All of us have an individual style. We each have a distinct handwriting style just as we have a distinct style when painting. Why try to paint like someone else? Why not relax and enjoy the way you paint?

I would like to introduce you to watercolor.

Peggy's Rule #1: You must use good paper.
Now the secret is out--it's the paper. Your first hurdle is over. Read on...

Watercolor paper comes in three textures: hot press, cold press and rough. Hot press paper is the smoothest. It will not absorb as well as cold press or rough. It is excellent for certain effects but I would recommend that you wait until you are more comfortable with watercolor before using the hot press paper. Cold press is the texture that I recommend for now. I use it almost all of the time. Cold press has texture and it absorbs well. Rough simply has more texture but, again, I would wait until you have a higher comfort level with watercolor before using it.

Papers have different weights. The higher the number, the heavier the paper. If you use 140 lb paper on a block (gummed on all four sides) you do not have to wet the paper before using it. Because water will buckle paper, it should be wetted, stretched and dried before using. Watercolor paper on a block will eliminate this step. Because the side are gummed, the paper won't buckle. Unfortunately you must complete the whole painting before going to the next sheet (as it has to be removed by sliding a thin knife, letter opener or palette knife under all four sides to lift it off the gummed pad). 90 lb paper is also available, but remember, you have to wet it and stretch it before using.

I use 300 lb paper so that I can work on many paintings at once. This paper is expensive and not necessary for the beginner. I might suggest indulging in one sheet, cutting or tearing it into smaller pieces and experimenting on them--you'll see how the paint reacts to the different weights of papers. It's amazing.

I'll stop here for a minute to emphasize how important it is to paint, paint, paint! You cannot learn watercolor without the experience of seeing and feeling the paint and water in the brush and how it all reacts to the paper. Watercolor, as much as, or more, than any other medium, requires experience with observing how the paint flows from the brush and how it dries on the paper. For instance, if there is too much water in one area in your shape and it does not dry evenly, you will have a bleedback causing a hard edge that may be undesirable. The hardest part about painting (or any creative endeavor) is getting started. I speak strictly from experience.

Back to the paper. Please, do not be fooled by inferior quality papers! Just because a paper has texture does not necessarily mean that it will absorb paint. Stay away from tablet paper. Buy blocks or heavier weight single sheets. This information is available in the catalogs.

You may consult the equipment list for all the paints and brushes that I suggest. There are many more fine products and catalogs which I will continue to list on my web page. I`ve simply listed the ones that I am using now. If you have favorite suppliers, by all means, use them. I welcome suggestions from you. It`s fun to experiment with new paints, brushes and paper!

Peggy`s Rule #2: Keep your palette simple.
In other words, use as few colors as possible.

In watercolor, the colors, more often than not, mix on the paper, not on the palette (or plate) where you hold your paint. For instance, you may mix a color for a barn by using sap green and cadmium red light, but I find that first painting the barn (or shape) red and then adding the green on the paper makes the painting much more vibrant. You`ll have to practice!

There are an infinite number of palettes available (meaning selection of colors to use). You will find that every teacher has his or her own suggestions. They are all good. It simply depends on what you like.

You can do everything with these colors. Please note that there is no white (it`s the clean water that you`ll use) and there is no black. You can mix beautiful blacks using
ultramarine blue and burnt sienna or by mixing ultramarine blue and cadmium red light.

I also recommend the following three colors for the painting exercise to follow:
Grumbacher Academy thalo red
Grumbacher Academy thalo blue
Grumbacher Academy yellow pale
The colors are very close to the three primaries. These are student grade watercolors (translation: inexpensive) but they are certainly fine for this exercise. You might also try the Winsor Newton Cotman brand. I recommend you try many colors until you develop your preferences.

Peggy's Rule #3: Brushes Don't Have to Be Expensive
You do not have to spend a lot of money.

Watercolor brushes usually come as rounds or flats. Rounds are used for detail and for areas that need lots of water. Flats are generally used for washes. Some artists use only flats for the whole painting. I prefer rounds because they work for my personal style.

Brushes are purely a matter of personal style. The rounds that I prefer are listed below. I do have a few flats which I use occasionally.
I like the rounds and I use a 6, 12, 16, 26, 30 and the 36. I even use a 40 round.
I also use flats: 1/2", 1", 1 1/2" and 2"

I advise you to experiment by buying several kinds of brushes. I prefer the Robert Simmons synthetic bristle brushes because they are firmer than the natural hair brushes. I also like the Stephen Quiller brushes (see catalog list). You may prefer the natural hair. It's up to you!

Exercise #1
Here is a little exercise that will teach you about watercolor and perhaps result in a painting - on your first attempt! This also helps you get started each time you sit down and feel blocked. Please read through this exercise before starting.

Take a 22"x 30" sheet of 140 lb. paper and cut it into approximately 6 even pieces. You want the paper size small enough so that you will not have to stretch it. If you are using a watercolor block, use a size no larger than 9Óx12Ó for this exercise.

You`ll need: brushes, a spray bottle filled with clean water, table salt, several containers of clean water, and the following three colors: thalo red, thalo blue and cadmium yellow pale (I listed them above). Squeeze these colors into separate little tubs or onto your plastic palette or china plate (or...plastic plate or whatever you have that won't absorb water).

I stress clean water because you have no whites in watercolor--the white is your paper! If you use dirty water you are laying down a color on the paper -pastel or muddy- but it will be there. You may end up with a nice light lemon yellow or a plain light brown/gray wash but, alas, no white!

Here is the point of this exercise: you will experience wet-into-wet, dry-brush, color mixing on the paper and various drying times--all in one exercise! Imagine...a full lesson in one painting. Then you'll learn one of the watercolor artist's greatest tricks--table salt. You'll get some wonderful effects.

You should do the exercise quickly enough so that it does not dry too quickly for the next stage. Take your brush and wet parts of the paper (see photo and/or video). Then use your spray bottle to wet other parts of the paper - do not overdo it. (I really have to stress this!) You want to leave some parts of the paper dry so that you can experience dry-brush as well as the wet-into-wet effect that will happen when the paint touches the wet sections of the paper.

Before starting with color, let me explain that what you are creating here is an abstract - you are not actually "drawing" out any particular shape. You are just having fun with watercolor. You will find a "painting-in-the-painting"later. Relax, have fun, and watch what happens.

Now Step One. Mix water with the yellow paint. (See photo and/or video.) Drop in the yellow color over different parts of the paper - you want to create some large areas as well as smaller detailed dots and dashes. However, and I cannot stress this enough - you must leave white areas - don't cover the entire paper with color. You cannot recover the white paper after adding color.

Please note that the brush is not a pencil or pen--you do not draw with it. Remember that this is watercolor and there must be water in the brush. Do not treat the paint as you would acrylic, oil, or poster paint. You must first mix water with the paint so that it flows out of the brush (see photo and/or video).

You will want to use more yellow than red or blue in this exercise - the darker colors will overwhelm the painting - and you! It is really easy to make a big puddle of mud by using too much red and, especially, too much blue. You'll see, it gets so exciting when you experience how the paints start mixing together that you will want to use more and more. "Gosh. If it's looking this good why not use more?" So, be very careful not to go overboard. Like life, the answer is balance and it only comes with trying and trying again. You'll have fun with this exercise.

Next, Step Two. Clean that brush and mix clean water with the red. Drop it onto the the dry areas, into some of the yellow painted areas and even into the plain wet areas. You'll see dark red in the dry areas. You'll see pink in the wet areas (because adding water to watercolor paint is like adding white to any other kind of paint). And...you'll see the color orange as the red and yellow start mixing! Isn't this fun? Not only are you mixing a new color on the paper but you are seeing how the colors react to each other and how the paint reacts to the paper.

Next, Step Three. Clean that brush well and mix clean water with the blue. This is where you'll have to control yourself because the excitement really happens when the blue starts hitting the paper. Do the same as above, dropping the blue into some of the red areas, the yellow areas, and into the plain wet areas. Don't forget to paint on some of the dry areas. You'll start seeing a whole rainbow (anuenue in Hawaiian) of colors happening. You may also see some beautiful browns and grays taking shape...but oh, no...it's getting really muddy if you got a little too intense! It's a good experience to make mud the first time to see when you've gone too far. Remember . . you can always do it again!

You're at the point where you will observe what happens when the paint starts to dry. (I hope that you did this exercise quickly enough so that the paint did not dry in between stages.)

Tips and Tricks

Now it`s time for the fun watercolor artist`s trick - the table salt. Again, it`s so much fun that you can go overboard. Simply sprinkle the salt over some of the wet painted areas and then let the whole painting dry. As the painting dries, the salt absorbs some of the color and you will see little "stars" taking shape, appearing lighter than the surrounding color. It's a great effect. You can see it in my painting "Fountainhead" .

You are now looking at your wonderful (interesting?) abstract creation after it has dried. You may notice that it appears much lighter than it was when wet. Watercolor always dries lighter. (Acrylic always dries darker. Oil always stays the same). Don't be timid when painting with watercolor - it`s always going to be lighter when dry.

It`s time to find your "painting-within-a-painting". Take two L-shaped pieces of heavy paper, mat board or cardboard and form various sized mats over different parts of the painting. (See photograph and/or video) You will find all kinds of images in that abstract piece of artwork! Mark the "painting" that you have found and have it matted and framed. Or, use a standard size mat (such as one with a 4x6 opening or a 5x7 opening) and find your painting with it.