Beginner’s Guide toThe World of Watercolor Created exclusively for Craftsy by Antonella Avogadro TABLE OF CONTENTS 03 04 09 13 16 20 25 Meet the Expert Types of Watercolor Paper for Perfect Paintings Basic Watercolor Palette Colors Color Transparency Color Value Color Temperature Color Intensity with a soft spot for art history. sewing and drafting patterns.stardustsoul. She spends her days juggling her three passions: drawing.blogspot. 3 . while sharing her creations on her blog Stardust Soul (www.com).ANTONELLA AVOGADRO Antonella is a fashion designer and freelance illustrator. plus some extra tips! 4 www. But. in the case of watercolors. it is very useful to know the types of paper available and which one will best fit your needs.” You can achieve very unexpected paintings by letting the water and colors speak to you and guide you through the painting. using the right (or wrong) type of watercolor paper can truly make or break a painting.craftsy. With this medium you never really know what the outcome will be. The type of watercolor paper you use will influence the final style of the painting.2 TYPES OF WATERCOLOR PAPER for Perfect Paintings No matter what kind of painting suits your fancy. based on texture and weight.com . Because watercolors are so easily affected by the canvas they are painted on. Here’s a quick rundown of the main types of watercolor paper. and it allows mistakes to become “happy accidents. painting with watercolors is an enriching and fun experience. and it can also determine its longevity. which is very useful when painting things like flowers. Plus.Watercolor Paper: Texture The three main types of paper vary depending on the roller used to press it during production. skin and clothes. 5 . HOT-PRESSED PAPER This type of paper is pressed using metal rollers. When combining watercolor with other media. which create a smooth surface and an even texture. the smoothness of the paper is great for creating subtle color gradients. Hot-pressed paper will also allow you to create a lot of detail. skies. It offers a sleek finish. even ink and graphite will glide smoothly over its surface. Let’s take a look at what determines the texture. Hot-pressed paper is great for mixed media work. com . leaving them blank. ROUGH PAPER As the name indicates. making it very different from hot-pressed paper. this is a paper with a very textured surface. This creates a beautifully textured brushstroke. such as lakes and oceans. perfect for representing all kinds of sparkling bodies of water. Cold-pressed paper is great for beginners and is also a favorite among many artists.craftsy. It is not ideal for 6 www. When you glide your brush over it.COLD-PRESSED PAPER This type of paper presents a rougher texture than the hot-pressed paper. among many other subjects. some of the paint settles on it while skipping the indentations of the grainy texture. otherwise you will end up with a warped and buckled painting. since they are less Mixed media (watercolor and ink) sketches expensive. as you never really know what the results will be. It all depends on your needs.painting a lot of detail. Watercolor Paper: Weight All three types of watercolor paper come in different weights. which will absorb more water and won’t buckle. If you are practicing or sketching with watercolors. 7 Side-by-side comparison of rough watercolor paper and regular drawing paper. . you will want to use something thicker. your preferred watercolor techniques and what look you are going for in your painting. like 90 lb or 140 lb. but it creates expressive brushstrokes that can provide a painting with a lot of character and emotion. or you simply use heavier washes when painting with watercolors. Keep in mind that the thinner paper should be stretched before you start painting. you might want to go for one of the thinner papers. No type of paper is inherently better than the other. This is a fun texture to work with. If you are creating a more important piece. Try looking for something like 260 lb or 300 lb paper. There are blocks of paper available that come “pre-stretched. It won’t work so well if you are using heavy washes or painting wet on wet. and then carefully separate the sheet from it.EXTRA TIPS FOR CHOOSING WATERCOLOR PAPER Stretch your watercolor paper before getting started to prevent warping. Acid-free paper will yellow significantly less with age.” meaning the pages are glued together on all four sides.craftsy. Once you are finished. but it’s a good cheap alternative for sketches and allows for a lot of practice work if you use dry-on-dry or wet-on-dry techniques. All three of these papers can seem a bit pricey if you want to sketch or practice in quantity without worrying about “ruining” it. all you have to do is let it dry on the block. What I like to do in these instances is use smooth. 8 www. Look for acid-free paper if you want your painting to retain its color and quality through time.com . ready to be painted on. regular drawing paper. GETTING TO THE KNOW THE BASICS OF WATERCOLOR PALETTE COLORS The Cotman watercolors from Winsor & Newton are my favorite. if you usually paint flowers and natural sceneries. it is very convenient to set up a basic color palette with the most useful colors and your go-to ones. 9 . an urban sketcher. For instance. They are more affordable than their pricier artist-grade paints.BASIC WATERCOLOR Palette Colors Whether you are just starting out with watercolor painting or you’ve been at it for a while. depending on your preferred subjects. yet they are still good quality and mix together nicely. you’ll probably include a wider variety of greens than say. com Watercolors (either pans or tubes—I use a few of both) A paintbrush Water A sheet of watercolor paper Paper towel (to wipe off your brush) Ruler and pencil (optional) .THE BASIC COLORS These are the colors I have found work best for either a beginner’s palette or even a travel-sized palette for plein air painting: BLUES: • Ultramarine Blue • Phthalo Blue • Cerulean GREENS: • Viridian • Phthlo Green • Sap Green YELLOWS: • • • • Lemon Yellow Cadmium Yellow New Gamboge Yellow Ochre REDS AND ORANGES: • Cadmium Red • Alizarin Crimson • Permanent Rose BROWNS: • • • • Burn Umber Burnt Sienna Sepia Raw Umber SWATCHING YOUR COLOR PALETTE Whenever I get new paints. It’s also nice to have this swatch page for future reference. This helps you see what the color really looks like. I like to swatch them on a sheet of watercolor paper alongside the rest of the colors on my palette. you’ll need: • • • • • • 10 www. To get started swatching your palette. since it can vary from the color on the tube. you can have a look at what colors you own. how they look next to each other and keep track of new additions to your palette. This way.craftsy. organizing them from coolest to warmest (blues—greens—yellows—reds and browns). You can choose to swatch each color by doing simple brushstrokes on the page. I also make sure to leave extra empty spaces for future additions to my palette. This can be quick and easy. so I like them to be neat. One for cleaning your brushes (this one will have dirty water very early on) and another one with clean water to pick up new paint. personally.Artist’s tip: Use two different water containers. With this exercise. one of the many things I was able to notice is that the color Cadmium Red Pale and Cadmium Red are awfully similar 11 . But. so I like to draw a grid with equally sized rectangles and plan where I will place each color. I’m quite detail-oriented. I keep these pages as reference for whenever I’m painting. on paper. they share practically the same name!” However. You might be saying “well duh. they do look quite different in their pans than they do once you are painting with them. which didn’t have a spot in there before. With this knowledge I can now take one of them out of my palette and make room for my beloved Phthalo Blue. From your swatches. you will also be able to compare things like hue and temperature. 12 www.craftsy.com . which we’ll discuss later on. semi-transparent and opaque. LET’S EXPLORE COLOR THEORY IN WATERCOLORS. .COLOR TRANSPARENCY Just like any other type of paint. BEGINNING WITH TRANSPARENCY. Each of them cover the surface of the paper to a different degree. 13 The spectrum for this property is made up of three types of watercolor paint: transparent. watercolors are defined by their own set of properties. doing some simple exercises to get to know our colors and how they react to each other. In the next sections. we will explore some of these properties. letting more or less of the light reflected from the paper through the pigment. Let’s begin with color transparency. but it will also reveal how the colors on your palette interact together. so we can gain a bit more control over the final results of our paintings. paint vertical lines over it. while showing how each color is affected by the rest of them.craftsy. Then. as they can be very unpredictable. we want as much control as possible with watercolors. Some colors will let more of the underlying pigment through than others. you can do the same exercise with one minor change: Use black India ink to create the long horizontal line. However. Revisit it whenever you need to know what the resulting color will be when you overlay any two given colors. This reaction will determine whether the paint is transparent. To get started. If you only want to test your colors’ degree of transparency without testing how they interact with each other. You can label the brushstrokes and save this page as future reference. partially cover that area or something in between. begin by painting a long and thick horizontal stripe with one of your colors. Let it dry completely and proceed as indicated above. Well. Allow it to dry completely. that’s often the fun part! TESTING TRANSPARENCY This method will not only test each color’s transparency. The paint you place over it will react in one of three ways: It will either disappear completely.It is very convenient to understand transparency and have a sense of the degree of each color’s transparency in our palettes. 14 www.com . using the rest of the colors on your palette. semi-transparent or opaque. Repeat this exercise with all the colors on your palette. Try out this exercise to get more acquainted with your palette. 15 . COLOR VALUE Let’s move on to color value. in turn. Watercolors are very versatile when it comes to value. When we speak of color value in art. you can achieve a very saturated brushstroke.com . will help you get the exact value you want when painting. a very sheer brushstroke or anything in between. we refer to the levels of darkness and lightness of any particular color. How to master color value in your watercolor paintings! What you will need: • • • • • Watercolors A paintbrush Water A sheet of watercolor paper A clean palette STEP 1: 16 www. When you are starting out with watercolors. Depending on the amount of water you use to pick up a color. I am going to show you a simple exercise that will help you gain control over the amount of water you use to mix a color that.craftsy. one of the more frustrating issues you may encounter is difficulties with not knowing how much water to use with your paints. so I begin by putting some paint onto my palette. If you are using a color in pan form. I am using Phthalo Blue and Permanent Rose. STEP 2: Using your brush. both in tube form.For this demo. STEP 3: 17 . lets make the value gradient for Phthalo Blue. First. pick up your color of choice (in this case Phthalo Blue) in its most saturated form and paint the first swatch of your value scale on the sheet of watercolor paper. you want to do the same by picking up a generous amount of watercolor and placing it on your palette. We will be gradually watering down this color until it’s practically clear in order to create a gradient of all its possible values. After you keep watering down the color. like I did with Permanent Rose. you’ll reach this point after about 14 or 15 swatches of the same color.craftsy. Usually. until the color on your palette is completely watered down and almost clear. Continue mixing in more and more water to your palette after you paint each new rectangle. this is OK. 18 www. Remember to let it dry! Now you can repeat this exercise with any other of your most used colors. It will begin to look something like this: For the first three or four swatches.com . the difference in value will be barely noticeable but don’t worry. the gradient will advance and begin to look lighter. add a small amount of water to the color on your palette to slightly water it down and create the next value on the scale.After you paint the first swatch of the gradient. STEP 4: Keep repeating this simple process for a few more rectangles. 19 . making it a cool color. blue is cool. different hues are compared and contrasted against each other and classified depending on their temperature—red is warm. making it a warm color. we associate red with things like fire and the sun.com . Hot & Cold: Discover the World of Color Temperature in Art TEMPERATURE AMONG DIFFERENT COLORS In this broad sense. The way we classify colors based on this property is either as warm or cool. The placement of colors on the color wheel 20 www. and blue with ice and the ocean.COLOR TEMPERATURE Using the property of color temperature in art can build depth and mood in your watercolor paintings. For example. The very basics of this type of classification are very straightforward and in tune with the way we usually perceive colors in the real world. and what we associate them with.craftsy. Color temperature refers to the level of warmth contained within any certain color. The blues containing a red undertone (leaning toward a violet hue) are classified as warm and the others as cool. Simply having an understanding of this concept can go a long way when mixing colors or creating an eye-catching composition.is based precisely on this premise. if we peel off this initial level of classification and dig a little deeper into color temperature. I recommend not getting too caught up in this. This is where things get a bit more subjective and relative. That being said. oranges and yellows together on the warm side while greens. we need to look at their undertones. we find that different red hues can be classified as cool and blue hues can be classified as warm. but it could also be classified as a warm color if it contains slight red undertones and is being compared to a cooler blue. classifying colors by their temperature is subjective and artists sometimes have different views on this topic. A blue can be classified as cool color when compared to a red. with reds. nothing is set in stone when comparing the temperature of similar hues. like the blues above. Temperature can play a huge part in setting up a particular mood in a painting and conveying a feeling. TEMPERATURE BETWEEN VARIANTS OF THE SAME COLOR When comparing two or more variants of the same color. 21 . But. STUDYING TEMPERATURE Since these are not absolute rules. So. It all depends on what you are comparing the color to. blues and purples are on the cool side. For example.You can get more acquainted with this property by swatching different variations of the same color and making them slightly warmer or cooler by mixing in reds or blues into your hue.craftsy. Notice how the subject pops right out of the painting thanks to the use of a muted and contrasting cool background. and so on.com Similar to the technique used in the above painting “Katharine. In the same way. adding more red to an orange will create warmer shades of orange. Katharine. 22 www. adding yellow to an orange will result in cooler orange hues. Warm colors tend to be perceived closer by the human eye while cool colors tend to be perceived farther away. making them the main focal point of the painting.” the poppies are painted in a very warm hue and contrast against the cool green in the background. . 10’ x 8’ oil on linen by Craftsy member Brian Neher Let’s take a look at some great examples using temperature in paintings from members of Craftsy fine art community. Sunset Poppies via Craftsy member Steve Butts 23 . 24 www.Transition by Craftsy member kolorama1662292 I love the beautiful hues in this piece entitled “Transition. The wonderful use of temperature here creates a lovely mood.” Look at how the orange sections of the clouds take front and center while the purple and blue areas seem to be far. far away.craftsy. you could extend the gradient even further by mixing the pure color with a dark neutral tint like black—this will create darker tones without changing the hue of the color.com . If you wanted to. Here’s an overview on color intensity to help you create beautiful. unless you are consciously painting a high intensity piece with vibrant hues. with an intense green hue can make it look less realistic and flat. The intensity scale is made up of hue 25 .COLOR INTENSITY No one wants a dull painting. when we speak of the intensity of any given color we refer to its brightness or dullness. Having an understanding of color intensity in art is an important skill. Keep in mind that too much color vibration and intensity can be hard to look at. In real life. but don’t underestimate the great power of mixing muted and dull colors. tend to be muted versions of the colors in our paint tubes. WHY IS INTENSITY IMPORTANT? In my experience. These seemingly boring tones will help your paintings reach a whole new level of depth and realism. WHAT IS INTENSITY? Again. realistic watercolor paintings. especially in nature. Painting the leaves of a palm tree. for example. I have found that having a strong grasp of what intensity is all about and knowing how to mix colors with lower intensity helps a huge deal in making paintings look more realistic. the colors we see around us. it is always worthwhile to revisit the basics every now and then to gain a new perspective. By looking at the color wheel. Something worth remembering whenever you are painting.and tone. We can call these colors that have the highest possible level of saturation pure hues. Hue is when a color is fully saturated. First.com You can repeat this with other pairs of complementary colors. 26 www. such as red-green and purple-yellow. Even if you already have plenty of experience with watercolors or other mediums. straight from the tube or pan. meaning it has not been neutralized by its compliment. two complementary colors. overcome an artistic block or simply to discover new colors mixes that you hadn’t explored before. mixing the exact opposing colors on the color wheel in equal parts will result in a neutral gray. We can begin by painting an intensity chart of blue-orange. begin by swatching blue and orange in their purest hue. . CREATING MUTED TONES WITH COMPLEMENTARY COLORS. we can select pairs of complementary colors to create our study of intensity. Even the smallest drop of orange will create a slightly muted blue tone. RYB color wheel via Wikimedia commons In theory. Then. Don’t underestimate the power of this simple exercise.craftsy. Notice in the scales I created how the hues that are closest to their true complement on the color wheel tend to mix into a more neutral gray. slowly begin to incorporate small drops of orange into the blue on your palette to create the gradient. at either side of your scale. This is truly just the beginning.Remember that with colors. Mary Murphy shows you how to create vibrant floral still life with essential skills that will transfer to every watercolor work you create. SPECIAL OFFER! Click here to enjoy an exclusive 25% off your next Craftsy watercolor class! 27 . featuring hours of easy-to-follow. you’ll master realist techniques every watercolorist should know. Dive deeper into the world of watercolor with Craftsy’s wonderful online watercolor painting classes. In Painting Realistic Watercolors with Mario Robinson. Or learn to create expressive portraits that showcase both your subjects and your skills in Matt Rota’s Portraits in Watercolor and in Watercolor Flower Bouquet. close-up instruction from experts you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home. the key to achieving realism is pure observation and knowing when you need a vibrant hue and when the atmosphere calls for a muted tone. from tonal underdrawings to water manipulation.