Watercolor Painting Starter Checklist

1. Gather your supplies

• A small set of watercolor paints
• A few round brushes
• A pad of watercolor paper
• Two jars of water and a rag

2. Your first project

3. Your first month, step by step

• Week 1: Gather a simple kit: a small pan set of paints, one round brush, a pad of watercolor paper, and a jar of water. Spend this week just playing. Make stripes, dots, and puddles, and watch how more water makes paler color and less water makes it strong.
• Week 2: Learn the two core moves. Paint a flat wash (even color across a box) and a wet-on-wet wash (drop color into a wet area and watch it bloom). Do not aim for a picture yet. You are learning how water and paint behave together.
• Week 3: Paint your first simple subjects: a piece of fruit, a leaf, or a little sky. Pick something with one or two shapes. Let layers dry fully before adding the next, and resist fiddling. Finish three small paintings, not one perfect one.
• Week 4: Make a tiny color chart of the paints you own, and repaint a Week 3 subject now that you know more. Compare it to your first try. Pick one technique you enjoyed most and a video from the lists above to explore next.

4. Mistakes to avoid

• Using too much water on the page, so colors run everywhere. Blot your brush on a cloth first and add water in small amounts until you can control the flow.
• Painting layer over layer before each one dries, which lifts the paint into mud. Let each layer dry completely, or use a hair dryer on low to speed it up.
• Overworking a painting by going back into it again and again. Watercolor looks freshest with fewer strokes, so learn to stop while it still looks a little unfinished.
• Forgetting to leave white paper for highlights. There is no white paint that truly glows, so plan ahead and simply leave those spots unpainted.
• Mixing every color into the same brown-grey. Rinse your brush between colors and keep a clean side of the palette for fresh mixes.
• Buying cheap printer paper or thin pads that buckle and pill. A modest pad of real watercolor paper (140 lb / 300 gsm) makes everything easier and is worth it.