Omg this was the most helpful watercolor mistakes-related video I have ever seen. I didn't even know that the "cauliflower" texture was caused by adding wet paint into areas that have already begun to dry. In some paintings I have done I really liked the effect, but in other ones I didn't like it but had NO idea how to fix it. Thank you for these amazing tips!!
Hi Lisette! This makes me so happy that you found this video helpful, I definitely put a lot of work and research into this one!! I'm glad you learned a lot from it!
Great video! My biggest struggle is knowing how much water to use. It’s hard to find the right balance. I either have too much water and the color is too light and watery, or too little and it’s dry and hard to paint. The struggle is real!
You're not alone Gabrielle! It takes a lot of practice and time to get used to knowing how much water/paint. Maybe you'll find this video helpful: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bFVDtkt7-Sw.html I also recommend testing your paint on scrap watercolor paper to see if you need more water or paint!
I've just gotten into Watercolor painting again. It's been a while. I mean like using the crayola watercolor pallette we all used in elementary/middle school while😅 But I would love to see your "lesson 3 for beginners" How to blend watercolors🤔 Hope to see that soon🙏❤💧🖌🎨
these tips were so super helpful! Wish i watched it sooner, some of the things i had to figure out by myself :D My biggest struggle is paint drying too quick because of not enough water :)
Great tips Allison. One of the tips I have and need to use is to check my paints before I begin painting and try to avoid staining colors. That way when I want to lift an edge or a highlight I can. With staining paint that is difficult to do. I totally agree with you about the paper. I recently bought some sketchbooks that are new and highly praised with 100% cotton paper and I have been very disappointed. I will stick with the papers you recommended from now on. I just wish they made sketchbooks. I also recommend and love Daniel Smith. Thank you for sharing all of your expertise! 🙂
Hey! Thanks for the added advice and tips! I'm sorry to hear about the sketchbook disappointment. It took me awhile to find a sketchbook for watercolor that I love to paint in. I've tried a few before finding the perfect one for me (Etchr). I hope you'll be able to try more..have you tried the Etchr sketchbook? I agree with you about DS! I LOVE DS paints. Thanks for commenting!
Always a good idea to share mistake fixes- one I heard recently just….🤯!!!! Here it is, maybe you knew…. Use watercolor ground to fix an unrepairable mistake ! And it works like a charm! I pulled out an old painting that I never finished because I had ruined it, I loved the parts that weren’t damaged and didn’t have the heart to throw it away….. after hearing this I painted the ground on - one thick coat- let it sit for 2 days and it’s like it was never painted on. Amazing!!!!
I'm assuming you are using the watercolor ground on cold press paper? I'm wondering if it would have the same effect on hot press paper with a smooth surface.
@M Yeung I think the watercolor ground would work on hot press paper, it just might be more obvious. I’d probably test it out on a small area or small project first. Although many have applied it to glass and stone and it’s lauded flat and looks great- so maybe it won’t be noticeable…. I’m not much help am I?!
I’m barely trying to learn watercolors and have done other mediums such as charcoal, oil pastels, graphite, and a bit of acrylic work, but haven’t tried oil painting yet either.
Using a kneaded eraser lifts graphite without roughing up the paper like regular erasers. I've also found some tapes don't pull off the paper cleanly. I will tape the pieces to my jeans or t-shirt before I put it on the paper. It still sticks (better than some washi tapes) to the paper but isn't so sticky it causes damage.
Any experienced artist knows that the ONLY way to get rid of warping paper is to not only use high quality paper, but also stretch your paper. Even blocks of paper warp if you are painting very wet.
Imo, Daniel Smith watercolor for beginners is basically a waste of your money. Why? Because when you start learning you don't know things and you naturally take too much pigments and rinse your brush too often, so you waste a lot of good quality pigment. That's why there are tons of student grade watercolors on more affordable price. So you can learn. And once you know better what you are doing, you can use professional watercolors like Rembrandt or Daniel Smith. Van Gogh watercolors are quite good student quality for trying out techniques and learning the basics. Winsor & Newton Cotman is also student grade, designed for students to learn. Plus, if you don't do art for sale or for hanging on the wall, but you only paint in sketchbooks and bujos, Daniel Smith is a total waste of money.
My biggest struggle so far, has been knowing when our how to finish my painting. I started a scene painting, it was a water scene with 2 cliffs, a sun in the sky, and trees and brush on the cliffs...but it's not finished. It doesn't look finished, and I don't know how to finish it. It's just sitting in the block, waiting..and I'm stuck.
That's a hard one! Many struggle with this too, I used to a lot when I was starting out. If you feel in your heart it's not finished, then it's not. At least that's my opinion :) Take breaks from it, don't look at it for a few days. Then go back to it and ask yourself how you can make it better? What is missing? It's okay to sit on a painting for awhile. I've found that with my paintings half finished, they mostly need more color, detail, and depth/contrast. Do you need to push the shadows and colors? Do you need to add more detail? Hope that helps!
