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Watercolor Tips for Beginners
Watercolor can be incredibly overwhelming when you’re exploring the medium for the first time. Which paints do I buy? What about brushes? And how important is the right watercolor paper? Researching supplies alone can take up hours of your time especially if you don’t know where to start.
I was once in your shoes as a beginner. I now happily paint as an amateur hobby, which is why when most professional artists tell you to invest in expensive supplies, I find it unhelpful. What if you spend money on all these supplies just to discover you don’t like watercolor painting at all? Below you’ll find my tips when it comes to choosing the right painting supplies an an absolute beginner.
Here Are My Top 3 Tips:
Paper
Paper is going to be the one thing you should splurge on. While brushes and paints might seem more important, the right watercolor paper can make or break your art and the hard work you’ve put into it. You don’t need to break the bank though! I recommend brands like Arches or Etchr, as well as Lightwish, for example. These will be a great starting point and will ensure that you have a proper base for learning important skills like brush control and water control. Better paper also easily allows you to try a wider range of watercolor technique like wet-on-wet and larger washes that would otherwise cause cheap watercolor paper to warp and buckle, as an example.
Brushes
Next, choose round brushes when looking as these are the most versatile. Synthetic brushes are just as good as sable or animal hair brushes and are much more affordable. You only need 3 brushes in a range of sizes to start painting, so no need to buy an expensive set. Also it’s important to keep in mind the type of painting you’re interested in doing. Like large washes? What about detail work? See this article The Best Watercolor Brushes for Beginners on how to choose the right brush sizes to fit your needs.
Paints
Lastly, paints don’t matter as much as you think they might when you’re first starting out. I know what you’re thinking, but aren’t paints the most important in watercolor painting? And I’d argue that when you’re first starting out, they don’t. You don’t need to blow your budget by purchasing professional-grade sets, but I do recommend starting with a basic palette to learn color mixing, or to find a palette color scheme you love from half-pan sets. Check out The Best Watercolor Paints for Beginners to see which paints and palettes I recommend for beginners.
Check Out These Articles for More Tips
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