I’m a loyal believer of the benefits of always trying new things, especially if they are skills/life-styles that you deeply admire. If you thought they will bring you joy, fulfillment or any type of experience, just do it. You won’t regret it.

Correspondingly, lately here in Steemit I have seen some marvelous watercolors’ artists and just looking at their works makes me feel an immense peace and delight. I’m more of a “pencils and markers” type of girl but something about them attracts me and I can’t stop looking at them. They scream freedom and creativity.

So, after some deliberation I decided to go and buy a set of watercolors with my crypto earnings (yes!) and I spend the whole week crazily painting and learning by trial and error. I have never used them before so I’m a complete newbie and boy… it has been a roller-coaster. It is hard! But it’s extremely fun and pleasing to paint with them. I will tell you a couple of things I learned during this process and I hope it will impulse you try them too.

1. Water is your frenemy

As its name indicates, watercolor is a water-based medium so the results of the artwork heavily depend in how the water is used. You need it to bring colors to life, also to adjust them, so they can be lighter or darker depending of the amount of water that you add. Besides, if you wet the paper before applying the watercolor, it makes the colors flow and blend with each other creating wonderful effects. However, the line between ”enough water” and “too much water” is thin; hence, it requires a lot of practice to learn when to stop and where to apply it. It’s unpredictable, so you can end up accidentally mixing colors that you don’t want to mix and get frustrated because you felt you did a disaster.

So I have been struggling with controlling the water all these days, but as I keep experimenting with less or more water, I feel things have started to get easier.

2. Change the water frequently

This is something I wish I knew sooner. With some other paints like acrylics, it’s not that important to replace the water so frequently, because they don’t absorb it so much. This is not the case with watercolors, they need fresh and clean water so the colors don’t get muddy (and they do it pretty fast). If you don’t let the brush perfectly clean, it will affect your colors and make them all dirty and brownish.

I learned that if you keep 2 recipients, one to clean the brushes and one wet the brush before using a new color, you will obtain better results. You can use more if you prefer, it’s up to you what works better for you.

3. Always keep paper towels close

Watercolors can be very spontaneous so there are some things that we won’t be able to fully control. You can make mistakes when mixing the colors; the brush can drip in the paper without you wanting it, you can add way too much water and make a puddle. Nonetheless, this is not the end of the world (or the end of your artwork). While the watercolors are still wet, you can easily remove them without a problem.

Therefore, you should always have a tissue or a paper towel to wipe the things you want to fix and after they dry, you won’t even notice they were there in the first place. (But remember to do it softly!)

4. Patience is key

I can’t stress this enough. You need to let the watercolors dry before applying new layers or they will combine with the first one (I ruined many paintings for being impatient!). Also, it’s important to let them dry to actually see the final results, because they will never be as dark as they look when they are wet.

There’s a very cool technique called “glazing” where you apply additional layers of the same color so they look richer or you can apply another color and create a different value. Watercolors are translucent so they let you play with their opacity.

5.Never be afraid

Yes, the colors can mix, they can go everywhere and sometimes it will look like they have life in their own. It can be a mistake but also this mistake can become a creative artwork. Watercolors have a magical feeling and some things that you thought would look bad actually look amazing. So, experiment without fear and you will be surprised of how many beautiful things you can create.

I haven’t progressed much this week but I know that with dedication some day I will be able to be a great artist too ;)

© 2018, Hayleen García. All material is mine unless otherwise stated