Watercolor Techniques for Kids

"Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.", was what Pablo Picasso had said about colors. Come to think of it, it is true, otherwise why would we associate green with envy or white with peace?

Colors are an imperative part of our lives and this universe. Imagine if there were no colors, would a rose would have been a rose and a kingfisher without its striking blue have been the same?

Great Painters have created magic with their colors and enthralled the world. Painting and drawing attributes a prime importance to colors. The amateurs normally start off with simple watercolor techniques and then graduate to advanced ones.

Wet on Wet Technique
Take a large piece of white paper and fold it into half. Leave one of the halves half dry and wet the other with a brush. Now, the children can experiment and play around with colors and see how the effect is different on both the halves.

A dryer brush can also be used on both wet and dry sides of the paper. This is one of the best watercolor techniques to start off with.

Light Wash
When you get a bit used to painting, you can do this. You have to do a 'wash'. For this, you would have very little color on your brush and they are applied very lightly, with a lot of water. See if you can paint a scene with the help of light washes of watercolors.

If you cannot see the figure or the painting properly, come back to it after it is dry. Use a dark marker or pen to highlight the finer details.

Blotting
Paper napkins are not used only with regards to hygiene; they come in quite handy while painting with watercolors. Kids normally spill colors and create a mess, and napkins are real saviors in this situation.

Other than that, they can also help you camouflage minor mistakes in the painting. They can be used to lighten dark colors or even blot away a color totally. It may seem flimsy, but it works.

Sticky Matters
You can either paint tape or a watermelon or sapota seed and paint around it, as if you are drawing a tree with all its parts. Of course, do not forget that this should be in relation with the seed. As far as the tape is concerned, use it on the areas of the paper where you do not want the paint to go.

In short, keep the paper plain there or block the other papers from blending into it. Try this with other watercolor techniques and you will have a fantastic time.

Blend the Color
Blending the colors is one of the most important technique in watercolor painting. Trees and flowers can be effectively portrayed or ruined, depending on how you use it. Hence, while you check out the color palette, use the underside of the lid to mix and blend the colors, without altering the original colors.

What makes this very useful is that the underside of the palette's lid already has sections, which help you to mix colors properly.

Well, it is not exactly necessary to know how to draw before you paint. You can directly go on to painting. Drawing could give you a better hand control, but it is not a must know. Finally, the creation of art is important. How you reach there is inconsequential.

Choose whatever medium you are comfortable with. Starting from the beginners' media like watercolors or pastel colors, you can move on to acrylics, oils, and water-based oils.

Ideally, you should thoroughly clean the paint brushes after every painting session. If you have to replace them, do not fret.

If you want to create dramatic and enthralling results with colors, you might need to know more about colors and their effects and how they are mixed. Do not let the theory intimidate you, just uncover the secrets of these colors.

You can paint almost on any surface where the paint will stay and would not harm it. You can take your pick from paper, wall, wood, etc.

Go ahead and create magic with colors!