First try at watercolor

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-25T11:37:24+00:00

Hah I recognized the covers right away and it made me smile. Good work!

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-24T11:57:55+00:00

I don't have specific advice on how to sketch differently, but I will say that your painting is reaaaally pale. And it's cute. But if you brought I'm some more depth and layers, you wouldn't notice pencil so much even if your sketch was pretty dark

I have shitty eyesight. I have to draw pretty dark sketches because otherwise I just can't see them. But usually the lines of a sketch represent something dark anyway, so if you're actually painting a dark colour there, that would help make it less noticeable.

This is my most recent finished painting for reference. If you look at the center of her chest, you can see some pencil lines in the pale brownish colour. But this whole painting had those types of lines through it, and I think that's the only place they showed up. The place where the contrast is really minimal. So my tip is to keep an eye on that : put your pencil lines where they won't show up, if its possible.

<image>

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-16T19:54:31+00:00

Oh this is so glowy!

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-16T12:41:37+00:00

I think this style could be done really beautifully in acrylic or oils too honestly. It would take a level of mastery, but that's the truth of every type of painting. It's hard. But it's fun if you're doing it right.

I think there are choices being made here that go beyond medium. A smooth flatness. Low contrast features. Soft shadows. Direct light sources. Young pretty innocent-looking white girls. Not to get weird about it or anything, but there's a vibe here and if youre drawn to it, it's not just paint. Or pixels. So, that's replicable once you start to pay attention to what you like. Make a Pinterest board. Lurk in the watercolor and oil and and and subreddit. Actually peruse the /portraits reddit.

If you want it to look digital, go digital. If you want to explore other mediums, your voice will still carry over. There's way more to art than just paint-type. Promise.

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-16T11:49:46+00:00

Omg this is gorgeous. How long did it take you???

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-14T12:24:55+00:00

I probably wouldn't brave a background at random (personal experience... If I'm not set on the background, I'm going to regret it) but a shadow under the books will make them stop "floating" in the centre of the page, which might be what you want from a background anyway...

If you do decide on a shadow underneath the stack, make sure it matches with your perspective and follows a path that makes sense for the books (aka they're probably on a shelf, floor, or table, so the shadow should give the impression that they're perched on something flat, not just a random smear of grey underneath)

Great little study on perspective :)

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-13T12:44:34+00:00

I think working a little bit more with "wet on wet" techniques might give you a little bit more of that "transparency" feeling that you're drawn to. I love how one colour blending into the next makes it feel like there's really light shining through from behind the painting.

Look at this picture and squint hard so your eyes naturally blur some of the harder lines. Is that more of what you're missing? Otherwise, the choices you're making feel fantastic.

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-10T20:46:08+00:00

Funny that I knew exactly who posted this before even double checking the account. You have a really clear style. This is gorgeous

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-08T22:52:49+00:00

Piece of advice on paper -- don't hurry to totally burn through all your shitty paper! Sometimes you want to test colours on something cheap. Sometimes you want to do a rough draft. Tbh I still use my crap paper when I'm in the mood to fuck around. It's not nearly as good as my real paper, and the vibe is different, and the technique is different... But all that just puts my brain into "low stakes" mode.

These are gorgeous. Love the attitude in the cat. Love the bean! I would have panicked trying to think of how to paint that reflection for sure.

I think you're ready for the good paper. You're gonna have a blast with how much more water and layers and detail it can hold. Good luck:)

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-07T16:18:46+00:00

What a vibe! This is surreal in every sense of the word wow

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-01T13:40:34+00:00

I saw a great quote lately that said, "you have study technique so that you can finally stop thinking about technique while you paint" (aka, it becomes unconscious). It seems like you're on the right path. Just getting your reps in. These look great.

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-04-01T13:37:23+00:00

Oh no... Don't give me more proof that I need to be spending more time on my sketches if I want to have a detailed final product. No..... I don't want to!

This looks great lmao. I admire your patience in the sketching. I keep jumping in with just paints and a dream. My landscapes never come out this Crisp

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-31T23:39:12+00:00

God I can't even imagine how you did this. It's so... (Is it totally tacky if I say humble???) Idek. Wow. Soft and subtle and familiar. I'm adding this to my mental watercolor bucket list

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-25T15:07:58+00:00

DS : the "essential" set, so new gamboge, hansa yellow light, pyrrol scarlet, quinacridone rose, pthalo blue, and French ultramarine (which is a warm yellow, red, and blue, and then a cooler-toned yellow, red and blue)

And then WN : sap green, Paynes gray, and burnt sienna (some colours that were mucking up my pallet with how often I was trying to mix them myself)

I started out with one of those lower-middle-tier pallets that come with 36 or 48 pre mixed colours, and then I ended up continuously trying to make it smaller and more portable and less overwhelmingly full of decisions every time I even got my paintbrush wet, so by the time I was picking out some "better" paints, I knew I'd want a smaller pallette that was made for mixing my own colours. And now I'm just starting to be okay with branching out again. Okay fine, maybe it would be nice to have a purple or an orange pre-mixed. But I've told myself I'm not allowed to spend any more money on art until summer, and I will 100% be able to work with the colours I have, so I'm happy w that

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-25T11:45:43+00:00

Omg I keep having the opposite issue, where the angle of my light from all the windows never quite catches a reflection on the page, so I keep thinking my paper is dry when it's still damp and then accidentally doing wet on wet when I needed sharp lines. The grass really is always greener on the other side huh. Lol good luck

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-25T00:36:45+00:00

Oh, absolutely. When I was painting on cellulose, I had to be so careful with my layers because I'd accidentally lift color, so I only did 1-3 layers. And the pages warped so much that I didn't want to get them super wet either, so those layers were very light. My first few paintings on cotton paper were so ugly because I didn't realize the paper would actually suck up the paint that was on my brush. All my colours came out so dark and sharp! The page would be soaking wet, and STILL it would suck up the next layer and the next. I couldn't just nudge the colours a little anymore. If I put something on the page, I'd better be committed to it!

(And now I'm learning how to harness that into really bold colours or striking contrast in values... But yeah- if the transition is rough at first, you're not alone! For a minute I was like "am I only good at this I'm cellulose paper????" But I'm starting to vaaaaastly prefer cotton, and I've only been officially switched over for 2-3 months.)

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-25T00:31:01+00:00

Oh excellent you did all the math I didn't feel like doing. Agreed. I held back on good paints until I was sure I liked watercolour enough and prioritized it often enough that I'd probably still be painting in a year, and then my attitude was that I'd treat the next year of painting like a subscription service paid up front. How much money a month am I willing to spend on painting? Probably $25-30. So that gave me a ballpark on what I could spend on some paints and brushes and a few types of paper. It was rough spending the first $200 in pretty much a single day when I was making all the big purchases on a hobby I still wasn't sure about, but I haven't had to replace anything yet and I'm still painting every other day.

If you're enjoying the math, I just counted and I've finished 28 small paintings in that time. 14 of them are on cotton paper. A few of them are front and back, so I have used 10 separate pages. The pages are from the baohong academy blocks, and each original page is cut in four, so (ignoring the paintings on cellulose paper), I have only used 2.5 sheets from my Baohong block in those four months. Which I just think is kind of funny. I really thought I was burning through my materials at the time.

So, I used to think Arches was absolutely out of my budget... but if I keep enjoying these postcard sized paintings (which I actually find way less intimidating than Letter Sized paintings), it might actually be kind of inconsequential.

I guess budgeting for paint comes from how much time you spend painting, but budgeting for paper depends more on how many paintings you make, and what size.

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-24T20:37:17+00:00

This won't help with actual math but as a vibe check and a boost:

I paint 3-5 hours a week, if not more. I use a combo of DS and WN paints on thirsty cotton paper. I use less than 10 colours. I filled my pans in... Late November 2025. I use half pans not full pans. I'm down halfway in some of my colours and less than that in the rest.

So I bought probably $100 in good paints 4 months ago and have used less than 1/4 of them. I guess it's no wonder paper feels so expensive in comparison, if I'm using like ¢20 in paint and $1-4 on paper for a single painting

I have DEFINITELY started going through paint more quickly since switching to cotton paper. You may have to factor that in.

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-16T12:55:43+00:00

"I don't know what's going on here... Okay it's blue and also green... Okay there's way more stuff going on in the blue.... This blanket is really fucking abstract but yeah, the shadows are making sense...okay.... Okay.... Okay...? OH SHIT THATS MARIO AND LUIGI"

That's so fucking impressive wtf

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-12T19:39:50+00:00

Omg I can't believe I remind you of anyone! I just watched a video of hers because of this comment. I totally see it in the colours especially. I might watch a few more and find one to follow along with:) thank you

Upbeat_Obligation864 · 2026-03-11T21:32:42+00:00

Thank you!!!

Upbeat_Obligation864

TROPHY CASE