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ABOUT SPREAD THE WORD CONTRIBUTE CONNECT
TOOLBOX: 8 WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUES FOR BEGINNERS
APRIL 13, 2015 BY RACHEL 72 COMMENTS
After sharing my thoughts on basic watercolor supplies and techniques last week, I thought it might
be fun to show you some more techniques to try. There are a lot of fun ways to use watercolor and
today Im going to show you 8 of my favorite techniques that are perfect for beginners (or any skill
level).
You can try one or two of these ideas, or make your own page of all 8 techniques. To do this, use a
pencil and ruler to measure out 8 rectangles on your watercolor paper. Label each box with each
technique as shown in the photo below.
Note before you start: I would recommend allowing each rectangle to dry completely before
moving onto the next technique. You can use a hair dryer to speed the drying process along.
TECHNIQUE #1: SALT
Salt is my absolute favorite technique to use in creating textured backgrounds. I keep a small
container of sea salt with my supply kit. To use the salt Wrst choose one or two colors and paint the
Wrst rectangle (or area) completely. Then, while the paint is still wet, sprinkle the salt over the top. Let
the paint dry completely and then use your Wngernail to Xake away the salt.
Note: The wetter your painted area, the more your salt will spread. Try letting the paint dry partially
(enough that water wont run when you move your paper but still has a sheen) and notice the
difference in texture you create.
TECHNIQUE #2: TISSUE
Fill in the next rectangle with a wash of color(s). For best results youll want the surface to be wet and
saturated with color.
Crinkle a piece of tissue paper and place it on top of the wet paint. Being careful to cover the entire
area, position the tissue over the wash and gently press down onto the paper with the palms of your
hands. Allow to dry slightly (but not completely or the tissue could become glued to the watercolor
paper) then carefully lift the tissue from the paper.
TECHNIQUE #3: ALCOHOL
 This technique is sorta fun to do. Fill the next rectangle with a watercolor wash.
KITS AND COOL STUFF

While the paint is still wet, dip a Q-tip into rubbing alcohol and drop it onto the wet paint. For best
Etsy
AdventuresinMaking results let the alcohol drip from the Q-tip (rather than touching the q-tip to the paper).

TECHNIQUE #4: CRAYON

You can use a crayon to create a wax resist technique. First draw your design with a white crayon
making sure to press Wrmly onto the paper.

Using a white crayon on white paper makes it difWcult to see what you are drawing. Tilt your paper
to the side to get a glimpse of your design.

Etsy
AdventuresinMaking Next apply your color wash. The paint will resist the areas covered with crayon.

TECHNIQUE #5: PEN & INK

Another favorite technique of mine. Using a Wne-tip permanent pen, draw or doodle your design.

Then, Wll in color as you would a coloring book. Remember to switch to a smaller round brush to
paint in small areas.

TECHNIQUE #6: WATER DROPS

Apply your color wash. Then load your brush with water (or another color) and let the paint drip onto

M O R E L I N K S , I N S P I R AT I O N the wash while its still wet. You can gently shake your brush down towards the paper to help the
dripping along.
AND COMMUNITY

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TECHNIQUE #7: SPLATTER
This technique is a lot of fun, but makes quite a mess. I suggest covering any areas of your paper that
you dont want to be splattered. Load your brush with paint then hold it over the top of your paper.
With the other hand, tap your brush and watch the paint splatter onto your paper. Rinse your brush,
choose your next color and splatter away.
TECHNIQUE #8: TRANSPARENCY
Because watercolors have a transparent quality you can create beautiful layers and density in your
work. To play with transparency, its best to start from light to more saturated color. I chose to paint
some drop shapes.

Using your Wrst, lighter color cover the area with shapes. Let dry completely, then choose a slightly
darker or more saturated color and paint more shapes, overlapping Wrst layer. You can repeat this
process as many times as you like.
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I hope this post inspires you to try one or two new techniques. Dont be afraid to just go for it and
Sign up to receive our not-spammy have some fun! And stay tuned for more watercolor inspired tutorials and DIY projects on Adventures-
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ABOUT RACHEL
PA R T N E R S
Rachel is co-creator of Adventures In Making. When she's not blogging, she's
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loves cats, cooking, crafting, drawing, and hosting parties.

COMMENTS
! ' (

katie smith says

April 13, 2015 at 10:51 am

YAY! I was hoping you would share some more watercoloring tips!
ADVENTURES IN MAKING
All rights reserved. These are fabulous and I will deWnitely have to try them. Ive done the salt technique, but havent
done any of the others.

REPLY

Rachel says
April 14, 2015 at 9:19 am

oh cool! Salt is deWnitely my favorite. I recommend trying the rubbing alcohol technique. Its
quite satisfying

REPLY

Lucy says
October 11, 2015 at 11:56 am

Hello! Thank you so much for showing this. I am teaching a group of children some more
in depth painting and drawing techniques this term (starting today, in New Zealand) and
this will be a lovely exercise for them to try! Creativity is always even more wonderful
when shared
 REPLY

Carol Azeredo says

April 15, 2015 at 1:14 pm

Amazing, thank you for sharing the tips! Really useful!

REPLY

Ochwey says
April 17, 2015 at 12:34 am

I love this watercolor posts! Thank you veru much, I didnt know that alcohol works this way!

REPLY

Molly says
April 19, 2015 at 10:05 am

RACHEL, Im not a beginner, but needed a refreshing.your blog really helped. Id love to see other
things you do. Please add me to your mailing list!!
THANKS,
Molly

REPLY

Tempest Lee says

May 10, 2015 at 2:05 pm

Can you use these same techniques on fabric?

REPLY

Maria says
May 11, 2015 at 3:31 pm

Thank you very much, I just need the push to start painting again!

REPLY
 Victoria says
July 7, 2015 at 3:07 pm

Hello and greetings from Germany!!

Yesterday I bought a magazine called Xow (dont know if yall know it) its about inspiration and
giving you more consciousness for the good things in life.
It inspired me and I want to start painting with watercolours as I did when I was young. I must say I
am not a good artist neither talented in sketching nor in drawing but nevertheless I looked for
watercolour on Pinterest and found your wonderful articles!
You are inspiring and tomorrow I am going to buy me a new schmincke box. (The same I had when
I was child. <3 )
Thanks for your tips! And have a wonderful day!
Love, Victoria!

REPLY

Rachel says
July 11, 2015 at 10:47 am

Thanks Victoria! Happy painting

REPLY

Yesenia Rivera says

July 8, 2015 at 8:08 am

Excellent!!

REPLY

Yesenia Rivera says

July 8, 2015 at 8:08 am

Muy buena explicacin!

REPLY

CurlyMadz says
July 25, 2015 at 10:12 am

i love and enjoy this thanks for the detailed tutorial, so nice of you! ill experiment with more
materials too

REPLY
 Thea says
July 25, 2015 at 11:20 pm

wow! This is great! Im bookmarking this!

http://www.thetravelingdyosa.com

REPLY

DORINA d says
July 28, 2015 at 7:34 pm

This is one of the best tutorials for different techniques Ive seen. Simple, easy to understand and
do. Thanks for sharing this tutorial. Its fantastic.

REPLY

Rachel says
July 30, 2015 at 11:31 am

Thank you Dorina!

REPLY

Ashana Lian says

July 29, 2015 at 4:38 am

Thank you for the step by step guidelines Ive never been good with watercolours but seeing
this does make me want to try again. This is truly amazing work, Im glad I found your site from
Pinterest!

REPLY

Will says
August 19, 2015 at 1:40 pm

Hi
A doubt about the alcohol: here in Brazil its kinda hard to buy the rubbing alcohol. Is it okay to use
the ethyl alcohol?

REPLY

Rachel says
August 19, 2015 at 5:35 pm

Hi Will, I dont know if ethyl alcohol will work, but give it a try! If you do, let me know how your
experiment turns out
 REPLY

Rosa says
August 22, 2015 at 10:55 am

Hi Rachel! Thanks for sharing the tips, simple but with great results.

I will try them.

Regards,

Ros

REPLY

Saskia de Vries says

October 3, 2015 at 6:25 am

Thank you so much for sharing this great tuts.

Please add me to your mailing list
Byeeeee

REPLY

Gerry says
October 21, 2015 at 9:18 am

What a beautiful presentation of what watercolour can do! I teach art acrylic and watercolours
have taught for many years. I just love the clarity of this post . Have never tried alcohol, I mean in
art techniques!

Other possibilities vinegar, baking soda perhaps?

REPLY

Vijayalakshmi says
October 31, 2015 at 3:33 am

Wow! Nice tips given by you. Great ! Those who are in starter level it is very useful.Thanks for your
tips. I do apply for my kids.

REPLY

Elise says
 November 16, 2015 at 11:21 am

Thank you so much! Im just not sure I use the best materials I live in Brazil so even if I asked it
would be hard to Wnd those colors and pencils here :/ congrats tho, awesome!! x

REPLY

Carla Cristina Alves says

November 22, 2015 at 9:03 pm

Thank you so much for to share this!

REPLY

Gulmohargirl says
November 24, 2015 at 2:53 pm

Awesome tips. I use a toothbrush for splatter sometimes. Its a bit messy but overall much Wner
effect.

REPLY

Judy Wallace says

December 18, 2015 at 12:53 pm

Lovely presentation, very inspiring to an aspiring artist, thankyou.

REPLY

Ann Wood says

December 23, 2015 at 5:56 pm

Thank you so much for these arty ideas. I am if advanced years (80s) and interested in new types
of art, I can pass on to my grandchildren and do myself.

REPLY

nira says
December 27, 2015 at 12:13 am

Lovely! I use Panda oil pastels instead of the crayon so thanks for the tip. Also the crayon is
thinner and that is better
Thanks

REPLY

Georgia says
January 16, 2016 at 8:30 pm

Micador is great too. These ones may be too thick though

REPLY

Arte says
January 5, 2016 at 1:48 am

Thank you so much!

REPLY

Georgia says
January 16, 2016 at 8:29 pm

When I was searching for crayons I found straws. It gave me the idea to paint and then blow
through the straw to splatter the paint. It makes a largest drop or blood splatter affect

REPLY

Pam says
January 16, 2016 at 8:41 pm

Thank you for the wonderful tips. Im new, self taught and love to view websites that show tips and
tricks and videos.

REPLY

GypsyPhoenixRose says
February 7, 2016 at 1:58 am

beautiful post thank you

REPLY

Nina says
February 17, 2016 at 5:07 am
I LOVE YOU! Im going to try this.

REPLY

Susan says
March 9, 2016 at 3:29 pm

Really clear instructions! Loved it Thanks!

REPLY

Lesley Shakespeare-Brogan says

March 15, 2016 at 6:31 am

Love this tutorialits awesome!

REPLY

Krystal says
March 16, 2016 at 12:39 pm

Awesome tutorial! I just bought some watercolor paints yesterday too, I cant wait to play around
with these methods!

Krystal | http://Xoradelsoul.com/

REPLY

Hailee1234 says
March 19, 2016 at 10:03 pm

I used to hate painting, I once tried to paint Mona Lisa and she ended up looking like a huge ball of
painting. Now I have tried this it helped me a lot!thank you so much! My favorites are salt and
alcohol! You are so creative.

~Hailee1234

REPLY

AJ says
March 31, 2016 at 10:42 am
Omg this is so cool

REPLY

Achon Pierre says

April 13, 2016 at 2:59 am

Bravo pour ces conseils, et merci.

REPLY

Kim T says
May 7, 2016 at 12:05 pm

Thanks for all of these great tips I had tried the salt before and it didnt work, but after reading
your post, Ill bet I didnt have enough water, cant wait to re-try!

REPLY

AdrikaFly says
June 28, 2016 at 11:51 pm

Good work

REPLY

AdrikaFly says
June 28, 2016 at 11:52 pm

Very good work

REPLY

Rene says
June 30, 2016 at 8:05 am

Thank you for your tips. Ive seen many tutorials, but yours was simple, beautiful and easy to
understand. Love the presentation and going to use it with my kiddos.

REPLY
 dark light says
July 21, 2016 at 4:33 pm

Thank you so muchhh !!! i only knew splatter , trasparency and water drops before Thanks again
!

REPLY

Deirdre Stols says

July 29, 2016 at 10:08 pm

Thank you so much for sharing ideas

REPLY

Bluemoon says
August 8, 2016 at 11:40 am

Wow. This looks so amazing. DeWnitely going to try it soon. Keep up the good work

REPLY

Trackbacks

8 W at e r c olor T e c hn i q ue s f or B e gi n n e r s In di e C r af t s says:
May 10, 2015 at 2:51 am
[] Read more here: TOOLBOX: 8 Watercolor Techniques for Beginners []

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8 F r e e W at e r c olour T ut or i als says:

June 16, 2015 at 1:24 am
[] 8 watercolor techniques for beginners by Adventures in Making | Right: how to paint a
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Si e re s un prin cipian t e con las acuare las, e st as 8 t cn icas t e con ve rt ir n e n un

gran art ist a - UpSocial says:
July 10, 2015 at 4:48 am
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W at e r C olor s - C r af t Shac k Sun day Sp ot li ght ! - K sC r af t Shac k says:

August 9, 2015 at 5:03 am
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T OOL B OX: 8 W at e r c olor T e c hn i q ue s f or B e gi n n e r s - U r b an An ge ls says:

September 26, 2015 at 11:49 pm
[] TOOLBOX: 8 Watercolor Techniques for Beginners | adventures-in-mak []

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M y Adv e n t u r e s i n W at e r c olor | shoe i n t he c lassr oom says:

September 27, 2015 at 2:37 pm
[] also worked at mastering other techniques. I found a great post on Pinterest that
showed me 8 different techniques and played around with them. The directions were clear
and precise. They forced me to work with a []

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Nat ure The me d Art Journal Page | Eme rging Cre at ive ly Je we lry Tut orials says:
October 2, 2015 at 3:02 am
[] I Wnished this page last night. I had the idea percolating for a couple of days. I had been
wanting to try some of the watercolor techniques found in this awesome post. []

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October 2, 2015 at 6:53 am
[] sobre cmo lograr diferentes efectos y texturas. Para eso encontr genial la idea de
hacerse este cuadro comparativo y tenerlo a la []
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January 27, 2016 at 9:08 am
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U n de r st an di n g w at e r c olou r | Dai ly C r e at i v e s says:

February 1, 2016 at 7:09 am
[] from Adventures in Making has created this wonderful tutorial with 8 techniques for
beginners. So simple and so effective. My creative juices are really Xowing. This proves, you
[]

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Ar t Jour n ali n g f or B e gi n n e r s B ug-a-Doodle says:

February 2, 2016 at 6:28 pm
[] Make a splash with watercolor. {Toolbox: 8 Watercolor Techniques for Beginners,
Watercolor Techniques for Beginners Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part []

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a-Doodle s says:
February 5, 2016 at 3:52 pm
[] Media Tag, inspiration} 95. Add some bronze metallic paint. 96. Make a splash with
watercolor. {Toolbox: 8 Watercolor Techniques for Beginners, Watercolor Techniques for
Beginners Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.} 97. Use baby wipes. {Using a []

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Ar t Jour n ali n g f or B e gi n n e r s B ug-a-Doodle s says:

February 8, 2016 at 11:16 am
[] Make a splash with watercolor. {Toolbox: 8 Watercolor Techniques for Beginners,
Watercolor Techniques for Beginners Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part []

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8 N on -c on sum e r i st ac t i vi t i e s f or a he ar t -w ar m i n g V ale n t i n e 's Day | In hab i t at -

Gre e n De sign, Innovat ion, Archit e ct ure , Gre e n Building says:
February 10, 2016 at 8:00 am
[] and a sheet of blank paper and just doodling. If you want a little more direction, check
out a fun tutorial on watercolor painting and follow []

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February 11, 2016 at 11:59 am
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T OOL B OX: 8 W at e r c olor T e c hn i q ue s f or B e gi n n e r s - Ar t Ide as says:

March 25, 2016 at 9:21 am
[] TOOLBOX: 8 Watercolor Techniques for Beginners | adventures-in-mak []

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T he or e t i c al Re se ar c h F or 1 5 C r e at i ve p i e c e s | K AL E B H T H E C RE AT IV E says:
May 12, 2016 at 9:01 pm
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Ramadan: Art ide as on st andb y | Islamic Be dt ime St orie s says:

May 20, 2016 at 10:10 am
[] Watercolour techniques x7 (whatever scholarly opinion you follow about rubbing
alcohol, I would most deWnitely not go for that technique. No need really.) []

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June 19, 2016 at 7:03 am
[] Lust auf mehr hat: hier sind tolle Techniken zu Wnden, um den alten Farbkasten []
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W at e r c olor T e c hn i q ue s T o Ge t Y ou St ar t e d | j e lly b e an ar t says:

June 21, 2016 at 11:32 am
[] few techniques and tips you can soon become very talented with watercolor. If you
need more help go here or here for []

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July 21, 2016 at 10:39 am
[] 8 watercolor project []

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U n de r st an di n g w at e r c olou r Dai ly C r e at i v e s says:

August 9, 2016 at 7:36 am
[] from Adventures in Making has created this wonderful tutorial with 8 techniques for
beginners. So simple and so effective. My creative juices are really Xowing. This proves, you
[]

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