Watercolor

Is that the set you bought?

>>3004794
No its not

>>3004795
So which kind did you get?
Also just go look on YouTube, there's already so much info out there.
I've got the kind in the tubes, but I'm scared of wasting or ruining them.

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Dessert is in the sticky

>>3004780
https://www.youtube.com/user/mindofwatercolor/videos

and

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnh5k3c1miCbQlt0Q8iXePw/videos

have lots of useful information.
Other than that, just play around with paint on paper for a while and try following a few tutorials for basic techniques before trying a full painting.


>>3004799
Tools exist to be used anon. You can always buy new tubes if you run out. We all have to paint lots of bad paintings before we get to the good ones, so consider it an accomplishment if you were productive enough to use up an entire tube.

Also, dried down watercolor rewets really well, so even if you squirt out too much paint, you can still use it later on. Just keep it safe from dust.

>>3004780
This helped me when I first started.

>>3005004
Forgot link https://burgermoney.com/2014/04/19/faq-getting-started-with-watercolor-painting/

>>3004780
I SECOND THIS REQUEST

Been considering picking up watercolors myself, cheers for the resources linked in this thread.

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Refrain from dry-brushing when you first start out. Many beginners dry-brush entire paintings and it looks like poo.
Also, be bold. Two layers is better than twelve, so try to get the color intensity right on the first try.

If you can only read one thing about watercolor painting, read this:
>https://citizensketcher.com/paintings/

Definite watercolor resource, although might be hard to chew through:

https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html

It's also nice because it lists and ranks a fuckton of pigments and different paints.

>>3004780
Get some good paper, don't cheap out on paper.

>>3004780

The key to watercolor is learning washes, and you work from lightest to darkest, unlike other mediums. You can't add white, so the white of the paper is your brightest point. You have to plan your painting a lot more carefully.

Good paper and brushes is key, too. Throw the one that came with it, and get some basic brushes, like a couple sizes of round (small, med, and large), a couple of large mop brushes, a hake for gradations, should get you started.

>>3004820
>In Liquid Color
Wouldn't expect to see that person posted on here, nice.

As far as other YT-based resources, ParkaBlogs/Teoh Yi Chie & thefrugalcrafter have some vids about watercolour here or there that might be a bit helpful. Owings Art is more of a reviewer, but he demos a lot of watercolour products which might be helpful to see what properties whatever does.
For lesser known shitters: SoulKeever, Sadie Saves The Day, Bolt's Vault. The former is a memester, and the video format might be irritating to some. There are some nuggets if you sift around it though; it's good to take in a bunch of information before deciding for yourself what would work best for you, ya know?

James Gurney and Jane Blundell are two watercolourists to look into for other info as well. Blundell has sizeable amount of paint and pigment information that's IMO second only to handprint itself in terms of an artist providing paint & pigment info for other artists.

>>3005082
THIS. Doesn't matter if you stick to 300 series Strathmore or Canson XL watercolour papers, but do try to practice on those kinds of papers designed for watercolour (or light washes of paint), and not printer shit. 140lb/300gsm is the ideal weight to look for, with Cold Press (NOT) being the most common texture.

>>3005035

What the fuck is this analogy even supposed to mean lmao

>>3006160

tea, milk and honey are in ascending order of viscosity/ thickness, just like the washes you are meant to use, more diluted to less diluted

>>3006160
Read the blog post I linked
>https://citizensketcher.com/paintings/

>>3006149
In Liquid Color is great at explaining things in a way that's easy to understand, so the channel seemed like a good choice to recommend to beginners.

I definitely second Teoh for reviews, it's rare to find someone who manages to be so objective about products.

Since there's still some people posting in the thread who might be interested I was going to add a few more resources, but I think you listed most that I'm aware of already.

https://www.youtube.com/user/angelfehr/videos
and
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDD3LH45Pom4Ivx4OmugxTQ/videos
do looser watercolors, could be useful for people who have trouble with being too fussy.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyzJ-NaAUn3PWcsk2YFXSPA/videos
talks about the science/chemistry behind pigments and paints and how that affects painting.

There's also lots of people who do speedpaints with instructions like Peter Sheeler or Umberto Rossini.

Color in Your Life had some episodes with very well known watercolor painters like Alvaro Castagnet and Joseph Zbukvic.

Marc Taro Holmes (already mentioned by >>3005035) has some really helpful blog posts.
Liz Steel has a pretty good blog about urban sketching and watercolor as well.


>>3006160
Not him, but a lot of beginners don't vary the pigment to paint ratio and as a result the paintings can look either washed out or drybrushed/goopy.
For some reason it's pretty common to describe desired paint-consistency using food analogies, probably because most people are going to know what those are like.
Tea is watery = lots of water, little pigment
Honey = little water, a lot of pigment
Milk = somewhere in between

>>3004780
the main thing to remember if you want to get into watercolours is to not listen to what internet people say about watercolours because for some reason they're always the worst 'no no you MUST have brand X, brand Y, Z and F are okay, if you want bad paint. blah blah blah paper blah blah, mink fur brushes only, what you don't use sun-dried water?' kinda people.

i don't know why, you'd think with a medium used primarily for sketching that people who are into it would be laid back, but not so.

>>3006284
It's probably because watercolor hasn't been taken as seriously as other mediums like oil historically (and to some degree, still isn't), so we have something to compensate for.

>>3006273
wew, Spin Doctor's pretty great. Got interested in the chemistry aspect of paint/pigments a couple of years ago. Seeing his channel pop up a while ago was a great find; especially loved his breakdown on Opera and other such dye-based paints. Thanks for all of the links and info you've been adding here, anon.

I will say though, there are a few more YT watercolourists who are interesting, to say the least.
>PearFleur - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKXsR_4aXwnbDSXroVH0WfQ
>iraville - https://www.youtube.com/user/iraville/videos
>Coco Bee Art - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCECjGa6g96XNLduQtUYdCMw/videos
They don't really give 'tutorials' often, if at all, but its nice to view their illustrations and paintings for those who might look to use watercolour in that sort of way. Coco is another painter who is very loose, but the presentation is another one that might be annoying to some.

There's another channel out there that, while might have some appealing info for beginners, I can't help but find their shit offputting.
https://www.youtube.com/user/WaterColorMisfit/videos

>>3004820
If your tube paint dries out, get a bottle of gum of arabic, and use that to revive it. Water works, but temporarily - it will evaporate quickly. Gum of arabic is what is used to make watercolor paint as a binder, so you're replacing what's lost. Gum of arabic can also be used for glazing with watercolor.

>>3006284
Well, okay, not really. I usually tell people to steer clear of the student grade paints, because the pigments are cheaper, won't last, and often don't work very well, like some cheaper paints will granulate in a wash and leave specks of color, where a mid-range to expensive brand will have a smooth transition of color. Sable brushes are preferred because they're GOOD. Hair soaks up and holds water better than synthetic. You don't have to buy $500 imported Japanese brushes, but the cheap $1 bargains at Michaels will fall apart faster, and you'll fight the brush more than not - a good brush is important because of how it works, how it actually moves and retains it shape and holds water, and releases it right.

And, there are plenty of people who do finished pieces with watercolor, and find it's worth investing in the better gear and materials to do that. You don't have to spend a fortune starting out - a couple of mid range rounds, a couple of large wash brushes should get you started.

Watercolor, especially brushes, are one of the mediums where a big investment can last you your entire career, the good brushes I bought years ago are as good as the day I bought them, I take care of them and clean them properly. A beginner can hold off buying brushes like that until they commit to using watecolor over the long run - but bargain bin brushes cause more damage than they solve.

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>>3006464
I do want to add onto this anon's post. Even though the brush topic is pretty important, there are loads of affordable synthetics around nowadays. Fuck, there are even those make-up brushes as an option too. Parka actually did a video about that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF91J3MDVmY
I really liked Princeton Neptunes as far as synthetic brushes go. You just need to make sure that whatever you look for, the brush needs to be specifically for watercolour use.

RE: the student grade pigments; There are lots of artist/professional quality that will have shit that's also poor with lightfastness/archival quality, etc. The issue with student & lower is the filler (I forget the exact ingredient, but it's some colourless powder) added into it, not the pigment itself. You can get a decent student grade brand like W&N Cotman if you'd like, just pay attention to the pigment information. Unfortunately, some fucking places will only have this information online and not on the tubes themselves.
Speaking of, some companies will re-brand some colours to suit their marketing shit. While it might not be so much of an issue at first, fuckers like Mijello will change what you would come to expect from "standard" palette colours.

>>3006284
lmfao sun dried paper.....we need to straighten out this medium. reclaim it from morons who think like this. i know what you are talking about.

>>3005035
does the tea milk honey thing apply to gouache?

>>3006578
Yes. This process will prevent the gouache painting from being overworked.
The milk layer will just be more opaque like milk.

>>3006585
ok thanks anon!

tell me your thoughts of
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNeBmekn_xg
&
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxP3yUfgsQg

>>3006464
>>3006553

It's important to keep someone's intention in mind when recommending materials.

I use artist grade paints, sable brushes and 100% cotton paper, but I didn't when I first started out and I wouldn't tell beginners that they have to invest in all these things before they can even try watercoloring.
For starters two decent quality synthetic brushes (a medium sized round like a number 8 and a flat wash brush to cover large areas quickly), wood-pulp based watercolor paper and student grade paints like Cotman or Van Gogh are perfectly fine.

Then once someone has done a couple of paintings and decided that they want to stick with it, they can slowly upgrade to higher quality products.

On the other hand, someone who has experience painting in another medium and knows he wants to get serious about watercolor is probably better off getting professional quality materials right away.

>>3006894
>student grade paints like Cotman

I don't know. Cotman have 2 issues in my experience: dark values are hard to obtain, and they don't mix very well.

Imo for a beginner is better buying a tube of artist grade paint, a dark color like payne's gray, and starting monochrome.

This way you can focus more on how the medium works.

>>3006907
I agree with you in regards to the dark values (though the Van Gogh are a lot better with that), but the problem is that most people won't be very enthusiastic about a single tube of grey paint.
Best option would probably be to buy a small number of artist grade paints, but that kind of requires either research or knowing a few things about color theory and mixing already.

The typical 12 color student grade sets are simply the most accessible thing for most beginners. I think it's important not to overcomplicate things at first.