I always wanted to learn watercoloring just for fun. But I never did. This week (WN-51/2025), I started learning by doing it. Of course with the help of YT. The idea was to do one mini (postcard-sized or small) painting every day for 30 days. It would either make me stick to it or leave the idea completely. Hence #30DaysOfWatercoloring. I am not spending more than 30 minutes a day to do this. On some days I have painted more than one.
Table of Contents
Progress
Gallery
Day 28: Mountains. Still trying to mountains right. Lots of work to do. 20260116
Day 27: Auto from Bangalore. I am et to get proportions. Also difficult to know when to stop. 20260113
Day 26: Layers, getting better but still needs patience to let it dry. 20250111
Day 25: Mountains, Clouds and Reflections. Not bad but need more patience and better color mixing. 20260109
Day 24: Blue mountains – 2, more layers, more water and more waiting. Can be better. 20260107
Day 24: Blue mountains, back to basics. So much to learn. 20260107
Day 23: Simple and Quick. Wanted to something quickly.Love mountains and sky. Can be better. 20260106
Day 22: From Station. It was quick sketch. Perspectives are broken, needs more work 20260105
Day 21: Urban Sketching + Water color. Loved this one. Humans are difficult.
Day 20: Postbox in Fort Kochi. Sketch and watercolor.My first real urban sketch. Quite happy about it. Lettering and spacing has to improve.
Day 19: Messed up. Did it in urgency. Messed it up. Tried to fix it. Posting it anyway. 20251230
Day 18: Mountains. Messed it up a bit but completed. I will do more mountains. 20251229
Day 17: Sun + Sky + Birds, A bit messy but you never get tired of painting sky. 202051228
Day 16: Morning Walk. I like this simple and abstract painting. 20251227.
Day 15: Sky + Clouds. Simple and quick one. Lots of fun. 20251226.
Day 14: Xmas. Its hard to stop. You always want to make it better, but less is more. 20251225
Day 13: Practice round – 2 PoV is difficult. Will try more. Rotate please. 20251224
Day 13: Sketch and water coloring. I like these. I may do more of these. 20251224.
Day 12: Not happy about it but I know what I did wrong. 20251223
Day 11: From Garden. It takes time to understand less is more. 20251222
Day 10: Live from garden. Pseudo live, took a picture and then painted it. Need to learn more about layers, contrast and shades. 20251221
Day 9: Winter snow. Trust the process and have patience. 20251220
Day 8: Fall colors. I need more patience and wait for layers to dry. 20251219
Day 7: Earth and Space with stars. BlueBlack color mix and stars. 20251218
Day 6: drawing shapes with pencil and brush, snow :) 20251217
Day 5: Thin lines, rush control and clouds :) 20251216
Day 4: Mixing colors, free style and dry brushing. 20251215
Day 3: Mixing colors and layering. 20251213
Day 3: Mixing some colors and also used permanent marker. 20251213
Day 2: Trying to draw some trees. 20251212
Day 1: Exploring Water colors on Pocket Sketchbook by Factor Notes. 20251211
Credits
There are many online artists from whom I’ve copied, learned, and taken inspiration. Most of them teach on YouTube. I’ve linked their YouTube channels and personal websites wherever possible. They’re in no particular order.
- Andrea Nelson Art on YouTube – how to do art that feels fun and doable. A ton of ideas for small and doable paintings.
- Rebel Unicorn Crafts on YouTube – Lots of great ideas for beginners.
- Nano Art on YouTube – A ton of ideas for miniature watercolor paintings.
- Matthew Palmer on YouTube – Painting ideas and tutorials for beginners
- Toby ‘SketchLoose’ on YouTube – ink and water colour artist with a loose and spontaneous style. I love this style.
- Mallery Jane on YouTube – Clear, approachable watercolor and sketching lessons
- Niaz Hannan Watercolors on YouTube – Sketching, Human figures, good tutorials
- Kristin Van Leuven on YouTube – Color theory, lots of tips and tricks, simple painting ideas for beginners.
- My personal playlist of favorite tutorials and other videos related to water coloring
Materials
I already had most of the items. I just had to look for them and put them together. Except for the Cotman watercolours, which I bought after day 4 and that’s the most expensive one 🌟. The rest are very affordable.
- Standard Exam Pad
- Binder clips
- A6 pocket sketch notebook from Factor Notes.
- Water Brush Pens – 3 Sizes Set
- Camel Camlin Kokuyo Paint Brush Series 52 – Round Pony Hair – Green Handle – Size 6
- Camel Camlin Kokuyo Paint Brush Series 52 – Round Pony Hair – Green Handle – Size 12
- Small Round Brush – Blue Handle – I don’t know the make
- Faber-Castell Paint Brush – Pony Hair Flat Size-5 – Red handle
- Brustro Artist’s Watercolour Paint – Set of 12 Colours, 12ml each
- Brustro Empty Watercolour 12 Half Pan Metal Box (Pans Included)
- Uma’s Camel Poster Colours – 12 shades
- Sharpie
- Faber-Castell Permanent Marker
- Brustro Assorted Gel Pen (White, Gold and Silver)
- uni-ball PIN-200 0.9 mm Fine Line Drawing Pen
- Staedtler Pigment Liner 0.5 Mm Black
- Pentel Energel 0.7Mm Roller Gel Pen – Set of 12
- A5 Size Waterproof Zipper Envelope Pouch
- Kaco – Ruma Bookmark Ruler
- 🌟 Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colour Sketchers’ Pocket Box comes with Travel brush and 12 Cotman half pans.
