Hello creative Steemians! Some of you asked me how to start with watercolor painting, so I decided to make this post with some simple advices and tips for you. I have already made some tutorials for beginner about simple painting and also about paper types. I will try to summarize it here. In this first part you will learn something about paper and colors.
Maybe some of you remember the school years, when you had to paint with watercolors on a standard hard paper. Just at this point most of us started to hate this insidious technique which always caused paper mowing, waving, color dissipation into another color, and so on.
This problems were caused by wrong set-out. No one told us we need a different type of paper and some of those cheap watercolors are just waste. Also the technique could not be learned properly without better tools. That is why we need to choose right.
The paper
There are more types of paper. It is better to use paper with no acid. It will not become yellow after some time. Handmade paper has harder structure and it can be unpredictable sometimes. Hot pressed paper has hard and soft surface. Cold pressed paper is softer and suitable for all kinds of use. If you're a beginner and you want to practice, students´ quallity paper is good enough for you.
I tried four types of watercolor paper. From the cheapest to the most expensive. It is important to say, not everytime the most expensive is the best for you.
Here are the types I use.
The "Aquarello watercolour" has the highest quality of them. It is made of cotton, acid free and archival. You can buy it in two shades - Traditional white and Extra white. I have that traditional white, which is a little yellow. It is not an advantage always. Blocks of this paper are glued. It prevents the paper from warping when wet, that is great.
The green one is also Fabriano paper, but it is designed for drawing. However, I really enjoy painting on it. It is acid free, 100% recycled, cold pressed with bright white color and I assume it suitable for watercolors.
Here are two more types I started to use recently. The blue one is one of the really cheap ones. It costs to 5€ and I bought it for practicing and for my students. The work with it is quite good. I found only one thing I dont like, the color has a little bit dissipated edges on it, but you can see it just when you take a closer look.
And the last paper I present you is not from the expensive types. You can get 25 sheets in a block for 6 - 9€. This paper has some structure and it is a little bit beige, but I love to paint on it. The color does not soak into it too fast, so you can add more shades and play with it. From the types presented here I recommend it the most! After some practice the first type would be perfect for you too.
Watercolors
It is not easy to choose watercolors. There are options from 7 to 200€ and dozens of brands. As a beginner you can try students quallity first, because it is cheaper and enough for practice.
There are also watercolors in pans or in tubes. I tried both options and I can´t say I felt some difference. I just prefer pans because it is easier to manipulate with them. You can buy them in nice sets. There are differences between the amount of colors (12/16/24/36). The bigger set you have the less you will have to mix colors and also the shades will be clear and more beautiful. I think that "24 set" is enough for you.
I tried four types of watercolors. I will mention two of them. One in tubes - Cotman watercolors for students. They have strong pigments and the quallity is good enough to have nice results. They are not too expensive and they dissolve slowly, so it is easier for you to make light shades, but yfter some time you can consider it as annoying.
The second type I bought just a few days ago. Russian brand Nevskaya Palitra, White nights colors. Thy are presented as artistic. I bouht the 24 set for 32€. They have really strong pigments, beautiful shades and you can dissolve them easily. That is the main difference compared to the first type.
I am sure you can find lots of information about waterclor brands and their comparation if you want to be sure, but you do not have to burden yourself as a beginner. The best brands are Sennelier, , M. graham, Winsor&Newton, Daniel Smith and Schmincke watercolors.
If you want to buy high quality epxensive watercolors, you can buy single pans, one by one starting with the basic pigments first.
I hope this post was useful for you. In the next part we will discuss brushes and try to paint first strokes, mix colors and make the first simple paintings.
Thanks for watching!
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