How to paint with watercolors. Watercolor painting lesson for beginners. Tools and materials. Blending and transparency. What you need to work with this type of paint

Drawing a landscape in watercolor step by step for children from 5 years old. Master class with step by step photo

Master class in watercolor painting from 5 years old "Landscape". Acquaintance with watercolor paints

Author: Natalya Alexandrovna Ermakova, lecturer, Municipal Budgetary educational institution additional education for children "Children's Art School named after A. A. Bolshakov", the city of Velikie Luki, Pskov region.
Description: the master class is intended for children from 5 years old and their parents, educators, teachers of additional education.
Purpose: interior decoration, gift, drawing for exhibitions and competitions.
Target: creating a landscape in watercolor.
Tasks:
- to introduce children to the profession of an artist, to give an idea of the fine arts and painting;
- teach how to work with watercolor: wetting paints before painting, diluting with water to get different shades of the same color, thoroughly washing the brush.
- to teach how to work with color when creating a landscape using watercolor technique;
- exercise in working with different numbers of brushes;
- Raise interest in the visual arts.

I have a pencil
colorful gouache,
watercolor, palette, brush
And a thick sheet of paper
And also - an easel-tripod,
Because I ... (artist)
Hello dear guests! Wonderful profession of an artist. He should take paper, brushes, paints. There was nothing on paper, but the first lines appeared: one, the other - the picture is ready.
An artist can draw everything: a house, a forest, people, animals. And the artist paints pictures. And writes according to his plan, like a writer
An artist is a person who knows how to see beauty in the ordinary, remembers his impressions and knows how to express his thoughts and fantasies on paper, stone or other material.

The artist knows how to create new worlds in his paintings and drawings, unprecedented beauties and outlandish animals, and sometimes something completely new, the colors on the drawings turn into fireworks of colors and shades, they cause incredible joyful emotions.
The first artists appeared in the Stone Age. The role of canvas or paper was then played by the walls of stone caves and various household items of ancient people, and charcoal and mineral dyes served as paints for artists. The work of the artist was closely connected with the manufacture of paints, and people considered this to be a magical act. Much later, people began to paint icons, portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and they began to call it all the world. visual arts(the art of capturing images).

So, artists are people involved in fine arts, there are many different directions in this profession:
-Artist-artist in the broad sense of the word (he can do everything)
-A person who makes visual arts
-Graphic artist-engaged in graphics (pencil drawings, charcoal, felt-tip pens)
-Photo artist-does photo art
-Artist-animator
-Illustrator

- Painter - painting.
Painting is the art of representing objects with colors. One of the types of fine arts associated with the transmission of visual images by applying paint to a rigid or flexible surface. The name came from the two words "live" (live) and "write" (draw) - that's how it turns out to write like a living thing, and the artists involved in painting began to be called painters.

V art gallery
There are very, very many of them.
On this sea we see
And over there on that road.
Oil, watercolor
Creation artists. (Paintings)
There are many different directions (themes for drawing) in painting, consider some of them:
If you see what's in the picture
Someone looks at us
Or a prince in an old cloak,
Or a climber in a robe,

Pilot or ballerina
Or Kolya, your neighbor,
Be sure to picture
It's called a portrait.

If you see in the picture
A cup of coffee on the table
Or juice in a large decanter,
Or a rose in crystal
Or a bronze vase
Or a pear, or a cake,
Or all items at once,
Know that this is a still life.

If you see in the picture
The river is drawn
Or spruce and white frost,
Or a garden and clouds
Or a snowfield
Or a field and a hut,
Be sure to picture
It's called landscape

The artist writes his paintings and drawings with the help of various paints - gouache, watercolor and many other paints. True artist first of all, he always gets acquainted with his paints, studies their properties, colors and shades. Conducts experiments on mixing paints and obtaining new colors, dilutes them with water or draws thickly, saturated. Today we will get acquainted with watercolor, what kind of paints are they?
Their name is associated with water because "Aqua" means "water". When you dissolve them with water and start drawing, the effect of lightness, airiness, subtle color transitions is created. Before painting, paints must be moistened with water. We dip the brush in clean water and shake off the drops on the paints, without touching them with the bristle of the brush.
Before you start drawing, you need to try the colors. Each color is tried on paper, we pick up paint on a brush and draw small specks of the color of each paint. And you can immediately see which paint is transparent, and which is strong-saturated. Very important feature watercolor paints is, the more you dilute them with water, the more transparent they will appear, well, if you add less water, the colors will be more saturated. After trying each color, you need to wash the brush so as not to stain the paints. Watercolor paint is sonorous, transparent, loves cleanliness. After we got acquainted with all the colors, we can conduct experiments on mixing different colors, two, or even three. Remember which paint is friends with which, or vice versa, their friendship ends badly and it turns out a dirty puddle.
Three colors, three colors, three colors
Guys, isn't that enough?
And where can we get green, orange?
And if we mix paints in pairs?
From blue and red (this one)
We will get the color ... (purple).
And we mix blue with yellow.
What color do we get? (green)
And red plus yellow, it's not a secret for everyone,
They will give us of course ... (orange color).
This exercise to get acquainted with colors is carried out before the main task, the children respond with joy and experiment with color. Such an exercise can be carried out on a separate piece of paper, but it is better to have a "cheat sheet" album, where the children will each time do exercises to get acquainted with color and learn various painting techniques.

Materials and tools:
-a sheet of paper A3 (for landscape)
- A4 sheet for color testing (or an album)
-watercolor
-brushes of three numbers (large, medium, thin)
- a simple pencil, an eraser (for the youngest children, they can draw a horizon line)
- glass for water
-cloth for brushes

Master class progress:

I see a land hitherto unknown.
Around the land is well-groomed.beautiful...
But to me, my soul, it is so charming here!
So wide is the beauty of my Russia!
Today we will draw a landscape for kids good role plays a show of the future drawing and its consideration - what is depicted on it.

The landscape begins at the border of heaven and earth - this is the horizon line, where they meet each other. We draw the horizon line with the tip of the brush, then we begin to paint over the sky from the very top of the sheet in a horizontal direction. I always draw with the kids, a new technique, a new detail of the work and the children repeat this in their drawing.

Brush strokes should be large, smooth, use the largest brush. The paint must be well diluted with water, and try to create an even, uniform background.

Then, from the horizon line, draw the earth, the field (green). Brush after each color must be thoroughly rinsed. Paint over the surface in a horizontal direction, with a large brush, in green with a large amount of water.

Now we take a brush of medium size, draw it with the tip. Emerald paint color - draw hills, the paint is bright and saturated.

Using a clean brush and water, blur the emerald lines of the hills, from emerald to basic green. So that you get a smooth transition from color to color. Work is progressing with the addition a large number water, almost on a damp background (therefore, the work shines). Excess water can be removed by dabbing with a cloth.

We leave the field to dry and return to work on the sky. We collect red paint on the brush and draw a rich stripe above the horizon line.

My brush, with a clean brush with water, draw a line along the lower edge of the red stripe, blur it.

Similarly, add orange and yellow colors.

Now with vertical small strokes we draw blades of grass, the farther they are from us, the smaller.

Then wash the brush, wring it out and lightly smear the blades of grass, as if rubbing them with a brush. We draw a red sun.

Clapping a brush on a sheet, draw shrubs.

On the horizon line, draw a saturated blue line - a forest in the distance. And with a thin brush of a blade of grass in the foreground of the picture.

With a thin brush we make vertical blue lines, where there is a forest, these are trees.

Wonderful in it watercolor pencils and paints are used together. A detailed step-by-step description in pictures by Rod Webb will allow you to create a good drawing right away.

Step #1

Preparing watercolor paper for comfortable drawing. We fix the sheet on the tablet, if you need to pull it, then we pull it. We transfer the contours of the drawing to it with a soft pencil.

Step #2

We designate the lightest tone of our bulb. We take a little natural sienna and apply a transparent layer. With a soft, clean cloth or napkin, we remove the paint in those places where there will be very light, almost white highlights with wetting movements.

Step #3

After the first layer of paint has dried well, with a clean wet brush we moisten our bulb in some places (see the figure below) and apply a reddish tint with wide strokes. Again, blot the paint in bright areas with a piece of crumpled cloth to keep the zest.

Step #4

While the paper is still not completely dry, add more brown-red spots. Use a small round brush for this. Please note that we are starting to draw the texture of the onion peel. This time, the spots should be smaller and more specific.

Step #5

The outer skin of the onion has a slightly different hue. For her, in the natural sienna, with which we are already working, we add a lemon-yellow pigment. We tint a piece of husk. And immediately, while the layer of paint is not yet dry, we apply a few light red strokes where darker places are planned.

Step #6

A mixture of natural sienna and yellow paint is applied in a transparent layer over the entire surface of the bulb.

Step #7

Immediately, while the new layer of paint is still very wet (!), again remove some paint in the main light areas. Use a clean, damp, soft bristle brush for this. For example, a large round squirrel brush. Dip it in a glass of clean water, shake off excess water on the edge of the container, as much as possible. And directly with a brush, collect excess paint from bright places on the bulb. The paint from the sheet will be absorbed into the brush and the desired area on the paper will brighten. Such artistic technique gives soft edges to the stain.

Step #8

This time we will not dry the layer, but directly on the wet will set the volume and main shadows. With a thick soft watercolor brush, apply a light red tone. This time we pick up the paint more juicier: less water, more pigment than in the previous transparent layers.

Step #9

We still do not dry the drawing, but continue to layer on wet. We collect burnt umber on the tip of the brush and outline the edges with right side. The shadow should be noticeable, pick up the normal amount of paint.

We continue to draw the upper tip of the broken pen, slightly emphasize the other edges.

Step #10

After applying the first shadows and marking the edges, let the drawing dry well. We need to emphasize the reddish-brown barrel without affecting the rest of the drawing, but the paint needs to be added organically. To do this, again with a clean brush we wet the surface of the picture and add brown paint to the right side.

Step #11

We continue to paint wet. Now we need a dark brown watercolor pencil. To them we thinly, and for now, preliminary, draw thin vertical veins that pass through the onion peel. Follow the shape of the bulb. Do not draw these lines strongly and boldly.

Step #12

With a black watercolor pencil, we bring onion veins in some places. Add dark strokes to the base of the onion.

Step #13

Using a combination of burnt umber and light red-brown, we apply a darkening in the middle of the lying skin. Use a thin brush for this: zero or one. Or a rigger brush if you have one.

NOTE: A rigger brush is a special brush for calligraphy or line art. She is very thin and her hair tuft has an elongated conical shape.

Step #14

We continue to work on the shadows and subtle details.

Step #15

Again we take a finely sharpened black watercolor pencil and with it we do two things. First: there are also vertical streaks on the fallen onion peel. We carefully emphasize them with a thin interrupted line.

watercolor and watercolor pencil mixed media

Step #16

And the second thing that we will do with a pencil: draw a few hairs of thin roots in the right place near the bulb.

Step #17

It's the turn to draw a shadow from our vegetable. To do this, moisten the paper to the right of the bulb, where the shadow falls. Wet the stain over size than needed. Then the paint will gently dissipate over the wet spot and the shadow will come out with a naturally soft edge.

For the shadow, we mix the following pigments: burnt umber + ultramarine blue. Apply the entire shadow first a small amount paints. And then, wet, add darkness next to the bulb. In the same way, we will make a shadow under the skin lying next to it.

While the paper is still not completely dry, draw a thick enough brown-red paint on a thin brush and mark the inner edge of the bulb, in the place of contact with the shadow.

Step #18

The shadows need to be made a little warmer, because the bulb is giving them a little of its shade. Wet the drawn shadow again with clean water and apply a transparent layer of brown paint. Quite a bit, not bringing the shadow to the edge, just next to the bulb.

Step #19

The glare we got was not noticeable enough. You will have to remove a little layer of paper to brighten it. Only without fanaticism! Slightly rub with a grout or eraser. You can also scrape the area with a sharp hobby knife to get a brighter highlight.

Let's paint more shadows around a piece of husk at the base of the bulb, select it itself. And add more darkening under the bulb with the help of burnt umber.

I hope you enjoyed this watercolor tutorial for beginners step by step. The author of the lesson is an artist Rod Webb: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~rodw/

Watercolor painting is an interesting process that allows you to depict thoughts, fantasies, dreams, positive emotions on paper with colored paints.

The process helps to relax the soul and body, it eliminates negative emotions, negative energy, stress.

Not everyone can boast of excellent skills and knowledge in this matter. Some people don't have the will and some don't have the time.

But these are trifles, if you start to study in depth drawing with watercolors, then it will draw you in with its diversity.

Drawing tools

You can paint with watercolors on your own at home, the main thing is to carefully prepare for this matter.

To make learning easy and hassle-free, you need to purchase the necessary drawing tools. They must be comfortable and of good quality.

It is worth noting! Go to a special art supply store. In this place you will find suitable watercolors.

Preference should be given to sets of medium size, consisting of 12-18 colors. Most importantly, it should not be childish.

In addition to paints, you will also need other drawing tools:

shallow container with wide sides. The tool will be required to mix different colors of paints.
Compulsory The brush is the drawing tool. There should be several brushes with sizes from 0 to 6.
Preference should be given to products with mixed fibers. It is easier for beginners to mix paints with a brush number 3.
cup for water. Water is needed for grading washes.
Napkins from a paper base. With their help, it is eliminated excess water and paint.
Simple pencils with hard-soft or hard lead for sketching the outline of the drawing.

What should be the paper?

Paper is of particular importance, and it must be special. A simple thin canvas will not convey the brightness and naturalness of the pattern. As it dries, it usually crusts over and the colors become dull.

Preference should be given to thick, glued paper, it should not delaminate.

But in order to choose it correctly, you should carefully study the selection criteria:

Criterion	Description
Manufacturing variant and marking	Hot pressing. This variety has a smooth surface, this quality is ensured by drying the wet cloth with a heated press. This variety is suitable for painting with several pigments, such as watercolors and liner.
	Cold pressing. It has a medium or large grain, slightly rough to the touch. All these qualities give high adhesion of the paint to the surface.
	Textured paper. The production process is accompanied by natural drying without pressing. Has coarse grain
Density index	To work with watercolors, you should use a canvas with a density of at least 200 grams per square meter. Some experienced artists prefer to use a canvas with a density of 400-600 grams per square meter.
Compound	Paper for watercolor painting is made from two components - cotton or cellulose. Cotton canvas perfectly absorbs moisture and paint, so it is easier to depict effects, bright colors on it. Suitable for layering technique. But cellulose absorbs moisture worse, for this reason paper from this substance can be used for wet drawing techniques.
Paper forms	Watercolor paper is sold in rolls, as separate sheets, 4-sided gluing, notepads, sketchbooks

In order to learn how to paint with watercolor from scratch, you should carefully study the technique. The advice of experienced artists will be useful in this matter. They will help create a portrait, still life or vivid landscape.

In order to embody ideas with paints on canvas, it is worth studying tips and advice for beginners from experienced artists:

Consider that when dried, the watercolor becomes light.
If you want the drawing to be saturated, then apply more paint, but use less water.
Desirable pre-check colors. You can use a piece of paper for this.
note that dried watercolor still remains soluble.
If it is moistened with a damp brush, then it will be possible to work with it again. But do it carefully, otherwise the canvas may be damaged.
Better move from light to dark. Not in watercolor white color, it is replaced by a piece of paper.
If you want to make the drawing bright, natural, then it is advisable to start with light, gradually darkening the work.
For drawing It is worth using a comfortable and high-quality brush. It should not be deformed, in the process of applying paint, hairs should not fall out of it.
Front Before starting to draw, carefully study the drawing that you want to depict.
It doesn’t matter at all what it will be - a forest, space, sea, sky, a bouquet of flowers, an apple or a watermelon, seasons (summer, autumn, winter, spring), any flowers (tulips, roses, lilies, poppies).
To begin with, study the object, its outlines, primary colors, this will help to correctly depict it on the canvas.

Step by step drawing techniques for beginners

To depict a beautiful portrait, landscape, nature, water, flowers, fruits and other bright moments of life with watercolors, you should carefully study the master classes for beginners, which can be done in stages or steps. They will help you quickly learn this business even at home.

Interesting! You can paint with watercolors with children, this process will seem fascinating and exciting to them.

Technics	Description
Gradient	Drawing begins with the image of a square or rectangle. Create a darker shade in the palette. Then a light color is applied, which merges with the dark. The result is a smooth transition from dark to light.
Glaze	The technique involves layer-by-layer application of paint. Before applying the paint, it is worth waiting for the previous layer to dry completely.
"Wet" technique	Wet painting. Moisture must be evenly distributed over the surface of the canvas. Then watercolor is applied, resulting in a spectacular drawing without borders.
Dry brush painting	Before you start applying watercolor, you need to sketch a drawing on a sheet with a simple pencil. This view is suitable for creating a portrait. The paint is applied with a semi-dry brush. It allows you to create hair, a clear outline of the face
Discoloration of paint that has dried	For work, you will additionally need a clean cloth and water. The area of the drawing that needs to be discolored must be moistened and wiped. Excess moisture can be removed with a dry brush.

To learn how to paint with watercolor, you can watch video tutorials on the Internet.

After studying all the principles of this process, you can easily depict any drawing - forest, trees (spruce, birch), space, sky, water, sea, oceans, landscapes, still lifes, as well as portraits of people.

Useful video

water paints

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

From single hobbies to universal recognition

Remarkable isolated examples occurred later, but this was an exception to the rule. Such generally recognized masters of the brush as Van Dyck, Giovanni Castiglione and Claude Loren dabbled in watercolor. In England, however, she received a special development thanks to Joseph Turner. Although even before him, watercolor painting was promoted by quite venerable English artists. Under Turner, watercolor became the leading art in this country, and in 1804 the Society of Watercolorists was created in England.

Excellent foreign watercolors

Watercolor came into fashion in France, other countries of Europe and America. It can be added that with the filing of the Argentine artist Rojo, the International Day of Watercolors was declared. It was first celebrated on November 23, 2001.

In the public domain you can see the amazing watercolors of 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 Russian watercolor portrait genre. Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts, he left to his descendants a slice of the era, as he captured contemporary Russia in his landscapes, portraits, everyday scenes. Karl Bryullov and A. A. Ivanov paid tribute to watercolor. V XVIII-XIX centuries she becomes very popular, especially her miniatures. But large works created with water colors are also remarkable. Particularly good are the paintings by Ilya Repin, Mikhail Vrubel, Valentin Serov, 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 pictorial genres, but landscapes are especially good. Watercolor can convey subtle color transitions, the saturation of space with air, the richness of each tone. That is why the flowering gardens in the landscapes made by aquarelle are so uniquely beautiful and multicolored.

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

Characteristic tricks

How are the effects inherent only in watercolor achieved? It is characterized by special techniques, it has its own rules and, of course, its own, prepared paints in a special way. Blurring and streaks are specific techniques of this genre. We must immediately make a reservation that watercolor painting 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 virtuosity 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 there are also such techniques as “washing”, “alla prima”, “dry brush”, “drops” and “wet”. Only virtuosos master them to perfection.

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, this is paper, less often silk. And this makes watercolor painting related to graphics.

When creating paintings with water-based paints, the paper is sometimes pre-moistened (“wet” technique), while the stroke acquires a special spreading shape, and the one applied next forms, merging with the previous one, a new shade, which is sometimes even difficult to predict.

Special fixtures

Paper dries quickly and warps. Therefore, the sheet must be stretched. This is achieved in several ways. You can put a wet sheet on the glass and then in the process of working tilt it at the right angle in order to save more moisture in the right area. It is clear that this method is not available to a beginner. There are special frames for sheet tension. They are called erasers. Place damp flannel under the paper to retain moisture. It all depends on the ratio of paint and water, and completely different shades are achieved. Various aids have been created for various techniques, 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 by quality into several types - Bristol cardboard, Whatman paper, torchon and many other types adapted for frequent wetting. Watercolorists use brushes made from delicate squirrel hair. Such brushes are used even in forensics. Suitable hair marten, ferret and badger.

When working with water-based paints, there is a lot that is included in the concept of "technique". You can work with watercolor, as mentioned above, both on dry paper and on wet paper. In the first case, there are 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 (glazing) implies only dry cardboard.

The most common approach

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

Actually paints

And what about paints? Their quality is achieved by a special grinding of the pigment and its quantity in the original product. To prevent the pigment from rolling into balls, ox bile, which is a surfactant that reduces tension, is added to the paint. Easily water-soluble adhesives gum arabic and dextrin (processed corn and potato starch) are incorporated into paints as binders.

To give them elasticity and plasticity, plasticizers such as glycerin are added to them, and invert sugar retains moisture well. most main claim to water paint is the uniformity of the coloring pigment. Bad colors remain on paper in the form of grains of sand. This is an indication of bad paint.

Watercolor marinas

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

All sorts of different ways

Ways such as whitening, punching, spattering, using masking tape and many others used by watercolorists, especially beginners, will help not only depict the sea in watercolor, but also turn work into a fun activity, especially if you draw with a child. But in serious adult works, different techniques are also used. Sometimes, to achieve the desired effect, you can put the 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 one, is limitless.

In our time, when the information field is so wide, when in any genre of fine or applied art that you have never heard of before, you can not only try yourself, but also exhibit your work, a great many people have discovered talents in themselves and have decided on the direction development of own skills. Moreover, on any issue there are a lot of available tips, master classes, recommendations and opportunities to purchase the items and tools 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-based paints is widely available.

Discover creative ideas watercolor painting on Craftsy!

Ready to learn painting? Here are 7 watercolor ideas for beginners and experienced painters alike..

1. Flowers

The translucent nature of flowers makes them a great subject for watercolor painting because watercolor paints allow you to start with very light tones and build up the hues and shadows as you go. Watercolor paints are also fluid. If you work on it, you can achieve a smooth texture that closely mimics the texture of the flower petals. Plus, who doesn't love flowers?

Learn how to draw realistic flowers with the Craftsy "Realistic Watercolors Step by Step" class, or get started with our free blog tutorial.

2. Landscapes

Whether you want to try air painting or paint a complex, layered landscape, watercolor is the perfect tool for the job! Take advantage of the light properties of watercolor paints to depict the sky, clouds, water and snow.

Landscapes are a good solution for beginners. You don't have to be precise with shapes and lines. Landscapes will also help you depict consistently what you imagine in your mind! Want to try? Get started with this step by step landscape painting tutorial.

3. Fruit

Watercolors by nature have a refreshing quality, especially if you leave some highlights here and there. This makes painting fruit with watercolor perfect. The fruits also have simple shapes, allowing you to practice creating highlights and shadows in a simple, straightforward way. Light and shadows are all contained in one form.

Beginning artists can create a fruit still life using the contents of a homemade fruit bowl. More advanced artists can paint from photographs of nature, including leaves and backgrounds.

4. Wildlife

It takes a little practice, but you can achieve many textures with watercolors. You can create soft, fuzzy strokes for the fur image; wide strokes for feathers; and stains of paint for scales. The possibilities here are endless. Draw your favorite animals, birds or insects using your texture arsenal and even create some new textures.

5. Architecture

Although complex, buildings lend themselves well to watercolor painting because they allow you to easily capture the textures of wood, stone, and brick with simple strokes. Even the clean structures of the buildings create an amazing contrast with the dirty organic forms of the landscapes around them.

6. Still life

Objects made of glass or porcelain are still life painting subjects because they reflect or transmit light. Watercolors are great at depicting light, so play with the reflections and have fun! Before you begin, read about the three main elements that every watercolor still life should include.

7. Portraits

For more advanced watercolorists, it is recommended to try your hand at watercolor portraits. They can be complex, but also very useful. The expressive nature of watercolor paints allows you to show the personality of your subjects. Get started with portraits along with the guides on our website.

How to paint with watercolors. Watercolor painting lesson for beginners. Tools and materials. Blending and transparency. What you need to work with this type of paint

Step #1

Step #2

Step #3

Step #4

Step #5

Step #6

Step #7

Step #8

Step #9

Step #10

Step #11

Step #12

Step #13

Step #14

Step #15

Step #16

Step #17

Step #18

Step #19