Watercolour paints come in hundreds of colours, various levels of quality, and have certain attributes such as transparency versus opaqueness and staining versus non-staining. They also come in tubes, pans, sticks, and even markers. This makes it hard for the beginner to determine what to buy. Suggested Colours for Beginners A cool and warm version…
Last week my tip was for those already painting in watercolours so I thought I’d take a step back and start at the beginning. This tip is about the quality of your substrate as it is important to use the best product you can afford. Paper The paper needs to be absorbent and able to…
Painting in watercolour has a bad rap. You’ll hear comments such as “you can’t control watercolour”, “the finished painting is pale and washed out looking”, “modern painters find it an old-fashioned medium”, and “you have to frame with mat and under glass”. Actually, none of these comments are true. Let’s take a look at some…
Have you ever lost the white highlight in a watercolour painting? Or needed to remove a backrun? To the rescue comes a pastel stick! Award-winning professional artist Johannes Vloothuis teaches this trick to his students. The pastel cannot be detected and your painting has been saved. The following images are taken from Johannes’ “Paint Along…
Are you throwing away your masking brushes after just a few uses? An inexpensive brush makes a great tool for applying masking fluid. But does yours get to look like this, no matter how diligent you are to clean it with soap and water? …