Watercolour Can Be Great
Watercolour painting, in general, has a less than excellent reputation. It’s not hard to see why, is it? No. The majority of people who paint with watercolours are over the age of sixty, and many of these paint nice local scenes such as churches and cottages, or their favourite Hotel in Looe where they got married. This may be all good and well, but it’s hardly progress. The point is that watercolour is an incredible thing which can be used for so much more than it usually is.
Here are some tips for producing watercolour paintings that exploit all the amazing qualities of this actually quite fantastic medium:
1) You don’t have to paint churches. Why not paint something else? Watercolour is great because it’s water-based (duh) and easily transportable. What’s more it dries fast. The same can’t be said for oils.
2) Don’t be shy about using a decent amount of paint. For some unexplained reason, some people think that because watercolour can be used to make ‘washes’, that means it has to be used ever so delicately. This is not the case. Watercolour can be used with little water to create powerful colours that many mistake for acrylics.
3) Go big. Many people are afraid to use large sheets of paper when painting in watercolour, yet the nature of the medium means that an entire sky can be created in literally seconds. Don’t be put off. Experiment and be daring!
4) Take some paper towel with you and try things out. The beauty of watercolour is that if you’re not happy you can quickly remove the paint.
5) Use big brushes to make big, sweeping strokes that stretch from one side of the paper to the other. The bigger the brush, the more paint you can load it with.
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