# Beginning Watercolorist



## irvengel (Jul 9, 2016)

I'm interested in finding out if anyone has a solution to any of the following problems: The watercolor paper having a tendency to bow or warp. Do I really have to dunk the paper in water and then pin or clip it down before I can start painting? 

A second thing is that I hate to waste expensive paper. When I make a mistake and want to correct something is it really not possible? The idea that I will have to start over on a new sheet when I make an error or something doesn't look right is hampering my creativity. 

My third problem is not so bad, but if somebody has a better way ----. Right now I tape my paper to a wooden board so that I can stand it on my easel. My email address is [email protected].

I'll keep checking the forum for answers. Thanks Irv Engel


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## Desdichado (May 26, 2016)

Irv. You don't have to take notice of this because I'm not a professional artist, just somebody who paints a lot, almost daily in fact, but my immediate reaction was; if you're a beginner, why buy expensive paper unless you're planing to produce finished paintings without a lot of practise? Use a decent sketch book and practise with water and colours. I do this a lot without problem. 

I also use 300 gsm cold-pressed paper for paintings and just tape the edges down to a backing board (Mine's just heavyweight cardboard) with masking tape. It works fine for me. I doubt any of my works will ever get into the National gallery. :wink:

I just wet areas as I work, never a whole sheet, but that's from preference and mistakes are easily rectified, and as for hampering your creativity, that's nothing to do with paper is it? Practise, practise practise and take your time. You're lucky if you can afford to practise on expensive paper, I can't, and almost all the great painters had hordes of sketch books. 

There are lots of help sites on youtube for watercolour painting. Hope this helps.


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## Giuliano (Jul 10, 2016)

Watercolor paintings warp because of the water. More water = more warping. Try to use less water if you can, or tape as much of the paper down as you can. You can also just allow the paper to warp and then press it flat with even, steady pressure for a long period of time.

As far as paper goes, try Master's Touch, its a cheap brand you can get at Hobby Lobby. They sell pads of watercolor paper for cheap, get some 11 x 14's to experiment on.


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## Susan Mulno (Apr 13, 2015)

Cannot add to what the others have said but welcome to the forum!


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## SylviaCSosnovskaFineArt (Jul 12, 2016)

Do the decent sketch before you start and have a reference image, then just add colours step by step. Light and dark areas, also you can use the white of the paper. I sometimes use a salt if the paper have to much water, but it stays on the paper and creates texture in places, depens really on how you wanna work and to what level you wanna take your painting.


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