r/watercolor101

Hi, not an artistic person picking a new hobby (thanks to pinterest algorithm I guess). I am trying to build a habit to draw at least once a week. Sometimes I follow tutorials (Nianiani yt etc) or just take inspiration from pinterest. There are things I dislike at every pic, but learning to finish a painting as a learning process. Can you please give me some constructive feedback what to improve? 😊 Any channels / books that helped you?

No burnout here—just a spark of fun painting these matches!

Which underdrawing do you usually prefer before adding watercolor?

Pencil, water-soluble ink, or waterproof ink?

Or do you skip the underdrawing altogether and paint the colors first, then add pencil or ink once the paint has dried?

I'm curious to know how you all do it!

(Top right: waterproof ink, left: water-soluble ink, bottom: just pencil.)

I painted these today after doing some live sketching of the guys down town yesterday.

trying some dry brushing, added a little penwork at the end because I'm not very handy with a rigger... :)

#WorldWatercolorMonth

Hi everyone! I'm a self-taught artist and this is one of my recent watercolor portrait paintings.

I created this piece using watercolor paints and pencil details on paper. My main focus was capturing the expression, eyes, and soft color transitions while maintaining a loose watercolor feel.

I'm continuously learning and practicing portrait painting, especially skin tones, lighting, shadows, and hair textures. Every artwork teaches me something new, and I'm working to improve with each piece.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on what works well and what I can improve. Constructive criticism and tips are always appreciated.

Thank you for taking a look at my work! 🎨

It took me some time to get back to painting after finding out I’m expecting my first child ❤️ So I’ve been busy, but hopefully I can continue with painting. For this piece, I was supposed to leave more white spaces in between flowers and leaves but I got excited. Less is more… I gotta remember that next time 😂

Aquarelle & gouache sur papier Arches.

A Karen Rice Tutorial via YouTube

YT Artists start with light green, and then keep on adding layers of random darker dots, splashes, and random shapes.

I know why. It is to show shadow opposed to sunlight, and the leafy texture.

When I try to do the same, it looks ugly.

My dots just seem to have no harmony (The attached pic doesn't have the most effort I have ever put into a tree before failing eventually).

And this is not realistic anyway, so I never see such trees with my eyes in this world, so it makes it a lot more difficult (not saying I can make them, plus I wanna learn these abstract ones, they seem much quicker).

The same goes for bushes and anything similar.

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The last image is a complete retry with a different approach.

The first picture isn't mine. It is the reference for the second picture (mine).

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1st Pic Reference by Sanika (ArtEWorld by Sanika on YT)

I think I've made a mistake with the green, I kinda like it but I think it doesn't look tidy. I'd like to know your opinions

Update: The first comment gave me some motivation & I finished it. Attaching photo in the comment. I'm happy :)

I'm a super beginner at watercolor (& painting in general) and after weeks of being scared, making random mini paintings & giving myself excuses, I finally jumped into attempting to create a full size (A5) painting. I referred to Karen Rice Art's Atmospheric Watercolour Landscape Tutorial.

The sky looks good to me but I may have ruined the water & the green reflection (also thanks to the cellulose wood pulp paper). Even though it didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, I finally understand why people enjoy painting on a larger paper. There's something really satisfying about it. I don't love the painting, but I do feel somewhat relieved that I finally stopped overthinking and just painted.

Shall I go ahead with the rest of the tutorial (as shown in image 3) and risk ruining my first decent-ish painting or just leave it be (because the paper is not cooperating at all)?

I've placed an order for better quality paper & it's on the way
Until then, please critique.

My paint brushes finally arrived today, so I thought I’d show off my little collection here! I have pencils, I have paints, I have brushes and I have fine liners! Am I missing anything? 👀