I want to be able to help everyone, so I hope this will help you feel more confident about watercolours because I know they're hard to get used to, as wellas other stuff. Thank you for all your kind support, now let me support you

The photos might be huge sorry about that lol


Watercolour Tutorial: Advice and Guidance





What kind of water colours do you use?

I use student grade (the general stuff you buy in shops) watercolours from Whsmith, and artist grade (the expensive kind) winsor and newton.



What kind of pen do you use? Your paints never smudge the ink that you draw your lines with, or do you ink afterwards?

I use normal drawing pens you find in the shops, with a range of thicknesses. Smallest I have is 0.05 and biggest id 0.5. I think a good brand is Staedtler. For your other question that also depends; I sometimes ink before I paint but it gets covered in paint, so now I ink afterwards as it looks darker. I also use an isograph.



What type of paper to you use?

I tend to buy ones with thickness of 300gsm. Brands I use are normally hot pressed (smooth) Langton, they're quite absorbent so be careful if you pick this because you need to spread your paints quickly. I've bought some Arches paper which is supposed to be good but I've yet to use it. It's apparently very absorbent, and colours come out well on it.



Q: where do you get your references? Any recommendations?

I mainly use books as references where I can, though the internet is pretty helpful. Other artists are my inspiration.
I recommend/use these:

(Artbooks)
Comickers -- These are good as they show tutorials of known artists painting or workingon their pictures. It usually has a good selection of styles

Japanese Comickers -- same as above, they also show tutorials and many Korean/Japanese/Honk kong artists, traditional and digital.

Style School -- A brilliant book, there are quitea few volumes already. They show a few tutorials. I have the second one and it does traditional and digital, and a helpful guide on anatomy. There are many pictures to look at for inspiration.

Udon's art of Capcom -- there are great poses you can practice from, and lots of streetfighter backdrops to give you ideas. it is mainly digital but still helpswith colour. Expensive price tag though.

(Manga)
DNAngel -- the later volumes have great lineart, I've practiced from Sugisaki-sama's outlining style many times for help

D.Gray-man -- Hoshino-sama's style is quite unique, a good manga to practice from. Her use of negative space is something to take note on.

Bleach -- Probably one of best I know for panelling in manga, alongside D.Gray-man.

Bakuman -- Many funny expressions, and realistic poses.



Q: What brushes do you use?
I don't have that many. From the photo the first four to the left are acrylic brushes, you know they are for these kind of paints because they are stiff. The others are watercolours, the bristles are always soft or flexible. The two puffy looking watercolour brushes are for holding and spreading a lot of water/paint. The one to the far right is for medium detail while being able to hold a good amount of water, hence why it's so long.


What are some tips for artists who would like to use watercolor paints?

Watercolours are a patient medium. You can't rush them, so give them a lot time to dry between layers. Experiment. Always try new things and learn from mistakes, just like life. And always keep your water clean, if they're muddy it'll affect your colours. And test your colours first before putting them on your picture, so you can be sure it's the right colour~