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blix-it — Watercolor Tutorial Part 1
Published: 2011-03-18 23:05:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 37559; Favourites: 678; Downloads: 415
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WATERCOLOR TUTORIAL PART 2:Preparing paper for paint.
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For this image:
I hope it's a helpful tutorial. >< Thank you to everyone who has requested a watercolor tutorial from me!
It is difficult to make one, a video camera mounted on a stand over the painting would probably be ideal. I can't really photograph how the paint and the water change and work. ;_; There is no replacement for having a teacher right in front of you, showing and instructing and describing.
I managed to not complain about not being good enough throughout the tutorial. GIVE ME THIS MOMENT, PLEASE. *SOB* Someday I'll make another watercolor tutorial when I am a better painter and have better instructions to give. I want to be MY teacher right now, and show you in her words and paintings how to make watercolor work. But I am not her. ;_;
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Comments: 67
I have dabbled in a lot of different medias, but watercolor is far and away what I am worst at. Thankyou so much for making this tutorial!
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the charnander is cute but the background is ominous?!
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thank you very much for this tutorial. I always used acrylic paints and it's really different. I feel like I can't paint - just because it's watercolours I work with now
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Insightful, thanks for sharing your process with us
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No, I dont like either of those things.
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wow! you did all those clean lines without masking anything? thats pretty amazing
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Hello Cari! This tutorial is outstanding! I have two questions for you.
1. ) What are the differences in results when using that matt-board buffer when stapling as opposed to stapling directly to the board? I've been stapling directly all this time and am now wondering if I've been missing out on a big secret!
2.) What do you think of Winsor-Newtons? I've been using them for years and I really loved them at first but lately I've become less satisfied. Would it be worth it to make the switch to your suggested brand?
Thanks! And I'm sorry I didn't stop in and visit your table this past otakon. Talking with you about Alaska and other cool things was a pleasure back in 2011, and I hope you're doing well!
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heeeeh I'm gonna be honest, I use the mat board and I use Daniel Smith paint because these are the methods and supplies that were recommended to me by professor nearly 9 years ago! And they've always produced satisfactory results, so I've never deviated from this course. o__o;;;;
mat board boundaries: the only thing I can say for certain is that they give the painting a cleaner edge and keep me from painting into the areas with the staple holes or from becoming perfectionist about staying inside a pencil drawn boundary box. My professor was of the opinion that the mat board maintained an equal stretch across all points on all sides of the paper without having to use a squidzillion million staples. She also thought it helped keep the paper from ripping through the staples and coming unstretched.
Winsor & Newton paint: I have it by word of mouth that this is a high quality paint. Certainly this company makes nice brushes, I own some of those and they're great. But how they compare to Daniel Smith paint, I couldn't say, as I've never tried a single tube of Winsor & Newton. I went strait from Grumbacher to Daniel Smith. One reason I like Daniel Smith is that they make it very easy to become introduced to their paint. Much of the paint I own comes from a "triad set" which is selected by some most excellent member of their staff. These triads always mix very well with one another. So if you did want to try Daniel Smith, I would recommend starting with a triad of either primary or secondary colors instead of blindly buying random tubes of paint. [link] The primary and secondary sets are at the bottom of the list. (balloons and grapes) Don't be afraid to mix brands, of course. For my most frequently used colors, I have DS, but for lesser used colors I still have Grumbacher.
I'd say that Daniel Smith paint is true in hue to the classic colors of paint. (You know, Cadmium Red always looks like Cadmium Red across all brands) but the DS paint contains a high quantity of pigment, which makes a more vibrant color than other, cheaper brands.
Sorry I can't be more helpful. 8(
I'm really glad you enjoyed talking with me at Otakon, I really hope I didn't embarrass myself. >__> Because honest, a year later, I can't remember the conversation. Not that lacking memory of it though makes me like you less. ^^
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Oh! So you staple the board overtop! This makes a little more sense now. I'll definitely have to do this in the future. Thank you!
And don't apologize! This all was very helpful indeed!
Good luck on future projects. : )
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You have a beautiful technique. Thanks for making this tutorial!
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Hello!
As part of Project Educate: Fan Art Week 2011 , we had the honor to feature your work in Tutorials Feature - Traditional . Many thanks for providing Traditional Fan Artists with awesome resources like this!
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im always trying teach myself and this will help thanks.
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so, overall, would do you perfer working with tube watercolors or pan watercolors?
i haven't had a chance to experiment with materials enough to develop a preference.
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Interesting tutorial :3
I have a question, when you soak the paper and then you have to color... you have to move the watercolor pencil softly over the paper for the first layer, right?
I don't use watercolors but I want to give them a chance :3
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i don't use watercolor pencils. i use the paint that comes in tubes that i dilute with water. if you're using watercolor pencils, this tutorial isn't really for you.
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Man it's been ages since I touched watercolors, but your art always makes me long to play with them again. I should give it a shot one of these days.
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so cool! 
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Wonderful tutorial!
This may be a little random, but do cheap acrylic materials have the same problems as cheap watercolor materials? I feel like I'm fighting my cheap acrylic paper whenever I paint something with acrylics. :<
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I bet they probably do have some of the same issues. T_T But the only way to find out is to be good at acrylic and then to test out multiple surfaces. I'm not good at acrylic at all. XD All surfaces I touch with acrylic paint turn to suck.
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I adore your work, Toilet Genie is a cliff-hanger every time I read it. Your work has been an inspiration to me for a couple months now, and I am so glad I found this. It's help me expand my artistic horizons a little.
I especially love the look of your pictures because there aren't thick, un-appealing lines that seem to plague me, and now I know how you do it.
Thank you so much! <3 *sorry for the long post*
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I'll try It Out THanks For Uploading A Tutorial ^^
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I like this, not for any tutorial aspect of it, since I doubt I will ever really attempt watercolor but it is beyond cool to see your process. There is just something neat about getting to see what goes into a work before it is considered final.
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Wonderful tutorial! ^^
Stapling actually sounds like a really good idea! I've been using this good for nothing special tape that you can NEVER UNSTICK off ANYTHING, EVER AGAIN! (You know, the kind that become sticky when it's wet. That you're 'supposed'????? to use?) I've yet to figure out how to get it off my picture after I've finished lol
May I ask what the strips of mat board are for? Crisp paint edges?
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The mat board is an important part of keeping the paper stretched and flat. I only put in 4 or 5 stables for a 17" paper space. Without the mat strips, the paper would ripple between the staples. The mat strips keep the paper equally stretched along all edges. c:
Sorry about that bitchy tape. :/ when I first started out with watercolor, my teacher showed both ways, tape and staple. The tape was only working for me about half the time before it'd come off the board or the paper (again, painting with so much more water than it's probably meant for.)
so. Staple method used and perfected. =___=
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OOoooohh! That makes sense. Thank you so much for sharing 
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Thank you for this tutorial, it was great! 
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It took some experimenting for me to start getting salt texture right. ;_; I still frequently fail at it.
Two factors seem to be involved: pigment of the paint, also amount/dryness of the water. Too much water and the salt just dissolves. Not enough water, no reaction to salt. Somewhere in the middle, then ....... ;aksdf;kjasdf it's still annoying and unpredictable to me, I mostly don't fight with it.
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I never seem to put the salt on at the exact right moment. I have to keep trying
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Wow, just... wow. I need to practice painting with watercolors alot more... A-And get better paint... *idolizes*
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I find this amusing because I was just telling somebody that I suck at painting, and watercolor specifically is way beyond me. This is interesting though. I never really thought about so much going into it. Cool.
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Hooray! I'm happy I know your technique for watercoloring now, cos now I know your secrets! Mwahahaha!
I love seeing how artists do their art.
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I totally agree with the point about materials, that there's a point where you need to step up and get better materials.
Also, never mix quality of materials! Last semester for a final I got very high quality paper, but used one of these cheapest paints on the market. That was a huge mistake. The high quality paper really brings out the pigmentation, and all the piece looked like was mud! My teacher was kind enough to lend me some of her higher quality paints, and wow, did that help!
I noticed a comment bellow about brushes, and I hope you don't think me intruding, but may i suggest Mastodon brushes by Dynasty? They are really nice brushes, they hold up to a lot, also have a pretty good pigment load when using them. They aren't super pricey too, about $2-$3 for the more basic ones.
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you applied the black lineart around the gargoyle's eyes, right? it didn't bleed when you applied the orange wash? how long did you let it dry?
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I let it dry until I could poke it with my finger and nothing came off on my finger.
But also, the ink I'm using is waterproof. It must say waterproof on the bottle. c: Otherwise even after it's dry, it will bleed.
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oh! that explains it. thank you! C:
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my gosh, I never realized that watercolor was this complicated 0.0
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It probably doesn't really have to be. 
PS you asked previously if I was going back to SDCC this year! And no, sadly. ;_; Not going. I decided to put the money towards other shows I haven't ever attended yet.
I'm not sure if I'll be a part of the art show. I'd have to mail in. >< But I might do that.
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Aw… I'll miss you. Well, good luck in the other shows and keep at it.
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I agree--it is amazing the difference quality materials can make. (including the brushes too!) Well worth the extra money.
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Brushes are one area I haven't upgraded my materials yet! Have better brushes made that much of a difference to you? I'm still working with cheap brushes that are starting to fall apart.
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Yes, it's surprising but they make a ton of difference! I was always getting frustrated with my old cheap brushes. I don't have top of the line uber expensive brushes, but at the time they cost me anywhere from $10-$20 a brush depending on the size. They are Princeton art brushes--their synthetic sable ones, but that works just fine for watercolors. I just looked them up online now and it seems you can find them at a better price now than when I got them. Of course, I wasn't much of an online shopper then and just found them at my local art store. (I'm making myself sound old, but I'm not! lol) They will hold more color, create more accurate strokes and hold their shape so much better than cheap brushes.
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Wow thanks--that's pretty cool. I hadn't thought of stapling when stretching. Both the watercolor teachers I had never went into depth on stretching.
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ps. It isn't a normal stapler. It's more heavy duty. It uses 8MM staples to get through the mat board. Bought it at Ace hardware.
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Really? How did they teach you to paint, then? I mean... they'd have to discuss stretching some at least, or else there's no way they could teach you to PAINT. At all. >< I'm surprised at how little some teachers cover prep work...
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Yeah, pretty ridiculous huh? She only glossed over stretching it--don't think she ever even demonstrated it. She always just had us tape the paper to a board. I don't remember the other teacher ever having talked about stretching either.
Yeah--figured you'd have to use a heavy duty stapler. I'll have to try it thanks
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ALSO
what kind of pencil do you use for the undersketch?
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