This book gives you step-by-step instructions on how to work simple tutorials to create easy watercolor paintings in only a few minutes a day. This is perfect for creating a routine and getting in the practice, without complicating the painting process. I personally enjoy doing these easy watercolor tutorials because they take minimal effort and continually grow my skills as a painter. They also ensure I sit down and paint each day. The variety of subjects also means you have inspiration to choose from, whether you want to paint florals and leaves, fruits and veggies, animals and sealife, landscapes, food, or everyday objects like bikes and buses. Because the tutorials within uses small, medium, and large-range brushes, this is a great place to start if you don’t want in-depth information and simply want to jump right in to painting.

Watercolor Your Way by Sarah Clay

This book is a great resource for learning watercolor methods and techniques by working through a variety of important concepts like color mixing, glazing, and uses tutorials that are both loose and sketched. The further you move through the book, the more complexity is added in paints and you learn key concepts like values and blending. I love this book personally because this style of format is unique. Most watercolor books aimed at beginners tend to put all the information on supplies, color theory, and techniques at the front of the book, so you have to flip back and forth. This book doesn’t do that. It let’s you gradually build your skills in a variety of projects from loose florals, sketched landscapes, ranging from simple to complex. I cannot say enough about this book, especially if you want to experiment with different watercolor styles and subjects. Bonus: at the back of the book are designs that you can trace onto watercolor paper with an LED lightboard so if you’re worried abut your sketching skills not being up to par, this is an excellent way to begin painting without sharpening those skills.

This book’s title says it all. It’s full of valuable information that is easy to digest, especially for a beginner. What I enjoy about this book is it’s focus on creative expression. Each step-by-step tutorial includes a QR Code that links to video tutorials which make it a valuable resource. Important techniques are fully covered and every part of the watercolor painting process is broken down, giving you all you need. There are also traceable designs included. This is one of my top recommended best watercolor books for beginners because it reads like one of Nicki’s online courses. She also speaks to you as an artists rather than simply giving you instructions to complete

This is one of my favorite books for getting into watercolor painting and that’s because of the few items and paints needed. This book comes with lovely traceable designs s yo can practice your hand art the adorable illustrations within. You can trace these outlines with an LED Light Box or use the old school method of holding the paper up to a window to trace it. The tutorials are simple, yet make you feel accomplished as a beginners by seeing the detailed paintings come to life. I personally adore this book and recommend it to beginner watercolor painters because it helps you learn detail work with smaller brush sizes. You can still complete these projects by mixing colors and with a size 2 brush in my experience, no need to buy the 0, 3/0 brushes if you don’t want to. The range of subjects from a bunny to a fern leaf, to mushrooms, butterflies, and birds, means there’s a wide variety of projects to tackle. Hands down one of the best watercolor books for beginners, especially if you’re into nature illustration. Note: this does not go in depth into techniques or color mixing, but instead focuses on subjects and paint layering while also adding texture.

Anna Bucciarelli has a popular Youtube Channel and for good reason. This book is less about step-by-step tutorial approach that many beginner books have, and more tips and techniques, cluding storehouse of information that is engaging and helpful. Anna dives into subjects that are often not touched on in watercolor books, like pigments, sedimentation, how to read paints, and offers unique and helpful insights into painting. This is a great place to start if you’re curious about watercolor and enjoy learning all you can before beginning. It’s a beautiful book and has online video tutorials included with QR Codes that make the information easier to understand and see in action. Bonus: this books is excellent for developing all skill levels, so you can return to it again and again.

This book is a great resource if you particularly want to try your hand at loose florals. While there is minimal sketching, the majority of the tutorials in this book walk you step-by-step through how to hold your brush to create various effects. The style of watercolor is very bright and tropical, but it’s a lovely book to begin your journey on as the projects are easy. There are 30 of them to choose from. These projects are designed with a daily watercolor painting habit as the author Eunice Sun is known for her 30 Day watercolor painting challenges. This will bring you inspiration and easy watercolor tutorials so you can paint daily.

This book is an excellent resource if the subjects you want to focus on are food. If you’re someone who likes to dive into deeper into more complex material and want a little bit more of a challenge to hone your skills in not only sketching, color mixing, and light, this is the best source on all thing food illustration. I especially love that Thanh breaks down color mixing to achieve realistic and life-like colors that are true to their subjects. This is a resource for foodies and watercolor artists of all skill levels.

This is an excellent resource if you’re interested in nature and want to keep a watercolor nature journal. This has invaluable sketching skills and information for those looking to start a daily practice by observing the world around you. This is a guide on observation and capturing real-life botanicals as you see them and offer tips and techniques to truly capture their beauty. This book is especially useful to those looking to dive into botanical illustration and to focus on color mixing that is true to the subjects. While not the most beginner-friendly book, it does have excellent instructions and tutorials if you would like a challenge to develop these skills and focus your painting in this area. I include it here because it’s one of my favorite watercolor books and it truly a gem.