7 Bad Watercolour Habits You Need To Stop NOW!

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Paint Palette:

Arches Cold Pressed Watercolour PAPER:

Princeton Snap Brushes:
Pack of 4! Sizes 0, 2 and 6 round brushes and a 3/4 angle brush
Size 12 Round brush:

***BEGINNERS
TOP 10 Winsor & Newton COTMAN Watercolours TO START WITH:

PROFESSIONAL WINSOR & NEWTON WATERCOLOURS:

Music: Type of music: R&B & Soul
Mood: Happiness

[buddnd]

My number one worst habit is to devalue what I have done. But I recently realised I’m painting for myself, it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks of it. It’s my painting done for me, so as long as I like it that’s all that matters. 🥰

[hiddenshadow]

Cliffnotes for myself:
1. Don't leave the brush in the water jar (especially not tip down; it damages the brush)
2. Don't contaminate colours (don't mix in a pan, use mixing areas)
3. Change paint water often (or use two+ jars)
4. Don't wash palettes (it wastes paint)
5. Don't leave tubes open (it makes paint drier)
6. Don't use white paint to lighten watercolour (white paint makes watercolours less transparent; traditional watercolouring suggests to use water for dilution and paper itself as white)
7. Don't leave a painting unfinished (better learning experience)

[dianeandbrad]

I totally agree with the last one. Even if it still ends up coming out like a horrible mess, it’s good practice to try to save your paintings - this is a skill that takes time to develop and you’ll start noticing patterns of where things went in the wrong direction. Practice trying to salvage paintings that you thought were destined for the trash - so that when you’re working on a piece you actually like but then suddenly make a mistake, you’ll have some methods for fixing it.

[lightbulb]

When I was in high school, I did a large forest painting and mixed my colours in the lid of my pallet. I now have a son about to enter high school and I still haven’t cleaned all those greens and browns out of that lid... I do use other pallets to mix my paint, but I was doing some trees the other day and I used some of the greens that I had mixed over 20 years ago. I didn’t think anything of it, it just never crossed my mind to clean it, but now it feels kinda nostalgic. Thankfully my trees now look 100X better than they did when I first mixed those paints!

[heather]

I use an ice cube tray for brush cleaning in-between color changes

[lisagoetsch]

A cardboard box with small holes helps to hold your brushes to dry them or store them bristles down.

I’ll admit I cringe when colors get mixed in the pan. Lol

My biggest bad habit with watercolor is waiting for my painting to dry between layers. I’m too inpatient and things get muddy and if I had let it dry a bit between layers it would been better.

[renemorales]

Here's the solution I came up with for water. I have an old acrylic makeup organizer that is a single unit with 3 sections. The center section is a bit taller than the other two. It works perfectly for watercolor painting.

I'm constantly looking at everyday objects and evaluating whether there's a way that thing can be used for art. Old spoons, contact grip shelf and drawer liner, an empty eyedrops container, swizzle sticks from Starbucks, a cheese knife, an unused cutting board and so much more have found their way into my art supplies. 😆

[momomarie]

Speaking of believing in yourself and finishing a painting. I attempted an abstract. It look horrid so I threw it out. That evening I was watching an HGTV decorating show and there was a painting they hung on the wall that looked very much like the one I threw out! LOL That really cracked me up.

[ACAB.forcutie]

I use white to make things creamier, like pastel.. even adding white to a pastel can make it creamier, I love making a really creamy yellow and using that for daffodils 😊

[pamnason]

Oh my gosh, I loved this video. Emma you made me laugh so hard about the white paint! I am just a beginner but number 8 should be don't take your project so seriously! I've done a bunch of tutorials and when I'm done I look at the artist's work and then my work and think, "that's terrible!" Then my friends/family see it and say omg you should sell these! Haha, I NEVER show them the tutorials in which the artist does a phenomenal job. When you're finished don't compare your work to the artist, you are just a beginner and your piece probably looks beautiful on it's own.

[ninaorehek]

Great advice and I love the humor! Not wanting to waste paper has helped me most of the times to turn around what looked like a failed painting. Never give up!

[debramitchell]

I love the part about not leaving a painting unfinished. ❤

[amyx]

I’ve never once washed my watercolor palettes. Only ever a small wipe or two to remove really unfortunate mixes (mostly muddy greys). Who’s washing away their precious pigments!? Gasp!

[sharonfoy]

I like to swirl my brush in water in a figure 8 multiple times - it removes the pigment quickly.

[melissab]

I cannot smash the like button enough! 😁🥰 Especially the last bad habit of leaving a painting unfinished. Because I have been dabbling in watercolor for FIVE YEARS and have tons of unfinished paintings that I feel terrible about! I probably have more unfinished paintings than finished ones. Yet people always compliment them when I do complete them. So thank you for giving me the kick in the pants that I really needed to hear.

[fritopaws]

Additional suggestion on the water jar front - have less water in your jars. I noticed your jars are relatively small, but 2 inches of water in them should be more than enough. It allows you to tap the brush on the bottom without getting water too high up the brush and you'll use less water overall - water charges will need to be made close to the same time but you refill with less. (I'm on well water but use bottled for art so tend to be conservative with it). 😀

[kdavis]

I was cracking up thru this entire video. You have such a lovely sense of humor! Thank you for bringing a smile to me today. ❤️

[paulaorsi]

I love watching your videos. Every time lately I see your new videos you look so happy and you just glow 😁 you have helped me love painting even more 😍 you are a true joy with a gift of not only painting but encouraging & teaching others. 😘

[tensa]

I love how you’re always so down to earth and with a sense of humour in all your videos. It makes painting along so much less pressured. When I started dabbling with gouache I went to your channel for this reason <3

[marymorgan]

I love your liveliness in this little video. We should all paint happy. Thank you