Watercolor for Beginners | Watercolor Affair

Category Archives for Watercolor for Beginners

Watercolor Painting Light to Dark (Watercolor Cookies)

This site uses cookies ! Get it ? OK… Lame joke. Actually, I painted this watercolor composition of a plate of cookies to demonstrate one of the most frequently used methods of painting with this medium. In watercolors, painting light to dark is the most commonly accepted way to build up a painting. In other words, you start by applying […]

Hand Painted Watercolor Christmas Cards (Easy Peasy)

Did you put up the Christmas tree yet ?Are you ready to mail out those cards ?I think sending hand-painted watercolor cards for Christmas is perhaps one of the best ways to show people your affection for them. It adds a personal touch that’s always appreciated.Especially this year, because we probably won’t get to see […]

Gifts for Watercolor Artists (What to Get an Artist for Christmas)

I’ve been scratching my head for several days ! Finding the ideal gifts for everyone is a real brain-teaser. It doesn’t help that whenever you ask people what they would like for Christmas you get the answer “Err… Let me think about it” ! So for all of you struggling to find gift ideas for watercolor artists […]

How to Paint Watercolor Pine Cones (The Easy Way)

The thing about pine cones is they have a very complicated appearance. For this reason they seem like very tricky subjects to paint.In this article I’ll show you how to simplify the process of painting pine cones in watercolor.These prickly little things are a great subject for practicing your painting skills. And where I am […]

Why you Need Lost and Found (or Hard and Soft) Edges in Watercolor

I recently painted this watercolor sketch as a way to explain the concept of lost and found edges in watercolors. This is mostly a fancy name for “hard and soft edges”. But in art, “lost edges” are a special type of soft edge where two adjacent shapes appear to combine to become one big shape. Good […]

Are Watercolors Toxic ? (The Truth about Toxic Watercolor Pigments)

Recently an artist asked me about the toxicity of watercolor paint. It’s true… As artists we should be aware of ecological and health considerations like this. And although I’m not an expert, I thought I could gather together some information to help others interested in this aspect of watercolor painting. So, is your watercolor paint toxic? The […]

Halloween Watercolor Painting Ideas (Spooky Step by Step Paintings!)

The other day my daughter said we should get some pumpkins so we could make jack o’lanterns. I admit, this is probably my favorite activity at Halloween. But this year I decided to extend the fun and do some Halloween watercolor paintings ! You can follow along in the step by step tutorials below… And […]

Why Use a Limited Watercolor Palette? (And which Colors to Choose)

A limited palette of watercolors does not have to be limiting! Yes… I’m kind of pleased with myself for that sentence! But it’s true. You’ll be happy to know you don’t need that luxury box set of 80 colors to get fabulous mixing results with watercolors. However, it does take a little bit of care and consideration when […]

Learning Watercolor (A formula for Success)

Painting with watercolors is a tricky skill to learn… Yep… I said it. But notice that I used the word “skill”. A skill is something anyone can learn with some good instruction and enough practice. I say this to dispel the idea that certain people are “talented” while others are not. The only thing that differs between a […]

How to Clean Watercolor Brushes the Easy Way

You can easily spend a small fortune on brushes. So if you want your investment to last, it’s probably a good idea to learn how to clean your watercolor brushes and generally take care of them.With a little care and attention a good brush can last for years. I still use some sable brushes which […]

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