Watercolour Tips, Tricks & Techniques

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Watercolour Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Each week another free tip, trick or technique will be added to build up into a library of useful 'stuff'. These are the sorts of things I really wish someone had told me when I started watercolours.

They will also be posted weekly on Liz's YouTube channel, so if you have not already subscribed, please do and you will be emailed when a new one is available.

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You are invited to join a friendly Facebook Group to share your work or ask questions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/694706731930461

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Watercolour techniques

In this section you will find all sorts of watercolour techniques, from the fundamentals to the more experimental.

Every week I create a short film about a tip, trick or watercolour technique to share here and on my YouTube channel. These are the things I wish someone had told me when I was starting out.

If you would like to share your own tips and paintings, why not join my Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/watercolourstudiowithlizchaderton/

And if there is a topic you would like to see covered, please message me.

1. Colour sanding - using watercolour pencils for beautiful effect

2. How to use masking fluid - 8 Dos and 8 Don'ts

3. Colour mixing secrets

4. Mixing blacks and vibrant darks

5. Watercolour splatter technique

6. Lots of ways to use a spray bottle with watercolours

7. Adding the appearance of texture with plastic wrap

8. What could you use instead of plastic wrap in watercolour?

9. How to use salt in watercolour

10. How to avoid muddy watercolours

11. Top tips for encouraging granulation

12. How to use masking tape like a pro!

13. 27 ideas for creating textures and mini concertina sketchbook

14. How to paint watercolour on tissue paper

15. The importance of edges in watercolour

16. Painting shadows and tone in watercolour

17. How to paint believeable waterdrops

18. Bad habits - three things (well four) you really shouldn't do!

19. Why you must dry watercolour properly

20. How to preserve whites in watercolour

21. How to paint white subjects in watercolour

21. White duck reference

22. Colour value switching

23. Can you use a hairdryer on watercolours?

24. How to fix a buckled painting

25. Two ways to paint eggs and five speckle ideas

26. Painting flowers on black watercolour paper

27. Magnetic watercolours???

28. Paint Stunning Watercolour Eggs

29. Metallic watercolours for beginners - palm tree and sunset

30. How to use a Ruling Pen

31. How to add text to your paintings using letter punches

32. How to improve your watercolour paintings by using thumbnails

Watercolour supplies

In this section you will find lots of tips about the supplies you need to paint in watercolour, along with how to care for them and how to get the most out of them.

1. Deep cleaning brushes

2. Magic Eraser - top tips for using it with watercolour

3. Smallest paintbox ever!

4. Separating paint - what is that puddle of gunge?

5. How to save dried up paint tubes

6. How to stop your paint beading up on a plastic palette

7. How to make your own travel palette/set

8. Good and bad watercolour paper and why it really, really matters

9. What's going on in that tube of paint?? Learn all about your pigments

10. Review of black watercolour paper

11. Testing cheap metallic watercolours

12. Testing out acrylic inks - can you use them like watercolours?

13. Using Mixing balls to stop your ink separating

14. Is any gold paint as good as gold leaf?

15. Transfer spray

Watercolour on non traditional surfaces such as canvas and wood

Watercolours are traditionally painted on paper, but what if you could paint them on canvas and no long be restricted by size or the need to protect them with a mount and glass?

The advent of watercolour grounds lets the adventurous watercolourist do just that.

If you want to find out more please take a look at my best selling book 'Painting Watercolours on Canvas' published by The Crowood Press. And you will also find my full course for painting watercolours on canvas on this site. Finally, I run a friendly Facebook Group dedicated to the technique here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/watercolouroncanvas/

1. Make your own watercolour ground

2. Can you really wash off watercolour canvas?

3. How to make and use clear watercolour gorund

4. Layering watercolours on canvas

5. Using metal leaf in your art

6. How to get a dent out of your canvas

7. Can you use varnish to layer watercolour washes on canvas?

8. Painting watercolour on wood - part 1

Line and wash techniques

Line and wash is such a wonderful and versatile technique. It is where painting and drawing meet. You might also like my book 'Line and Wash Painting' published by The Crowood Press. The films in the Urban and Travel Sketching section are mostly line and wash too.

1. Which is the best pen for sketching?

2. Which comes first pen or wash?

4. What should artists look for in their pens and inks

3. Watercolour and ink doodling

5. Preparing a new nib for your dip pen

6. Using a dip pen and ink for line and wash painting

7. How good are glass dip pens?

8. Flip through of Painting in LIne and Wash book

Drawing tips and techniques

In this section you will find drawing tips and techniques. Drawing is about really seeing the world as it is, rather than what our bossy brain thinks we should see it!

1. Understanding one, two or three point perspective

2. How to use gridding to transfer an image

3. Sketching techniques for when your subject is about to drive away - vintage MGA

4. Drawing upside down to trick your brain into really seeing - especially for portraits

4a. Upside down reference

5. Drawing portraits upside down - trick your eye into really seeing

5a. Reference

Urban and travel sketching

Urban sketching is incredibly popular. It's all about connecting with the place you are in. But how do you get started? You might also find films in the Line and Wash section helpful.

Urban Sketching is reportage - it's drawing or painting on location in the cities, towns, or villages that you live in and travel to. You are capturing a moment in time in a unique way. I saw this lovely quote from Roisin Cure "The essence of an urban sketch is that its primary function is not to be beautiful, but to capture what it feels like to be human. This could be in a man-made building, the hand of man on the landscape, or human beings in action, wherever they are or whatever they are doing."

If you want to have a go, these films will help get you started.

1. Urban sketching for beginners - step by step on location

1a. Reference photo of house

2. Speedy urban sketching in Amsterdam

2a. Amsterdam reference photo

3. Detailed urban sketching in Amsterdam - playing with perspective

3a. Amersterdam reference photo

3b. Amsterdam sketch

4. House sketching tutorial for beginners

4a. House reference picture

4b. House sketch

5. Fast and simple urban sketching - Sydney Opera House in 15 minutes

5a. Reference of Sydney

6. Speed sketching with a fountain pen - fast and simple urban sketch of Cirencester

6a. Cirencester reference

7. Oxford - Urban sketching with a fountain pen

7a. Oxford reference

8. Black fountain pen ink comparison - what to look for

9. Speed sketching with a fountain pen and document ink

9a. Reference

10. How to get a sense of depth in your urban sketches - using line weight, detail, warmth and contrast

10a. Weight reference

11. Travel sketchbook flip through - Come sketch with me in Hawaii, Australia and Thailand

12. Tips for hiking sketching - sketching The Ridgeway

13. Urban sketching with a fountain pen

Framing and presenting your watercolours

Watercolours need to be protected, so usually they are framed under a mount and behind glass. Though this traditional presentation can really enhance a painting, it can also be costly and with a large scale painting the weight can be prohibitive. Then, of course, glass breaks and corners of frames get chipped.

This section explores framing and presentation to show off your work.

1. Waxing watercolours - no more framing and glass

2. How to use a float frame

3. How to wax watercolour paintings

Full painting tutorials

Most of the tips and tricks here are short and concentrate on a particular technique, but occasionally I share a full painting.

If you are looking for more fully narrated step by step paintings please check out the paid for courses on this site.

1. Painting an otter in watercolour

1a. Reference photo of otter

2. Painting a Pheasant in watercolour

2a. Pheasant reference

3. Line and wash dog portrait - a rather handsome Great Dane

4. How to paint a beetle in watercolour

4a. Beetle outline

5. How to paint a ladybird in watercolour

6. Painting a vintage car in line and wash

6a. Reference photo of MGA

7. Watercolour portrait painting using a purple under painting - counter intuitive but it works!

7a. Portrait reference photo

8. Portrait painting for beginners using a purple underpainting - part 2

8a. portrait reference photo originally from Sktchy

9. Portrait painting using a purple underpainting - part 3

9a. Portrait reference

10. Portrait painting part 4 - painting a child - Girl in a beret

10a. Girl in a beret reference

11. Scribble drawing of a rhino using pen and ink

11a. Reference of rhino

12. Simple watercolour portrait painting for beginners

12a. Reference picture

13. Overcome your fear of portrait painting

13a. Portrait of a girl reference

14. How to paint animals in line and wash - koala bear

14a. Koala reference

15. Painting animals in line and wash - kangaroo

15a. Kangaroo reference

16. Scribble drawing tips for beginners

16a. Crocodile reference

17. Otter

17a. Otter reference

Making your own sketch or watercolour books - all without sewing

Making your own sketchbook is easy and fun and I have selected styles which require no specialist equipment.

1. Concertina style one - more to come!

2. Concertina 2

3. Perfect bound

4. Ringbound

Product reviews

Every so often, I get sent art products to use and review. This makes me super excited as I love a freebie! I always make it clear that any opinion I express will be totally truthful. I will try and be constructive, giving pros and cons, but if it is rubbish I will say so! Here are a few reviews which might help you not waste your money or conversely tempt you into buying more!

1. Which is the best sketchbook? Taking a look at the Etchr watercolour sketchbook

2. TWSBI Eco fountain pen review - for artists and sketching

3. Paul Rubens fourth generation watercolour review

4. Muse Kits - are they any good?

5. Etchr brushes

6. Bastion Fountain pen - any good for sketching?

7. Viviva colorsheets

Miscellaneous

All the things which don't really fit anywhere else!!

1. Making a giant Easter egg!

2. Painting with coffee

3. Painting with coffee part 2 - plus tips for drawing birds

3a. Reference photo of sparrow

4. Understand copyright and stay on the right side of the law

5. New Book - Painting Birds in Watercolour is out now!

6. Painting the cover of my sketchbook in watercolour - Etchr sketchbook

7. How to create your own enamel pins - with GS-JJ

8. How I make my greeting cards

9. Painting with glue and ink - ink resist technique