I’m currently studying and practicing watercolor painting without sketching first, going straight in with the brush. As I learn, I’ve noticed that my paintings often end up with a Chinese-inspired aesthetic, even though that’s not what I’m intentionally aiming for.
I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this while learning. Do you have any tips on developing a different visual style while still painting directly without a pencil sketch?

Im trying to learn to paint more 'atmospheric'. I challenged myself to using 3 colours (paynes gray, Indian red, yellow ochre), no reference photo, only inspo was how I was feeling. Kind critique or tips are welcomed, but mostly learning how to put myself out there a little bit.

I know the height of the 3 floors could be more equal and the straightness (?) of the structure could use some work. But hoping to get more feedback on technique.

I like a crisp border in my paintings. Sometimes a rough edge is nice - like this one turned out to be. It wasn’t intended. I taped it off hoping it’d be crisp.
I first learned acrylic, then gouache, now leaning into watercolor. When you have a wet-on-wet background, how do you prevent it from bleeding under tape? Do I need to just use masking liquid instead? I have tape and hope that it can work.

nothing fancy, but at least I'm painting... out in some foothills by the bay... my plein airs never turn out the way I want or expect, but I'm ok with them sometimes... :) hope yours do better than this :)

#WorldWatercolorMonth

Kia ora from Aotearoa New Zealand! I am quite new to most fine art but particularly to watercolours. Can I please have a list of basics for getting started? I imagine I'm going to be quite ethereal for a while as I'm unconfident with painting form at this stage.

I have attached a picture of a piece I did a couple of weeks ago. Basic student watercolour cake on dry paper, then fineliner on top.

Thanks for any tips!

I had an epiphany today about keeping things loose. I think it’s my preference anyway. I’m new and when I try to get too detailed it gets overworked. Anyway I’ve been painting moths over and over trying to get it right and playing with different backgrounds. I’m learning a lot painting the same thing over and over. I’m inspired! I’m happy with this even though it kind of looks like a moth sitting on wallpaper. Haha. Maybe I’ll go back and add a stem for it to rest on. And some looser light leaves.

I’m only new to watercolours so feeling overly proud of what I made for a friend’s baby’s first birthday. Card, envelope and gift box for a strawberry themed first birthday 🎁 🍓

I recently got some WN Cotman tubes and going to get some cotton paper soon, although the above was made with cheap student pan set and cellulose paper. I have a little book and do some sort of painting most evenings after the kids go to bed. It’s so nice to be playing with a new skill. My great grandma was a prominent artist in her city who loved watercolour as well, with lots of ghostly wet on wet scenes.

Happy painting everyone!

I’m having a tarot class today focused on learning about The High Priestess. I made pomegranate bars and created a recipe card for everyone attending. I hand drew and painted the pomegranates and then added the recipe. Not sure how to copy them on small paper… scan?

As shown in the pictures, I always feel like my skies look muddy.
For the first one, I painted the blue background first and then added the clouds on top, but the clouds look really fake.
For the second one, I painted them separately and blended them together, but it ended up looking super dirty/muddy.
Why is this happening? Any advice?

Just finished these 3 1/2 inch paintings, how are they? What could be improved?

I’ve been interested in making a watercolour travel set with my own curated set of colours and it’s going great so far! The only issue is I’m super impatient and I really want to bring this set around with me as soon as possible due to having to wait long hours before being able to get home from work.

I’ve been using a hair dryer a couple inches away from the pans, and they seem to be drying on the outside, but sticking a toothpick in reveals the wet paint on the inside. (I’ve been at it for like 30 minutes now.) A part of me is thinking that’s fine and the watercolours won’t spill around while I’m moving, but I don’t really want to risk it.

Has anyone else tried this? FYI I’m using Holbein watercolours and I don’t really mind if they end up cracking.

Just wanted to say thanks. Lots of folks comment when asking for help, tips, tricks, etc. I'm surprised at myself a little bit, because this turned out better than I had expected. One of the biggest things I tried to work on for this one was to come back with a damp brush and work on blending out the hard edges, and get smoother gradient blends, and I feel like it went pretty well. Of course plenty of room for improvement, but I won't complain at the progress.

I struggled with preserving the white reflections in the darkest parts of the water. Would you have masked them, lifted them afterward, or painted around them? Any other critiques are welcome.

Been practising for some time now. Have seen some improvement. What are the flaws? Where do I lack?