There are multiple watercolor painting prompts for beginner and advanced artists online. You can easily find watercolor ideas and inspiration on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
The objective of painting prompts is to inspire artists to create art every day or weekly. Suppose you need more information. You might want to consider joining a watercolor challenge. Art challenges are similar to painting prompts. The main difference is that the challenge will pick the subject for you to create, whereas a list of creative ideas allows you to pick the subject.
The watercolor painting prompts listed below are for all levels and are a great way for artists to discover their passion for painting.
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Watercolor Basics
If you are new to painting with watercolor paints, you will want to know what art materials you will need to get started.
Materials used for watercolor painting.
- Watercolor paper
Popular brands:
Acquerello Portofino Watercolor Sheets
Arches Bright White Watercolor Paper
Block Premier Watercolor Paper
- Pencil
- Painting Palette
- Paper towels
- Container of water
- Brush Holder
- Paints
Popular Brands:
Da Vinci Artists’ Permanent Watercolors
Angora Watercolor Pain Pan Sets
How To Get Started
There is an extensive list of subjects to paint below. The easiest way to get started is to pick the subjects you like. For example, if you are passionate about the ocean, you may enjoy painting ocean scenes or sailboats. If you love animals, you might want to consider focusing on pets and wildlife.
Once you have decided on a subject, visit Pixabay and search for the topic you want to paint. Pixabay is a site that offers copyright-free images, videos, and music.
You can use the images on Pixabay as a reference to practice different watercolor techniques.
What Is The Easiest Thing To Paint For Beginner And Advanced Artists
Easy watercolor painting ideas to paint are simple everyday objects. For example, fruits, vegetables, and flowers are excellent watercolor painting subjects for beginners and great for advanced artists to practice different techniques.
Visit Pixabay to get a high-quality image of a still life or subject matter you wish to paint. Look for a picture with vibrant colors, good lighting, and a contrasting background. When you become familiar with some basics, try challenging yourself with different subjects.
Easy Watercolor Projects
The list below is of different subjects artists can paint. The list’s objective is to prevent a creative block and help you discover your niche. Once you have discovered what subjects you are passionate about and practice different techniques, you will create beautiful watercolor art.
1) Everyday Objects – Pick an everyday object around your house like a coffee mug, ice cream, window, plant, or even your favorite chocolate bar.
2) Flowers – Painting watercolor flowers is a popular choice because of the different colors and flowers. If you are new to watercolor painting, then pick a simple flower. Some popular watercolor flowers to paint are pansies, daffodils, tulips, lilies, and roses.
3) Still Life – Watercolor painting of still life is a favorite for beginner artists because they are simple shapes you see daily. Some examples of still life are flowers, wine glasses, wine bottles, fruits, books, and vegetables. Once you have become comfortable painting some still life subjects, try staging them in different ways or using different lighting. Stile life subjects are even great for a daily small painting challenge.
4) Landscapes – Watercolor landscapes are prevalent but can be intimidating to beginners. At first, the different textures, colors, and shapes might seem daunting, but you’ll be painting watercolor landscapes like a pro with a bit of practice.
5) Abstracts – Painting abstracts with watercolors is easy and fun. Abstract art does not aim to represent visual reality. Abstract paintings strive to achieve their intended effect using shapes, forms, colors, and textures. If you enjoy creating art with different shapes, colors, and textures, abstract art might be something to try.
6) Pet Portraits – Sketch your The best way to paint a pet is to use a reference image with great lighting and good contrast. If you are interested in selling commission pet portraits, ask some of your family and friends if you could paint their pets for practice. As your skill level increases, you can paint pets for others. One great thing about social media is that you can start building name recognition by sharing the pet portraits you paint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
7) People – Painting people is enjoyable, but it can be challenging because of the human body’s various shapes, angles, skin tones, textures, and hair. If you are interested in painting portraits, you might consider taking a watercolor tutorial or classes.
8) Wildlife – If you love animals, try painting some wildlife animals like elephants, zebras, and tigers.
9) Flowers And Wildlife – Mixing florals and wildlife in one painting is trendy but also hard for beginners. Try working from a reference with great lighting and contrast to get you started. A helpful tip is to master each subject separately before staging them together.
10) Ships – Painting ships with watercolors is fun because of the geometric shapes and the reflections in the water. This painting prompt is perfect for advanced artists looking for a challenge.
11) Ocean – Watercolor painting of an ocean can be fun. You will need to use strong contrast, lots of water, and clean your brush often, perfect for practicing techniques you have learned.
12) Sailboats Sailing In The Ocean – Painting a sailboat with watercolors can be intimidating, but simplifying the shapes and contrasting colors can simplify the painting project. Spending a little time working on practicing reflections will also make it easier to paint sailboats.
13) Waterfalls – Start by choosing a reference image with good lighting and excellent contrast. Painting waterfalls may be challenging at first, but it is gratifying and will enhance your artistic skills. Painting transparent subjects with reflections is tricky, but it will make you a better painter with a bit of practice..
14) Fruit Bowl – A fruit bowl with many different types of fruit can be intricate at first. The easiest way to get started is to lightly sketch the simple shapes of each fruit and then block out the colors. You can make the fruit look realistic by adding multiple layers.
15) Flower Arrangements – Once you have mastered painting flowers, try painting a vase filled with flowers like daisies, ranunculuses, hydrangeas, blue irises, roses, and tulips. Ensure there is a good amount of contrast for this painting because the background and vase will need to be darker than the flower colors.
16) Sunsets – Sunsets make exceptional watercolor paintings because of the vibrant colors and glowing light. Try to capture the colors before they fade away, or take a photo of the sunset for a reference.
17) Trees – Painting trees with watercolors is fun because there are so many colors and textures to experiment with. Some popular trees to paint are willows, palms, oaks, and pines.
18) Fan Art – Pick your favorite movie, TV show, and sports team and try painting fan art with watercolors.
19) Lakes and Steams – Watercolor painting of a lake or stream is fun because the water can be shimmery and have many colors. Be careful with this subject, though, because the reflections in the water can be tricky.
20) Clouds – Painting clouds with watercolors is similar to painting people because there are so many shapes and textures within one cloud. Advanced artists can try painting the different shapes and values within the clouds.
21) Fruits And Vegetables – Fruits and vegetables are a great subject to practice different painting techniques. They come in various sizes, shapes, and colors. Popular fruits and vegetables to paint are apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, and broccoli. Also, seasonal fruit like strawberries or pomegranates is fun to paint during their respective seasons.
Painting prompts are the best way to get outside of your comfort zone and practice something you have never done before or maybe even heard about.
These painting challenges and prompts help artists improve their skills and find inspiration for what they want to create next.
How Do You Start A Watercolor Painting
The best way to get started is to lightly sketch the subject with a pencil. Then you can use watercolor pencils or ink pens to add details if you want and finally paint over the entire sketch with watercolors.
Another option is to make a series of marks with a pencil, pen, or marker and slowly refine your shapes to create an abstract painting that captures whatever subject you want.
Why Is Watercolor Painting So Difficult
The biggest challenge with watercolor painting is that it is transparent. This means you can’t cover up mistakes like you would with oil paint or acrylics.
You also don’t have to wait for one color to dry before using another, making blending colors on your paper easy but challenging because you can’t erase any mistakes.
Final Thoughts On Watercolor Prompts
This article lists watercolor painting prompts that are great for beginner and advanced artists. They will help you become a more versatile artist, increase your skills, and give you an idea of what to create next.
Selling Watercolor Prints
When an artist sells a watercolor print of their original painting, they are allowing people who may not be able to afford the original piece the chance to still enjoy and appreciate their work. Watercolor prints also allow people to support the artist financially, which can help them continue to create new pieces of art.
Offering watercolor prints can be used as a form of marketing for the artist, as they can help spread awareness of their work and potentially attract new customers.
Selling watercolor prints can also be a way for artists to generate passive income, which can provide them with a steadier income stream and help them become more financially stable.
Overall, many benefits are associated with artists selling watercolor prints of their original paintings.
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