The Beginner's Guide to

WATERCOLOR
PAINTING
by Makoccino

www.makoccino.com © 2019 makoccino

welcome Starting  to learn how to paint with
watercolors can be overwhelming,
right? There are not only so many
different watercolor supplies to
choose from, but also so many
different watercolor techniques you
should learn that you simply don't
know where to start!

Don't worry, I got your back!

First I'll give you an overview of the

essential supplies you're going to
need. And then I'll show you the basic
techniques that you can always go
back to.

Let’s dive in!

Mako

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TABLE OF
CONTENTS
03 WATERCOLOR
SUPPLIES & TOOLS
Quick overview of all the essential
supplies you'll need.

08 SUPPLIES CHEAT
SHEET
Decide on what to buy according to
your budget!

10 SHOPPING
CHECK LIST
Want to make sure you don't forget
anything + want to know where to
shop? I got you covered!

11 WATERCOLOR
TECHNIQUES
Let's talk about wet-on-wet and
wet-on-dry and when to use what!
 01

WATERCOLOR
SUPPLIES &
TOOLS

01
Watercolor Paint
The good news is:  you only need a few different colors
that give you the option to mix a variety of different
colors. It might be tempting to buy a set with 50 different
colors that is cheaper than a small set with 12 paints.

But when it comes to watercolor supplies, you do get

what you pay for!

Cheap brands contain fillers, look chalky on the paper

and can be a nightmare to work with.

And since I want to set you up for success, consider

investing in a small good quality watercolor set. It’ll be so
much easier for you to learn how to paint with
watercolors in a short amount of time while having fun!

Here is a quick overview of a few good quality watercolor

sets for beginners within different price ranges:

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 Watercolor Brushes
Even though there are so many different brushes, don’t
feel like you absolutely need everything. When you first
BRUSHE start out, you probably want to get the most out of your
money, right? That’s why choosing a brush that's super
versatile is key!

Some artists prefer working with just one good quality round
brush with a very fine tip that they can use for multiple
things: to apply paint and water, to create thick AND thin
strokes for details.

Cheap watercolor brushes often have bristles with random

hair standing out, they lose hair and the whole brush might
even fall apart!

Remember, you can always add brushes to your collection

when you want to experiment or find the need for a smaller
or even bigger brush to cover a large area with paint or water!

Here is a quick overview of a few good quality round brushes

you can start out with:

PRINCETON SILVER BRUSH DA VINCI

NEPTUNE BLACK VELVET CASANEO

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Watercolor Paper
If you’re just starting out, you might be wondering, do
I really need watercolor paper? Can’t I just use regular
paper instead?

The answer is: you absolutely need watercolor paper for

your watercolors, if you want to have the best experience
and results while developing your new skill!

If you use regular paper that is made for drawing for

example, the colors will look dull, won’t move around
beautifully, and the paper will buckle and eventually
break.

Watercolor paper is THE most important watercolor

supply. If you think about it, it’s the foundation for your
painting. You can use the best watercolors in the world,
but they will look bad on the wrong paper.

BUT if you use cheaper watercolors, they will look a lot

better on higher quality watercolor paper.

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 Mixing Palette
If you decide to go for watercolors in tubes, you'll need a
mixing palette. I would recommend to invest into a porcelain
TOOLS palette or use a white porcelain plate that you might have
already at home as this will help you mix your colors a lot
easier as the paint won't create small beads.

Two Jars of Water

One  jar for rinsing your brush, the other jar for loading up
your brush with clean water.

Paper Towel or Rag

Since in watercolor painting you paint with lots of water, you
want to use a paper towel or rag to control the amount of
water on your paper and on your brush.

Masking Tape
To tape down your paper or to divide your painting into
smaller sections you can use either artist, washi or other tape
made for sensible surfaces such as wallpaper.

Pencil & Eraser

If you want to plan out your painting first, you can either use
colors watercolor pencils or water-soluble graphite pencil that
will disappear when you paint over it! But of course you can
also use a regular H pencil and a kneadable eraser.

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 WATERCOLOR SUPPLIES CHEAT SHEET
With this list I wanted to give you an overview of the basic supplies that'll help
you to get started!

There are a lot of watercolor supplies that might not be in this list, but you'll find
some of my favorites compared to each other that I used and tested in the past,
so you can compare the costs that work best for your budget!

Remember, you only to start somewhere, you can always upgrade or get
additional brushes in different sizes!
Click on any of these art supplies and you'll be redirected to the online shops!

Low Mid High

Winsor & Newton Cotman Schmincke Akademie

Sketchers Pocket Box Set 12 Half Pans Metal Set
12 Half Pans £35.20
$16.24 Schmincke Horadam
TNIAP

12 Half Pans Metal Set

Royal Talens Van Gogh $59.15
Daniel Smith Essential Set
Half Pan Pocket Box
5ML Tubes of 6
$19.89 $29.30

Hahnemühle Britannia
12 Sheets Block 24X32CM
300gsm / Cold Pressed
$12.54
REPAP
Arches
Hahnemühle Expression
20 Sheets Block 12X9IN
20 Sheets Block 9.4x11.8IN
300gsm / Cold Pressed 
300gsm / Cold Pressed 
$32.48
£23.59

100% Cotton 100% Cotton

Arches  STONEHENGE Winsor & Newton

Single Sheet 15 Sheets Block Professional
22X30IN / 56X76CM 7X10IN : 17X25CM 20 Sheets Block 7X10IN
300gsm - Cold Pressed 300gsm / Cold Pressed 300gsm / Cold Pressed 
$7.66 $18.07 $32.35
100% Cotton 100% Cotton 100% Cotton

SILVER BRUSH BLACK VELVET  DA VINCI : CASANEO

PRINCETON : NEPTUNE Blend of Natural & Synthetic Imitation
SEHSURB

Faux Squirell Size 6 Synthetic Hair Size 6 Series 498 Size 0

$6.25 $15.84 $17.43

(Size 8 or 10 would be better (Size 8 or 10 would be better (Size 2 is slightly larger, works
for larger paintings) for larger paintings) great for bigger paintings)
All prices are from November2019

All the links here are a iliate links. This means with every purchase through this link I get a small commission that would
support me to fund future supplies for testing.

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 PLACES TO SHOP ONLINE

A huge variety of different art supplies & frequent sales.

Ships internationally!

A huge variety of different art supplies & frequent sales.

Mostly ships only inside US.

You can search different international Amazon sites if

you look for something specific and can't find it
anywhere else.

Great variety of different art supplies with frequent sales.

Ships inside Germany

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 SHOPPING CHECKLIST

NOTES

Watercolor Paint

Watercolor Brush

Watercolor Paper

Mixing Palette

2 Water Containers

Paper Towel

Masking tape

Pencil & Eraser

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 02

WATERCOLOR
TECHNIQUES

02
02
WATERCOLOR
TECHNIQUES
In watercolor painting you create
the artwork one layer at a time.

Especially when it comes to

landscape paintings you usually
start by painting the background
and then you build up the
painting layer by layer while
adding different objects and
details.

To create the first layer for your

painting you have two options:

You can either paint wet on wet or

wet on dry.

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WET ON WET
When you paint wet on wet, you apply paint to the wet paper or to wet
paint. The first layer will be lighter because of the water that slightly
dilutes the paint.

You can use this technique to create different washes:

Flat 
Graded (transition between dark to light using one color)
Variegated (transition between 2 or more colors)
Loose wet on wet washes

This wet on wet technique gives you more time to distribute the paint and
it might be easier for you to create even washes.

Usually used for:

Creating even or loose transitions between colors while painting
different skies, sunsets, landscapes, galaxies or water for example
Adding loose textures and additional color transitions to objects

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WET ON DRY
When you paint wet on dry, you apply paint to the dry paper or to the dry
layer of paint.

If you use this technique to create the first layer, the wash will be darker
because it isn’t additionally diluted with any water on the paper.

You can use this technique to create different washes:

Flat 
Graded (transition between dark to light using one color)
Variegated (transition between two or more colors)
Glazing / Layering Paint

Because in watercolor painting the paint only goes where it's wet, with the
wet on dry technique you have more control over where the paint goes on the
paper because you direct it yourself.

The paint is easier to control but it might be more difficult to create even
washes for the backgrounds if you're just starting out as they can turn out a
little bit streaky.

Usually used for:

Laying down paint and creating washes with more control
Adding additional layers to the dry layer of paint below
Adding details to the painting

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 I really hope this guide was helpful!
Now have fun painting and learning!

Thank You!

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