I have made one watercolor painting so far. It awaits finishing by adding three birds, so I'm not sharing the image.
In experimenting I have learned some lessons. After I learned those I read three books about watercolor painting all which mentioned the problems I already experienced. I have heard these things before but was not sure if what I was doing was really one of those mistakes. It was. Well I learned it in real life and now I know for sure. It's not just some book telling me not to do it, I learned the hard way.
Here are the things I learned. If you have wanted to try watercolor painting and are reading this, I hope you learn and save yourself money by not making these mistakes.
Paint
You must not use the student grade paints. Never, not ever. Do not be tempted. Buy a small amount of artist grade Winsor and Newton paint in tubes. Plan to spend about $5 for the smallest tube each.
Read a little about blending paints. You will learn that you can make a lot of colors from about six specific colors of paint. So plan to spent about $30 on paint for your first investment. Don't go overboard and buy a ton of colors and more than $30.
Plan to spend time experimenting using a watercolor sketch book such as the 140 lb Arches brand to learn what the colors you blend look like on paper. Do not experiment on an actual painting.
Different painters have different favorite colors. Each painting book author will tell you to buy different colors. Just know this as you read. I can't tell you what to buy but see the style of the author and if that clicks with you. For example if you are an earth tone person don't listen to advice from the vibrant color author and vice-versa.
See if your public library has a book about blending colors. Do not get overwhelmed by the book. Just look at the book with an eye toward trying to duplicate a small fraction of the possibilities. Pick a small palette to buy for your first purchase. Again, keep it to six tubes if you can, a $30 budget.
Different subject matter needs different colors. If you choose to paint flowers you probably will have to buy a wider variety of colors and some of the more expensive pigment colors in order to do what you want. I don't advise that as your initial investment is already going to be about $100 at the least so if you are trying to be frugal, narrow down the subject until you decide that you love this medium and want to invest more. If you have unlimited money to spend then go for it and buy everything your heart desires. I don't know many people who live that way but if you can then go for it.
Brushes
The size of brush depends on the size of the painting you plan to do.
Be careful when reading about watercolor painting. One author I read did huge canvases and was telling beginners to buy 2 and 3 inch wash brushes for the sky. These are very expensive, like over $100 for one brush! She also advised to buy a #18 round brush.
Another author whose advice I read does paintings half that size and he advised to only by a #8 and #12 brush. See the difference?
Watercolor painting is all about the ability of the brush to draw up pigment and water and to hold a decent amount. Then it is important how the brush lays down the pigment. Also important is how much control you can execute over the bristles to do the brushstroke.
Synthetic fiber only brushes don't take up water and pigment in large quantities. They may lay it down in a blob. The bristles can be hard to control. Do not use them.
Kolinsky sable brushes are the best natural fiber brushes. One brush I was advised to buy in a book cost $220 full retail. That was out of my budget. I'm just giving you an idea of what you are up against when trying to make an intitial investment.
Natural fiber brushes are made out of different animal furs. They each act differently. Of course the cheapest natural fiber brush is also poor for painting. So this is tricky.
There are synthetic and natural blends that are less expensive.
You might not be able to find anything decent in a chain craft store, even those with a fine art department. You probably will have to use an online store such as Dick Blick. You could use a fine art store if you have one near you but you may spend 40-50% more by paying full retail in those stores. Your initial investement in watercolor painting will already be at least $100 when buying at discount but if you want to spend $200 for the same things at your local shop that's your perogative.
Some books mention brand names of brushes to buy. I have had a hard time finding them even in the largest online fine art supplier. Perhaps some of these companies went out of business since the books were published, I don't know.
You can start with a small number of brushes and get to know them. Focus on learning to control how the brush lays down the paint rather than thinking you will have wonderful fully completed paintings for your first projects.
Large sets of brushes for beginners often have brushes you may never use so you wind up wasting your money. Buy each one individually.
Pick a Painting Size
High quality paper is expensive, even when purchased at discount. Just know that. I bet you, like me, will start out small.
Pick the Paper
Student grade paper is made from wood pulp. High quality paper is made from cotton rag or natural fibers.
Pulp based paper pills up and falls apart as you stroke the brush against it.
Cheap paper buckles and warps.
High quality paper should be used. This has a layer of fixative chemical on it that has to be washed off. Follow procedures outlined in a book or online from a credible source. After it is washed off it has to be be stretched.
Plan to invest in materials to help you stretch the paper. It's just a necessary part of the expense of getting started with watercolor.
You can buy paper in a block. It is sealed on the edges and in a stretched format. The downside to this is you must leave the painting on the pad until it is fully dried. It can take longer to dry. You can only use one pad at a time. The Arches pad is over $30. If you want to work on three or four paintings at a time you will need to buy 3 or 4 Arches pads up front.
Where Will Your Paintings Dry?
This was a major challenge for me.
Paintings must lie flat to dry and be undisturbed in a low dust environment.
If you own pets beware. You can't have the wet paintings where cats can walk or lay down on them.
Believe it or not this was the biggest challenge I had with teaching myself to paint in this small rental home with its open floor plan. I had nowhere to lay the paintings flat to dry for a few days.
You may find directions online or in books about using a hair dryer to speed the drying proess. I tried this and the painted moved on the page and it ruined the painting.
Conclusion
I hope these tips helped you if you are interested in learning to paint watercolor.
Once you have your materials and everything in place all you do is jump in an experiment and see and paint.
Just do!