Paint a Monochrome Watercolor with Me!

Video Painting Lesson for Beginners

This is one of my absolute favorite lessons to teach beginner watercolorists, young or old. It helps you get familiar with your brushes and with how watercolor works, while leaving room for plenty of personal creativity (little critters in the background, anyone?).

To do this lesson, you need the following:

• 140# watercolor paper. I’m not generally picky on what kind, or even the format. This lesson was done in a watercolor sketchbook, but I’ve done it just as easily on watercolor blocks or individual sheets. My booklet is a 7x10 inch watercolor journal.

• Brushes, size #4 round, #8 round, and 3/4 inch flat. Mine are synthetic sables — they have good water holding capacity without breaking the bank for price.

• One pigment of watercolor paint. Any color you like will do for this lesson, although I would caution you against using yellow because it’s hard to see on the white paper. I use a pocket sketcher half-pan kit from Winsor & Newton that was my first kit. I prefer dried paints for this particular project, rather than using it fresh out of the tube. (Note: I am NOT being paid by W&N to promote their product, I just like their watercolors.)

• A rag, for helping clean brushes and manage the amount of water on your brush.

• Water cup.

Enjoy the lesson! It runs a little over 9 minutes, and some sections are compressed in the interests of time. Feel free to leave questions and comments below or in the chat forum, and please share your completed works as well! I’d love to see them.