Watercolor Painting for Beginners

Stop guessing at colors. Learn a simple color mixing system using just 6 paints to create any color you need. We'll build a personal color chart you can reference for every painting.

18 min

Light is what makes a painting feel alive. Learn to see light and shadow, understand warm and cool tones, and create depth in your paintings with simple shading techniques.

16 min

Watercolor is all about water control. Learn the wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques, how to load your brush properly, and why the ratio of water to pigment changes everything.

15 min

Master the two most important techniques in watercolor — laying a smooth flat wash and creating beautiful gradients. These are the building blocks for skies, backgrounds, and so much more.

14 min

Welcome to Watercolor Painting for Beginners! In this lesson, we'll go over everything you'll learn in this course and the basic supplies you need to get started. Spoiler: you don't need expensive gear.

7 min

Not all supplies are equal. Learn the difference between student and artist grade paints, which paper weights actually matter, and the only three brushes you need to start painting today.

11 min

Put your skills into practice with loose, expressive flowers. Learn to paint roses, daisies, and wildflowers using just a few brushstrokes. Perfect for cards, journals, and gifts.

22 min

Create a stunning sunset using wet-on-wet blending. We'll layer warm oranges and pinks into cool purples, let the colors flow into each other, and add silhouette details at the end.

20 min

Bring together everything you've learned in a complete landscape painting. We'll paint rolling hills, a winding path, and distant trees — layer by layer, from background to foreground.

28 min

Everyone makes mistakes in watercolor — and most of them are fixable! Learn how to lift color, fix hard edges, rescue muddy paintings, and work with (not against) happy accidents.

12 min

Now that you have the fundamentals, it's time to find your voice. We'll explore different watercolor styles — loose vs. detailed, realistic vs. abstract — and how to develop a look that feels like you.

14 min

Congratulations — you're a watercolor painter! In this final lesson, we'll talk about building a painting habit, finding inspiration, sharing your work, and where to go from here.

8 min