Easy Watercolor Ideas for Beginners


Excerpt from Watercolor in Four Steps by Marina Bakasova

Don’t just stare at that blank canvas! Below are 8 easy watercolor beginner ideas to get your creativity flowing from Marina Bakasova, Author of Watercolor in Four Steps.

Watercolor painting is an inexpensive, easy to clean, and fast-drying hobby. Apart from paints, brushes, and paper, you will only require a few additional bits and pieces, many of which you will probably have around the house already, such as jars for water.

Watercolor painting is rich and unpredictable, and there is no single method for painting a particular object. Most watercolor paintings use a combination of techniques. 

Woodcarving Illustrated Magazine

Watercolor Success in Four Steps

Just four simple steps and no experience needed!

  • 4 step technique to painting a variety of subjects with watercolor
  • 150 painting projects include fruits, vegetables, fashion accessories, sea animals, flowers, household items, and more
  • Beginner-friendly visual instructions, with tried-and-true techniques
  • Understand the basics of watercolor painting with this starter’s guide, perfect for beginning artists

What is a Watercolor Wash? 

To apply a flat, even wash of color, dip your brush into the prepared color and spread it on the shape. Don’t try to cover the shape in one go; start with a medium-sized drop of paint, then while the paint is still wet, add more until you have covered the shape. For a softer outline, brush clean water over the shape and then apply the paint, starting in the center and working outward to the edges. With both methods, if you don’t finish before some areas have dried, wait until everything is dry, then carefully cover the shape with clean water. You can then add more color as needed.

Do you find yourself staring a blank paper trying to figure out what to paint? Get creative with these paint ideas by Marina Bakasova in her Watercolor in Four Steps Book. Inside you will find a tutorial for each of these ideas along with 150 objects to inspire your watercolor masterpieces and tried-and-true techniques and create beautiful watercolor paintings in just four simple steps.

Wood Carving a Fish - Step 01
Wood Carving a Fish - Step 03
Wood Carving a Fish - Step 03
Wood Carving a Fish - Step 04

Building Up the Picture

A damp base allows watercolor to spread; a dry base contains it. If you work on wet, either on damp paper or a damp wash, the wetness of the underlying surface allows the paint to bleed outward and to dry with a soft, blurry edge. If you work on dry, either on dry paper or a dry wash, the paint will be contained within the area to which it has been applied so that it dries with a hard edge.

 

Wood Carving a Fish - Step 01
Wood Carving a Fish - Step 03
Wood Carving a Fish - Step 03
Wood Carving a Fish - Step 04

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