Today I'd like to tell you about a variety of, so to speak, watercolor techniques and effects you can use when painting with watercolors. Let's get started!

First, a little about the materials. We will need:

• watercolor paints (I have professional paints, but paints for students are also fine);
• brushes (various: round, flat, big, small, soft squirrel or elastic synthetic, calligraphy and even fan brushes, just take what you have and experiment);
• a sheet of watercolor paper;
• white gouache;
• a cellophane package.
• salt (table, sea, any);
• water.

So! One of the most important skills that you must learn when working with watercolor is the ability to make fills. At first glance it seems that there is nothing easier, but there are some nuances that need to be considered if you want your fill to be smooth and fresh.
First, you must mix enough paint and water to make a large puddle on a palette, so you don't have to make a new mixture for a long time if you use all the puddle. Fills generally require all of your attention and it is better to make them when nothing is distracting :)

A soft brush is the most suitable for fills, it is able to take and give a lot of water, for example, brushes made of squirrel hair are probably the most classic for watercolor. Put on a brush a little more paint and start to make the fill: gradually fill the space evenly with color, make movements from left to right and vice versa. When we do fill, it is important to tilt the tablet sheet (or album) at a small angle, so that the paint does not make "stripes, but run down, being distributed over the surface. There is another very important rule — at the bottom of your pouring there always must hang a drop, as you can see in the photo below — as long as paint is hanging on the edge of the fill, it can be continued, but as soon as it dries — you won't be able to get evenness!

Continue to fill, if you see unevenness, you can (while the fill is still wet) help it a little to spread across the surface with the same brush strokes from left to right and vice versa. If you go back to the dry place, it will be the second layer of paint and all the freshness and lightness of the fill will be lost, so it is important not to miss the moment, and if it's late, it's better to leave it and move on :)
When your filling comes to an end, you need to remove the excess paint and water, because the drop is still hanging, but if you let it dry out so, it will create a water stain on the paint layer, and we don't need that. We sponge the brush with a cloth or a tissue, removing excess moisture.

Take a squeezed brush with no water and carefully collect the paint from the places where the drop is hanging.

We made a nice fill, it is one of the fundamental techniques in watercolour, which is very widely used: fill can be done curly, avoiding with a brush the places that should remain white; gradient from saturated color to almost a white sheet, colored and so on. But, as you can see, there are rules that must be followed to get the desired effect.
The next technique is called watercolor on wet. It is very fun and interesting, but it is also difficult to work in this technique, so you must also learn this skill!
First you need to wet the paper space with water so that the paper is quite damp but with no puddles, pay attention to the edges of the sheet and soak them stronger, because they dry up faster. It is also better to prepare paint in advance because you have to work quickly, while the surface is still wet.

Take a soft brush again, put on the desired color and begin to draw: make paint stains on the raw sheet, they are very unusual and gradually melt, forming interesting patterns. Try to make points, lines, press the brush harder to draw something specific — and see what happens, how the paint behaves.

Try to take more brighter paint, then add it to the sheet and see how different colors move across the paper and blend in their own style. If you know how your paints work and interact with water, you will be able to use this skill in your work.

The sheet can be tilted in different directions: tilt it down and the paint will flow, you will get interesting dynamics.

Tilt to the side and a different mood will be created.

This technique can be used, for example, when drawing the sky — you can make a great thundercloud!
Wet technique in general is applicable in so many works, if you want to draw mountains in a distance, they are smoothly spread out and the edges are not sharp, you will create a sense of aerial perspective; trees, clouds and much more.
There is also a technique of dry strokes. With it, you are unlikely to draw all the work, but sometimes it is simply necessary: for example, when you need to portray a rough texture, snow or just to add to the drawing more vitality.
So, you need mixed color, which has little water and a lot of paint. It is better to use a synthetic brush for this technique, as it is elastic enough, but to get more dashing strokes you should take brushes with character, for example, goat brushes.
When you put paint on a brush, the most important thing is that you need to sponge it with a napkin or a cloth to remove excess moisture.

Now try to draw with the brush on the paper, the effect is better visible if you draw not with a very tip of the brush, but with the whole tip of the brush, as in the photo.

You get an interesting pattern, but if your paper is more rough, it will be even more spectacular! The main thing is to strike the right balance of the wetness of the brush: it should be quite dry, but still give the paint.
Now I want to show you some effects that will help you to diversify your work and to make the drawing process more fun and interesting!
First, water spots, or, as they are also called, spots-flowers. In order to do this, we first paint the surface with some dark and rich paint, later you can make them on any background, but it will be clearer like that.
We need to wait for the moment when the layer is not too wet, but haven't dried up yet, and then we will get an expressive spot. Put some clean water on a brush. For spots-flowers you should use brushes which give water, for example, made of squirrel hair. When you have enough water on a brush, put its tip on our background, wait a few seconds and voila — water spreads the paint to the sides and forms an interesting bright spot with an unusual edge!

This effect can be used, for example, to represent glare on water or falling snow, if you splash water on a paint layer.

Another trick with watercolor, which is worth to be known is salt. Yes, common salt) sodium chloride, sea salt — you will get an effect with any salt, but it will be slightly different. So, to begin we'll paint over the space, again for clarity we pick a dark color, and while the filling is still wet, take a pinch of salt and sprinkle it right on the paint can, you can do that evenly across the surface or make a pattern, it all depends on your ideas.

We can already see that salt picks up moisture and in its place bright spots appear, but we need to wait till everything dries and then brush away all the salt, you will get an interesting pattern, like little stars or snowflakes flying against the dark night sky :) With sea salt the effect is more interesting, but unfortunately I don't have it, but you must try, and I'm sure you will succeed!
Now let's take common plastic bags! Using a trick with a bag, you can draw troubled water or ice.
Prepare fill, as before; I made it with a blue color to make something resembling water. The fill should not be very thick, but not too watery to have a noticeable effect. Now take a plastic bag and crushing it a little apply it to the paint layer. It remains to wait when everything dries out and remove the package.

That's what we've got! If you want to achieve another effect, to get more stripes, for example, just try to place the bag in different ways: do not crush it in some areas, put it in a certain direction somewhere, and see what you'll get.

Now let's see what our brushes can do! Because you can use them not only for dry fills and strokes, but also for stamps. Making stamps is very simple: you put enough paint on the brush and just apply it to the sheet with an edge. We have similar strokes.

You can give the pile a certain form on a palette to make wider stamps. But I still love to fluff a brush on a palette and when it takes a funny shape of a hedgehog, paint leaves of trees, bushes or any other texture with it — calligraphic brushes are suitable for these purposes, because they are usually made of goat, wolf hair and so on, and so the fibers are not elastic, and therefore can take any form.

Experiment with different brushes: try to make stamps with synthetic, goat, flat and round, smooth and shaggy brushes, and I think you will definitely find the stamps, which you can use in your works! For example, I often use a flat synthetic brush to paint windows :)

In watercolor sometimes you can still use white gouache or dense colors, containing white. If you have these colors, you can use them to make cool bright accents on a dark background, for example, you have a building in which you want to make a light, but all the windows are already painted, then you can take a small flat brush, thickly put on white or just dense paint (for example, cadmium lemon or lavender) and with a quick touch paint in the right place, that's it.

And you already have a spark, a light or just a light accent. Practice, try to make different accents of various shapes, stamps, try to take thicker color or slightly diluted with water and find what is suitable for your work.
Well you can spray white, slightly diluted paint on your work with a fan brush and you will have a beautiful star or snow!

Well, I have told you and shown you many techniques, effects and tricks with different materials and tools that will help you to make your works more interesting and the drawing process more fun! I hope you enjoyed my tips, write comments and share your progress, I will be very happy! See you soon :)