Watercolor For The Soul: Simple painting projects for beginners, to calm, soothe and inspire

By Sharone Stevens

Learn how to use watercolor to soothe your soul with this beginner’s guide to painting for relaxation.

This fresh approach looks first at the process of painting as a means to de-stress and unwind. Many people love the idea of painting but hold themselves back from starting because they are worried about not being good enough or not feeling as though as are creative. In this guide for the absolute beginner, artist and teacher Sharone Stevens shows you that watercolor can be accessible to everyone and that just painting very simple lines, patterns and shapes in calming colors, concentrating on each brush stroke, can have a powerful meditative effect, while at the same time allowing you to create beautiful art you can be proud of. She also encourages you to connect more with the world around you, finding inspiration in your every-day life and discovering the beautiful textures found in nature, from tree trunks to fruit and butterflies!

The aim of the techniques and projects in this book is to create art that relaxes both the artist and the viewer of the finished piece. Projects range from simple gift tags, bookmarks, cards and small wall pieces to larger art pieces that you never thought possible – all done with a focus on relaxation – which is so important in today’s fast-paced, increasingly digital world.

Learn how to mix a calming color palette, try simple painting exercises to get into a relaxed flow, and create beautiful artworks that will lift the spirits both during the painting process and beyond, as finished pieces of art.

Author Sharone Stevens is an established art teacher and talented artist who is passionate about using art for relaxation and encouraging others to build a regular creative practice. Her gentle lessons and nurturing reassurance will guide even total beginners through the process of making soothing, soulful modern watercolor art.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David & Charles
• Release date: Mar 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781446381281

Sharone Stevens

Sharone Stevens is a watercolor artist, illustrator and modern calligrapher for whom art is not just a career but a therapeutic process. She started her art business in 2018 following maternity leave, teaching watercolour online on Skillshare. She now has 16 watercolor classes on the platform and became a Skillshare Top Teacher in 2019. She is an Ambassador to Princeton Artist Brush Company, one of the largest brush suppliers in North America. This is her first book.

Book preview

Materials

There are many paints, brushes, and tools available to buy for watercolor, but you really don’t need much to get started. I believe that investing in a few good quality materials will make a big difference to the results you can achieve with your painting, and will also last you much longer.

PAPER

Paper is one of the most important things to invest in with watercolor. The type of paper you use will affect how the water and paint move across the paper, how the pigment settles, and how the colors blend together. Watercolor paper is available in different textures, weights, formats, and colors. The finest quality watercolor paper will be made from 100% cotton.

TEXTURE

Watercolor paper comes in three different textures: hot pressed, cold pressed (or NOT, short for not hot pressed), and rough. I tend to use cold pressed paper for most of my work and this is what I recommend for beginners; it has a subtle texture and can be the easiest to work with. Hot pressed paper has a very smooth finish and is suited more to work with fine details such as realistic botanical illustration. Rough paper has more texture to it and tends to be used for looser paintings.

It is worth experimenting with each of these types as you develop your own style to find which you prefer, but cold pressed paper is a great place to start.

WEIGHT

Watercolor paper is available in a range of weights, indicating how thick the paper is. 140lb/300gsm is a good, standard weight for watercolor paper and I would recommend this as a minimum to avoid your paper buckling from the water. Anything heavier is usually unnecessary and will be more expensive. However, sometimes I buy sheets of heavier paper to use for gift tags or bookmarks so that they are more durable.

It is important that you use paper that is designed for watercolor. I recommend cold-pressed watercolor paper for beginners, at least 300gsm (140lb) in weight.

FORMAT

You can buy paper in a range of formats, from individual sheets and pads to blocks and handbound sketchbooks. Watercolor sketchbooks can be great for keeping your work together or for painting when you are out and about. Blocks of paper are glued all the way around with a small gap that allows you to remove the paper after you have finished painting.

COLOR

Most watercolor paper will have a subtle cream tint. You can also buy bright white paper, which allows your paintings to appear more vibrant because the white of the paper shows through the transparent washes of color.

SHOPPING FOR PAPER

My favorite brands of watercolor paper include Saunders Waterford, Arches, Fabriano, Langton, and Bockingford.

BRUSHES

Watercolor brushes are available in many shapes and sizes. I tend to use round brushes the most; they are one of the most common brushes used due to their versatility. The bristles are shaped into a round belly and fine tip. This allows you to achieve a range of different brush strokes by varying the pressure that you apply to the brush. With just the tip of the brush and minimal pressure, you can achieve fine lines and marks. By laying the belly of the brush flatter on the paper you will achieve much larger strokes and washes.

In this book, I use round brushes that are sizes 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. I also use a liner brush (size 2), which is great for painting long, thin lines and a flat shader (size 2), which is useful for painting consistent, thicker lines.

WHERE TO START

If you are completely new to watercolor, I would recommend starting with a few different sizes of round brushes like those noted above. Larger round brushes will cover a larger area of the paper, while smaller brushes are great for smaller marks and fine details, so it is useful to have a range of sizes available to you. You may find that you need to use two or three brushes in a painting to get the effects that you want. Like with the paper, I recommend investing in a handful of good quality brushes because they will make your painting process easier and retain their shape, lasting you much longer. As you get to know watercolor more and discover your own style you may find that you want to branch out into different brushes, but round brushes are an excellent and safe place to start. Most importantly, when choosing what brush to buy, make sure the brushes are specifically for watercolor because they will behave differently to other

Reviews for Watercolor For The Soul

[Sonia Thompson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful book. Easy to follow instructions. The book is set out to offer excellent skill development. Loved it!!