies or to paint actual creative artwork, they are easier to store, carry around, and keep all your progress in one place.
Your second need will be watercolor paint. They come in tubes as individual colors or in palettes. Both are the same, but I prefer mixing my shades, so I would rather get individual paint tubes in a limited range of colors.
Then, of course, you need to pick up your brushes.
Your next supply is a spray bottle of water. You need to activate your watercolors before you start painting which is a common mistake among beginners that leads to pale washes of color.
The extras will be a pencil, an eraser, some scotch tape, a cup with water to clean your brushes, and tissue paper for cleaning because watercolor painting is a bit messy.
Time to get started with painting
To get started with watercolor painting, you need to begin by getting used to the medium first. Spray your colors with water, take your brush, and get it filled up with the activated paint, then go ahead and start swatching your colors on the paper. Use the brush wet and dry, paint with both the tip of your brush in lighter and stronger pressure, and just see what the different achievable outcomes are with the supplies you have on hand.
In watercolor painting, tonal values and contrast play a very fundamental role, because you do not use a specific color from the color wheel to make your colors lighter or darker, rather, you use water to change the tonal value of your colors. A lot of water with a bit of paint will result in a lighter tone, while a lot of paint with a tiny bit of water will give you a darker tone/value.
Practice painting different values using watercolor
Your first practice is quite simple but makes the most sense for watercolor color painting practice. You are going to grab a sheet of paper and draw a tonal value scale going from 1 to 5 as follows:
Try this practice with different neutral shades such as gray or tan (I used red because it picks up better on camera) to understand the scale value better.
Conclusion
Remember that mastering any art technique or medium is an ongoing process. Feel free to create at your own pace. If you enjoyed this article and found it helpful, make sure you check my other articles about pencil drawing, colored pencil drawing, oil pastels, acrylic paint, oil paint, and many more relevant topics in art and creativity.