WA TER CO LO R C O LO R I N G P A G E S

* F OR PE R S ON AL U S E ON LY
Wa t erc olor i s a creati v e medi um that n o t on l y l ooks b eau ti fu l b u t i t i s

a pp ropria te for all ski ll lev els, does n o t r eq u i r e ex p en s i ve s u p p l i es an d ca n b e

d on e a t t h e ki tchen table i n jus t a few mi n u tes .

Whe n I create a watercolor pai nti n g , I al ways b eg i n wi th a l i g h t p en ci l s ke t c h .

O f t en I’ll r eference a photograph an d ad d d etai l s or make ch an g es fr o m m y

im a gin a t ion. Once the sketch i s co mp l ete, the fu n of water col o r i n g can b e g i n.

T he sk et ches i n thi s book are han d - d r awn ( b y me! ) an d offer ed as a way to

by p a ss t he sketchi ng part and j u mp r i g h t i n to p ai n ti n g .

T he sk et ches are deli beratly si m p l e an d vo i d of d etai l s - th i s i s a way fo r y o u

t o a dd y our own style! Feel free to ad d p atter n s , l etter i n g , b ackg r ou n d s , fa c e s

a n d a d dit i onal objects to make yo u r p ai n ti n g al l yo u r own .

My hope is that these sketches wi l l take s ome o f th e i n ti mi d ati o n away and

y ou ’l l ha ve an easy starti ng poin t fo r p ai n ti n g wi th water col o r .

I ca n ’t w a i t to see what you create! I f yo u p o s t yo u r fi n i s h ed p ai n ti n g to

in st a gra m, please tag me at @jo n es d es i g n comp an y or you ar e al ways welc o m e

t o se n d a n emai l to emi ly@jones d es i g n comp an y. com.

En j oy!

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USIN G T H E COLORING PA GE S

T here a re two ways to use these water co l or col o r i n g p ag es .

1. P rin t t he sketches on regular p r i n ter p ap er . C h o o s e a s ketch an d tr i m to s i z e

( 5x7) . H old up sketch to a wi ndo w wi th l i g ht comi n g th r ou g h an d p l ace a p i e c e

of w a t erc olor paper on top. You’l l ju s t b e ab l e to s ee th e s ketch thr ou g h th e

p a p er. Ge ntly outli ne wi th a penci l , u s i n g l i g ht s tr okes , o n to th e water col o r

p a p er.

T his is t he method I prefer so that you can make an y ch an g es to the s ketc h

a n d era se the penci l marks whe n yo u ar e fi n i s hed p ai n ti n g .

2 . P rin t t he sketches di rectly on water col o r p ap er ( i f you r p r i n ter wi l l acce p t

it ) . Ma ke sure you use watercolo r p ap er ! Water co l or s d o n o t wo r k wel l o n

re gu l a r p rinter paper - you wi ll en d u p wi th a s og g y, b u ckl ed p i ece of p ape r

a n d m iss out on the beauti ful pool i n g an d b l en d i n g th at hap p en s wh en yo u

a dd t he pai nt and water to thi ck, water co l or p ap er .

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WAT ER C O LOR BA SICS

Wa t erc olor i s a transparent pai n t that i s mi x ed wi th water . M os t s ets co m e

w it h p rim ary and secondary color s p l u s b r own an d b l ack. I en co u r ag e yo u t o

m ix col ors to create your own c u s to m hu es , ad d i n g b r o wn fo r l es s s atu r at e d

p rim a ry colors and extra water to l i g hten i t u p .

T he k ey t o watercolor i s WATE R. Yo u ’ l l al ways wan t yo u r p ai n t to b e wet s o y o u

c a n m ix a nd blend and let i t pool an d d r y to cr eate th at p r etty water col o r

e f f ec t .

B e ca u se of the transparent natu r e of water col o r s , s tar t wi th l i g ht col o r s a nd

l a ye r on darker. For example, yo u wi l l n ot b e ab l e to ad d l i g ht yel l ow to th e

c en t er of a flower i f i t has alrea d y b een p ai n ted r ed . S o b eg i n wi th the l i g h t

c olors a n d once they are dry, ad d the n ex t.

I f y ou a dd pai nt to wet areas of you r ar two r k, the p ai n t wi l l b l en d to g ether . If

y ou w a n t a separati on of color, b e s u r e to wai t fo r th e fi r s t l ayer to d r y b e f o r e

a dd in g t he next.

I f y ou m a ke a mi stake, use a clean p ap er to wel an d g en tl y b l o t the ar ea to

re m ove pai nt. You can also add cl ean water wi th you r b r u s h an d b l o t i t to

‘era se’ m istakes.

Most of a ll, practi ce and hav e fu n !

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WAT ER C O LOR SU PPLIE S

You w ill only need a few suppli es to ach i eve g r eat r es u l ts .

PAP ER

Don ’t u se r egular pri nter paper! A l ways p ai n t wi th p ap er s p eci fi cal l y mad e f o r

w a t erc olors. It i s less absorbent, won ’ t b u ckl e an d al l ows th e p ai n t to p u dd le

a n d dry in i ts beauti ful waterco l or - y way.

You ca n f ind tablets, si ngle she ets , ex tr a l arg e p i eces an d b l o cks . A i m fo r a

st ep u p f rom the ki ds’ craft sup p l i es to g et a s l i g htl y b etter q u al i ty.

My f a vorit e paper i s Strathmore 14 0 l b co l d p r es s .

B R USH ES

You w ill w ant a set of round brus h es wi th syn theti c or n atu r al b r i s tl es i n

se ve ra l sizes. I most often pai nt wi th s i zes 1, 2 , 6 an d 10 .

PAIN T

T he b et t e r quali ty pai nt, the mo r e s atu r ati on , p er man en ce an d tr an s p ar enc y

y ou w il l get.

I f y ou ha ve a set of chi ldren's w ater col o r s l ayi n g ar o u n d the ho u s e, feel fr e e t o

u se t he m , BU T, you'll get better r es u l ts wi th a s l i g htl y b etter q u al i ty p ai n t . S o

in st e a d of the typi cal student's water col o r s et, l o o k fo r an ar ti s t' s q u al i ty

p rof e ssional set. The few extra d o l l ar s wi l l b e wor th i t.

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WAT ER C O LOR SU PPLIE S (co nti nued)

Alt ern a t e ly, you can use i ndi v i du al tu b es of water col o r p ai n t. I f yo u p r efer t o

w ork w it h thi s pai nt, fi nd a ki t wi th an as s or tmen t o f b as i c co l or s to g et

st a rt ed .

To w ork w i th tube watercolors, p u t a s mal l d ab o f each col o r o n a cl ean , w h i t e

p a l e t t e ( see below for detai ls) a n d al l o w to d r y over n i g ht. Ju s t ad d water t o

re a c t iva t e and i t wi ll allow for b etter con tr ol wh en mi x i n g an d p ai n ti n g .

PAL ET T E

You w ill w ant a clean surface to mi x co l or s . Yo u can u s e the i n s i d e l i d o f y o ur

w a t erc olor set, or a separate pal ette. Fi n d p l as ti c p al ettes i n the cr aft s t o r e

or - even better! - use a whi te c er ami c d i s h fr om yo u r ki tchen cu p b oar d o r t h e

t hrif t st ore.

WAT ER

You ’ll n ee d a wi de-mouth contai n er o f cl ean water to r i n s e you r b r u s h an d a d d

w a t er t o t he pai nt.

PAP ER T O WE L

Use t his t o wi pe your brush between co l or s , to d ab off ex ces s p ai n t fr o m y o ur

bru sh or f rom your pai nti ng.

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