Oh wow @@HulloAlice thanks for the pin! This is so cool! I love Mark's channel, he's actually an art teacher who does art so he knows what he's up to and how best to teach. I'd always been told never to use white paint so I really appreciated the detailed explanation as to why not as well as a tutorial on when to use it and for what.
@@HulloAlice Thank you, HulloAlice! I'm still fairly new to the RU-vid scene, so I am grateful you enjoyed my video. Just discovered your channel, thanks to Coreen Benadie! Looking forward to checking out your work and older videos, and what comes next! Stay well & cheers! ~ Mark
I think that another thing a lot of beginners forget is that you cannot do it all in one go. Watercolors have to dry between layers or your work is easily ruined. Watercolor painting is best done in small sessions to give the paper time to absorb the initial layer of paint. Thanks for explaining how to fix the too much water issue.
whats your fave I found arches is a learning curve I found it soakes paint up before I'm used to so I have patches of dark where the paint just soaked up quick. I like bee paper co. for my technique so far
I love how you provided ways to correct the mistakes, especially showing the difference in performance between a large vs small paint brush when difference sizes are necessary!
I actually like to mess around with my crayola markers or dollar store markers to do watercolor since theyre water based and look really nice when they dry
*I got watercolours yesterday for the first time and couldn't find any good tutorials for them and now you upload! Thanks so much! You're a lifesaver!*
Using your paint straight out of the tube killed me. I understand why my art teacher was cringing in front of me 2 years ago when i was starting out watercolors 😬
My little bro attempted to paint after seeing me paint... and he dipped the wet paintbrush into the tube and somehow got some water in the tube... AAAAGH
The thing I struggle the most with, right now, is mixing colors and avoiding getting muddy colors. I know the whole technique behind it with warm/cold colors, but it's still hard to get it right!
Try not to mix too many actual pigments together. Some watercolours are single pigment, but some colours are made from 3-4 pigments, so if you are trying to mix 3 colours together and each of them are made up of, say 3 pigments, then in actual fact you are mixing up 9 or more pigments...which will lead to mud. Choosing the more transparent colours will help avoid mud, while choosing to mix together more earthy colours (like burnt umber, yellow ochre and paynes grey for instance) will definitely result in mud. Also make sure you are using enough water, thicker paint will look muddier. You could mix up every colour in your palette and used with enough water it still won’t look muddy (in fact some watercolourists use this ‘end of painting sludge’ with lots of water to paint their shadows).
i know this just sounds weird but i take like the normal color mixes like if im gonna mix this primary color with this primary color i think about the actual color there based on(for example magenta,yellow,or red) and just mix it and take it as a surprise
You should try learning about color theory it will help So that you will know what color is not some mix if you're not intending to get a Brown or neutralized color. This really helped me when I 1st started learning about water color.
The best you tube channel for learning about the properties of watercolor paints is In Liquid Color from Denise Soden. Buy single pigment watercolors and ones that are truly transparent. That will mostly cure a muddy mixing problem.
This was SUPER helpful! I totally get that you're not trying to limit people's expression but instead teaching us the basics and use the full potential of our supplies, and then once we master that we can do what we want from there. I'm finally gonna start painting, and I've found that water color and alcohol brushes are my favorite medium. So this was really, really helpful, especially the bit about learning to work with the white of the paper and the color. I never realized that specifically was the prominent feature of water color. Thank you so much!!!!
I can’t tell you how helpful and inspiring and beautiful your artwork and videos are! I love watching you, and as an artist I love learning new things by watching you! You are one of my favorite youtubers 😊
I hate my old self SO MUCH because I used to have a tube set of Reeves (when I first started) and I used to paint with them like acrylics and when you mentioned it I CRINGED SO HARD. I eventually learned from pans and am now in love with tubes ;)
Would it be possible for you to make a video on color theory in regards to watercolors? Like mixing for skin tones, color harmony, etc. (i saw your video on watercolor pencil skin tones but I’d love to see one with regular paints personally). I purchased watercolors in an effort to force me to use color as I mainly work in greyscale so the idea of color theory is still daunting 😅
Love this!! I used to paint with watercolors in this giant sketchbook, because I was too lazy to purchase a watercolor one, and I always wondered why the light colors were so grainy! Well, now I know, and having bought a watercolor book, that rarely happens now.
This video is definitely gonna help so many people! Cuz everyone can relate with these problems. Great job, Alice... you inspire us so much! Loads of love❤
One of my friends who has been doing watercolor for years tried to explain the white thing to me, but your explanation made a lot more sense! “Milky”. I can see that. Thanks so much!
I use white to change the tone of the paint in my art or to mix a completely different colour (bubblegum pink from red), but I admit that the first couple watercolours I did, I had tried to use white that way.
Im so glad to see your videos on my feed! Thanks for all the advice, I may actually give watercolors a chance after failing miserably on my first tries
I hope they work! I want to make a video about the right mental attitude to have with watercolor - but the trick is, don't try to control it, work with its unpredictability!
Alice, Thanks for helping out with these 101 videos! You are a delight to watch and your so generous with your watercolor expertise! I love watching you work and everyone is so inspired by you and your videos! Please Keep sharing , Have A Grand Day!
I noticed you used a paper towel to dry off your brush between painting. Does this help with using too much water? I would say I am at beginning watercolor painter who uses too much water
I'm planning on getting back into watercolor, so this was the perfect video for me. I think I make mistakes #1 and #3 a lot, because my washes often look very patchy.
Thank you for these videos as a beginner & finding water color paints types can be cheap & chalky! Then was using cheapest water color paper & using way to much water! The one thing so far can’t seem to get rid of that last lil “to wet spot” when get to then end of a place (when try to get it off by paper towel or dry brush then makes it lighter than the rest? Patience & water control are my biggest issues & still where & how to add shadows as if gets dry (much harder).
Thank you so much, I really like your watercolour paintings and I tried it a few times but just end up messing up. This'll probably help me a lot. All your tutorials are also really helpful. Thanks!
the small brush is definitely my problem 😅 i have trouble keeping brushes steady so i go for smaller ones to keep from going outside lines, but i also can’t seem to get a flat wash 🤔... awesome video though, Alice, thanks so much! 💖
That reminds me of when I was in elementary school...... cringe But to be fair the watercolor I used at the time is shit anyway so it'll look like crap when diluted and used as... watercolor
Thank you for your tips. I'm new with watercolor (the adult kind lol). I can't help but asking as a new viewer, but I hear a slight British or European accent of some kind in your voice...it is beautiful and mysterious. Where do you get your slight accent from? Again, thanks for the tips from an art lover... I couldn't take art AND band in high school because it was such a small town. Therefore, I never got to learn higher level art skills despite my love for it and knack for it. (Well, minus drawing people, lol!)
What do you think about using watercolor on a mixed media sketchbook? I have a watercolor sketchbook but I have done some watercolor in my mixed media one.
These tips were really helpful. And I think I make 4 out of 5 of these mistakes all the time. But my question is. How do you learn to make watercolour pieces properly?
Greetings from cold and snowy Denver and 1:27 for the sponsorship speal not bad you should teach some other RU-vidrs how to do a quick plug like that =)
@HulloAlice hi! I am going to order the white nights watercolors after watching your videos and recommendations. My main question is what watercolor sketchbook and brushes do you use? Thank you in advance, I really appreciate it 😊.
Luna Luna if you like opaque paint, watercolour isn’t for you. It is supposed to be transparent. Try gouache or acrylics if your looking for opaque paint. :)
I always do the mistake number 1 because when I look at my brush I just simply cannot tell wheather there is enough/too much water. It is so frustrating!
Here's a tip for you to make sure that you are using just the right amount of water: when you paint your first wash, check the surface of the paint. If you see a nice sheen on the paper, congrats! You just use the right amount of water in your water color. But, if you see a huge blob on the paper, blot that quickly with a paper towel. That's too much water on the paper
I always put way too much water oof- I dont even try though, I just put some water on my brush and then starts pooling & looking weird, & then it bleeds with any other nearby colors... but then the brush dries out super fast- of course, I dont really use watercolor except in school, where there aren't very good supplies; the paint in the tub things (I forgot what they're called, its 1am-) seem to be either Crayola or a similar knockoff, & there's also this liquid watercolor which seems to be the Blick brand or something very similar to it, not sure if that's good or not as I haven't seen a review of it (as I just looked it up right now while writing this...) Also, I dont know what brand of paintbrushes my teacher has. So, I dont know if the supplies are the problem or if it's just me. tl:dr: when I use watercolor I always end up using too much water, and I'm not sure if it's my fault or the supplies'.
I might actually still be guilty of using less water than I should - not to the point of using the paint almost directly out of the tube like gouache or acrylic (I'm drying mine down anyway) , but more like "oh my God why is that colour so pigmented?!?", because I'm just starting to use artist grade colours and those are really more pigmented than the student's grade ones I used before and still use, too ^^' The tendency to use a brush that's too small, definitely is one of the mistakes I make still, too. That and probably using brushes that aren't always meant to be used with watercolours 😅
Hi! Do you have any tips for making colors less vibrant? Im kind of a marker gal, but im trying watercolor (and im doing BAD). I have the feeling that the end result looks chalky and too vibrant
Mix mix mix! Don't use colors straight from the pan or tube, mix them together to desaturate them :) adding a touch of the complimentary color usually does the trick!
Thank you so much! I’ll try to! Another issue that I have is that when i lay down a color, pigment goes to de edges of where i applied the color. Is it because I use too much water? Thank you so much, your vid was super useful ❤️
Thank you so much! I’ll try to! Another issue that I have is that when i lay down a color, pigment goes to de edges of where i applied the color. Is it because I use too much water? Thank you so much, your vid was super useful ❤️
Thank you so much! I’ll try to! Another issue that I have is that when i lay down a color, pigment goes to de edges of where i applied the color. Is it because I use too much water? Thank you so much, your vid was super useful ❤️
I've been having trouble with my brushes soaking up the water and then just not coming off the brush. So I use more water and it still dries out really fast. I've been buying the basic taklon brushes I can buy at my local craft store. Can anyone explain why this happens or how to avoid it?
Aw I want to be an artist but my mom really wants me to have a career in more academic things she mostly want me to be an engineer but my real dream is to art to be my life and be an artist 😕
yeah my art teacher told us about the right paper for watercolor and stuff, but still made us use the student grade because we’re students, obviously, but i wish we could’ve used good watercolor paper, but it’s whatever lmao. i ain’t mad
this is super useful, though! i didn't even realize the effect white had when mixed until much later in doing watercolor. it was like a revelation. i was like WHOA i can use that! i'm also guilty of having used a lot of color and little water in the beginning, but also using too much water and not enough color. can we send this back in time to beginner painter me?
I believe that people should be able to make art however they want to (as long as it's not offensive or anything like that) and I disagree with this idea of "mistakes" as there is no right and wrong with making art. If you have bought some watercolours, you should be able to use them to express yourself, whatever that means. I still respect the advice from this video but just wanted to share my perspective xxx
