Common Mistakes in Watercolor Painting and How to Avoid Them
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Common Mistakes in Watercolor Painting and How to Avoid Them

by Designs Digital Agency 05 Jun 2024

Do you want to learn how to paint with watercolors at a level that is higher than the majority of beginners? The response is really rather straightforward. All you need to accomplish is comprehend the guidelines!   

I call these guidelines "The Golden Rules of Watercolor. Which I wish to share with you in this blog has helped me improve my watercolor painting over the years. Once you comprehend and put these principles into practice, you'll see just how unexpectedly simple it can be to create a significant difference in your watercolor paintings.  

  • Work from light to dark. 
  • In order to comprehend the first rule, think about what makes watercolor painting unique from other painting mediums. Working from light to dark is the solution!  
  • This is how a watercolor subject is traditionally built up. It's among the first concepts that beginners must understand, and watercolor paints are special in this regard. This kind of painting frequently calls for some planning. Additionally, as watercolors are painted in reverse compared to other paint mediums, artists switching from traditional paints like oils or acrylics to watercolors will need to relearn the painting process!  
  • When Watercolor Dries, It Gets Lighter 

If you've been using watercolor for a time, you might have observed that as it dries, the color becomes lighter. There is a drying shift in watercolors, which causes them to lighten and lose part of their color saturation. When the paper dries, the pigment concentration on its surface changes as the water evaporates, which is primarily responsible for the paper's lightening effect. All of the water in watercolors evaporates when they dry. The smallest pigment particles sink into the cellulose fibers of the paper, where they are shielded from light, while some pigments remain on the surface. Because of this, the pigment's ability to reflect colored light to the viewer's eye is reduced, giving the impression that the paint has faded.  

  • White Originates in the Paper 
  • Watercolors use the paper as their source of white. Paints in oils or gouache are not the same as watercolors. The white and lighter tones are actually derived from the paper itself, not from white paint applied on top. Another explanation for our preference to paint from light to dark is this. Any white shapes must be prepared ahead of time. For instance, masking fluid is frequently used to create the highlights that I just described. Thus, in a watercolor painting, the paper truly does matter. When you paint with watercolors for a while, it becomes second nature to plan your whites ahead of time. 
  • The Transparency of Watercolors 
  • Artists who use several layers of color can produce amazing results. Glazing is applying a single, translucent color wash over a paint layer that has already dried. Every underlying color affects how a painting looks in the end, and artists can add layers to their paintings to enhance tones and make delicate mixes. Glazing resembles color mixing in real time on paper in that layer upon layer is used to produce the desired effect. Watercolor paintings gain depth and intricacy from this transparency.  
  • Cherish the Water Cycle 
  • Watercolor paper that has been wet-washed passes through several drying stages. The "water cycle" is the term for this. The article generally goes through four different. Wet but not wet, the way pigments react on the paper surface is influenced by these states.  

In Summary  

Now that you are aware of the tips, you ought to occasionally heed them. Therefore, please use these pointers and draw your conclusions! Shatter them! Make a change and observe the lessons that arise.
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