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I would like to start dabbling in water coloring. I love all the beautiful backgrounds and coloring I'm seeing. What should a beginner purchase to get started with? Or could someone point me to another tread where this is discussed. I tried to do a search and nothing came up.
Good brushes and good paper seem to be the most consistent things I see recommended. As far as the paints themselves, there are a lot of options. For a beginner, the Artist Loft brand at Michael's is super cheap, but good quality, from what I've read.
Whatever paints you buy, paper can be the difference between enjoyment and giving up. And it can be individual. I took an on-line class and was happy with my progress, when suddenly I couldn’t blend or move colors. I finally realized I inadvertently had switched from an inexpensive Canson XL - which worked great for what I was doing - to an inexpensive Strathmore. As soon as I switched back I was fine. Someone in the class was struggling from day 1, and it turned out she was using the paper I couldn’t make work.
The Strathmore is just as good as the Canson - both inexpensive papers that many people use. It just wasn’t right for me, and was more yellow.
Paints were specified, and because they were back ordered our instructor suggested that while waiting, we buy the Michael’s Art Loft set of 36 colors for about $5.00. Terrible paints, right? Well, although I have some high quality paints now, I still use the Art Lofts at times, and have stumbled across other people, including some artists, who have fun with them. There are even youtube videos about them. Obviously not very pigmented, lots of binders, but can be lovely on cards.
My experience lines up with that of bjeans. Get good paper. I've gone over to the Tim Holtz paper, because of the texture/smooth option, the bright white color, and the way the paper is made.
I've found that the Strathmore has too much of something...coating, binders, sizing...something. It is terrible to do anything with.
If you have good paper, a less expensive paint is easier to work with. But the ultimate goal is a good set of a small number of paints that you can learn to blend colors with.
I took it and love Kristina and what she shares with the card making world, but for me it seemed that some basic fundamentals weren’t covered. Example: how much water to use, and not showing the brush dipped into water to get a sense of that. (It was off screen.) I think the exercises were very nice.
Studio Calico’s class called Sketch Your World helped me a lot. The first two of the four classes are more about water coloring. Photos, text and a short video for eac lesson are provided. The first one went into supplies. Exercises are about water, shading, etc. While it’s not live any more, it’s on sale for $10.00. Sketch Your World - Studio Calico
Of course we’re all different and just because that class worked so well for me doesn’t mean it would for everyone. And it’s very basic - for example drawing circles and watercoloring them to gain control - and combined with the sketching it hit the mark.
Thank you all for your input. I've looked at the links that some of you provided, I appreciate the time you took to find them for me. Sandy Allnock's beginner class is interesting me but it's a small investment just to purchase the class and supplies. I'm not sure I want to invest that much since I'm not sure I will like water coloring but I also feel if I start out cheap I won't really know if it's for me. I hope that makes sense!
Thank you all for your input. I've looked at the links that some of you provided, I appreciate the time you took to find them for me. Sandy Allnock's beginner class is interesting me but it's a small investment just to purchase the class and supplies. I'm not sure I want to invest that much since I'm not sure I will like water coloring but I also feel if I start out cheap I won't really know if it's for me. I hope that makes sense!
I’m not a pro watercolorer, mostly do backgrounds, pops of color, occasional coloring in between the lines (images). But I think you can start cheap to get a feel, as long as you have decent paper. My suggestion? Canson XL + the Art Loft $5.99 paint set - even mentioned in the Studio Calico class - plus a micron pen, and the $10.00 Studio Calico class taught by Olya Schmidt.
While you’ll start out just drawing shapes and using watercolors to fill them in, you’ll learn some brush control, how to lighten and shade, and can read and hear some pep talks about practice and mistakes, plus more written material. You can ignore the sketching assignments.
I still use Canson XL and Art Loft paints at times for cards, and a couple cards I made in 2016 that are sitting on a shelf are still bright and colorful.
Searching on youtube or google for color washes can be another step, though I think you’ll have enough under your belt to do that on your own. Then you’ll know if it’s for you and what other supplies or classes you might want.
You can create beautiful watercolor effects by using distress inks. You can use them to color images for a watercolor look and you can create watercolor look backgrounds with them. is a great and simple way to create a fun watercolor background using ink pads. Like the others already mentioned, good paper is important. I personally like using bristol vellum paper. It's not really watercolor paper but it's my personal favorite.
Thank you all for your input. I've looked at the links that some of you provided, I appreciate the time you took to find them for me. Sandy Allnock's beginner class is interesting me but it's a small investment just to purchase the class and supplies. I'm not sure I want to invest that much since I'm not sure I will like water coloring but I also feel if I start out cheap I won't really know if it's for me. I hope that makes sense!
Looking for something else, I stumbled across this photo, taken during the short Studio Calico class (not an assignment). To the left are is cheap Art Loft, the next Koi (which many love and are also used by Olya Schmidt), and the last Pelikan, which I must have purchased before starting paper crafting. They’re also inexpensive, about double the Art Loft. I prefer Art Loft!
I color mixed to try to get colors close. I hope this helps a bit.
If you're not 100% sure if watercoloring will be for you, you can do some background techniques using your inkpads (like distress ink or dye ink) and watercolor paper. It can give some fun watercolor effects, but doesn't require a big investment if you already have the colors.
If you have a local craft or art store, you can even buy a single sheet of watercolor paper at a pretty low price and cut it up to use and experiment.
Here is a video that goes over a fun smooshing technique to get a watercolor background:
You can also use water-based markers for water-color effects too, by using a paintbrush to dilute and spread the color.
Here's another video from Kristina Werner that shows watercoloring with a marker:
While neither of these techniques is traditional watercolor, they should give you some fun results and let you experiment a little to see if watercolor is something you might enjoy.
If you're not 100% sure if watercoloring will be for you, you can do some background techniques using your inkpads (like distress ink or dye ink) and watercolor paper. It can give some fun watercolor effects, but doesn't require a big investment if you already have the colors.
If you have a local craft or art store, you can even buy a single sheet of watercolor paper at a pretty low price and cut it up to use and experiment.
Here is a video that goes over a fun smooshing technique to get a watercolor background:
You can also use water-based markers for water-color effects too, by using a paintbrush to dilute and spread the color.
Here's another video from Kristina Werner that shows watercoloring with a marker:
While neither of these techniques is traditional watercolor, they should give you some fun results and let you experiment a little to see if watercolor is something you might enjoy.
I love the background using the "smooshing" technique and that girl she colored in the other video is adorable! I just ordered some watercolor paper, once that comes in I'm going to play around with what I have first before I buy any paints. I also found a set of watercolor pencils I forgot I had!
You can create beautiful watercolor effects by using distress inks. You can use them to color images for a watercolor look and you can create watercolor look backgrounds with them. is a great and simple way to create a fun watercolor background using ink pads. Like the others already mentioned, good paper is important. I personally like using bristol vellum paper. It's not really watercolor paper but it's my personal favorite.
I like this look! A simple technique, but makes a nice soft background!
Looking for something else, I stumbled across this photo, taken during the short Studio Calico class (not an assignment). To the left are is cheap Art Loft, the next Koi (which many love and are also used by Olya Schmidt), and the last Pelikan, which I must have purchased before starting paper crafting. They’re also inexpensive, about double the Art Loft. I prefer Art Loft!
I color mixed to try to get colors close. I hope this helps a bit.
Thank you for sharing! It looks like I can't really go wrong starting with Art Loft, especially for the price.
Water coloring
