Any artists out there?

[RobertaD1]

Watercolor is an interesting medium.... some master it very quickly... some take lots of practice! What your picture is doing a bleeding. Not from too much water in the paint... you NEED the water in the paint.... but from water on the paper. Is the paper quality great... no... but you can watercolor on anything.
IF you dont want your colors to bleed, allow each color to dry BEFORE adding the next!

Many people mistake watercolor for paint..... Watercolor is a very LOOSE medium if you allow it to be. As well as VERY transparent. It works nicely on wet paper, but you have to be ready for that result. A hairdryer is handy if you are watercoloring to speed up drying time.
IF you want a more opaque painting... then use acrylic or gouache. The bleed is MUCH less because the paper doesn't get as wet.

 

[4yearsofchickens]

Watercolor is an interesting medium.... some master it very quickly... some take lots of practice! What your picture is doing a bleeding. Not from too much water in the paint... you NEED the water in the paint.... but from water on the paper. Is the paper quality great... no... but you can watercolor on anything.
IF you dont want your colors to bleed, allow each color to dry BEFORE adding the next!

Many people mistake watercolor for paint..... Watercolor is a very LOOSE medium if you allow it to be. As well as VERY transparent. It works nicely on wet paper, but you have to be ready for that result. A hairdryer is handy if you are watercoloring to speed up drying time.
IF you want a more opaque painting... then use acrylic or gouache. The bleed is MUCH less because the paper doesn't get as wet.

Thank you! I will try to keep from watering my paint down too much and I will try to keep from doing too many colors at once..I kind of get impatient lol

 

[RobertaD1]

Thank you! I will try to keep from watering my paint down too much and I will try to keep from doing too many colors at once..I kind of get impatient lol

You need to water your paint down to make it work
BUT... let that dry BEFORE moving to the next.... That should help!

 

[4yearsofchickens]

You need to water your paint down to make it work
BUT... let that dry BEFORE moving to the next.... That should help!

Yes I will think I was putting in too much... Like dipping my brush in paint, then the water, then putting it on the paper...and I will try letting it dry longer. I have tried going around my outlines with a white crayon to sort of block my color from bleeding out. Is that good or bad or just plain weird? It seems to work

 

[4yearsofchickens]

Here's what I mean with the crayon..I painted the unicorn, then went around it with the crayon and then painted a background and that kept the background color from bleeding into the rest

 

[microchick]

You need to water your paint down to make it work
BUT... let that dry BEFORE moving to the next.... That should help!

I'm guilty of being impatient also. I use the hairdryer to do Dutch pours but usually just wait until my watercolors dry naturally before proceeding.

What I like about them also is that you can go back if you don't like the way an area looks, rewet it, remove the first layer or thin it out by using a #10 brush to blot or roll the paint off, rinsing and squeezing between use to remove the older paint. Let it dry and you can try again.

I like using the water color pencils dry. I have wettened a brush and taken color off the pencils that way but back to being impatient again. When I do that I usually wind up grabbing the tube water colors and having at it.

 

[microchick]

Yes I will think I was putting in too much... Like dipping my brush in paint, then the water, then putting it on the paper...and I will try letting it dry longer. I have tried going around my outlines with a white crayon to sort of block my color from bleeding out. Is that good or bad or just plain weird? It seems to work

I've never done that. It's back to like I said, getting the right amount of water in the color and experimenting before applying it to your project paper. More water is going to make the paint too runny and thin color. Not enough and the paint will be too dark or not flow the way you want it too.

Practice, practice practice is what works for me. I'm about ready to attempt to get back to acrylic paints. I used to do quite a few of those and sell them at science fiction conventions. I'm not doing that any longer. Just doing them for me!

 

[RobertaD1]

Here's what I mean with the crayon..I painted the unicorn, then went around it with the crayon and then painted a background and that kept the background color from bleeding into the rest
View attachment 2397743

Its not weird.... if you like it, then do it. If you want to paint right up to the other objects, then make that paint DRY before doing the background.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

Here are some critters I drew...
This one is going to be kind of dark colors with a bright white saddle mark.

This one is just plain fluffy

 

[Sapphire Sebright]

Here are some critters I drew...
This one is going to be kind of dark colors with a bright white saddle mark.
View attachment 2398297
This one is just plain fluffy
View attachment 2398309

Fluffy! I love it!