Watercolor for Beginners: Paper, Paint, Water and Your First Four Washes

Spend on paper first

Paper changes your results more than paint or brushes. Look for 300 gsm, which is the same weight as 140 lb in US labelling and the most common watercolour paper weight. Lighter paper buckles badly when wet. Cold-pressed, also called “NOT”, has a slight texture and is the most forgiving surface to learn on.

The bigger difference is fibre. Paper made from 100% cotton absorbs water evenly, lets you lift paint back off, and survives scrubbing. Cellulose (wood pulp) paper is cheaper and fine for practice, but colour sinks in fast and unevenly, and the surface roughens if you work it. A good plan is cellulose for exercises and a block of cotton paper for anything you care about.

Tape the paper to a board on all four sides before painting, or use a block, which is glued on all edges. It will still ripple a little while wet and flatten as it dries.

Read the pigment codes, not just the colour name

Names like “Sap Green” or “Payne’s Grey” mean different things from different brands. The pigment code printed on the tube tells you what is actually inside. PB29 is ultramarine blue, PB15 is phthalocyanine blue, PY43 is natural yellow ochre, PBr7 is a natural iron oxide used in burnt sienna and umbers, and PV19 is quinacridone rose or violet.

For mixing, prefer paints made from a single pigment. A tube with three pigments mixed with another three-pigment tube contains six, and that is how mixtures turn muddy. Student-grade paints contain less pigment and more filler than artist-grade, so colours are weaker; that is fine for exercises. Check lightfastness ratings, usually ASTM I or II, for anything you plan to frame.

Brushes and water

One round brush, size 8 to 12, that comes to a sharp point when wet can paint almost everything from broad washes to fine lines. Synthetic brushes are inexpensive and perfectly good. A flat brush around 2 cm wide is useful for skies and large washes.

Use two water jars: one to rinse dirty brushes and one kept clean for wetting paint and paper. Keep a paper towel or cloth in your other hand to control how much water is on the brush. That cloth is as important as the brush.

Four exercises that teach water control

Flat wash: tilt the board slightly, load the brush fully and paint a horizontal stripe. Pick up the bead of liquid that collects along the bottom edge with the next stroke, and keep going down the page. The goal is one even tone with no stripes.

Graded wash: the same, but add a little water to the mix after each stroke so the colour fades from strong to pale. Wet-in-wet: wet a rectangle with clean water, then touch in colour and watch it spread. The wetter the paper, the more it spreads. Lifting: paint a patch, then while it is still damp, press a clean thirsty brush or tissue into it to remove colour, and try again once it has dried to see how much less comes off.

Teachers often describe paint consistency with a kitchen scale: tea for pale washes, milk, cream, and butter for the strongest colour. Learning to mix the consistency you want before touching the paper is most of watercolour technique.

Avoid the two most common mistakes

Going back into a wash as it dries causes “blooms” or “cauliflowers”, the frilly marks where wet paint pushes into damp paint. Either work while everything is wet, or wait until it is completely dry. The dangerous moment is when the shine has just gone from the surface.

Overworking is the other. Watercolour looks best when each layer goes down once and is left alone. Plan the lightest areas before you start, since you cannot paint white on top, and build darker values with separate transparent layers, each dry before the next.

Questions before you start