Paint and Sip Melbourne 

Watercolour Painting: Five reasons why you need it in your life

I must admit, I wasn’t a big fan of watercolour painting for a long time. I always preferred to go with what I perceived as “safer” mediums, such as acrylic, collage and sketching. Watercolour wasn’t for me, or so I thought.

With greater exposure to beautiful and painfully simple watercolour artworks, I became curious. Then watercolour painting became more and more popular, to the point that I couldn’t ignore it anymore! It was time to explore…

Pondering my time working with the medium, I’ve come up with a list of my favourite five reasons for having a red-hot go at watercolour. I hope this tickles your curiosity, because I’m totally in love with watercolour now.

1. You can paint watercolour on the go 

Unlike other painting techniques, your watercolour kit can be as small as a pencil case. Because your kit can be light and easy to carry around, set up is a snap, which helps to capture and enjoy spontaneous moments or anytime you feel compelled on the fly to get creative. 

Shopping list-

  • a big brush (size 8-10) round tip and soft
  • small set of watercolours. There are many, but try to invest a bit ($30-$60) because these babies will last for a really long time
  • collapsible, small water vessel (you can also use an empty coffee cup, can of soft drink, juice bottle)
  • A5 paper. Use good paper though, because it makes a world of difference to the result. This isn’t the spot to skimp on cost, even if you’re a beginner. Always go for 100% cotton, acid-free paper. Trust me
  • a grey lead pencil: it’s better to roughly sketch what you want to paint first for best results

But if you’re after pre-set pack – this one is pretty good and not expensive to get you started (press the pic for more details)

2. Watercolour painting will get you outdoors

Get out there and explore nature! We’re so lucky to live in this beautiful State with nature, parks, oceans slap bang on our doorstep. Watercolour painting is great for any environment, but, quite frankly, nothing beats the beauty and peace that comes with painting in a natural setting. The great outdoors is also the best vantage spot for painting leaves, trees and flowers. You can create amazing layers while looking and observing nature up close.

Where to go this Autumn? Here is what recommended by The Urban List Ideas 

3. Watercolour is not messy 

Yep, you read right, which means fun time with the family without mess. Watercolours are completely washable even from clothes! You don’t even need a table cover and you can have as many breaks as you will like without worrying it’ll dry out, spill or destroy your beautiful furniture.

4. “Patience is also a form of action”

Watercolour technique requires at least three layers of painting, and drying time in between, so you’ll need to exercise some patience. You may choose to work on a few pieces at a time so you can just jump from one to another, but it’s also nice to just observe the colours blending magically together. Stop and just be. It’s mindfulness at it’s best. 

5. It’s endlessly surprising

Even though you can get better and better at watercolour, many experienced artists will tell you that this medium is always surprising and hard to predict. Are you a perfectionist? Great! This is a tool that’s going to help you, because in life the unexpected outcome is sometimes the best. Your paintings will always turn out differently, and there’s a good chance that they’ll look better than you were expecting. It’s all a bit zen: you need to learn the art of letting go with watercolour.

A-Z Watercolour Technics Article

Curious? Want to give it a try? 

Come and join us at one of our monthly watercolour classes where I (or one of my talented artists) will teach you, step-by-step, all you need to know in order to start exploring the medium and create your own masterpiece.

Life is too short not to try new things 🙂