Achieving the perfect setup for watercolor painting.
Today I am reposting my most popular post ever, about how to make your painting experience as comfortable and natural as possible.
I love teaching and blogging and I truly believe that art is for everybody. I am all about the importance of practicing creativity as a healthy lifestyle. So today I will show you how to get the absolute best layout for painting watercolors.
If you like this tip and want to know more, I am holding some painting retreats in Vence on the Cote dÀzure in France in September and October and I have an online class about drawing faces.
If you just got started with painting and most things are still new, then you probably have more than enough to think about what is happening on the paper. There are so many things to learn. Time and space just seem to melt and disappear. Sometimes you end up with something you are very happy about, other times you get really frustrated. But the good news is that there are many typical mistakes that can be very easily fixed.
The way you set up your materials can be an invisible trap, It is very important that you have a good setup for your work area, whether it is your living room table, your desk, a cafe, or a fully professional set-up. Whichever it is, the tools and materials should be in the same place. Then your mind can make your hand go to the blue paint without even looking. It should come as natural as driving or cycling. You don’t think what your legs are doing, nor your arms, but you get there with no problems.
A bad setup can actually give you some extra challenges because it can lead to mistakes in your artwork, such as splashing and drips, not working quick enough, adding too much color or to much water. These are totally typical but they can be easily avoided.
Below I will give you a basic guide on what you need and how you can set up your watercolor painting materials.
Basic watercolor supplies
To get your watercolor painting experience off to a successful start, this is what you need:
- Paper
- Paints
- Brushes
- Palette(s)
- Paper tissue
- 2 to 3 glasses of water
- Paper for testing colors
How to set up the table for watercolors.
First of all, I avoid placing my supplies/materials all over the table. I keep all the most important things close.
Some techniques have a flowing movement, a rhythm, like a dance, from water to color, to palette, to brush, to the page. You have to move quickly and often you don’t have time to think: you can’t afford to lose a second.
Arrange everything you need in the best possible way. Figuring out what best suits you and your needs can save you from frustrations. Place your materials so that you can have maximum control and your brush easily dances from one to the next.
Start thinking like you do when you set up the table for lunch or dinner. (This makes it easy to remember.) You place the plate in the middle and the tools and accessories all around.
Put the paper in the middle and colors, brushes, tissues, etc. like a rainbow. If one arrangement doesn’t work for you – try another, if you are left-handed, set up everything on your left of course.
Lighting: Light is very important. If you can, place the table near the window. If you depend on a lamp, get a lightbulb that mimics daylight. There are two sorts of light bulbs. One is yellowish and gives soft warm light (you don’t want this one as it is different to natural light). The one you want gives you cold light. If they are not on the first row in the supermarket, a lighting store can help you chose the correct bulbs.
Paper for testing: I always have a paper for testing on the right side of my artwork. I use the same paper as I am using for my artwork to test the effects before putting them on the painting.
There are different reasons for this: I use it for seeing how much pigment is on my brush. I test how much water the brush can hold. When one color is dry I can paint over it with a new color and see how they appear together. Sometimes I blend the colors there, as I would do on a palette. It is great for comparing colors and to see if you blended the same as you did earlier.
Paper tissue: This is indispensable for two reasons.
Firstly for soaking up water or paint to let it dry out, and secondly, for erasing mistakes. Go to this post to watch my videos to see when I use the tissue.
I also clean or wipe the brush on it. you can also have a cloth or some fabric for cleaning your brushes.
Brushes: Don’t leave your brushes in a glass of water, not even for 1 minute. This can cause the brush hairs to bend and ruin the point. Sadly the effect is irreversible. Lay your brushes on your folded paper tissue or over the top of the glass until you need them. When they are dry I place them upright in my nice vase.
The water should not be up over the ferrule for too long, and certainly not if the handle is of wood. In time the paint will peel off the handle or even worse it just simply falls apart. (I know……)
2 to 3 glasses of water: Don’t be afraid of to much water, I say this because I see people often just take one little glass and it is sure that the water will in no time get muddy, and so will the artwork.I usually have three. One glass that will always hold clean water. Before my brush goes in the clean one, I clean it first in the muddy and then I rinse it again in the second one. this keeps your colors clear and consistent from start to finish.
Palettes and paints: I place them above or on the right side of my painting. It all depends on what I am painting.
Try it out. Move things around until you have the best setup for the way you work You will not go to jail if you do something different 🙂
This is my best advice.
If you want a whole week of full advice like this, check out my courses pages.
If you like this and want to know more, I am holding some painting retreats in Vence on the Cote dÀzure in France in September and October and I have an online class about drawing faces.
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Children in school have such terrible experiences with water colors and turn out messy watery blobs. Some simple instruction re drying, white is not a color, layering would make their experience so much better and encourage them in water color painting instead of being disgusted with the mess.
Yes! this is so true. I teach children (afternoons)from 10 to 18 years and they love watercolors when they have all the tips and tricks. And they have to get the good watercolor paper, it doesn’t have to be expensive but in school, they tend to give them bad paper, brushes, and paints.
Thank you Magny, wonderful post!
Thank you so much!?