There’s a moment most watercolour painters remember the first time they watched pigment bloom across wet paper and realised they had almost no control over it. That was the moment I understood why this medium has fascinated artists for centuries. Watercolour is not a medium you command; it’s one you learn to work with.Its a medium that flows on its own and you just need to follow where it goes. Its a medium that gives you freedom and control at the same time. This guide covers what watercolour painting actually is, what it’s made of, what you need to start, and the techniques that form the foundation of everything from a simple wash to a finished botanical illustration.
Table of Contents
What is Watercolour Painting?
Watercolour painting is a water-based medium in which pigment, suspended in a water-soluble binder, is applied to paper. Its defining characteristic is transparency: layers of colour allow the white of the paper to show through, creating vibrancy that opaque media cannot replicate.
Unlike acrylic or oil paint, watercolour is built on light. Each layer of paint is called a wash or a glaze and it is transparent enough that the white paper underneath remains somewhat visible, reflecting light back through the colour to the viewer’s eye. This is what gives watercolour its characteristic glow. Opaque media have to imitate vibrancy by adding white pigment. Watercolour achieves it inherently, by simply not blocking the light.
Watercolour also demands that there is no way you can paint white separately, the only way to add light or highlights to your painting is to keep the white of the paper intact. Which is why watercolour is a fast medium but it takes quite a lot of time in the initial stage of starting the painting because it takes careful planning and integration on how to create the composition and decide which side the light source is going to be.
Watercolour works primarily on paper, though watercolour grounds also known as liquid primer can be applied to canvas or board. The paper’s surface and its texture, weight, and whether it’s made from cotton or cellulose shapes how the paint moves, how fast it dries, and what each session makes possible.
The paper in watercolour is a very crucial factor to get the most out of your painting. The paper allows the painter to get the right kind of texture and feel of the painting.I was first introduced to watercolour when I was just a kid, mostly because of my father. Dad was an amazing watercolorist. He dabbled in this medium for such a long time and even introduced so many people to it including me. And I was drawn to it mostly because of him. I used to watch him paint plein air, landscapes and still life. And the most amazing part was that it was such a humble little thing. No big equipment setup, no easel and no big canvas. Just a sketchbook, some primary watercolour tubes, a couple of brushes and a jar of water. That was all that’s needed to create art that allows you to be in the moment. To take in the scenery and capture light like never before.
What is watercolour paint made of?
Watercolour paint is made of three components: pigment (the colour source), gum arabic (the binder, derived from acacia tree sap), and water. Gum arabic holds the pigment together, controls how paint flows on paper, and allows dried paint to be reactivated simply by adding water.
Pigment gives each colour its identity and its character. Some pigments are organic, derived from carbon sources. They tend to be warm, transparent, and vibrant. Others are inorganic like mineral-based, and often granulating, meaning the particles settle into the texture of the paper and create a speckled, textured effect.
Gum arabic is what makes watercolour uniquely adjustable. A dried layer on paper can be softened and partially lifted with a damp brush, commonly called the lifting technique a property no other common painting medium shares in quite the same way. The concentration of gum arabic also affects flow: more gum arabic slows the spread of pigment, and it moves freely.
Artist-grade and student-grade watercolours contain the same three components, but in very different ratios. Artist-grade paints carry a higher pigment concentration and fewer fillers. Student-grade paints use less pigment and often add extenders like chalk or dextrin(low cost binder). The difference shows on paper: artist-grade colour stays saturated after drying while student-grade often dries noticeably lighter and produces muddier mixes.
Also in terms of longevity of the painting, artist grade paints have a more light fastness compared to student grade paints. That means in the long run, a painting painted with artist grade paints remains vibrant and fresh for more years to come, however student grade painting will lose its luminosity in a few years time. When I first started painting with watercolours I owned a cheap student grade paint set. It was great in the beginning, since I was only enjoying the process more rather than painting a subject. And over time I realized that it was actually a very important step to do so. Enjoying the process and getting acquainted with the medium is equally important than creating a masterpiece. My first set of paint I owned was the Camlin artist colors. It’s an Indian brand that has been around for a long time. Before the indian market was introduced to winsor and newton or daniel smith. Camlin was one of the go to watercolour mediums to start with. Back then a lot of serious artists were mostly into oil or acrylics. Watercolour was considered a children’s medium, I guess mostly because there wasn’t much education around the medium. It was used in art classes for children and for a hobby artist. Not for selling your pieces and creating originals.
How is watercolour different from other painting media?
Watercolour is transparent, water-soluble, and rewettable after drying. Acrylic is opaque, fast-drying, and water-resistant once cured. Gouache is an opaque form of watercolour using the same binder. Oil paint is oil-based, slow-drying, and permanent. Each requires a fundamentally different approach to painting, they are not interchangeable tools.
The most important distinction is between transparent and opaque media.
In watercolour, white is not a colour you use, it’s the paper itself. Dark tones are built by layering transparent glazes, always moving from lighter values to darker ones. There is no white watercolour that functions as a corrective. Once an area is painted too dark, your options are lifting (removing damp paint with a brush or tissue), careful rewetting and softening, or working around it. Planning light areas before any paint goes down is not an optional skill, it is the skill. Hence the initial planning and carefully thought composition is such an important step.
Acrylic works the opposite way. It is opaque, meaning any colour can be painted directly over any other like white over black, light over dark and without the underlying layer showing. Mistakes are repainted, not lifted. Once dried, acrylic is permanent and water-resistant.
Gouache sits between the two. It uses gum arabic as its binder as same as watercolour but with a much higher pigment load and the addition of chalk or permanent white, which makes it opaque. Gouache can be rewetted, but it covers what’s beneath it. It is used in illustration, design, and as an opaque accent medium alongside watercolour.
Oil paint is furthest from watercolour in every practical sense. Oil-based, slow-drying (surface dry in days, fully cured over weeks), not rewettable, and requiring solvents for cleanup. Its opacity and permanence make it suited to very different kinds of painting.
As an artist I always try to paint in different mediums but I always come back to watercolour. Watercolour allows me to create fast and create with freedom. It allows me to make mistakes and learn at the same time. I can always scrap something and start again without losing my sleep over the budget. Although paper can be an expensive affair, but there are a lot of great handmade paper options and even cellulose or wood pulp paper that can offer more inexpensive options and allows you to explore your techniques over and over again. Also it satisfies a feminine urge in me to create a beautiful aesthetic piece that is built gently and slowly. With the colours and water flowing together, it also calms my nervous system in many ways which produces a therapeutic effect. I guess art is all about feeling good but watercolour is something else. You can create low pressure art with just letting the color flow in a way and “voila” you made art.
One property watercolour painters rely on and often underestimate: a dried palette is never wasted. Add a drop of water and every colour is ready to use again. That’s not true of acrylic, oil, or gouache.
What do you need to start watercolour painting?
The essentials come down to four categories: paint, paper, brushes, and a jar for water. Of these four, paper quality has the greatest effect on how a painting feels to work on and looks when finished, more than the brushes, and often more than the paint.
Watercolour paints
Watercolour paint comes in two formats: pans and tubes. Pans are small dried cakes of colour they are compact, travel-friendly, and ready to use with a damp brush. Tubes contain moist paint that can be squeezed onto a palette for quick colour loading and large wash mixing.
A small set of artist-grade in 6 to 12 primary colours outperforms a large student-grade set of 24 in almost every situation. Mixing from clean primaries produces cleaner secondary colours than using pre-mixed student-grade paints, which often contain fillers that affect how they interact. Buy less, but buy better.
More on primary and secondary colours later when we discuss colour wheel and colour mixing. Since I am mostly into painting florals and nature inspired paintings. I always lean towards certain fixed colors. Although the three primaries are the most essential ones, having a quinacridone rose which has more pink tones with magenta, a rose madder shade and an opera pink if you are into florals would be some great options. Additionally you will also need a good neutral burnt sienna to give your botanicals a more natural look. Greens are obviously the next thing, but having a vandyke green or an olive green is such a great addition. The essential ultramarine blue and a cerulean blue can help you mix almost the colours possible. We can elaborate more on color mixing in our next blogs, because that’s a whole new chapter all together. Anyway, coming down to the most essential colors would be definitely a Crimson and Permanent red, Lemon yellow and Gamboge yellow and an ultramarine blue and a cerulean as discussed before. Once you master color mixing most of your colors can easily be made using these colors.
Watercolour Paper
Weight (measured in GSM – grams per square meter) determines how paper handles water. 140gsm paper very common in budget but bends when wet unless stretched or taped before painting. 300gsm paper stays flat under wet washes. For most purposes, 300gsm is the practical starting point.
Material divides into cotton and cellulose. Cotton paper (sometimes called rag paper) is 100% cotton fibre, is more absorbent, more durable under repeated wet layers, and better for lifting paint from a dried surface. Cellulose paper is made from wood pulp. It is less forgiving to rework and doesn’t allow clean lifting.
Surface texture comes in three types. Cold-pressed (medium texture) is the most versatile, handling both detail work and loose washes. Hot-pressed (smooth) is better suited to fine line work,detailed botanical illustration, and watercolour pencil. Rough paper has heavy texture and is most used for more, expressive, bold brushwork and large washes, and not suited for detailed or smaller pieces.
For painters in India, Chitrapat and handmade rag paper is worth starting with. It’s locally produced, acid-free, and available at most art supply shops. For professional work, Arches (French, 100% cotton) and Fabriano Artistico (Italian, 100% cotton) are industry benchmarks. Brustro Artist watercolour paper is another good option available in India — sitting between student and professional quality and well suited to regular practice. Saunders Waterford (British, 100% cotton) is worth considering for international shipping if Arches is not available. Hahnemuhle is also a great german brand for paper and has been producing some great papers for watercolor. They even have a variety of textures and types, both for beginners and professional artist as well.
Paintbrushes
Two round brushes cover most watercolour needs to start: a size 4 for detail work and a size 8 for mid-sized washes and broader strokes. A larger flat or mop brush is useful for wide backgrounds once you’re painting regularly.
The quality that matters most in a watercolour brush is water retention, how much paint the belly of the bristles holds and how evenly it releases at the tip. Kolinsky sable brushes hold the most water and snap back to a fine point cleanly. Synthetic sable brushes are a solid starting point, significantly less expensive and well-suited to learning the medium.
Some of the brands of brushes that I always rely on are Princeton, silver black velvet, and Brustro mop brushes. Apart from these I have also used a few chinese calligraphy brushes which actually work beautifully with watercolors. Found them in a local art supply store and they’ve stayed with me since then.
What are the main watercolour painting techniques?
Four foundational techniques form the basis of most watercolour work. Each produces a different result on paper. Knowing when to use which and how to move between them within a single painting is the core practical skill of the medium.
Wet on Wet
In wet-on-wet painting, paint is applied to a surface that is already wet, either pre-wetted paper or a still-wet previous wash.
Paint spreads freely into the wet area, following the water’s movement rather than staying where the brush placed it. This produces soft, diffuse edges with no hard lines, the kind of transition you see in painted skies, loose backgrounds, and loosely rendered petals. Wet-on-wet is less predictable than other techniques, which is both its challenge and its appeal. It blooms where a second drop of paint spreads into a drying wash and creates a ruffled, organic pattern, are one of its most characteristic results.
Wet-on-dry
Wet-on-dry means applying wet paint to completely dry paper, or to a layer that has dried fully.
Edges stay exactly where the brush places them. There is no spreading, no blooming, no soft diffusion, the paint dries with the edge intact. This makes wet-on-dry the go-to technique for defined shapes: individual petals with clear outlines, architectural lines, lettering, and any subject where precision matters. Most finished floral and botanical illustration work uses wet-on-dry for detail passes over a wet-on-wet base.
Dry Brush
In dry brush technique, the brush carries minimal water, just enough to keep the paint fluid, but not enough to make it run.
When applied with light pressure, the bristles spread slightly and the paint catches only the raised peaks of the paper’s texture, leaving broken, textured marks where the tooth of the paper (the surface texture, grain or roughness of the paper) shows through. Dry brush is used for rough textures such as bark, stone, fabric grain, weathered surfaces and for fine detail and hair. It works over existing dry layers and adds texture without disturbing what’s beneath.
Washes and glazing
A wash is a diluted, even layer of paint applied across an area. A flat wash maintains consistent tone and colour. A graded wash transitions gradually from dark to light, or from one hue to another, across the same area. Washes are the structural foundation of most watercolour paintings, the first layer most paintings begin with.
Glazing is different: it means applying a transparent layer of paint over a completely dry previous layer. Because both layers are transparent, they interact visually, a yellow glaze over a dried blue layer reads as green to the eye. Multiple glazes build depth and luminosity that mixing colours directly on the paper does not achieve in the same way.
My style of painting covers almost all of the above techniques however there’s one technique that I rely heavily on is called dry on damp. Here the surface is not fully wet but rather just damp enough for the paper to diffuse the edges but not spiral all over. It’s still a controlled way of applying color on paper which gives a soft ethereal feel of the subject you are painting. All the while giving a more nostalgic feel to the painting. It also allows the colors to stay vibrant at the same time without losing the saturation of the paint. Dry on damp can create some beautiful effects while painting flowers like roses and irises. It is a very effective technique to master. But yes give yourself enough time to explore everything and do not rush into it.
Is watercolour painting hard to learn?
Watercolour has a real learning curve. The challenge is not complexity, it is water control and planning. Because the medium works light to dark and mistakes cannot be fully painted over, light areas must be identified and preserved before painting begins. That demands a different kind of thinking than most other media.
Compared to acrylic, watercolour is less forgiving. Acrylic can be corrected by painting over; watercolour cannot. Watercolour is faster and more fluid, but requires more active decision-making while the paint is still wet.
The three skills that determine how quickly a beginner progresses are:
Water-to-pigment ratio
Too much water makes paint pale and uncontrollable; too little makes it grainy and reluctant to blend. Learning to load a brush correctly and to read what the ratio looks like on the palette before it touches the paper, takes consistent practice.
Reading drying stages
Wet, damp, and dry paper behave entirely differently. Adding paint to wet paper produces soft blooms. Adding paint to damp paper produces softer yet defined edges. Dry paper holds whatever edge the brush creates. Knowing which stage you’re working on determines what is and isn’t possible at that moment.
Timing
Deciding on the right time to apply the next layer is also a crucial part of the technique. Apply it a bit late and you get hard edges, too early and it spills all over. Waiting for the exact time to start gives the best results. It will take some practice for sure but once you get there it’ll be a smooth ride. Also the place you live, external factors like temperature of your surroundings, whether its winter or summer will also determine how fast your paint dries. Like over here in Pune India, summers are so different from the monsoon season. I realized I had to move faster with my paints because it was literally 35 degrees outside. This gave me less playtime and I had to keep a spray bottle handy at all times. On the contrary, in the monsoon season due to the humidity, drying time took forever. That was when I needed a hairdryer or a heating tool to make the process faster. This is more important especially if you want to dry the first layer completely and then start the second. Of course if you are lucky with the temperature factor then you can just wait for it to dry naturally and then start again at your pace. This especially comes in handy when I am LIVE streaming on my instagram and i have to pace things up or slow it down for my viewers.
Planning light
In any subject, the lightest areas must be identified and preserved before any paint goes down. Once an area is covered, recovering the light requires lifting which works best when paint is still damp, and becomes harder as paint dries. As i mentioned previously that highlight areas needed to be planned before hand and sometimes even while painting you can leave those white spaces especially while painting florals.
Most beginners make satisfying paintings within 3 to 5 focused practice sessions once these basics click. The medium rewards consistent practice more than natural talent.
What is watercolour painting used for?
Watercolour is now such a versatile medium that is now used widely and so many different artists all over are embracing this wonderful medium. From fine art originals, botanical and floral illustration, architectural rendering, portraiture, fine art landscapes, greeting cards, art prints, stationery, textiles, and commissioned artwork. Its transparency makes it especially suited to subjects where light and delicacy matter such as flowers, botanicals, and subjects like glass or water where translucency is part of the subject itself.
The traditional applications- European landscape and portrait painting from the 18th and 19th centuries have expanded significantly. Contemporary watercolour appears in loose abstract florals, art journaling, hand-illustrated stationery and wedding invitations, architectural visualisation, pet portrait commissions, and giclée print collections. Used for both fine art and commercial purposes. Watercolor is a vastly used medium across all platforms.
Among all subjects, florals and botanicals have a particular resonance with watercolour. The way paint moves in a wet-on-wet wash through a petal reflects, almost literally, how light moves through a real flower. No other common painting medium captures the fragility of a rose or the depth of a bougainvillea petal with the same accuracy, this is why botanical illustration has used watercolour as its primary medium for centuries. Floral watercolour painting covers the full range of techniques and subjects in this speciality. As a floral watercolor artist myself the reason I got into painting flowers was because watercolor was my favorite medium and painting flowers with watercolor came just so naturally as it is.
FAQ
What is the difference between watercolour and watercolor?
Both words describe the same painting medium. “Watercolour” is the British spelling, used in India, the UK, Australia, and most of the Commonwealth. “Watercolor” is the American spelling, used in the United States and Canada. The medium, the paints, the paper, and the techniques are identical regardless of how the word is spelt. It is a regional spelling difference with no practical significance for the art itself.
What is watercolour paint made of?
Watercolour paint is made of three components: pigment, gum arabic, and water. Pigment is the colour source. Gum arabic is derived from acacia tree sap and acts as the binder, holding pigment and allowing dried paint to be reactivated with water. Artist-grade paints contain higher pigment concentration with fewer fillers. Student-grade paints use less pigment and often add extenders like chalk or dextrin to reduce cost, which affects colour saturation and mixing behaviour.
Is watercolour painting hard to learn?
Watercolour has a real learning curve, primarily around water control. Unlike acrylic, you cannot paint over mistakes hence light areas must be planned from the start because the medium works light to dark. The skills that take most practice are managing pigment-to-water ratio, reading drying stages (wet, damp, and dry paper behave entirely differently), and planning tonal values before painting begins. Most beginners achieve satisfying results within 3 to 5 focused practice sessions once these fundamentals click.
What is unique about watercolour painting?
Watercolour’s defining quality is luminosity through transparency. Because the white paper shows through every paint layer, light appears to come from within the painting, a quality that acrylic and oil, both opaque media, cannot achieve with the same structural directness. Watercolour is also fully rewettable: a dried palette is never wasted, and dried layers on paper can be partially lifted with a damp brush. Its transparency makes it uniquely suited to subjects where light and fragility are the point – florals, botanicals, glass, and portraiture.
How is watercolour different from acrylic painting?
Watercolor is transparent, water-soluble, and rewettable after drying. Acrylic is opaque, dries fast, and becomes water-resistant once cured. In watercolour, light is preserved by leaving the paper bare because white cannot be painted on top. In acrylic, any colour can be painted over any other, including light over dark. Watercolour requires planning before the brush touches paper while. Acrylic allows correction, they suit different subjects, different working methods, and produce fundamentally different visual results.
Self taught watercolour artist based in Pune India. I have a soft corner for flowers and I create gentle art made to be felt. Watercolour is my medium but I also love to explore other mediums. I love to teach and share my knowledge, through online workshops and courses. I also create commission pieces and designs for brands and businesses.
What Is Watercolour Painting? Preparation And Basics Of Watercolour Painting
There’s a moment most watercolour painters remember the first time they watched pigment bloom across wet paper and realised they had almost no control over it. That was the moment I understood why this medium has fascinated artists for centuries. Watercolour is not a medium you command; it’s one you learn to work with.Its a medium that flows on its own and you just need to follow where it goes. Its a medium that gives you freedom and control at the same time. This guide covers what watercolour painting actually is, what it’s made of, what you need to start, and the techniques that form the foundation of everything from a simple wash to a finished botanical illustration.
Table of Contents
What is Watercolour Painting?
Watercolour painting is a water-based medium in which pigment, suspended in a water-soluble binder, is applied to paper. Its defining characteristic is transparency: layers of colour allow the white of the paper to show through, creating vibrancy that opaque media cannot replicate.
Unlike acrylic or oil paint, watercolour is built on light. Each layer of paint is called a wash or a glaze and it is transparent enough that the white paper underneath remains somewhat visible, reflecting light back through the colour to the viewer’s eye. This is what gives watercolour its characteristic glow. Opaque media have to imitate vibrancy by adding white pigment. Watercolour achieves it inherently, by simply not blocking the light.
Watercolour also demands that there is no way you can paint white separately, the only way to add light or highlights to your painting is to keep the white of the paper intact. Which is why watercolour is a fast medium but it takes quite a lot of time in the initial stage of starting the painting because it takes careful planning and integration on how to create the composition and decide which side the light source is going to be.
Watercolour works primarily on paper, though watercolour grounds also known as liquid primer can be applied to canvas or board. The paper’s surface and its texture, weight, and whether it’s made from cotton or cellulose shapes how the paint moves, how fast it dries, and what each session makes possible.
The paper in watercolour is a very crucial factor to get the most out of your painting. The paper allows the painter to get the right kind of texture and feel of the painting.I was first introduced to watercolour when I was just a kid, mostly because of my father. Dad was an amazing watercolorist. He dabbled in this medium for such a long time and even introduced so many people to it including me. And I was drawn to it mostly because of him. I used to watch him paint plein air, landscapes and still life. And the most amazing part was that it was such a humble little thing. No big equipment setup, no easel and no big canvas. Just a sketchbook, some primary watercolour tubes, a couple of brushes and a jar of water. That was all that’s needed to create art that allows you to be in the moment. To take in the scenery and capture light like never before.
What is watercolour paint made of?
Watercolour paint is made of three components: pigment (the colour source), gum arabic (the binder, derived from acacia tree sap), and water. Gum arabic holds the pigment together, controls how paint flows on paper, and allows dried paint to be reactivated simply by adding water.
Pigment gives each colour its identity and its character. Some pigments are organic, derived from carbon sources. They tend to be warm, transparent, and vibrant. Others are inorganic like mineral-based, and often granulating, meaning the particles settle into the texture of the paper and create a speckled, textured effect.
Gum arabic is what makes watercolour uniquely adjustable. A dried layer on paper can be softened and partially lifted with a damp brush, commonly called the lifting technique a property no other common painting medium shares in quite the same way. The concentration of gum arabic also affects flow: more gum arabic slows the spread of pigment, and it moves freely.
Artist-grade and student-grade watercolours contain the same three components, but in very different ratios. Artist-grade paints carry a higher pigment concentration and fewer fillers. Student-grade paints use less pigment and often add extenders like chalk or dextrin(low cost binder). The difference shows on paper: artist-grade colour stays saturated after drying while student-grade often dries noticeably lighter and produces muddier mixes.
Also in terms of longevity of the painting, artist grade paints have a more light fastness compared to student grade paints. That means in the long run, a painting painted with artist grade paints remains vibrant and fresh for more years to come, however student grade painting will lose its luminosity in a few years time. When I first started painting with watercolours I owned a cheap student grade paint set. It was great in the beginning, since I was only enjoying the process more rather than painting a subject. And over time I realized that it was actually a very important step to do so. Enjoying the process and getting acquainted with the medium is equally important than creating a masterpiece. My first set of paint I owned was the Camlin artist colors. It’s an Indian brand that has been around for a long time. Before the indian market was introduced to winsor and newton or daniel smith. Camlin was one of the go to watercolour mediums to start with. Back then a lot of serious artists were mostly into oil or acrylics. Watercolour was considered a children’s medium, I guess mostly because there wasn’t much education around the medium. It was used in art classes for children and for a hobby artist. Not for selling your pieces and creating originals.
How is watercolour different from other painting media?
Watercolour is transparent, water-soluble, and rewettable after drying. Acrylic is opaque, fast-drying, and water-resistant once cured. Gouache is an opaque form of watercolour using the same binder. Oil paint is oil-based, slow-drying, and permanent. Each requires a fundamentally different approach to painting, they are not interchangeable tools.
The most important distinction is between transparent and opaque media.
In watercolour, white is not a colour you use, it’s the paper itself. Dark tones are built by layering transparent glazes, always moving from lighter values to darker ones. There is no white watercolour that functions as a corrective. Once an area is painted too dark, your options are lifting (removing damp paint with a brush or tissue), careful rewetting and softening, or working around it. Planning light areas before any paint goes down is not an optional skill, it is the skill. Hence the initial planning and carefully thought composition is such an important step.
Acrylic works the opposite way. It is opaque, meaning any colour can be painted directly over any other like white over black, light over dark and without the underlying layer showing. Mistakes are repainted, not lifted. Once dried, acrylic is permanent and water-resistant.
Gouache sits between the two. It uses gum arabic as its binder as same as watercolour but with a much higher pigment load and the addition of chalk or permanent white, which makes it opaque. Gouache can be rewetted, but it covers what’s beneath it. It is used in illustration, design, and as an opaque accent medium alongside watercolour.
Oil paint is furthest from watercolour in every practical sense. Oil-based, slow-drying (surface dry in days, fully cured over weeks), not rewettable, and requiring solvents for cleanup. Its opacity and permanence make it suited to very different kinds of painting.
As an artist I always try to paint in different mediums but I always come back to watercolour. Watercolour allows me to create fast and create with freedom. It allows me to make mistakes and learn at the same time. I can always scrap something and start again without losing my sleep over the budget. Although paper can be an expensive affair, but there are a lot of great handmade paper options and even cellulose or wood pulp paper that can offer more inexpensive options and allows you to explore your techniques over and over again. Also it satisfies a feminine urge in me to create a beautiful aesthetic piece that is built gently and slowly. With the colours and water flowing together, it also calms my nervous system in many ways which produces a therapeutic effect. I guess art is all about feeling good but watercolour is something else. You can create low pressure art with just letting the color flow in a way and “voila” you made art.
One property watercolour painters rely on and often underestimate: a dried palette is never wasted. Add a drop of water and every colour is ready to use again. That’s not true of acrylic, oil, or gouache.
What do you need to start watercolour painting?
The essentials come down to four categories: paint, paper, brushes, and a jar for water. Of these four, paper quality has the greatest effect on how a painting feels to work on and looks when finished, more than the brushes, and often more than the paint.
Watercolour paints
Watercolour paint comes in two formats: pans and tubes. Pans are small dried cakes of colour they are compact, travel-friendly, and ready to use with a damp brush. Tubes contain moist paint that can be squeezed onto a palette for quick colour loading and large wash mixing.
A small set of artist-grade in 6 to 12 primary colours outperforms a large student-grade set of 24 in almost every situation. Mixing from clean primaries produces cleaner secondary colours than using pre-mixed student-grade paints, which often contain fillers that affect how they interact. Buy less, but buy better.
More on primary and secondary colours later when we discuss colour wheel and colour mixing. Since I am mostly into painting florals and nature inspired paintings. I always lean towards certain fixed colors. Although the three primaries are the most essential ones, having a quinacridone rose which has more pink tones with magenta, a rose madder shade and an opera pink if you are into florals would be some great options. Additionally you will also need a good neutral burnt sienna to give your botanicals a more natural look. Greens are obviously the next thing, but having a vandyke green or an olive green is such a great addition. The essential ultramarine blue and a cerulean blue can help you mix almost the colours possible. We can elaborate more on color mixing in our next blogs, because that’s a whole new chapter all together. Anyway, coming down to the most essential colors would be definitely a Crimson and Permanent red, Lemon yellow and Gamboge yellow and an ultramarine blue and a cerulean as discussed before. Once you master color mixing most of your colors can easily be made using these colors.
Watercolour Paper
Weight (measured in GSM – grams per square meter) determines how paper handles water. 140gsm paper very common in budget but bends when wet unless stretched or taped before painting. 300gsm paper stays flat under wet washes. For most purposes, 300gsm is the practical starting point.
Material divides into cotton and cellulose. Cotton paper (sometimes called rag paper) is 100% cotton fibre, is more absorbent, more durable under repeated wet layers, and better for lifting paint from a dried surface. Cellulose paper is made from wood pulp. It is less forgiving to rework and doesn’t allow clean lifting.
Surface texture comes in three types. Cold-pressed (medium texture) is the most versatile, handling both detail work and loose washes. Hot-pressed (smooth) is better suited to fine line work,detailed botanical illustration, and watercolour pencil. Rough paper has heavy texture and is most used for more, expressive, bold brushwork and large washes, and not suited for detailed or smaller pieces.
For painters in India, Chitrapat and handmade rag paper is worth starting with. It’s locally produced, acid-free, and available at most art supply shops. For professional work, Arches (French, 100% cotton) and Fabriano Artistico (Italian, 100% cotton) are industry benchmarks. Brustro Artist watercolour paper is another good option available in India — sitting between student and professional quality and well suited to regular practice. Saunders Waterford (British, 100% cotton) is worth considering for international shipping if Arches is not available. Hahnemuhle is also a great german brand for paper and has been producing some great papers for watercolor. They even have a variety of textures and types, both for beginners and professional artist as well.
Paintbrushes
Two round brushes cover most watercolour needs to start: a size 4 for detail work and a size 8 for mid-sized washes and broader strokes. A larger flat or mop brush is useful for wide backgrounds once you’re painting regularly.
The quality that matters most in a watercolour brush is water retention, how much paint the belly of the bristles holds and how evenly it releases at the tip. Kolinsky sable brushes hold the most water and snap back to a fine point cleanly. Synthetic sable brushes are a solid starting point, significantly less expensive and well-suited to learning the medium.
Some of the brands of brushes that I always rely on are Princeton, silver black velvet, and Brustro mop brushes. Apart from these I have also used a few chinese calligraphy brushes which actually work beautifully with watercolors. Found them in a local art supply store and they’ve stayed with me since then.
What are the main watercolour painting techniques?
Four foundational techniques form the basis of most watercolour work. Each produces a different result on paper. Knowing when to use which and how to move between them within a single painting is the core practical skill of the medium.
Wet on Wet
In wet-on-wet painting, paint is applied to a surface that is already wet, either pre-wetted paper or a still-wet previous wash.
Paint spreads freely into the wet area, following the water’s movement rather than staying where the brush placed it. This produces soft, diffuse edges with no hard lines, the kind of transition you see in painted skies, loose backgrounds, and loosely rendered petals. Wet-on-wet is less predictable than other techniques, which is both its challenge and its appeal. It blooms where a second drop of paint spreads into a drying wash and creates a ruffled, organic pattern, are one of its most characteristic results.
Wet-on-dry
Wet-on-dry means applying wet paint to completely dry paper, or to a layer that has dried fully.
Edges stay exactly where the brush places them. There is no spreading, no blooming, no soft diffusion, the paint dries with the edge intact. This makes wet-on-dry the go-to technique for defined shapes: individual petals with clear outlines, architectural lines, lettering, and any subject where precision matters. Most finished floral and botanical illustration work uses wet-on-dry for detail passes over a wet-on-wet base.
Dry Brush
In dry brush technique, the brush carries minimal water, just enough to keep the paint fluid, but not enough to make it run.
When applied with light pressure, the bristles spread slightly and the paint catches only the raised peaks of the paper’s texture, leaving broken, textured marks where the tooth of the paper (the surface texture, grain or roughness of the paper) shows through. Dry brush is used for rough textures such as bark, stone, fabric grain, weathered surfaces and for fine detail and hair. It works over existing dry layers and adds texture without disturbing what’s beneath.
Washes and glazing
A wash is a diluted, even layer of paint applied across an area. A flat wash maintains consistent tone and colour. A graded wash transitions gradually from dark to light, or from one hue to another, across the same area. Washes are the structural foundation of most watercolour paintings, the first layer most paintings begin with.
Glazing is different: it means applying a transparent layer of paint over a completely dry previous layer. Because both layers are transparent, they interact visually, a yellow glaze over a dried blue layer reads as green to the eye. Multiple glazes build depth and luminosity that mixing colours directly on the paper does not achieve in the same way.
My style of painting covers almost all of the above techniques however there’s one technique that I rely heavily on is called dry on damp. Here the surface is not fully wet but rather just damp enough for the paper to diffuse the edges but not spiral all over. It’s still a controlled way of applying color on paper which gives a soft ethereal feel of the subject you are painting. All the while giving a more nostalgic feel to the painting. It also allows the colors to stay vibrant at the same time without losing the saturation of the paint. Dry on damp can create some beautiful effects while painting flowers like roses and irises. It is a very effective technique to master. But yes give yourself enough time to explore everything and do not rush into it.
Is watercolour painting hard to learn?
Watercolour has a real learning curve. The challenge is not complexity, it is water control and planning. Because the medium works light to dark and mistakes cannot be fully painted over, light areas must be identified and preserved before painting begins. That demands a different kind of thinking than most other media.
Compared to acrylic, watercolour is less forgiving. Acrylic can be corrected by painting over; watercolour cannot. Watercolour is faster and more fluid, but requires more active decision-making while the paint is still wet.
The three skills that determine how quickly a beginner progresses are:
Water-to-pigment ratio
Too much water makes paint pale and uncontrollable; too little makes it grainy and reluctant to blend. Learning to load a brush correctly and to read what the ratio looks like on the palette before it touches the paper, takes consistent practice.
Reading drying stages
Wet, damp, and dry paper behave entirely differently. Adding paint to wet paper produces soft blooms. Adding paint to damp paper produces softer yet defined edges. Dry paper holds whatever edge the brush creates. Knowing which stage you’re working on determines what is and isn’t possible at that moment.
Timing
Deciding on the right time to apply the next layer is also a crucial part of the technique. Apply it a bit late and you get hard edges, too early and it spills all over. Waiting for the exact time to start gives the best results. It will take some practice for sure but once you get there it’ll be a smooth ride. Also the place you live, external factors like temperature of your surroundings, whether its winter or summer will also determine how fast your paint dries. Like over here in Pune India, summers are so different from the monsoon season. I realized I had to move faster with my paints because it was literally 35 degrees outside. This gave me less playtime and I had to keep a spray bottle handy at all times. On the contrary, in the monsoon season due to the humidity, drying time took forever. That was when I needed a hairdryer or a heating tool to make the process faster. This is more important especially if you want to dry the first layer completely and then start the second. Of course if you are lucky with the temperature factor then you can just wait for it to dry naturally and then start again at your pace. This especially comes in handy when I am LIVE streaming on my instagram and i have to pace things up or slow it down for my viewers.
Planning light
In any subject, the lightest areas must be identified and preserved before any paint goes down. Once an area is covered, recovering the light requires lifting which works best when paint is still damp, and becomes harder as paint dries. As i mentioned previously that highlight areas needed to be planned before hand and sometimes even while painting you can leave those white spaces especially while painting florals.
Most beginners make satisfying paintings within 3 to 5 focused practice sessions once these basics click. The medium rewards consistent practice more than natural talent.
What is watercolour painting used for?
Watercolour is now such a versatile medium that is now used widely and so many different artists all over are embracing this wonderful medium. From fine art originals, botanical and floral illustration, architectural rendering, portraiture, fine art landscapes, greeting cards, art prints, stationery, textiles, and commissioned artwork. Its transparency makes it especially suited to subjects where light and delicacy matter such as flowers, botanicals, and subjects like glass or water where translucency is part of the subject itself.
The traditional applications- European landscape and portrait painting from the 18th and 19th centuries have expanded significantly. Contemporary watercolour appears in loose abstract florals, art journaling, hand-illustrated stationery and wedding invitations, architectural visualisation, pet portrait commissions, and giclée print collections. Used for both fine art and commercial purposes. Watercolor is a vastly used medium across all platforms.
Among all subjects, florals and botanicals have a particular resonance with watercolour. The way paint moves in a wet-on-wet wash through a petal reflects, almost literally, how light moves through a real flower. No other common painting medium captures the fragility of a rose or the depth of a bougainvillea petal with the same accuracy, this is why botanical illustration has used watercolour as its primary medium for centuries. Floral watercolour painting covers the full range of techniques and subjects in this speciality. As a floral watercolor artist myself the reason I got into painting flowers was because watercolor was my favorite medium and painting flowers with watercolor came just so naturally as it is.
FAQ
What is the difference between watercolour and watercolor?
Both words describe the same painting medium. “Watercolour” is the British spelling, used in India, the UK, Australia, and most of the Commonwealth. “Watercolor” is the American spelling, used in the United States and Canada. The medium, the paints, the paper, and the techniques are identical regardless of how the word is spelt. It is a regional spelling difference with no practical significance for the art itself.
What is watercolour paint made of?
Watercolour paint is made of three components: pigment, gum arabic, and water. Pigment is the colour source. Gum arabic is derived from acacia tree sap and acts as the binder, holding pigment and allowing dried paint to be reactivated with water. Artist-grade paints contain higher pigment concentration with fewer fillers. Student-grade paints use less pigment and often add extenders like chalk or dextrin to reduce cost, which affects colour saturation and mixing behaviour.
Is watercolour painting hard to learn?
Watercolour has a real learning curve, primarily around water control. Unlike acrylic, you cannot paint over mistakes hence light areas must be planned from the start because the medium works light to dark. The skills that take most practice are managing pigment-to-water ratio, reading drying stages (wet, damp, and dry paper behave entirely differently), and planning tonal values before painting begins. Most beginners achieve satisfying results within 3 to 5 focused practice sessions once these fundamentals click.
What is unique about watercolour painting?
Watercolour’s defining quality is luminosity through transparency. Because the white paper shows through every paint layer, light appears to come from within the painting, a quality that acrylic and oil, both opaque media, cannot achieve with the same structural directness. Watercolour is also fully rewettable: a dried palette is never wasted, and dried layers on paper can be partially lifted with a damp brush. Its transparency makes it uniquely suited to subjects where light and fragility are the point – florals, botanicals, glass, and portraiture.
How is watercolour different from acrylic painting?
Watercolor is transparent, water-soluble, and rewettable after drying. Acrylic is opaque, dries fast, and becomes water-resistant once cured. In watercolour, light is preserved by leaving the paper bare because white cannot be painted on top. In acrylic, any colour can be painted over any other, including light over dark. Watercolour requires planning before the brush touches paper while. Acrylic allows correction, they suit different subjects, different working methods, and produce fundamentally different visual results.
Self taught watercolour artist based in Pune India. I have a soft corner for flowers and I create gentle art made to be felt. Watercolour is my medium but I also love to explore other mediums. I love to teach and share my knowledge, through online workshops and courses. I also create commission pieces and designs for brands and businesses.