Watercolor tips and tutorials!

Hey guys. So I've been asked countless times to make a watercolor tutorial... and while I don't really have time to put that together right now (it's that crazy time of the semester) I did write out a few very basic tips regarding the nature of watercolor. I do plan on making an actual tutorial eventually as well, with pictures and more stuff about process. Perhaps this winter I can make a proper tutorial!


-Start with a ground wash at the beginning of painting something, with a high concentration of water. Starting with a light color base will help to unify the color scheme of the rest of the picture.

-Watercolor dries lighter than it looks when it's wet. Remember to keep this in mind. Gouache, on the other hand, dries darker. That's one of many things that makes combining gouache and watercolor tricky…

-Work in layers, from light to dark. Don't expect to go straight from a white page to a dark color all at once! The darkest areas will come last.

-If you've got two areas of different colors next to each other that you don't want to blend, for goodness sake, let the first one dry before applying the other! It seems obvious, but I've seen multiple people complaining about it when they use watercolor, so I guess it's worth pointing out.

-Once a color is painted down, it doesn't necessarily have to be permanent. Reapplying water and gently scrubbing at the area with the brush can lift the color off again. You can never get the paper to be perfectly white again, but you can certainly lighten an area a lot. So don't think you've lost everything if something gets darker than you intended it to be, it can be saved!
On the other hand, this also means be careful when going over an area that already has dark paint on it, because scrubbing too hard will lift the color away rather than intensifying it. Painting in layers should be done gently.

-Don't be afraid to let the paint be unpredictable. Watercolor can create some really beautiful shapes from the way it dries- let that work FOR you rather than against you. Pay attention to what edges are wet and where they will leave marks.


Remember that as with any medium, there's never any one way to work, and there are many variations and processes that are possible. Everyone has a different way of working, and once you understand the basics of how to use a medium, you can find your own process.
In addition, here are a couple of watercolor tutorials by people that inspire me to work in this medium... I hope they inspire you too!

maruti-bitamin.tumblr.com/post…
fav.me/d3bxkg6
ricefish.deviantart.com/art/wa…

If anyone knows of other good watercolor tutorials, let me know and I can add them here. c: