What are the biggest mistakes most beginners make when painting with watercolor? This is a question I get asked quite a bit, and I would say there are two mistakes that I find most beginners falling into when starting watercolor.
- Water Control Problems
- Dry Time Problems
Water Control
I would say the number one biggest mistake is not using enough water, or using too much. Watercolor is very much a balancing act with your paint and, you probably guessed it, water. When painting, we are constantly trying to measure the amount of water to paint we are using. This concept is known as paint ratios.
But how much water do you actually need to use when working with watercolor? The best way to explain this concept is to show you what too much water looks like, and then what too little water looks like.
Too Little Water
Too little water is often seen when your watercolor paint has not been saturated enough with water. You can see this very easily when pushing your brush over the paper and seeing more of a speckled pattern – also known as dry brushing. This is an extreme case of too little water, but keep in mind watercolor should flow over the paper with ease. So if you find yourself pushing your paint over the paper with a bit of resistance, you still have too little water in your brush.
Too Much Water
This can be seen when you have so much water in your wash that it domes up on the paper. If you see these dome-like shapes rising above your paper, the paint will slowly push outward as it dries and create pigment lines around the outer edge of your shape.
This is the mistake I see most beginners make more often than using too little water, and it’s how you end up with blooms or blossoms in your washes – those lighter, feathered areas that show up after your wash dries. If you notice light blossoms appearing once a wash has dried, too much water is almost always the cause.
The Correct Amount of Water
So what is the correct amount of water? Well, whether you are painting wet on wet or wet on dry, you should be seeing a nice sheen of water or color along the surface of the paper. This sheen should be thick enough to coat the paper evenly, but low enough that it doesn’t create a dome shape and lead to uneven drying. You should also notice the paint glides along the paper smoothly and effortlessly, leaving fewer brush strokes behind.
This is honestly one of my best tips for getting super smooth and even washes of color. Once you really get a handle on the correct water-to-paint ratio for your paper, your colors will appear smoother and more crisp after drying. With practice, you’ll also get faster at noticing when you’ve used too much water, so you can lift it with a clean, thirsty brush and correct the mistake before it dries.
Curious about My Biggest Watercolor Mistake?
Make sure to check out this post below to learn another common watercolor mistake that I fall into.
