Simple watercolor landscape 🫶✨

Hey fellow art lovers! I'm so excited to share some more thoughts on getting started with watercolor, especially if you're wondering 'what can I make' with this beautiful medium. When I first dipped my brush into watercolor, I was a bit intimidated, but I quickly realized it's one of the most forgiving and rewarding art forms for beginners. That's why I love sharing easy landscape tutorials – they're perfect for building confidence! One thing I've learned is that you don't need a fancy art studio or expensive supplies to start. For easy watercolor landscapes, all you really need are a few basic things: a set of student-grade watercolors (pans or tubes work great!), some watercolor paper (at least 140lb/300gsm to prevent buckling), a couple of round brushes (a medium and a fine one are good for starters), two jars of water, and a paper towel for dabbing. Seriously, that's it! You can often find starter kits that include all of these for a very reasonable price. If you're wondering what other easy things you can paint besides detailed landscapes, try these ideas! Simple silhouettes of trees against a sunset, a lone mountain range with a soft sky, or even just abstract washes of color can be incredibly satisfying. I often start my sessions by just playing with washes – loading my brush with plenty of water and pigment, then letting it flow onto the paper. This 'wet-on-wet' technique creates beautiful, soft blends naturally, which is perfect for skies or distant hills. Don't be afraid to experiment! Another super easy technique is layering. Start with light colors and build up to darker tones. For instance, paint your sky first, let it dry, then add your distant hills, let them dry, and finally, add closer details. This helps maintain clarity and prevents muddy colors. And remember, watercolor is all about transparency. You can always add more layers to darken, but it's trickier to lighten once dry, though 'lifting' (gently dabbing a clean, damp brush or paper towel) can sometimes help. My biggest piece of advice for anyone starting out is to embrace imperfections. Watercolor has a mind of its own sometimes, and that's part of its charm! Some of my favorite pieces started as 'mistakes' that I learned to work with. Just keep practicing, enjoy the process, and soon you'll be creating stunning, easy watercolor paintings that you're proud of. What's your favorite simple watercolor subject to paint? Let me know!