A Beginner's Journey into Watercolor Painting

Welcome to the second instalment of my beginner's journey into watercolor painting!

This post contains a variety of scenes created in February 2023. I am still trying to figure out my style and favorite subjects...

I’m not a big fan of this piece because it is too plain-looking. The next ones are more to my liking, though.

To achieve the “grooves” in the two paintings above, I used a very common technique. All you need is plastic Saran Wrap and a spray bottle.

First, apply a layer of paint to your paper or canvas. Then, spray your plastic wrap with water, apply it to the painted surface right away, and scrunch it up as much or as little as you want.

When you are done with the scrunching, let the whole thing dry for several hours (I recommend overnight). You may also apply a little bit of weight on your piece in order to keep the wrap steady.

Remove the wrap to discover your masterpiece. Et voilà! 😊

This piece is something I wanted to create for quite a while. However, since drawing thin lines with a brush is a struggle, it was important to find another method or instrument to paint the grass and plants.

Watercolor brush pens to the rescue! 😀

(The ones I used for this painting are not very good. I tested several brands and recently settled for those made by Staedtler. Another good brand is Ohuhu.)

A piece of advice to beginners: Wait for your paint to dry before you outline, shade, or color with brush pens, otherwise the colors will bleed!

My first attempt at drawing birds. I impressed myself! 😜

This dandelion was the easiest thing to paint! And it looks great!

I am in love with the way the sky looks in this desert scene. It creates an uncanny atmosphere…

Even though I botched one of the circles (top right), it’s still a pretty creation. I might do more in the future.

This painting was supposed to look very different. But after the drying step, I noticed several mistakes. Instead of ditching the result, I decided to let myself be creative. Quite an interesting result, right?

As you can see, the wet-on-wet technique is awesome to create depth, especially in scenes where the sky plays a prominent role. I also use it to correct mistakes.

My first decent tree! I did a little tap dance afterwards. 😜

An abstract painting of the night sky.

A river runs through it, or something like that… 😉 Love how the colors work together!

Two butterflies. Super easy to draw!

Two people on a beach. This one was challenging because of the silhouettes. Despite watching many tutorials on how to paint them, the struggle is still real. But I’m very happy with the texture of the ocean. All in all, a very nice result.

A note about watercolor paper: I have been using Artist’s Loft’s Watercolor Pad (Artist Level 2). It always warps, forcing the paint towards the edges and leading to uneven covering of the surface. And it does not do well with a lot of water either. The mistake is mine, though. I bought the paper without checking specifications—90 lb (190 g/m2) is low quality. You want something more in the 140 lb (300 g/m2) range.

I recently purchased a pad from a more reliable brand: Strathmore. I will start using it as soon as my current batch is empty.

The plane! The plane! 😜 (I botched the tail, though.)

Blooming flowers on tree branches, with a night sky.

A magic tree. Quite proud of what I did with the sky!

Dragonflies near a hill. I’m happy with the sky, but not with the wings. This time, I’m not to blame, though. One of my cats is. She kept on jumping on my desk while I was trying to finish the painting, causing me to lose my focus. I drew the wings in a hurry without paying attention to symmetry.

My first attempt at painting a “room with a view” (to quote the title of E. M. Forster’s famous book). This painting was quite challenging, because the paper warped more than usual. The original is, of course, a lot better! You can see it here.

A few of you have asked me why I share my botched and successful attempts alike. Well, the answer is simple: Because overall, artists are scared of criticisms.

Passion is one thing. However, you cannot become great at something if you try to avoid challenging yourself or other people’s feedback.

See you soon for more paintings from yours truly.

Contact me at [email protected] prior to using my work anywhere. Thank you!

That's it for today! Thank you for reading!

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Cendrine Marrouat is a writer, photographer, podcaster, blogger, anthology editor, and the co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms and A Warm Cup of Cozy. She has authored and co-authored more than 40 books, including The Train: A Short Story (2023), In Her Own Words: A Collection of Short Stories & Flashku (2022), After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine (2021), Rhythm Flourishing: A Collection of Kindku and Sixku (2020), Walks: A Collection of Haiku (2019-2020), and In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play (2018).

Cendrine's work has appeared in many publications. She is the creator of the Sixku, Flashku, Sepigram, and Reminigram; as well as the co-creator of the Kindku, Pareiku, Vardhaku, and Hemingku.