I watched a YouTube video called Essential Watercolor for beginners: Techniques. I followed along and painted with the video and did all of the techniques demonstrated. This video was very easy to understand and follow. I started by taping my watercolor paper to work area so my paper didn’t curl up or move while I was painting. Then I taped square sections onto my paper, so each square was perfect and paint didn’t not run all over the place. I had all my supplies ready to go such as my brushes, water, paints, and water color paper. Each technique has a different look which makes them each unique!
The wet in wet is a very basic technique. When I did this one I realized the paint does what it wants, and it is hard to control when applying the paint to the wet surface. I found this technique took a long time to dry. The drop color wet in wet technique is not my favorite test plot I did! I think this technique would be better used when only wanting to add a bit of color to the edge of something. I think my green spots look out of place. Maybe I should have tried blending them in a bit more to make them not so dark. I might need to practice this one a bit more before using it! The dry brush technique would be good to add when you didn’t want a solid feature. I found it difficult to get my paint dry enough on the brush to make it look dry and not smudgy. My test spot is very uneven because in some spot my brush was too wet. The salt technique was not noticeable until the salt was removed. The salt made the areas under the salt lighter. This has a small speckled effect on this spot. I think this would be good for fish scales or a frog skin. Some of the salt is still on the spot because I didn’t want to rub it too hard. The tissue blot technique is one of my favorites! I love the pattern in the paint! I blotted the tissue everywhere in the square when I did this particular one, but you could also just use the tissue to absorb the paint from a certain area. I’m not exactly sure where I would use this technique, but I will defiantly try to find a place for it! The plastic blot took a long time to dry! I was nervous about take the plastic off too soon. It is a very uncontrollable technique. This one is very dark where the paint pooled in certain areas under the plastic wrap. I think it looks very cool that I added two colors to this spot because they are very defined under the plastic. The crayon Resist is my least favorite technique that I tested out! I thought I would have liked it because it would look perfect as the drawing would have stayed white! I think I might have to give it another try and make sure my crayon likes are thinker and maybe that would make a difference. Maybe I also had too much water and it washed the crayon marks off the paper. I need practice this technique a little more! The cotton ball dab technique is another on of my favorites I did! To me it looks like paint splatters. I love that I added a bit of purple into mine. This technique is a very dry technique and is not a solid watercolor area. You could probably do this with any painting technique. I think I will defiantly use this technique in the future! The hog hair paint brush technique is another one of my favorites that I did. I used a dry bush so it absorbed lots of the water and paint. I like that it has a stripe effect but it is very faint and doesn’t stand out. I simple did wet in wet and took a stiff heavy brush and brushed up and down. I think this is very interesting because usually watercolor does not have a line effect. The other 3 plot spots I was just playing around with the paints! When doing the water drop sections I made sure my sections of clear water did not touch each other. Then, in each section I did a different color combo. I think it is so cool that the paint does not leave the watered area. I like how the green colors combined into one another. This green area could be a tree line in the distance. This will be a very beneficial technique. When doing my water in water gradient I realized this is a technique that could be used for anything that you wanted colors to really meld together. I started with a wet surface and then added the wet paint on top. This looks like a sunset because of the color combo I used. I like how these colors combined together. The water on dry gradient is more defined and did not meld together as much. This plot I started with a dry plot and added wet paint. There was a bit of leaking color because I didn’t wait for each color to dry before adding the next. If I wanted perfect lines I think I would have to let each color dry. My Technique test sheet is below! Check out all the unique techniques that I learnt from the video and some others that I made up! Which one is your favorite?
8 Comments
Sydney Hoffman
5/16/2021 03:15:55 pm
Wow, I didn't realize there were so many different techniques within watercolour painting! I really like the salt technqiue on your test page-- it almost reminds me of a galaxy. And the water on water gradient is beautiful, would definitely make an interesting sunset background.
Reply
Karlee Andres
5/20/2021 09:17:14 pm
Isn't it amazing all the techniques that make different unique features. Yes, the salt one does look like a galaxy! I might have to try doing that technique with a darker black or navy background!
Reply
Thanks for sharing this process, I had no idea there were so many techniques when using watercolour. I think for a beginner you did an amazing job with your technique test sheet. I know you hate the crayon resist but I would have to say that was my personal favourite! I look forward seeing what else you create throughout your learning project.
Reply
Karlee Andres
5/20/2021 09:10:12 pm
Well that is interesting the crayon resist one is your favorite technique I did! Thanks for sharing!
Reply
5/17/2021 05:18:11 pm
Thanks for sharing, this helps because I never knew there was so many techniques in painting. I have lots of art supplies and cannot wait to use them. Thank you for the inspiration!
Reply
Karlee Andres
5/20/2021 09:12:31 pm
I am so happy I inspired you to pull out your art supplies! Hopefully you find some of my future resources useful!
Reply
I love your learning project idea! I have tried water colour in Valerie Triggs university class and I enjoyed it but I found it difficult. Your comment about the water having its own mind is so true. I too found the water difficult to control. As I was reading your posts I thought of your grandma that is cheering you on and I wish I had a grandma that would encourage me (or my kids) to paint. My favourite technique is the salt: I have also tried it. Keep going and have fun!
Reply
Karlee Andres
5/24/2021 03:16:49 pm
I also took one of Valerie's classes, but we did not use watercolor in the one I took. Which class was it that you took with her? Thanks for sharing with me!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |