Starting watercolour

Try a Watercolour paper block. Already stretched ,or buy a couple of large sheets of the best you can buy cut to size. H b pencil it is acceptable to see pencil marks but can also be rubbed out with clean putty rubber. I try to paint directly onto my paper with a brush and not use any pencil . But not always possible .

Watercolour block, as North Light suggests, or a heavier weight of paper will avoid the need for stretching - although stretching paper isn't that difficult, it's a knack you acquire: we all do it differently, and there are many YouTube demonstrations - for myself, I just wet the paper on both sides, lay it flat on a plywood drawing board, then tape it down securely and leave it overnight. I had a lot of trouble doing that when I started, but seem to have got it right now. Ken Bromley makes a paper-stretcher which, I'm told, is foolproof - but I don't feel I need it. Go to YouTube and look at Alan Owen's videos - not for paper stretching, because he doesn't, but for the uses of the pencil, or sometimes pen and ink with watercolour - he's not one to make a careful drawing in either but for me, his pictures work beautifully. If you look at Rupert Cordeux's very different work (blessedly, he has re-joined us!) you'll often see clear examples of pencil structure which contribute, in my opinion, to the painting - I wouldn't remove them. So long as the pencil is sharp, and applied lightly, it shouldn't matter too much what grade you use: H or harder would be hard to see (though maybe I'm wishing my myopia on you there: I can never see it!) and anything softer than 2B would be likely to smudge and sully the paint washes - so something in the middle of that range: HB, B, or 2B: on the other hand, I've seen watercolour used with charcoal before now - and it worked. Experiment would be the way here - and you'll have to forget about how much it's costing, because that just inhibits you and holds back your progress (easy to say, that, isn't it? But still true.). Or follow the North Light example, and don't use pencil at all but go in straightaway with the brush - I have to say that this takes a bit of courage, and perhaps a fair bit of practice, too: it suits Sylvia's broad, bold and spontaneous style. For this approach, look for demonstrations by Ron Ranson (hard to find for free on YouTube, but there is a touching interview with him on there at the moment: he's clearly well-stricken in years, but retains a marvellous touch with his favoured hake brush) and Steve Cronin. I'm just reminded of a quote by R O Dunlop, RA, who wrote a good deal about painting in watercolour, oil and pastel: "heavy-handed work in watercolour is an abomination" - not sure I entirely agree with him there, it depends on what you mean by heavy-handed: watercolour has been used for other properties than the transparency Dunlop praised. But even so, it's important to bear it in mind as a guiding principle - I am thinking of an exhibition I saw a while ago, of watercolours of local scenes: everything had been carefully, laboriously (and unfortunately, badly) drawn in soft, shiny, BLUNT pencil: the watercolour had been floated, tepidly, over this hideous superstructure - it had gone grey in places where it picked up the graphite - and yet the artist had carefully framed it, and it got praise (not from me, obviously) because people recognized the local scenes: there's a lesson there - I just don't want to think what it might be. THAT was heavy-handed, and abomination was, indeed, the word.

Philipo (9/20/2015)

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Hi all I would like to start using watercolor painting and I have noticed in others work there is still pencil lines from the drawing of the picture, I assume this is acceptable if so which type of pencil is the best ie 2H, 3H, 4H I am also not very good when it comes to drawing and I don't want to spoil the paper prior to adding any paint etc so what type of paper should I purchase as I would hate to waste money on getting cheap paper and then my work is ruined, someone advised me to get a paper stretcher is this necessary as this would then be yet more cost....

Hi Philipo just remember that being a water-colourist is a form of masocism... Acrylics are more versatile and far more forgiving...

He does have a point, Philipo - I hate to say it, but he does; and what he doesn't add, though could have done, is that if you do fall for watercolour it has a nasty habit of trapping you within its coils: once you get into it, it's the devil's own job to leave it alone again. But still, and all - it is startlingly satisfying when it does work: and there are many painters on here who have fallen in love with it and remain in love with it. But forgiving - no; no, it really isn't forgiving.... This doesn't mean that it's actually any more difficult to do than any other form of painting: just that, if you make a mistake, it glares at you and is harder to put right than in almost any other medium. If you really want to do it, though - don't be put off. Be bold with it, but don't rush at it bald-headed; take your time; and let your washes dry before adding anything else - impatience is fatal with watercolour.

Must say I'm in love with watercolours and although I do branch out and try my hand at different things (current fad is acrylic inks) I always return to the watercolour fold. Hope to be wielding the watercolour brush later in the week - I'm beginning to get withdrawal symptons.

I agree with you at beginning level its good to save money and buy affordable medium quality material like paper, watercolors etc. I use mixture of expensive and low priced paints and believe me its a very good technique to get better results in a budget.

I wish I could help in a practical way. But watercolour isn't a practical medium.....Choose as heavy a based paper as you can afford, add water, apply colour, ...any colour, then see what happens...It's the only way to experience it...then go from there. It's the Holy Grail of painting, the most frustrating, the most satisfying, the most maddening of mediums, but OH, so magical when it works for you...Go for it. Forget the pencil lines, they are not important, indeed they can add to it. Experiment as much as you can...forget producing that Masterpiece for now...

If I want pencil lines to show up I'll use HB or F for sketching. If I'm going to rub them out, or don't want them to show so much, I'll use a softer pencil (2B) that's less likely to scratch into the paper than a harder one. It's perfectly acceptable to have pencil lines, they can add a lot to a picture. Some artists will do a full pencil drawing and add paint over the top. Buy the best paper you can afford. The heavier the better really, it will be able to take more punishment and will dry a lot flatter if you choose not to stretch it. I stretch my paper the same way that Robert Jones describes, and I used a wooden board I got in the offcuts bin at a DIY shop, and cost next to nothing. The best way to get used to watercolours is to experiment, throw it around, watch how it behaves. It can be tricky to control but it's a lot of fun.