How to teach yourself watercolor effectively

Through my own experience of teaching watercolor by myself in the past year, I tell you how to teach watercolor by myself efficiently, and to some extent help novices to avoid detours.

First of all, we must determine our starting point: for hobbies or professional study. This experience is mainly aimed at beginners who want to take watercolor as a hobby, and provides some experience and experience of self-learning watercolor for one year. I hope everyone will take fewer detours to a certain extent, strive to improve their grades and have more sense of accomplishment.

If you want to major, self-study is really not recommended. It is not ruled out that talented and savvy people will teach themselves, and many of you have taught yourselves. But most ordinary people don't have a complete system concept and good habits at first, which will have a great influence on painting. Of course, as a hobby, the influence is not that great. In the final analysis, it is to cultivate sentiment or happiness.

So, please be clear about your goals. If you want to develop professionally, it is really recommended to find a professional teacher and study systematically.

The picture below shows my recent watercolor painting, and I have started to make my favorite postcards.

Second, recommend some tools for self-learning websites.

You can search for watercolor lessons on the web page. At first, I suggest you search for 30-60 minutes or even 60 minutes of explanation videos, which will help you to understand watercolor more systematically and comprehensively, and with the teacher's explanation, you will have a deeper understanding of brushwork and dry and wet mastery. I really don't recommend that you follow the graphic tutorial and don't say it systematically. The mastery of the dryness and wetness of water is not so vivid and meticulous, but I think mastering the relationship with water is the most interesting and essential of watercolor painting.

Pen: It is not recommended for beginners to use red fat man, black swan and simple nylon pen. I can recommend Qiu's pen to be better. Personally, I prefer this kind of wolf hair, and I feel very focused. If nothing else, it is always necessary to prepare such a crochet pen.

Paper: I prefer Humboldt's thick thread, which is more suitable for beginners. The paper should not be too big, just the size of a postcard. The bigger the watercolor painting, the more difficult it is to control. With the technical proficiency, the paper size can be gradually expanded.

Palette: I like to use CDs that I don't use at home. Of course, you can buy a color palette if you like.

Pen washing tank: Be sure to prepare two: one for washing pens and one for dipping in water. Just two cups.

Watercolor pigments: Personally, I prefer 24 colors of white night, which is enough for beginners and has good color rendering.

Bai Zhanmo: Some people say it is unnecessary, but I personally think it is necessary. Ordinary watercolor white pigment will turn gray, so it is recommended to prepare white ink.

Palette: You can choose your favorite palette, not too expensive.

Blanking liquid, silicone pen and lower power hair dryer are all dispensable. At first, it is not recommended that you touch too many paintings that need white liquid. Silicone pen is mainly used for white liquid. Hair dryers are also not recommended. After all, the fun of watercolor lies in the control of water.

The picture below is a picture of "The Thief Will Go" painted by Bi Li Fuquan.

Third, I suggest you watch two kinds of videos:

One is a watercolor theory knowledge video, and the other is a watercolor painting process video.

As an amateur or watercolor lover, you may feel that theoretical knowledge is not important. But through the understanding of theoretical knowledge, we can have a more systematic and comprehensive understanding and cognition of watercolor. Including the purpose, type, use and so on. Classification of watercolor painting and so on.

There is also a video of the watercolor painting process. As mentioned above, at the beginning, it is best to choose videos with explanations for teaching for more than minutes. Don't follow the quickly edited video for a few minutes as soon as you come up, let alone follow the graphic tutorial, as you will miss many interesting and key places. After many detours, I found that these watercolors were not finished. What is interesting is that the process of water treatment is slowly controlled and integrated.

The following two pictures are the same picture I drew on the first day of self-study of watercolor and six months after self-study.

Fourth, I suggest you keep a good attitude.

The mentality here mainly refers to two aspects: persistence and enjoyment.

There is no need to repeat this point. Nothing can be done overnight. You must persist and don't worry. Water droplets will naturally wear out. But it's easier said than done, depending on whether you are an activist or a "fauvism".

The most important thing is to enjoy this process, don't be impatient, don't show off, through enjoyment, the mentality will gradually calm down, and you can also slowly cultivate your own cultivation. Moreover, it will really improve and change a person's temperament. Enjoy water, enjoy painting, enjoy the flow of pigments, and enjoy every stroke.

The picture below is a painting that I think is very artistic.

Finally, be creative.

I personally prefer to make postcards. All arts, in my opinion, can be called successful arts and must be creative. First, copying, then inspiration, and finally creation. Only by learning to create and innovate can we truly express our emotional world and thinking world through art, which is the value and significance of art existence.

The picture below is my favorite postcard.