Every person I talk to, as soon as I tell them I paint watercolour, responds “Oh that’s the most difficult medium!” What no-one mentions is that EVERYTHING is difficult at the beginning – learning to drive a manual car, knitting, golf, baking a sponge cake, cryptic crosswords (strike that!! They’re still my enemy!!).
How has this daft idea become so pervasive? It’s been around a long time, probably perpetuated by people who want control and find they can’t. I find the comment to be exceedingly boring and have to stop myself rolling my eyes. I will have to create a witty response that gets them thinking or running! For people like me, we like a little mess, I like watching the paint and water run, I like to watch the colours collide and bleed into each other. I love a little (or big) special nuance borne out of a brush misstep. I love making something out of nothing. I love the lyrical and poetic nature of watercolour. The missing link here is expectations. I expect watercolour to do what watercolour does, what it’s designed to do – run in water! I don’t expect (or want) it to act like oil or acrylic paint. I love the true beauty of watercolour with runs, bleeds and blends. What brought this about was a video “15 mistakes and how to fix them”. There was actually only one true “watercolour mistake” (can’t remember what it was!). The “mistakes” were about fixing compositional problems, the enemy of all artists and not relegated to only painters of watercolour. HAPPY ACCIDENTS – beautiful running and bleeding of colour – NO PAINTING OUTSIDE THE LINES!! OMG!! WHAT A DRAG!! 15 mistakes and how to fix them tells us that virtually every time our brush hits the paper, we’re making a mistake! We start looking at everything as if it were wrong, it sets us up to feel anxious and fearful. Imagine feeling frightened at every step? Every brush stroke? Lets remember there are no mistakes in watercolour – just a few surprises along the way! I say “Bring back the happy accident!” What is missing for many of you is the fun and discovery of NO CONTROL! Learn to watch the pigments and water react with each other, set aside time, your warm-up maybe, to play with the paint and discover the amazing effects you can get! I’m going to repeat myself: BRING BACK THE HAPPY ACCIDENT!! Lets not focus on fixing what’s not broken. Start looking for the beautifulness in your paintings. Let the water carry the paint where it wants to go – use lots of water and when it’s summer, use more! You all know this – stop touching and overworking – the fewer brushmarks the better. If you can’t stop fiddling – ask yourself “what does my painting need?” Put your brush down, hands behind your back – get some thinking time. The best next skill to develop is to learn how to use or ignore “wrong marks” as the creative foundation of your paintings. All members welcome to the Happy Accident Club!! 
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Handy tips and tricks for beginners
Always ...
remember to have fun!! :) 
There’s nothing easy about painting watercolour en plein air but, for me, it is an exhilarating and fun experience.
My early attempts, however, were difficult and my paintings absolutely atrocious! It seemed to take me forever to get to grips with this new style of painting in the great outdoors. Without realising, I was faithfully following the 80/20 rule, 80% observation 20% drawing /painting. Later it dawned on me: this rule does not apply to painting watercolour en plein air - I was trying to follow a guideline for the constant situation of studio/observational drawing. When painting in the field, from the time you select your subject to your end-game, you have about 1-1.5 hours, 2 hours at most, to capture the subject before light and atmospheric conditions change too much. No mean feat but, if you practice, you will improve every time. Another element to consider is the subject. My first attempts at painting en plein air were with groups of artists who love painting landscapes. For me, it was a big problem. Although I love good quality landscape paintings, I’m not interested in painting them myself. I’m a city girl afterall, I’m attuned to light and shadows bouncing around architecture and the people who inhabit amazing spaces. Just think of Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor) and you'll have hit your nail on the head! I often tell my students to slow their painting process down but in the case of painting watercolour en plein air, I’m going to contradict myself and tell you to speed up! Speed up so you catch the light and changing conditions, Remember, watercolour is a fast medium. Give yourself 5 minutes, and only 5 minutes, to take photos and sketch 1 or 2 value thumbnails and most importantly, take a mental snapshot. Make your memory work for you and, even if you think your result is "wrong", your work will be formed of the essence of your subject. Perfetto!! What a great excuse to go out and paint it again!! Your next work at the same scene will include different features and details and the next different again. My personal strategy is to map the subject onto my watercolour paper with a 5 minute sketch and then not refer to the actual scene again, even if I have to turn away from it. I am painting my interpretation of the scene not a photograph. Changing light and shadows become mighty confusing and create confusing paintings. Learn the tools you need to assist you:
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AuthorPaintBox Tips, secrets, random thoughts, 
Poetry in watercolour is made in the freedom of the here and now. Amanda Brett Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working - Pablo Picasso 
There are no mistakes in watercolour, just some extra surprises!! Categories
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What my readers and viewers have to say
Your emails are so informative! I must confess I've watched a couple of your demos from beginning to end, and it makes me want to watercolor!!! I've only ever painted with oil or acrylics and haven't know how to begin with WC. Your content is excellent!
Susan VN Hi Amanda
Thank you for your tips. They inspired me to practise and I realised I haven’t been loading the brush properly. I learnt about adding more paint, and not water, to washes. In today’s tips I like the idea of painting with purpose. Your tips are very helpful. I very much appreciate receiving them. Elizabeth Hi Amanda I enjoyed your post and generous tips. Looked up Dan Burt I begin to see that you can colour any subject to give it pizazz so long as the tone and form is correct Certainly adding value now to my attempts Thanks heaps Annie
Yes very wise words. Agree with not fussing and agree with comments about good quality paint. Well written and inspirational as always. Cheers Janet xxxx Archives
May 2025
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