August’s Technique of the Month: Watercolours [REVIEW]

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Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Cass Art. I was sent these products to review.

Watercolours have long been something I’ve admired, without trying myself.

I loved them in school. Adding the colour to water is almost half the fun. Watching it swirl around never gets old!

In a throwback to the origin of this blog, I’ve decided to dedicate the month of August to learning a new technique. In between work and chores and way too much time by the computer, a creative outlet seems like just the right way to have a little bit of me time. And Cass Art’s watercolour selection is massive. They have everything from single colours to pens to professional sets.

So armed with some (hopefully) Insta worthy brush pens and Cass Art’s Aspiring Watercolour Starter Set, I’ve started a journey into a new technique.

Opening up the Starter Set was definitely like opening a present. All of the little paints are all wrapped and beautifully presented, showing off the half pan set. (Before this, I did not know the term half pan was a thing. Fact: it is a thing.)

As I got ready to paint, I loved how much the water beaded up in the pan! The texture is perfect and it makes it really easy to mix up the colour into the water.

Only downside to the kit? Unwrapping all those pretty paints shows just how much packaging is involved. On a good note, the paints sit perfectly in the pan, and they each have the colour info written on the side in case you misplace them or forget which colour is which.

After painting a few blobs to test the colours, the paper did buckle a bit. I’m not sure if this was my bad or not though – I’ll have to investigate exactly how to best prep the paper and how much you should and shouldn’t do at once. I did love the texture of the paper, both for the pens and the traditional paints.

One of the hardest things was waiting for one layer to dry before adding something else. These strawberries are doodled with the brush pens, and the white was painted on top. Here’s a peek of the brush pens in action, below. The thin line is the smaller tip, the thick line is the brush at a strong angle to make it as think as I can comfortably make it in one swipe:

More to come! Here’s a teaser…

Overall, even when full price I think the Starter Set is killer value. (RRP £41.95) There’s everything you need to get started, and more. I know this is a set I won’t immediately need to replace as I learn more techniques.

The brush pens are going to take a bit more finesse and practice… But I’ll be doing plenty of that!

So here are the bits I’m using in August:
Aspiring Watercolour Starter Set (paint, paper, and brushes)
Tombow Dual Brush Pen Pack (in colour set Primary)

Final results may vary. I’m just in it for the fun, but I admit my creative ego does always get involved when it comes to art.

Who’s your favourite watercolour artist? Got any top resources you recommend for learning different watercolour techniques?

Let me know – say hi on Twitter and Instagram @craftingfingers and follow along all August to see my watercolours in progress! Or if you’re looking for inspiration yourself, the Cass Art website has an amazing blog, with posts like “How To: Create an Abstract Watercolour Bird with Illustrator Veronica Ballart Lilja“.

I’ll be back this weekend with some tips and tricks I’ve learnt to help other beginners.

Lots of crafty love,