9 Painting Tips for Beginners

The Nuts and Bolts You Need

There are so many books and essays written on general painting and drawing techniques but sometimes the little practical things can make your time in the studio easier. Here are some day-to-day “nuts and bolts” painting tips for beginners from one of our favorite instructors, Johannes Vloothuis.

Check out Johannes’ watercolor (and more!) words of wisdom and works of inspiration and then join him for more landscape painting in Paint Along: Create Drama with Weather Effects. You’ll create unique and attention-grabbing landscape paintings with the painting lessons in this live online art workshop! Enjoy!

Spritzing and More

1. If you want to correct a watercolor mistake, the easiest way is to use a spray bottle. The stream of water works like a pressure washer. To do this in a localized area, you can spray out a specific silhouette. First, cover the general area with masking tape and then use a utility knife to cut out the silhouette. This works really well for rocks or buildings. By avoiding staining colors such as Hooker’s Green or alizarin crimson, the aftermath of spraying will leave almost no residue of the previous paint.

2. If you intend to paint a risky subject, such as a portrait, there’s a product called Lifting Preparation, which is to be applied before you paint. You apply this directly on the watercolor paper. This leaves a protective film between the paper and pigment. Then you can spray off the paint easily and start over. It works like Scotchgard to protect fabric on furniture.

3. There’s also a product called Watercolor Ground that allows you to add a new layer of “watercolor paper.” Several layers will have to be applied before resulting in 100 percent opacity. You also can use this to prime another surface that isn’t watercolor paper, such as wooden boards or plastic or metallic surfaces.

4. There’s only one way to keep your paper from buckling. Mount it pre-soaked on a Guerrilla Watercolor board. The metal clasps pull the paper every inch and fasten 100 percent of the four sides, leaving no margin for buckling.

Pastels and Lines

5. There’s relatively new product called Pan Pastels that enables you to paint over an overworked area and even shift the color. The great thing about this is that the addition isn’t even noticeable because the dust particles are very small.

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Author: Courtney Jordan |