Beginners Week 1
Catch up Notes

Wet into Wet Watercolour Technique Example.jpg

Wet on dry watercolour floral example.jpg

Week 1

Here’s a gentle, step-by-step guide to what we covered in Week 1, so you can catch up at home with a cuppa and your paints.

We covered:

Wet into Wet technique
Wet on dry & layering
Intro to the colour wheel
My tried and test watercolour supplies

Wet into Wet

This is where the magic happens! You wet the paper first, then drop in watercolour, letting it spread and bloom.

What to try:

Create a circle using clean water.
Drop a colour of your choice into the wet circle and watch it flow.
While it’s still damp, try dropping in a second colour and see how the two mingle.

Extra challenge:

Below your first circle, paint another in a different colour.
Before the first one dries, extend the lower circle upwards until it touches the top one. If timed right, the colours will bleed beautifully into each other.
Timing is key – work quickly so the first circle hasn’t dried before the second touches it!

Wet on Dry

This gives you more control. You’re painting onto dry paper, which gives cleaner edges.

What to try:

Paint single petal shapes in a single colour on dry paper. This must be a very watery mix of paint
Let them dry completely.
Then layer a second colour over the top of the first ones to explore the transparency of watercolour. Keep the paint mix quite watery
Watch how the layers interact – you’ll get new colours where they overlap and hopefully you can see the outline of the first petal beneath the second.
It's important not to fuss to much with the second petal as the more you work on it the more likely the paint from the first petal will get 'reactivated' and loose it's definition. It really is a case of 'one and done' for each petal
Finally a 3rd petal to each flower
Once dry, I added a darker dot of paint to indicate the centre of the petals and used a fine liner pen to add the stems.

Introduction to the Colour Wheel

We had a little introduction to colour mixing using the colour wheel.

Here's the gist:

Primary Colours (P) – Red, Yellow, Blue
Secondary Colours (S) – Orange, Green, Purple (made by mixing primaries)
Complementary Colours – Opposites on the wheel (e.g., blue + orange) which neutralise each other when mixed
Neutralising Colours – Great for creating browns and shadow tones

We also tried mixing Burnt Umber and Blue to create a soft, desaturated black/grey – perfect for shadows or outlines.

Watercolour supplies

Although I supply all materials for the workshops you may be interested in getting some supplies for home. Here's a list of some of my favourites that I've personally tried and enjoyed using

https://www.kerryslackart.com/single-post/must-have-watercolour-supplies-for-beginners

Must have watercolour supplies for beginners.jpg