Before Starting Watercolor

What I Wish I Knew Before Starting Watercolor

When I first started watercolor painting, I thought the most important thing was talent.

I believed good watercolor artists simply understood color naturally, painted quickly, and created beautiful images with ease.

But watercolor turned out to be very different from what I expected.

It was not only about color.

It was about:

• water
• timing
• paper
• patience
• observation

Looking back now, there are many things I wish I had understood earlier. Not because watercolor needs strict rules, but because a few simple realizations would have saved me time, money, frustration, and unnecessary confusion.

If you are beginning watercolor, these are the things I genuinely wish I had known from the start.

Watercolor beginner setup

1. Good Paper Matters More Than Expensive Paint

One of the biggest beginner mistakes is buying cheap paper while investing in large paint sets.

I made the same mistake.

Cheap watercolor paper absorbs water unevenly, buckles easily, and makes blending frustrating. Even good technique struggles on poor paper.

At first, I thought I was the problem.

But later I realized the paper itself was fighting against the watercolor.

Good paper changes everything:

• water moves more naturally
• pigment stays luminous
• edges soften better
• layers survive longer

If I could start again, I would spend less money on paint and more on paper.

2. You Do Not Need Many Colors

When beginners start watercolor, they often buy huge palettes with dozens of colors.

I did the same thing.

But more colors usually create more confusion.

What actually improves watercolor painting is understanding relationships between colors, not owning every possible pigment.

A small palette teaches:

• color mixing
• harmony
• consistency
• confidence

Some of my favorite travel sketches were painted with fewer than ten colors.

Limitation often creates stronger observation.

minimal watercolor set

3. Water Control Is More Important Than Drawing Skill

Most people think watercolor difficulty comes from drawing.

But watercolor is really about water timing.

Too much water creates uncontrolled blooms. Too little water creates harsh edges and dry surfaces.

The most important stage is often the middle stage:

damp paper.

This is where watercolor becomes soft, breathable, and alive.

Learning watercolor means learning to observe the surface carefully:

• how the paper shines
• how pigment spreads
• when water settles
• when to stop touching the surface

This sensitivity takes time.

But once understood, watercolor becomes much less frustrating.

4. Most Paintings Are Ruined by Overworking

This may be the lesson I wish I had known most.

Many watercolor paintings are destroyed not at the beginning—but near the end.

Beginners often continue “fixing” paintings long after the image already works.

The result:

• muddy color
• damaged paper
• loss of freshness

Watercolor depends heavily on restraint.

Sometimes the strongest decision is simply stopping.

A slightly unfinished watercolor often feels more alive than an overworked one.

5. Mistakes Are Part of Watercolor

At first, I treated mistakes as failures.

But watercolor behaves differently from highly controlled mediums.

Water moves unpredictably. Pigment reacts to weather, paper, humidity, and timing.

Unexpected marks are not always problems.

Sometimes they become the most interesting part of the painting.

Watercolor taught me something important:

The goal is not complete control. The goal is response.

This became especially clear while painting during the Camino de Santiago.

Walking and watercolor share something similar:

both require adapting to conditions rather than forcing them.

Travel watercolor sketchbook on the Camino

6. Consistency Matters More Than Perfection

Many beginners stop painting because they expect immediate beauty.

But watercolor improves through repetition, not isolated perfection.

Ten small sketches teach more than one overly ambitious painting.

Daily practice matters.

Not because every painting becomes successful, but because observation gradually deepens over time.

Some of my most important lessons came from quick sketches made during travel—not from carefully planned studio pieces.

7. A Small Setup Is Better Than a Perfect Setup

At the beginning, I believed I needed the “perfect” watercolor kit before painting seriously.

More brushes. More paints. More accessories.

But walking the Camino changed this completely.

Long-distance walking forces simplicity.

Eventually, my watercolor practice became extremely minimal:

• one sketchbook
• one to three brushes
• a compact palette
• a few colors

And strangely, the paintings improved.

The best watercolor setup is not the most expensive one.

It is the setup you actually carry, use, and return to consistently.

Final Thoughts

If I could start watercolor again, I would buy less, observe more, and paint more often.

I would stop trying to force perfection.

I would understand earlier that watercolor is not only about making images.

It is about learning attention.

Watercolor teaches:

• patience
• timing
• restraint
• observation
• response

And over time, these lessons begin extending beyond painting itself.

For me, watercolor eventually became deeply connected to walking, memory, and the act of slowing down enough to actually notice the world.

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Many of these ideas about watercolor, walking, and observation eventually became part of my watercolor book:

Buen Camino — a watercolor journey

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Follow my watercolor journey and Camino sketches

📷 @ouchul_hwang

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