How to learn to paint with watercolors in stages. How to learn to paint with watercolors from scratch. Techniques in multilayer technique are also varied.

Watercolor painting has its own history and traditions. It first appeared in China in the XII century, although still in Ancient egypt used opaque watercolors with the addition of white.

Interesting, because one of characteristic features watercolors is their transparency, and in sets there is never white. V medieval Europe As in Russia, opaque watercolors were used to color church books or manuscripts, in which capital letters or ornaments were highlighted in watercolors.

Water-based paints

Common to ancient Egyptian, medieval and later paints is that the solvent for them is water - aqua. Hence the name aquarelle, or watercolor. This term is applicable both to the paints themselves and to the type of painting performed by them. The main features of pure watercolor are the aforementioned transparency and purity of color. Watercolor painting is usually delicate, fragile and airy. But until the middle of the 13th century, it had a purely applied character, it was mainly used for coloring drawings, engravings, and frescoes. Although such a masterpiece as "The Hare" by Albrecht Durer, which is considered a textbook work, was written back in 1502.

From isolated hobbies to general recognition

Wonderful single examples were encountered later, but this was an exception to the rule. Renowned artists such as Van Dyck, Giovanni Castiglione and Claude Lauren dabbled in watercolors. In England, she received special development thanks to Joseph Turner. Although before him, watercolor painting was promoted by quite venerable english artists... Under Turner, watercolor became the leading painting in this country, and in 1804 the Society of Watercolors was created in England.

Excellent foreign watercolorists

Watercolor came into vogue in France, other countries of Europe and America. It can be added that, at the suggestion of the Argentine artist Rojo, the International Watercolor Day was declared. It was first noted on November 23, 2001.

In the public domain, you can see amazing watercolors by the Japanese artist Abe Toshiyuki, who achieves photographic accuracy in his extraordinary paintings.

Great Russian masters

But how did watercolor painting develop in Russia? The first major master in this art form was P.F. Sokolov (1791-1848), who is considered the founder of the genre of Russian watercolor portraiture. Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts, he left to posterity a slice of the era, as he captured contemporary Russia in his landscapes, portraits, and everyday scenes. Karl Bryullov and A. A. Ivanov paid tribute to watercolors. V XVIII-XIX centuries she became very popular, especially her miniatures. But the large works created with water paints are also remarkable. Especially good are the paintings of Ilya Repin, Mikhail Vrubel, Valentin Serov, and the artists of the World of Art. The Society of Russian Watercolorists was founded in 1887.

The beauty of watercolor landscapes

Water paints are capable of all painting genres, but landscapes are especially good. Watercolors can convey subtle color transitions, the saturation of space with air, the richness of each tone. That is why the blooming gardens in the landscapes made by aquarelle are so uniquely beautiful and colorful.

Particularly good are the works of the English artist Beatrice E. Parsons (1870-1955). Watercolor landscapes, in particular winter ones, made by Russian masters, are unique and inimitable. A selection of landscapes of the Russian winter, created by various watercolorists, is widely available.

Typical tricks

How are the effects inherent only to watercolors achieved? It is characterized by special techniques, it has its own rules and, of course, its own paints prepared in a special way. Blurring and flowing are specific techniques of this genre. We must immediately make a reservation that painting with watercolors is a rather complicated matter, requiring special skill.

Nowadays, if available on the Web huge amount master classes and tips on how to replace the masterly mastery of the brush with various tricks, you can find the statement that everyone can draw. Not all. And such a technique as glazing is available only to strong professionals. And then there are such techniques as "washing", "alla prima", "dry brush", "drops" and "wet". Only virtuosos can master them perfectly.

Painting on paper

In the second half of the 19th century easel watercolor developed, the works of which are not inferior to oil painting. Their significant difference is not only in colors, but also in the material on which the works are created. In watercolor, it is paper, less often silk. And this makes drawing with watercolors related to graphics.

When creating pictures with water paints, paper is sometimes pre-moistened (“wet” technique), while the smear takes on a special spreading shape, and the applied one forms, merging with the previous one, a new shade, which is sometimes difficult to predict.

Special devices

The paper dries quickly and shrinks. Therefore, the sheet must be stretched. This is accomplished in several ways. You can put a wet sheet on the glass and then, during work, tilt it at the right angle in order to save more moisture in the desired area. It is clear that this method is not available to a beginner. There are special frames for tensioning the sheet. They are called erasers. To preserve moisture, a damp flannel is placed under the paper. It all depends on the ratio of paint and water, and at the same time completely different shades are achieved. For various techniques, various aids have been created, such as a tablet and watercolor blocks.

Tools

Each watercolorist has his own technique. It is not so easy to master watercolor, all its virtuoso techniques, you need to lime a lot of paper, which is divided in quality into several types - Bristol cardboard, Whatman paper, torchon and many other types adapted for frequent wetting. Aquarellists use brushes made from delicate squirrel hair. Such brushes are even used in forensic science. The hair of marten, ferret and badger is suitable.

When working with water-based paints, there is much that is included in the concept of "technique". You can work with watercolors, as mentioned above, both on dry paper and on wet paper. In the first case, there are their own methods, in the second - their own. When drawing directly with paints, paper, even initially wet, is still dried. The application of several layers to obtain depth and iridescence of color (glaze) implies only dry cardboard.

The most common technique

Painting with watercolors "on wet" or "on wet" or "wet on wet" is unique and inherent only in this genre of painting. True, the frescoes are applied on damp ground, and some experts consider them to be the forerunner of watercolors, made using the wet technique. A soft brushstroke and a unique texture of the paint layer are the specifics of working with watercolors “on wet”. In addition, in these works there is an effect of tremor and mobility of the image. Then you can enter a drawing with a pen or a pencil into the dried watercolor, especially since not so long ago they appeared watercolor pencils... The essence of watercolor is that a white or light tone is obtained due to the cardboard showing through a transparent layer of paint.

The actual paint

And what about the paint? Their quality is achieved by special grinding of the pegment and its amount in the original product. To prevent the pigment from rolling into balls, bovine bile is added to the paint, which is a tension-reducing surfactant. Gum arabic and dextrin (processed corn and potato starch), which are readily soluble in water, are incorporated into paints as binders.

To give them elasticity and plasticity, plasticizers such as glycerin are added to them, and inverted sugar retains moisture well. The most main complaint to water-based paint is the uniformity of the coloring pigment. Bad paints remain on the paper as grains of sand. This is an indicator that the paint is unusable.

Watercolor marinas

It was noted above that water colors are unusually good for depicting landscapes. The sea especially benefits. Watercolor, with all the techniques and methods available only to her, can depict all the exciting beauty of the water space. And then maybe there is something in painting water with water-based paints? Maybe that's why there are so many tutorials for beginners to paint with watercolors to paint exactly the sea? And how consonant with the expanse of water are such watercolor techniques as "drops" or "bloating". In addition, wax crayons can be used in the marina to cover the cardboard in order to preserve the white areas.

All sorts of different ways

Methods such as bleaching, punching, spraying, using masking tape and many others used by watercolors, especially beginners, will help not only depict the sea in watercolors, but also turn the work into a fun activity, especially if you paint with a child. But in serious adult works, different techniques are also used. Sometimes, to achieve the desired effect, you can put your brush aside and try something else. What masters do not resort to: cling film, foam, salt, stamping and much more - the imagination of a person, especially an artistically gifted person, is limitless.

Nowadays, when the information field is so wide, when in any genre of fine or applied art, which you had never heard of before, you can not only try yourself, but also exhibit your work, a great many people discovered talents in themselves and decided on the direction development of their own skills. Moreover, on any issue there is a mass of available advice, master classes, recommendations and opportunities to acquire the objects and means of labor necessary for this type of creativity. Painting with watercolors for beginners does not stand aside. Dozens of lessons step by step descriptions absolutely everything related to water paints are widely available.

Lately, there are more and more special paints and pencils so that it is convenient for children to embody on paper fantastic images... But for beginners, acquaintance with the visual arts turns out to be most successful in the process of drawing with watercolors. Let's consider step by step some of the nuances of this process.

The union of water and color

Watercolors appeared in Europe in the 15th century, while in China an aqueous suspension of coloring pigment was used in painting as early as the 2nd century. Even then, painters valued paint for its ability to create stunningly subtle color transitions on canvas or paper. It is this property of watercolor that made it so popular not only in the professional, but also in the amateur fine arts... Painting with watercolors is recommended for practice for very young creators. For children 2-5 years old and older, this paint is ideal, because:

• does not require special skills to get started - you only need to prepare water, brushes and paint;
• mixes well and allows you to achieve a wide palette of colors;
• easily washed off the body and washed off clothes, which is especially important in the case of babies;
• affordable, because usually young artists consume material very uneconomically.

Types of paints and watercolor techniques

Before you start drawing, you need to decide on the idea and choose a watercolor. There are 5 types of paints:

• tiled solid;
• semi-solid;
• liquid;
• pencils, crayons;
• mother-of-pearl watercolor.

The first type is suitable for posters and drawings, but not suitable for children's creativity... But the rest of the types can be used depending on which texture is easier for a person to cope with. In addition, the combination of liquid form and pencils or crayons adds to finished work the originality of the combination of painting and drawing.

After choosing colors, you need to decide on the technique of execution:

• on a dry sheet (the drawing is bright, with clear contour lines);
• on a wet canvas (makes all transitions blurry, revealing a wealth of shades).

V the latter case you can use either special paper for watercolor, or put a damp cloth - flannel under the sheet.

What do you need to work with this type of paint?

To make working with paints enjoyable, you need to prepare everything you need for work in advance. In addition to watercolors and paper, which were mentioned above, you will need:

• shallow container with wide sides for mixing paints;
• paint brushes in sizes from 0000 to 6 of mixed fibers (for beginners, it is most convenient to mix paints with a brush No. 3);
• a glass of water to graduate washes;
• paper napkins to remove excess water or paint;
• hard and hard-soft simple pencils to outline the outline of the drawing.

Be prepared that over time, a slightly tilted drawing board can come in handy, as well as masking fluid for areas of the painting that should not be paint.
How to draw flowers?

Acquaintance with drawing with watercolors for beginners should occur in stages. And flowers with semi-solid paint on a dry sheet in this case are a very convenient object for the image. It allows you to demonstrate all the richness of shades of color, but does not contain too small elements, which will be quite difficult for a beginner to cope with. And since watercolor painting involves drawing from life, it is advisable to put a vase or a separate flower in front of your eyes. It is better to choose tulips, irises, pansies, that is, rather large representatives of the flora.

Instructions:

1. We set the nature so that the light is concentrated on it. It is better if it is daytime and not artificial.
2. We sketch the contours using a simple pencil.
3. Show parts of the shadow.
4. Draw the back petals with paints.
5. We make a shadow. For this we use two shades of the main color - dark and light.
6. We proceed to the center of the composition, alternating with leaves and stem.
7. We tint the background with a translucent shade.

Landscape paintings are most effective in liquid paints, as they allow you to convey all the details of color. For landscapes, it is better to use the watercolor painting technique on a wet sheet. However, for beginners, this image method can be slightly simplified by gradually wetting the desired areas of the paper.

Instructions:

1. Making a sketch. On objects with a shadow, we make the pressure a little harder.
2. We moisten a section of paper under the sky, apply paint and let it flow.
3. For the bulk of the foliage, we also slightly saturate the paper with water and, mixing the colors you want, apply the paint so that the white areas of the paper remain.
4. We draw large details of the image (mountains, cliffs, etc.).
5. We proceed to the foreground of the picture. We paint the grass, adding tones from dark to light.
6. Add shadows. Please note that the further from the foreground, the deeper, that is, darker, the shadow.
7. We draw the trunk of trees and branches.
8. Refine the outlines of the foreground objects.
9. Remove paint stains, if any. To do this, press a paper napkin to the area of ​​the drawing, then drip water and blot again. Repeat until the stain disappears.
10. If necessary, add details. The drawing is ready.

Try putting a rich smear of paint on the paper. While it's still wet, add a stroke of a different color to it. The last paint stroke will blend into the previous paint, thereby creating a patch of color with jagged edges.

However, this effect is not obtained on all paper. The more absorbency and graininess of the paper, the less ink will spread over it. And vice versa: on thick and smooth paper, the spreading will be maximum. With the acquisition of some experience, it will become easier to use this technique. It will be possible to control the dissection of paint on the sheet.

Even this simple technique in the initial stages may not give the expected result. If unsuccessful, you can simply wash off the paint and start over. This technique is widely used in the practice of professional artists, both for drawing large objects (water and sky) and for local areas of the picture (flower petals).

The effects of paint smudges are almost impossible to recreate with a paintbrush. This is their uniqueness. For example, to achieve a reflective effect on the water surface, you can add highly thinned paint or water to previously applied and already dried paint. Fresh paint will begin to flow, thereby creating blurry edges, like a rippled reflection in water. True, it will take some experience to be able to accurately determine if the paint on the first layer has dried.

Inventory

Brushes

• A watercolor brush must meet the following requirements:

  1.absorb and retain water well;

  2. Be flexible;

  3. it is easy to take the previous shape after a smear;

  4. when applying long or dotted strokes, its hairs should not bristle.

• Unlike other types of brushes, watercolor brushes have short handles.

Wide flat brush(1) pretty tough. It allows you to remove or wipe off the paint and makes the job very easy.

Wash brush(3) - A fairly large, round, soft brush that allows you to work on large areas, for example, the background. No brush can take on different shapes well and hold the right amount of paint and water and not dry out.

Working brushes - their size depends on the characteristics of the technique. Synthetic flat brush (2), Synthetic small round brush (4), Column hair small round brush (5).

Paper

• Paper for drawing with watercolors should not delaminate when you wash the paint, warp, paint should not drip on it.

• The paper must be white. If you want to use a variety of colors, then white paper will be easier to work with. Colors can change in unpredictable ways on tinted paper.

• The paper should be glued. This means that water will be absorbed relatively slowly. In addition, the rapid and strong absorption of water leads to excessive lightening of the ink placed on the paper. Watercolor paper, sold in bundles of several sheets of A3, usually suffers from yellowness and poor gluing.

• The paper must be thick enough

• The graininess is, as it were, the degree of smoothness of the paper:

  1.Fine grain paper is very smooth. Such paper is used for works that involve meticulous transfer of details. On such paper, the smear is almost unhindered.

  2.Medium grain paper. This paper is used most often. It is suitable for any job. Albums for watercolors are most often made from this paper.

  3.Coarse grain paper has a slightly rough surface. Has a distinct texture. Usually used for special jobs. Such paper is characterized by a high density, very often just such paper is made by hand.

  The most common watercolor paper has a medium grit and weight of 250g / m².

• Do not use thin or grain-free paper. such paper does not absorb well and warps when wet

Paints

Got school watercolors? This is also an option, but it is better to take professional paints for artists.

More or less suitable "copper watercolors" made in St. Petersburg

Watercolors are produced in plastic trays and in tubes.

Paints in trays require a little more effort in preparation for work: you need to drop a drop of water from the brush into the bath so that the paints are slightly soaked. It is more convenient to use such paints, because they are bred right in the bath and after the end of the drawing they remain there. In the initial stages, it is recommended to use paint in trays.

Paints in tubes Recommended for those who already have some experience with watercolors. The artist independently forms a set of paints, guided by his own needs. A ready-made set in tubes with a dozen paints can be recommended to amateur artists.

Number of paints in a set

The sets can contain from 12 to 36 colors, but not all of them will be used. It is not necessary to have a large number of paints in the set, moreover, it is simply inconvenient. It is advisable to try all possible paint combinations in order to know which combinations give dirt, and which ones are unusual colors that are absent in the set.

No more than ten of the most commonly used paints are selected for work: most often, these are blue, cadmium yellow, red and orange, ocher, umber, emerald green, neutral black.

In general, paints are divided into two groups - warm and cold. Warm colors include yellow, orange, red, brown, that is, all paints that basically contain one or another amount of red or yellow. To the group of cold ones - blue, blue, green, purple, if they are dominated by coldish blue shades. Green, purple, gray and black colors can be either cold or warm, depending on the characteristics of the color scheme and the influence of the environment. The colors blue, yellow, red are the main ones, the rest obtained by mixing are considered derivatives - warm or cold, depending on the composition paints. Even neutral colors such as gray and black contain countless nuances that are sometimes difficult to determine by color quality. If we take a group of warm colors, for example, reds, and compare with each other in terms of warmth, then it is noticeable that in this group, in relation to each other, there are colder and warmer colors.

For beginners, it is recommended to take: yellow, red, blue and black, each in 2 shades of cold and warm. All other colors are obtained by mixing the available ones.

Of course, watercolors are much more difficult to paint than, for example, gouache or oil paints. But you can try to make small transparent and delicate works, make sure that painting with paints is not so scary, but on the contrary, it is extremely pleasant.

Watercolor strokes are usually made transparent without using White color... It is assumed that the whitest part of the composition is the color of the sheet of paper.
Watercolors are almost impossible to fix, so try to get them right the first time. You need to start with the simplest compositions and slowly move on to more complex work.

Try to simply mix a few colors first and see how they naturally flow into each other.

Wet a small piece of paper with water (just do not create puddles, the paper should be wet) and brush over the wet surface with a paintbrush. Draw paint on the brush a small amount of, remove the excess on the edge of a glass of water.

Draw with the tip of a brush, do not press hard on it, lightly, airily.
Have you tried it? The paint should flow beautifully, next to it, make another smear with another paint and see how they flow over each other. Do not rub, do not mix more than three colors in one place - you will get dirty stains.

Now let's get down to our colors.

First, draw a sketch of the flowers with a pencil.

Let's make the background. Carefully, trying not to dry the paint (that is, do not let the strokes dry too much, so that the borders between them are not noticeable and sharp) draw the background. All strokes should flow into each other, traces of "pencil coloring" should not be visible. Use light green paint, yellow and ocher.

It was in this country that special paper suitable for working with watercolors. In the western countries of the continent, for a long time they did not pay due attention to watercolor drawing, and only at the end of the 19th century it was given a well-deserved place in the history of world painting. Using this technique, you can achieve amazing graceful lines, background translucency, interesting blurred details. All this can give a drawing a mystical effect.

What brushes are needed?

Before starting to study the technique of watercolor painting, you need to pay attention to the materials for its high-quality execution. Properly chosen brushes are a must for anyone looking to learn how to learn how to paint with watercolors from scratch. They must have the following properties: quickly absorb water, have flexibility and the ability to immediately return to their previous shape, and also have smooth, non-puffy hairs. Watercolor brush handles are always short. A wide flat brush is used to remove excess paint, since its hairs have increased rigidity. The blur brush is used to paint over the background. It is large enough and soft, so it easily changes its shape and does not dry out, keeping water and paint in the hairs. Brushes for work can be of various sizes, which vary depending on the technique used.

Watercolor painting paper

The paper you choose is also important. It is not difficult to determine its quality. If the paper is thick and does not delaminate, as well as well glued, then there is no doubt about its quality. At the right choice drawing papers can be painted with watercolors without fear that the water will slowly absorb and the paints will brighten. Pay attention to the graininess of the drawing paper. Fine-grained paper is suitable for accurate reproduction of small details. For general applications, you can choose medium grain paper. And to perform specific patterns, coarse-grained is required. It has a rough surface and a distinct texture. This type of paper is heavy and often handcrafted. Grain-free paper is not suitable for watercolor painting as it will warp.

Correctly selected paints are the key to success

Choosing the right colors is also important for those interested in learning how to paint with watercolors. For beginners, the usual school ones are also suitable. But if an immature artist is nevertheless aimed at a good result, it is better to give preference to professional ones. It will take some effort to get the paint in the trays ready for painting. First, you need to drop a little water from the brush into the paint so that it softens a little. The convenience of such paints lies in the fact that there is no need to look for additional containers. If the artist has some experience in drawing with watercolors, then paints in tubes are suitable for him. Then you can create the desired palette yourself.

On the other hand, amateurs can also use these paints if they buy a ready-made set with many tubes. Although paint kits are sold in twelve and thirty-six units, not all colors are used. In any case, there is a need to mix different paints to obtain the desired or unusual shade... In principle, a novice artist will need no more than ten commonly used tones.

Warm or cold tones

Those who want to learn how to learn how to paint with watercolors need to understand warm and cold colors. If the paint is based on red or yellow, then it will be considered warm. And blue and purple shades belong to cold ones. Please note that green, purple, gray and black color have unique feature and can refer to both the cold type of paint and warm. The initial tone may depend on the specificity of the color scheme and the influence of the surrounding shades. The main colors are considered to be blue, yellow and red. All others that can be obtained by mixing are called derivatives.

Stages of drawing

Learning to paint with watercolors in stages is not at all as difficult as it might seem at first glance. First you need to get a pencil, preferably with a solid shaft, so that the lines are only slightly visible. Next, sketch out the main details of the drawing. After that, you can immediately take up the watercolor. There is no need to rush here. First, you need to think carefully about what colors and shades are desirable for the selected pattern. Having decided on colors, paint can be started. The first step is to paint with translucent colors. After all, adding tone is easier than removing it. To do this, you need to dilute the paint with water. After the foundations are applied, you can add color to the drawing to get rich. To obtain dark tones, the brush is blotted with a napkin after soaking in water. Next, the brush is dipped in paint, and lines are drawn on the paper. It is important to remember about the shadows, which must be thought out before you start painting. This is important to know for future artists who are interested in how to learn how to paint with watercolors for beginners in stages.

Removing borders

In order to get rid of the difference between shadow and light, you need to create a smooth transition. This means that all colors must be mixed. To do this, the brush is dipped into the water so that all the remaining paint on the hairs is washed off. Next, dry the brush and make sure there is no paint on it at all. Then the bristles of the brush must be immersed in water again. After that, the brush is placed on the distinction between the light and dark parts, a line is drawn. Thus, the clear border will blur, and it will be impossible to determine exactly where the shadow ends and the light begins.

Draw a landscape

Nature lovers who want to learn how to learn how to draw should first outline the main compositional lines on paper. When drawing a zone of the sky, it must be remembered that this section of the paper is first wetted with water. Further, while the sky area has not yet had time to dry, thinned light yellow paint is applied to its lower part. Top part colored red or Orange color... The shade borders are erased with a damp brush.

Experiments with green

How to learn how to paint beautifully with watercolors and easily operate with different colors on paper? This is much easier than it sounds. The only difficulty can arise with in green... Very often, artists have problems using this tone in their works. In order not to be mistaken and to choose the right shade correctly, you need to know a few rules. You cannot lighten green with yellow. To tone down rich greens, just add a drop of base red. And to give greenery a darker shade, a cold blue tone is often used. Knowing these basic rules on how to learn how to paint with watercolors, you can draw a great landscape from the very first time with a mysterious sky in the background and bright green foliage in the front of the drawing.

The most important thing in teaching watercolor painting technique is not to grab onto everything at once. It is necessary to gradually increase your level of brushwork, as well as the ability to correctly handle the color scheme. Some artists prefer to use only soft and warm colors in their works, while others, on the contrary, use cold and saturated colors. It is not easy to find your way in creating watercolor masterpieces. The main thing is that the drawing touches the senses, then the hand itself will begin to draw the necessary lines, and the brush will add graceful color shades. Consistency in learning how to paint with watercolors is very important. You always have to go from simple things to complex ones, at each stage of development, acquire new skills and consolidate knowledge with the help of constant practice.

In the first article on watercolor drawings, I decided to touch on a set of basic accessories that will be needed when watercolor painting... Of course, when working with watercolors, the set of tools will be slightly larger than for drawing with pencils. In this and further articles I will describe purely my experience of mastering and working with watercolors, and not as described in many books about watercolors - "everything about everything." I will only tell you what I myself have managed to try. Therefore, if somewhere you come across some other methods or interpretations of certain terms in watercolor, then do not be surprised, this is quite possible.

Watercolor- a rather capricious material for a novice artist. Firstly, because paints tend to blur and go out of control, and secondly, the details are drawn with a brush, and not with a hard pencil. So I decided that to the topic watercolor drawings we will fit smoothly starting with the basics and accessories.

So what accessories do I have for watercolor painting?

1. PAINTS

I'll start with the paints themselves. I use cheap firms " Ray"(those for schoolchildren):

Luch watercolor paints

and more expensive company paints " Nevskaya Palitra", in tubes:

paints by "Nevskaya Palitra"

Almost any are suitable for training, which are not a pity to spend on experiments. The main thing is that they have only three colors - yellow, red, blue. As many probably know, all other colors can be easily obtained from them.

For each package, I make sure to make a test sheet with each shade out of the box. For example, for a Luch box, I divided the sheet into the number of cells corresponding to the location of the colors in the box. And then I painted over each cell with the corresponding color. Moreover, the paints were applied to a wet sheet to obtain different transitions and shades for each color. Thus, I will roughly know the possibilities and shades of each color in the box, which will help a lot when drawing in the future.

2. PAPER

I am still experimenting with paper, which I recommend to you too. different firms have different quality paper properties, especially the ability to retain moisture. Only personal experimentation will help you find the most suitable paper for your drawing style. I use both different sketchbooks and more specialized paper for watercolor... Of the latter, I purchased a couple of albums of the Gosznak brand - cellulose and embossed "Flax". Both with a density of 200g / sq.m.

It should be noted right away that it is easier to draw on thicker paper (300 - 600 g / m2). Thick paper often retains moisture well and is good for wet painting.

By the way, I will not recommend paper with embossed "Linen" (on the photo album on the left), because in my experiments, she showed herself not the most the best way- After several layers or too much moisture, pellets have formed on the paper. Therefore, for a start, I would advise using albums or folders with Gosznak brand cellulose paper, since they are now sold almost everywhere. Look in stores for the inscriptions " State sign"on the back of folders and albums, and also pay attention to the density value. If paper with a density of 160 g / m2 is conveniently suitable for drawing with a pencil, then for watercolor it is advisable to take from 200 g / m2 and above. Choose any format, which one you like.

There are also other types of cold and hot-pressed paper, the choice is quite huge, so only experimentation will reveal the most suitable paper for painting in watercolor. Perhaps we will talk about this topic on the pages of the site.

3. BRUSHES

To understand which brushes are needed in a drawing, it is worth remembering what tasks we have to solve with them. For myself, I chose: 1) Broad or flat brushes. Used for pouring paint large areas, background. Here my choice fell on round squirrel brushes and flat synthetic ones. For example, number 18 (flat), 8 (round, squirrel).

2) Round brushes with a pointed end. With these brushes, I perform the main details of the picture, shadows, highlights and more. Your working size will depend on the format you are painting in. In my set for these purposes there are brushes with numbers 6, 9, 12. When choosing a brush, the main attention should be paid to its tip. The tip should remain sharp when drawing water into the brush. Cheap brushes for children do not always meet this requirement. Therefore, it is better to buy immediately higher quality brushes. Moreover, a brush is the artist's main tool, no less important than a pencil.

3) Thin round brushes. Used for the final detail of the picture. That is, these are usually the smallest brush sizes that allow you to draw small details in the drawing. For example, numbers 0, 1, 3.

That is, speaking roughly, then you only need 3 brushes: 1) big- to fill the background 2) average- to complete the main figure 3) small- for drawing details

I mostly use synthetic brushes because they are resilient and hold the paint well. This set of brushes is enough for drawing:

Some of the brushes I haven't even used until now. coped with a much smaller set.

4. AUXILIARY MATERIALS

1) Masking fluid

Sennelier Macing Liquid

A very interesting and useful tool. If possible, be sure to purchase. For those who do not know - masking fluid applied to those areas that do not need to be painted over yet. After the background is painted over, the masking fluid is removed with a finger, exposing white paper, on which the remaining details are subsequently drawn. Many of you have probably seen examples of watercolor painting using masking fluid on the Internet.

2) A can of water Or rather, not one, but two. This is preferable if you want your watercolors to be cleaner. One bank should always contain pure water to be used for painting and thinning paints. In another jar, you need to rinse the brush. Here the water quickly becomes dirty.

3) Rag An extremely desirable attribute in order to wring out the brush and remove excess water from the brush.

4) Palette We need a palette to get different shades of color by mixing colors. Because watercolor is often diluted with a large amount of water, it is better to abandon paper palettes and use plastic ones, because on paper, water will be absorbed quickly. Flat plates or the plastic lids of some watercolor boxes work very well for this.

5) Tablet Optional attribute, but desirable for paper tension. Because when water is applied to paper, bumps will form and the paper will begin to warp, then it is best to fix it on the tablet. This can be done with clamps, duct tape, or, if you are going to paint on wet, stick the wet sheet onto a glass or plastic tablet.

So let's summarize briefly what we need to paint with watercolor:

1. paints
2. paper
3. brushes
4. palette
5. tablet
6. cans of water
7. rag

If you compare with the list of tools when working with colored pencils (packaging of pencils + paper), then of course there are more objects. But, as they say - art requires sacrifice 🙂

The rest of the tools and materials need not be mentioned yet, because with the set above, it is already quite possible to create masterpieces. The use of masking liquid, salt, a toothbrush and other exotic things is not canceled, and perhaps in the future we will consider some of them in more detail.

That's all for now. In one of the following articles, we will deal with the basics of working with watercolors, because without them nowhere. Follow the newsletter and leave your comments below.