Watercolor Painting Methods and Techniques

Watercolor Painting Methods and Techniques

Article by Vladimir London, Watercolor Academy tutor

Professional watercolor artworks are not created by accident. They are imagined, planned, and painted with confidence in each step

Painting by Vladimir London, Watercolor Academy tutor

In the next series of articles, you will discover the main methods of watercolor painting. The list of methods described here is not concluding: many more variations and combinations can be used and even invented by you. Nevertheless, these traditional approaches will serve you well in the majority of cases and using them will give you infinite possibilities to express your creativity.

In the "What Makes Good Watercolor Artworks" article, I placed the artist's skills as the most important element of success. Your art skills are constantly developing, but one quality must always be present, whatever your skill level. This element is confidence.

Painting by Vladimir London, Watercolor Academy tutor

Professional watercolor artworks are not created by accident. They are imagined, planned, and painted with confidence in each step. Confidence in painting means that a professional artist is not just guessing and splashing some paints on paper. A professional watercolor artist knows his art materials and techniques and predicts the results with certainty. Such mastery comes only with knowledge and practice.

My knowledge of painting materials and techniques is shared with you in the Watercolor Academy course. When it comes to practicing with confidence, you need to think thoroughly about each step and prepare paint tints on a palette until you are absolutely certain that it is the right color-tint. Envision how you apply this tint to the paper before doing it with a brush. A proficient artist will spend more time preparing mixes and thinking about each step than actually painting on the paper.

It's time to begin discussing watercolor painting techniques. Lying washes is the fundamental process in watercolor, so I will begin with the techniques for this. To discover this technique, read the next article.

To learn how to paint in watercolor, enroll now