by theartist | Aug 26, 2018 | Tutorials, Watercolour paintings, Watercolour tutorials
When you’re planning a painting in watercolour (rather than a study or a practice piece), it’s really important to work out how you will tackle it. You need to think about highlights, light and dark, texture and detail and what order you’re going to...
by theartist | May 24, 2018 | Reviews and recommendations, Watercolour paintings, Watercolour tutorials
Finding the right watercolour paper to use can be tricky. They vary widely, and the paper you use affects the marks that you make far more than the type of canvas you use affects oil or acrylic paint. How to use watercolour paper In general, water will make your paper...
by theartist | Apr 12, 2018 | Tutorials, Watercolour paintings, Watercolour tutorials
I thought I’d take some photos of a recent watercolour I painted of two lovely dogs. I used St. Petersburg White Nights watercolour paints on Arches cold pressed paper. I had several different photos to work from so I played around with various thumbnail (mini)...
by theartist | Oct 5, 2017 | Tutorials, Watercolour paintings, Watercolour tutorials
I think pet portraits look beautiful in watercolour. They take a bit of planning and a careful approach though. Here’s how I painted a cat in watercolour recently. It’s on Arches cold press paper 300gsm, 100% cotton, beautiful to paint on but hard to lift...
by theartist | Mar 19, 2017 | Tutorials, Watercolour tutorials
Masking is any technique that will help you preserve the white of the paper when you’re painting with watercolour. There are various ways to mask your painting including: Wax Masking tape Paper Masking fluid Wax Wax resists water, meaning that you can paint over...
by theartist | Jan 30, 2017 | Tutorials, Watercolour tutorials
When you’re painting, you should use the shape and size of your brushes to help you make the marks you need for your subject. The right brush will help you paint confident grass blades or strong tree trunks. Before you start, take a little while to see what kind...
by theartist | Jan 30, 2017 | Tutorials, Watercolour tutorials
Wet-on-dry painting with watercolour refers to painting on dry paper, whether it has paint on it (dry paint!) or not. Whereas painting wet-on-wet will give you soft edges and gradients of colour, paint marks on dry paper will have crisp edges and you can use the...
by theartist | Nov 25, 2016 | Tutorials, Watercolour tutorials
Using watercolour ‘wet on wet’ just means painting onto wet paper, whether the paper is wet with water or wet with paint. It is perfect for creating creating smooth transitions and gradients of colour, as well as for soft lines. It is important to work out...
by theartist | Nov 16, 2016 | Tutorials, Watercolour tutorials
Choosing your colour palette You don’t need to buy a huge set of colours when you choose your paints. However many you have in your set, it’s worth trying some practical colour theory so you can explore the range of colours available form the ones you...
