3 Reasons To Try Watercolor Painting

Looking for a new creative outlet? Here are three reasons you should try watercolor painting for your next hobby (because you can never have too many hobbies, right?). Watch the video or keep reading to learn more.

First, watercolor is a very versatile medium.

Now, I used to think watercolors were kind of boring and pale and washed out, and I personally like a lot of bold colors in my art. But back then, I just didn’t realize all the different ways you could use watercolors, and all the different styles you could create.

Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with watercolor artists all around the world through our Watercolor Summit program, and it never ceases to amaze me just how beautiful and colorful watercolor artwork can be.

Yes, you can paint with lighter, more muted colors like these loose florals, or this realistic giraffe: 

But you can also create super bold styles like this wild leopard or this colorful little bird:  

There’s also a lot of versatility in HOW you paint. You can get really cool effects (like in the sunset sky below) by using what’s called a wet-on-wet technique.

You can paint LOOSELY with your brush and create beautiful landscapes, like the one below that was done all in one color, or you can keep it a lot more controlled, like in the giraffe I showed you before, where you’re using your paints and blending almost like you would with colored pencils.

Before I get to my second reason, I’ve got a free online workshop that shows you how to QUICKLY go from beginner to intermediate level watercolor painter in a matter of weeks — you can click here to sign up for it, and like I said, it’s totally free, so you should definitely sign up if you’re excited about learning watercolors!

The second reason you should give watercolors a try is because of their affordability.

If you’ve ever tried painting with acrylics, you know that once you pour out the paint, and it dries on your palette, you can’t reuse it.

That’s NOT the case with watercolors. The beauty of this medium is that you can re-wet your paint with water even after it’s dried — so you never really “waste” paint.

That in and of itself makes watercolor affordable, but there are also many good quality student-grade paints that come in beautiful colors and are easy to find locally or online.

You can also find plenty of great synthetic hair paint brushes that will last you a very long time.

When it comes to paper, you’ll want to use a thicker paper made especially for watercolor. There are plenty of inexpensive options and I did a whole separate article and video on cheap watercolor paper, but this is the one area where you may want to splurge a bit more on nice cotton watercolor paper, depending on the type of painting you’re doing.

Even still, you can find the nice cotton paper for less than $20 per pad, so it’s not like buying a bunch of expensive canvases.

If you want to know what tools to look for, check out our free Watercolor Supply Guide. I interviewed a bunch of well-known artists like Jenna Rainey, Sarah Simon, Sarah Cray, Louise De Masi and more, and compiled all of their favorite supply recommendations into this one, easy-to-use guide, complete with shopping links. So make sure to sign up and get your free copy.

The final reason to try watercolor painting is because of its portability.

Whether you’re traveling on a plane and can’t bring any liquids, or you just don’t have a lot of room in your house to store stuff, watercolor supplies take up a TINY amount of space compared to many other mediums.

There are no giant tubes of paint, no large canvases, no easels — you can get by with a pad of paper, a couple of brushes, and a little metal tin with paints and room to mix them. Just grab a jar or a cup for water, and you’re good to go!

I hope this was helpful and I hope I convinced you to give watercolors a shot! It really is a beautiful medium that everyone would benefit from trying.