Hi Steemians, we have the second part of our watercolor tutorial here. In the previous part we discused paper and watercolor types. Today we will talk about brushes and then we can move to test our supplies and paint some simple images.

Brushes

Watercolor painting is really soft technique. We need to be patient and cautious. The paper can be riped easily, so we need to choose soft brushes.

It is said the best brushes for watercolor painting are made of sable hair. This brushes are not cheap and they are used by professional artists. Then there are squirel, ox and goat brushes. We usualy see those soft hair in round brushes and harded (ox and goat) in flat.

For painting details it is better to use round brushes. We can make really thin lines and also use the brush shape. When we want to paint the background or some bigger surface, we can use flat brush, because it can carry more paint and water. Buying a high quality hair is not that important for flat brushes.

And there are also synthetic fibers. They are cheap and designed to imitate natural hair. If you just started with watercolors and you are not sure you will continue with it, it is the best choice for you. I use them too because they hold a point better than natural brushes. Their disadvantage is they can not hold as much paint as natural hair. That is why I use also natural brush.

There are more shapes. I will not write about all of them. You can look at this page to get more information about it.

As a beginner you do not need a set of 30 brushes. It is enough for you to have 3 round brushes in a size 3, 5 and 12. You should put more money into this round brushes. If you are really serious about it, buy Kolinsky sable brushes. If not, it is enough to buy sable-synthetic blend. It is good to have at leas one bigger flat brush. It can be synthetis too, or you can buy ox hair. When you start to paint you will notice which kind of brush you would need to buy next.

First strokes

Now you have all you need to start with the simplest painting. It is good for you to know what you can expect from your tools.

First you should prepare your paints. If you have tubes, you will need pans or at least watercolor palette. I prefer adding them into pans, so you do not need to handle with tubes more. The paint will dry in pans and you can use them easily. There is also an option to use them as tempera paint.
If you have pans it is quite simple. In both cases you should make some tests of pigments.

Some of the paints are too dark to know their color on paper. Thats why you should take a peace of paper in a size of your pans and start to try one color after another.

Now try different brushes. It is good to use one color for it. Use different pressure, hand tilt and water amount. You will get various lines which can be used in different situations.

Mixing colors

The most beautiful thing about watercolors is they can create amazing transitions and effects. But as it is beautiful, it is difficult too. You will try to predict and control the coincidence. You should know the theory, but achieving wanted result is a master skill. You will have to be patient and always study and learn from your experience.

Your first experiment can be with mixing colors. You can choose what you want. First make a wet stroke with the first color, then make a stroke on the edge with the second color. They will nicely spill.

Try different colors and amount of water. You can also try to add salt into wet color, or water drops. It is a play time, so try everything that comes to your mind.

I usually add my experiments into my art journal. If you want to know more about it, you can read my Art journal tutorial.
After this tests it would be great to paint some simple picture. I made more tutorials, so I can recomend you to try some.

Watercolor painting tutorials I made

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Learn to paint agate and compare different types of paper.

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Simple mountains.

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How to paint feathers using paper leftovers.

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The simplest watercolored Christmas card

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Watercolored magnolia flower

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Blue gemstone painting

There will be more watercolor tutorials, so if you liked this post and you want more, just follow me and be prepared for new inspiration.

 

Thanks for watching!

 
 

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