A Guide to Watercolor

Introduction to Watercolor

What Do I Need to Start Painting with Watercolor?

What Are The Main Properties of Watercolor?

What’s The Difference Between Professional and Student Quality Watercolor?

What’s The Difference Between Watercolor Pans, Tubes, and Sticks?

What Mediums Can I Use With Watercolor?

How Easy is it to Clean Up After Watercolor Painting?

Brushes for Watercolor

Care and Cleaning of Brushes

Tools for Watercolor Painting

What is the Best Surface for Watercolor Painting? 

How Do I Present and Store Finished Work?

Further Reading

Glossary

Introduction to watercolor

Watercolor is known for its light, translucent look and characterful colors. It can create both strong marks and soft washes. The fluid nature of watercolor allows for surprising effects.

Watercolor paint is made from pigments mixed with water and gum arabic. When the water dries, the gum arabic adheres the pigment to the paper. It also slows down how fast the paint spreads, giving you more control. Some artists add extra gum arabic to stop the paint from spreading too quickly.

The character of watercolor depends mostly on the pigments used. This matters more than in oils or acrylics, where the binder plays a bigger role. Because watercolors are applied in thin layers, the natural qualities of the pigment show more clearly.

If you want to try watercolor painting for the first time, Watercolor Painting for Beginners: What You Need to Get Started, lists all the essentials you will need, including brushes, paints and paper, as well as extras that will help you get the best from your painting experience.

With paper, paints, and brushes, you have all you need to start a watercolor painting. Just add a jar of water, and you're ready to paint! There are also other supplies you might find useful:

• Watercolor paints in solid pans or moist tubes
• Brushes
• Paper
• Palette
• Jar of water

Useful Tools:

• Easel
• Masking fluid
• Sponge
• Board and gumstrip (for stretching paper)

Watercolor paint comes in tubes or dry, solid pans that turn into fluid paint when touched by a wet brush. 

For beginners, a set of pans is a great way to start because they are easier to use. Pans let you apply color lightly and build up layers. Tubes can be trickier, as it's easy to use too much color too quickly, which can be hard to control.

An eight pan set of watercolors is small but gives you enough colors to begin painting. Most sets, however, include 12 or 24 colors, offering a broader range to explore.

When choosing watercolor paints, artists look at three main things:

• Transparency/Opacity
• Staining
• Granulation/Texture

Transparency/Opacity: Watercolors are usually applied in thin layers, so they rarely look fully opaque. The size of the pigment particles determines the level of transparency or opacity, affecting how colors mix and appear on paper.

Staining: Staining refers to how much pigment stays on the paper after blotting with a damp sponge. Modern pigments like Prussian Blue and Alizarin Crimson tend to stain more, while older pigments lift off more easily.

Granulation/Texture: Granulation happens when pigment particles dry unevenly, creating a grainy look. Some pigments are heavier and can’t be ground as finely, which causes this effect. For example, French Ultramarine shows clusters of pigment, while heavier pigments like Permanent Mauve settle into the paper’s texture. 

Pigments like earth tones, cobalts, and ultramarines often granulate, while modern colors usually don’t. You can add a granulation medium to increase this effect.

Learn more about granulation in watercolors with Anna Zadorozhnaya, watercolor artist and ambassador for Schmincke and Da Vinci. 

Other Considerations:

Permanence

Permanence, or lightfastness, means how well a pigment resists fading in light. Some pigments, like Opera Rose, fade over time if exposed to sunlight. 

These colors are still popular because they are bright and vibrant, especially for art kept in portfolios instead of on walls. If you need colors that last, check the manufacturer’s color chart to choose pigments that won’t fade easily.

For more information, read 'Fugitive Pigments: Why Do They Fade, and Does it Matter?' on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Single Pigment Colors

Single pigment colors, like Ultramarine Blue, are made from one pigment. Others, like New Gamboge, are made from two or more. Single pigment colors mix more easily into bright, vibrant hues. Mixing too many pigments can make colors look dull because each pigment absorbs light differently. 

Some colors, like Quinacridone Gold, are made from multiple pigments because the original pigment is no longer available. Artist-grade watercolors usually have more single pigment colors, which makes them better for mixing.

Examples of artist quality watercolors include Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor and Jackson's Artist Watercolor.

Professional watercolor paints, also called artist quality, have a high amount of pigment. This makes the colors more intense, so you need less paint to get strong results. 

The binder quality also matters. Brands like A. Gallo and Jackson’s add honey to the binder for a smoother feel, but other brands use different formulas. Try a few to see what you like best.

In professional watercolors, pigments are ground finely to show their unique qualities. Some pigments are larger or heavier, which makes the paint look grainy (granulation). Sometimes, the pigment settles over time, causing clear gum arabic to rise to the top of the tube. If this happens, stir the paint with a paperclip to mix it back together.

Student quality watercolors typically have less pigment or use cheaper pigments. When there’s less pigment, the colors act more consistently, which is helpful for beginners. A student set is a good, budget-friendly way to start with watercolors.

Student paints use cheaper pigments and ‘hue’ colors to replace expensive ones like cobalt and cadmium. These paints may not last as long without fading, so if permanence is important, check the color chart.

Examples of student watercolor brands include Daler Rowney Aquafine and Winsor & Newton Cotman.

Watercolors are available in tubes, pans, and sticks. Pans are plastic vessels in which dried watercolor is kept. Color is taken from a pan by dragging a wet brush over it. Pans are easy to carry in watercolor boxes. Large pans are available for those who like to work on a large scale or use broad brush strokes.

Tubes contain moist watercolor, which can be squeezed into empty pans if so desired, or onto a palette. They are great if you want to premix a batch of colors to contain in pans. They are also good for painters who like to work with intense colors.

Pans
Watercolor pans come in two rectangular sizes: a full pan and a half pan (a full pan is sometimes called a whole pan). Across brands, the sizes of pans are nearly the same standard size, but not quite. That’s why many watercolor boxes have bendable compartments that allow for slight adjustments to hold the pans. 

Travel watercolor boxes that do not have adjustable compartments will not work with all brands of pans, because even a millimetre difference means that they won’t fit in the slot. 

Some brands do other sizes than the two common ones: Blockx do a Giant Pan (a generous 3.5 by 2.5 inches), Gansai Tambi are much larger than standard and Coliro do two sizes of round pans.

Pans also vary in their formula and method of manufacture. Some pans are extruded like dough, cut into cubes, let to dry, and then placed into pans as a hard cake. These can often be seen sticking up above the rim of the pan. Those that are poured also vary. Some are poured once and allowed to shrink so the pan is only partially full, while other brands top up the pour a second or third time for a fuller pan. 

The formula of watercolor paint also differs, with some paintmakers adding some honey, some having different amounts of gum arabic binder, some adding wetting/flow agents, and some not. Some with honey are not as soft because they are extruded, while the poured honey paints can be only semi-hard. These differences in formula are more readily visible in a pan than in a tube, as a shiny/matte, sticky/smooth, or soft/hard surface.

Tubes
Most brands of watercolor make two sizes of tubes, small and large. The most common sizes are 5ml, 10ml, 14ml, 15ml, and 21ml. Occasionally you may find a favorite paint and not have a choice of format. There are some brands that are only available in one format – some that only come in tubes and some that only come in pans.

Read about the benefits of watercolor paint in pans versus tubes on Jackson’s Art Blog. 

Watercolor Sticks
Watercolor Sticks are dried watercolors in stick form. They can be used like pans, i.e. by wetting the brush to extract the color from the stick, and they can also be used as a drawing tool by applying color from the stick onto paper, either wet or dry. 

Watercolor sticks are highly pigmented and lightfast. Their special formulation means that they can be used dry and then wetted, after any length of time, for maximum convenience. Simply add water to turn a drawing into a watercolor even years after it was completed.

Watercolor sticks can be used to add details to existing watercolor artworks. The unique shape is great for achieving multiple line thicknesses, and they are also intermixable with other watercolor paints. They are perfect for in the studio or outdoors on the go.

Watercolor Pencils
Watercolor pencils are convenient and portable painting tools that are clean and easy to use. Their versatility means you can use a single pencil with many different techniques. 

They usually contain some wax to keep the lead solid and can be used on their own or with traditional watercolor paint. They can be used dry as regular colored pencils, or like pans (extracting color using a wet brush), or they can be dipped into water and drawn with, creating intensely saturated marks.

Watercolor mediums help you control the paint. They can add texture, improve flow, make lifting color easier, and change drying times.

Read ‘A Guide to Watercolor Mediums’ for a comprehensive look at Watercolor Mediums and their applications.

Gum Arabic
Gum Arabic comes from tree sap. It binds the pigment to the paper but stays water-soluble. It slows down drying, giving you more time to work. It also makes colors brighter.

Masking Fluid
Masking Fluid protects parts of your paper from paint. It blocks the paint from coloring those areas. Use it for details like lines or highlights. Apply with a brush and remove after the paint dries.

Ox Gall
Ox Gall helps the paint flow smoothly. Add it to your paint for better control.

Blending Medium
Blending Medium slows drying, giving you more time to blend colors. It’s useful in warm climates.

Granulation Medium
Granulation Medium adds texture to your paint. It makes colors look grainy and textured.

Iridescent Medium
Iridescent Medium adds a shimmer to your colors. They also slow drying and stay water-soluble.

Sennelier Binding Medium
Sennelier Binding Medium contains gum arabic, honey, and water. It makes colors shiny and bright. It also helps the paint flow better. For paintmaking or modifying paint.

Aqua Gloss
Aqua Gloss makes your paint glossy and slows drying. It stays water-soluble, so you can rework your paint later.

Aqua Effect Spray
Schmincke Aqua Effect spray creates unusual effects by pooling the pigment. Great for experiments. Test it on a separate piece of paper first.

Aqua Pasto
Aqua Pasto thickens your paint and adds texture. It slows drying and stays water-soluble.

Aqua-Fix
Aqua-Fix enables layered watercolor painting by making watercolors more water-resistant. Use it instead of water to keep colors from dissolving when layering.

Watercolor Surface Preparation

Watercolor primers let you paint on surfaces like canvas or wood. Apply three thin layers to create an absorbent surface. These primers come in different shades and textures.

For more information, read 'Painting with Watercolor on Canvas: Choosing the Best Watercolor Ground' on Jackson's Art Blog.

Watercolors are very easy to clean. Since they are water-soluble, you can wipe away paint from most surfaces with just soap and water. 

If you get paint on your clothes, it usually washes out easily by hand or in the washing machine without any extra treatment.

Watercolor brushes have shorter handles than oil and acrylic brushes. They come in many shapes and sizes. Small brushes are good for detail work, while large brushes hold more water and are great for broad strokes and washes. 

Traditionally, sable hair is used because it holds a lot of liquid, but there are many synthetic options today. Natural hair brushes like Sable or Squirrel are the most expensive, while synthetic watercolor brushes are a durable, affordable alternative. Some brushes blend natural and synthetic hairs to cut costs and maximize performance.

For beginners, a set with different shapes and sizes is a great way to start. As you paint more, you'll find your favorite brushes. You can then expand your collection with the shapes and sizes that suit your style. Starting with at least three brushes is ideal. 

To learn more about watercolor brushes, read our Guide to Watercolor Brushes.

For insight into how brushes are made, read A Family Matter: Handcrafting Brushes on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Keeping your brushes clean and well cared for will make them last longer. Both natural and synthetic brushes benefit from cleaning with brush soap, which contains natural oils to keep the hairs strong and in shape. Without proper care, brush hairs can become brittle and break.

Here’s how to care for your brushes after each painting session:

1. Remove excess paint. Rinse the brush in water and blot it on a clean rag or paper towel.
2. Rub the brush gently on brush soap and work it into a lather with your fingers.
3. Rinse under lukewarm water and repeat until the lather stays white. Be sure to clean the area near the ferrule.
4. Blot the brush on a clean rag and shape the head with your fingers.
5. Let the brush air dry by hanging it from the handle in a well-ventilated area. This helps water drain from the ferrule, preventing handle rot.

Palettes
An extra palette gives you more space for mixing colors, beyond what’s in most watercolor paint boxes. If you want to save your mixes for another day or need to transport them, a palette with a lid is helpful. Watercolor palettes usually have wells to keep colors separate. Palettes come in plastic and ceramic.

New palettes, especially plastic ones, can cause watercolors to bead up. This effect wears off with use, but you can speed it up by lightly scrubbing the palette with a scouring pad and rinsing it well. Porcelain palettes don’t have this issue.

Pencils
A set of artists’ pencils is useful for making sketches before painting. A hard pencil works well for lightly drawing your composition on paper. Graphite or colored pencils won’t smudge, while it’s best to avoid charcoal pencils.

Easel
An easel isn’t necessary, but it can be helpful. It lets you move your work to better lighting or helps you maintain a good posture. If you work at a table, a table easel is compact and easy to store. If you paint outdoors, a sketching easel is portable and lightweight, with folding legs. 

Some easels can tilt to a horizontal position, which is useful if you work with very fluid watercolor washes. If you paint large works, an H-frame easel is sturdy but takes up more space.

Sponge
A sponge can lift wet color from your painting, either to lighten it or remove it completely. Since watercolor can be rewet, you can apply clean water to an area and use a sponge to dab the paint away. A sponge is also handy for blotting a loaded brush or for removing excess water when stretching paper.

Pots
You’ll need a pot of water to rinse your brushes. A glass jar works fine at home, but if you’re painting en plein air, a collapsible water pot is lighter and easier to carry.

Watercolor Paper
Watercolor paper is the best surface for watercolor painting. It’s absorbent, allowing colors to look their brightest. This paper isn’t just for watercolors; it also works well with acrylics, gouache, pastels, pencils, and more. 100% cotton watercolor papers are especially durable and long-lasting.

Paper Textures
Watercolor paper comes in three main textures:

Cold Pressed (NOT): This paper has a slight texture and is the most popular choice. It’s versatile and works well for most painting styles. The texture helps the paint sink in slightly but still allows for detail.
Hot Pressed: This paper is smooth and great for detailed work. It’s less absorbent, so washes may sit on the surface longer. It’s also good for pen, ink, and graphite drawings.
Rough: This paper has a rough texture, which enhances the textured effects in your painting. It’s best for bold and expressive techniques.

Watercolor Pads and Blocks
Watercolor pads are bound on one edge and are great for sketches. They can be spiral-bound or glue-bound. Watercolor blocks are glued on all four sides, keeping the paper flat as you paint. When you’re finished, just cut the top sheet free. If you like to paint on a large scale, you can use full sheets or even a watercolor paper roll.

Why Does Paper Buckle When Wet?
Paper buckles because its fibers expand when wet. If you use a lot of water, heavier paper (425gsm or more) will buckle less. Stretching the paper before painting helps keep it flat.

How to Stretch Watercolor Paper

What you need:

• A tray of clean water or a spray bottle
• A clean sponge or paper towel
• A rigid board (like plywood or plastic)
• Gummed tape to fix the paper to the board

Steps:

1. Soak the paper in water for a few minutes, or spray it generously if you don’t have a tray
2. Lay the paper flat on the board and gently blot off excess water
3. Wet the gummed tape and apply it to the edges of the paper, sticking it to the board
4. Let the paper dry completely before painting
5. After painting, let the paper dry fully before cutting it free from the board

For a fully comprehensive overview, watch our film ‘A Guide to Stretching Watercolor Paper’.

Presenting Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor paintings are usually framed behind glass to protect them. Paper can be damaged by dirt, dust, and humidity. Watercolor paint can also dissolve if it gets wet again. 

But what if you paint on something other than paper, like canvas? You might wonder if there’s a way to make watercolor paint permanent so it can be framed without glass, like an oil painting.

Varnishing a watercolor painting is not necessary and is not usually done. However, some artists like to varnish because it lets them display their work on canvas or wooden panels without using glass. It also gives the painting a different look.

For more on watercolor varnish, read ‘Watercolor Varnish: Can You Make Watercolor Waterproof?’ on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Storing Work: Using Glassine
Glassine is a smooth, shiny paper that protects artwork from smudging. You can buy it in sheets, which are good for placing between stored works to keep them safe.

Protecting Finished Work: Using Glass
The best way to protect a watercolor painting is by framing it behind glass. When framing, leave a gap between the painting and the glass. This gap lets air circulate and keeps the painting from sticking to the glass. You can use a window mount or spacers to create this gap.

For more information, read ‘Choosing the Right Frame for your Artwork’ on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Visit the Framing Department at Jackson's Art Supplies.

Watercolor Painting for Beginners: What You Need to Get Started 

Everything You Need to Know About Watercolor Paper

Stretching Watercolor Paper for a Better Painting Experience

Your Comprehensive Guide To Watercolor Mediums

Making Handmade Watercolors with Dry Pigment

Testing Jackson's Kite Brushes: How Synthetic Kolinsky Fiber Compares with Natural Sable Hair

Mass Tone - The color of the paint straight from the tube.

Undertone - The color seen when the paint is applied in a thin, diluted layer. For example, some yellows look dark brown in mass tone but appear bright yellow when thinned.

Color Strength - Also known as pigment load, this refers to the concentration of pigment in the paint.

Opacity/Transparency - A measure of how much light passes through the paint. Opaque colors let little light through, making them cover what’s underneath. Transparent colors allow more light through and show the texture and marks beneath.

Blending - The technique of smoothly merging two colors so that there are no hard edges. In watercolor, this is easily done with a wet brush. Blending becomes harder once the paint is dry. A blending medium can keep the paint wet longer, making blending easier.

Dry Brush Technique - Applying relatively dry watercolor paint with a dry brush to create a chalky, textured effect. This technique contrasts well with softer, wet washes.

Watercolor Easels - Easels that tilt to allow flat work, preventing washes from running. Some artists prefer to work upright depending on their technique.

Flat Wash - Using a single, diluted color to cover the paper evenly. A broad brush, like a squirrel mop, is often used. Artists may paint over the wash once dry or work into it while wet, known as 'wet-on-wet.'

Fugitive Color - Non-lightfast paints, like Opera Rose, fade or change when exposed to sunlight. It’s best to use colors with good lightfast ratings for artwork that will be displayed.

Glazed Wash - Applying a diluted color over a dry watercolor painting to tint the entire surface. The artist must consider how the glaze will affect the underlying colors.