how to watercolor paint

my palette

I use watercolor paints from a tube. They are easy to use.

I keep all the watercolors I would ever use in a plastic palette with a lid. 

The colors may dry out between paintings. But with a spritz of water, they are as good as new.

get your paint ready

I spritz water into wells of my chosen colors to soften them.

If the well is running low, I add fresh paint.

The softened colors are pulled out to the center of the palette for mixing.

All mixing is done in the center of the palette, so the colors in the wells remain clean and pure.

keep your colors clean

Never put a brush with one color on it into the well of a different color.

Clean your brush with water before putting it into the color wells.

I use a glass jar for washing my brushes. When the water gets dirty, I get clean water.

I blot the excess water out of the clean brush on a paper towel I keep next to the water jar.

my painting support

My favorite painting support for watercolor paintings is Aquabord or Claybord.  

We will be using an 8x10 board for this demo.

How do I decide what size to use?

Small things like hummers and butterflies go on small boards and things like landscapes go into larger sizes.

the colors we will be using

I chose a split compliment color scheme of three colors.

• Cobalt Blue or any blue of your choice
• Quinacridone Sienna, Burnt Sienna or the orange you use
• Lemon Yellow, Raw Sienna or New Gamboge

Use a limited number colors in each painting.

paint the hummer's throat

Using a round brush wet the throat area.

Use a pale yellow on the side toward the light.

While the yellow is still wet, put orange on the opposite side.

Allow the two colors to mingle together.

Watching the beautiful colors mingle together is the joy of learning how to watercolor paint.

paint the body

Wet the body with water. The wet area will have a sheen.

The paint will spread into the wet areas.

Mix blue and orange to make a brown for the area away from the light.

Add orange, as you go toward the light.

Leave the area below the throat white.

painting the wings

Mix a very light grey-brown with the orange and blue.

Use more water to make it a light color.

Apply to the forward wing.

Colors get lighter and cooler, as they go into the distance.

Add a bit more blue to make it greyer for the wing farther away.

now the head

Mix an orange-brown.

Touch the top of the hummer's head with the brush tip.

This leaves stippling marks to simulate the short feathers.

Leave the eye, around and behind the eye white.

White paper makes the whites in watercolor paintings.

Leaving the whites is basic in learning how to watercolor paint.

paint the eye, beak and feet

Add more blue to your blue and orange mixture to make a black.

Color mixing is a big part of how to watercolor paint.

Paint the eye leaving a white highlight.

Paint the beak with one dark line down the center.

Then put a lighter dark on the outside edges that catch the light.

Freely paint the flower petals. Use a variety of oranges and yellow.

Leave some white spaces for a little spark.

On some petals put the paint on one end of the petal.

Then pull it toward the other end with water.

This makes the petal color go from full color to lighter and lighter.

Mix a variety of greens from your blue and yellow.

Add more yellow for the green toward the light.

More blue makes a darker green for the underside of the stem and other areas away from the light.

paint the flower center

Use a variety of brown, orange and yellow to paint the center of the flower.

Stipple with the end of the brush to portray the stamens in the center of the daisy.

Using a flat brush dampen the background area with clean water.

Do one area at a time, so the forward painting edge stays damp to prevent a hard edge.

It seems to work the best if I don't pre-wet right up to the edge of the bird or flower.

Do right next to the bird and flower when you are painting on the color.

If you pre-wet right up next to them, it makes the color pool up against their dry edge.

I made some marks behind the bird to simulate flight movement.

Toward the bottom I mixed a variety of greens to indicate foliage.

This is a lesson on painting a hummingbird, so I didn't concern myself with painting leave or foliage. That will be later lesson on how to watercolor paint.

I went over the hummingbird again and darkened and brightened colors, where I thought it needed it.

I also did a little bit of adjustment on the flower petals.

Where petals were overlapped by a petal next-door, I darkened them.