Watercolour for Acrylic, Oil & Gouache Artists: What You Need to Know Before You Start

Before I fell in love with watercolour, I spent many years painting primarily with acrylics and oils, as well as teaching art across a range of different mediums. Although I had taught watercolour techniques to students, I hadn’t really explored the medium in depth myself. That all changed after I had children. Suddenly, the quick setup and incredibly easy cleanup of watercolour became very appealing, and I found myself reaching for it more often than any other paint. What I didn’t expect was just how steep the learning curve would be. Despite years of experience as both an artist and an art teacher, I quickly realised that watercolour required a completely different way of thinking. Many of the habits I’d developed with acrylics and oils simply didn’t apply. Learning to embrace transparency, control water, and work with the paint rather than against it challenged me in the best possible way and ultimately changed the way I paint forever. If you’re coming to watercolour with experience in other mediums, I hope sharing what I learned makes your own transition a little easier.

So have you also spent years painting with acrylics, oils, gouache, or other mediums? You may find picking up watercolours can feel both exciting and a little intimidating. At first glance they’re all “paint,” but watercolour behaves in a completely different way. Instead of trying to control every brushstroke, you’ll quickly discover that watercolour rewards patience, planning, and learning to work with the paint rather than against it.

The good news? If you’re already an artist, you already have many of the skills you need. Your understanding of colour, composition, values, and brush control will transfer beautifully. It’s simply a matter of learning a new language.

The Biggest Difference: You’re Painting With the White of the Paper

Perhaps the biggest adjustment is that watercolour doesn’t use white paint in the same way other mediums do.

With acrylics, oils, or gouache, you can simply paint over mistakes or add highlights with white paint. Watercolour is transparent. The brightest highlights come from the white paper underneath, so instead of painting the light areas, you’re preserving them from the very beginning.

This means you’ll find yourself thinking ahead much more than you may be used to. Rather than asking, “How can I brighten this later?” you’ll start asking, “How do I protect this highlight now?”

Water Controls Everything

If you’ve mainly painted with acrylics or oils, you’re probably used to paint consistency being the biggest variable. With watercolour, water is just as important as the pigment.

The amount of water in your brush, your paint, and even your paper determines almost everything:

• Soft blends
• Sharp edges
• Smooth washes
• Bloom effects
• Texture
• Colour intensity

Learning to judge moisture levels is one of the biggest skills you’ll develop. It feels strange at first, but eventually it becomes second nature.

You Can’t Always Paint Over Mistakes

One of the biggest surprises for new watercolour artists is discovering that mistakes aren’t as easy to fix. Acrylic painters can simply wait a few minutes and paint over an area. Oil painters can scrape back wet paint or paint over dried layers. Gouache painters can cover almost anything with opaque colour. Watercolour is far less forgiving. While some colours can be lifted or softened, repeated reworking often damages the paper or creates muddy colours.

But that doesn’t mean watercolour is difficult, it simply encourages a different mindset. Rather than correcting mistakes, you learn to embrace unexpected effects and incorporate them into the painting.

And let’s be honest we all know sometimes the “mistake” becomes the most beautiful part.

Your Existing Brushes May Work

The good news is you may already own brushes that work perfectly well.

If you have:

• Soft synthetic brushes
• Synthetic sable brushes
• Natural watercolour brushes

You’re ready to begin.

Very stiff acrylic brushes aren’t ideal because they don’t hold enough water and can disturb the paper surface.

One good round brush (around a size 8–10) can paint an astonishing variety of marks, from broad washes to fine details. As your collection grows, you can add larger rounds, mops, and flats, but you don’t need dozens of brushes to get started.

If you’re looking to expand your brush collection, a mop brush is a fantastic next addition. Mop brushes have a large, rounded shape and are designed to hold a generous amount of water, making them perfect for painting smooth washes, wetting large areas of paper, and creating soft, flowing blends. They’re especially useful when working on larger paintings or when you want to achieve beautiful, even washes without constantly reloading your brush. Shimmer Drops Paint have a wonderful collection of high quality vegan mop brushes. Many watercolour artists consider a good mop brush one of the most versatile and enjoyable brushes to paint with.

Your Paint Palette Will Look Different

Unlike acrylics or oils, watercolour is activated with water each time you paint. Whether you choose pans or tubes, the paint is designed to be rewetted over and over again. Many artists actually squeeze tube paints into a palette and let them dry, giving them the convenience of both formats. If you’ve used acrylics before, this may feel unusual at first, but it quickly becomes second nature.

Paper Matters More Than You Think

This is probably the biggest surprise for artists coming from other mediums. With acrylics, you can often paint on canvas, wood panels, paper, or boards. With watercolour, the paper is just as important as the paint.

Good watercolour paper:

• Absorbs water evenly
• Allows colours to blend beautifully
• Handles multiple washes
• Prevents excessive buckling
• Makes techniques much easier

Poor-quality paper can make even professional paints perform badly. If you’re only going to invest in one thing, make it good paper.

While traditional white watercolour paper is the most common choice and is essential for achieving the luminous, transparent effects that watercolour is known for good quality black watercolour paper is also available. 

Black paper offers a completely different painting experience and is particularly popular when using shimmer and colour shift watercolours. The mica pigments in these paints catch the light beautifully against the dark surface, making the metallic and colour-shifting effects appear incredibly vibrant and dramatic. At Shimmer Drops Paint, we create highly pigmented shimmer and colour shift watercolours that are designed to shine on both white and black watercolour paper, giving artists even more creative possibilities. If you enjoy specialty watercolours or want to create artwork with a bold, magical feel, black watercolour paper is a wonderful addition to your collection.

Supplies You May Already Have

You might already own more watercolour supplies than you realise.

Useful items include:

• Water containers
• Mixing palette
• Paper towels or a cotton cloth
• Spray bottle
• Masking tape
• Drawing pencils
• Erasers
• Ruler

These work just as well for watercolour as they do for other mediums. 

Layers Work Differently

With acrylic and oil painting, darker colours can often be covered with lighter colours. Watercolour works in the opposite direction. Most artists begin with their lightest washes and gradually build darker values over several transparent layers. Each layer shines through the next, creating the luminous glow that watercolour is famous for. Instead of covering colour, you’re building it.

Patience Is Part of the Process

If you’re used to acrylics, you might find yourself wanting to keep working while the paint is still damp. In watercolour, timing is everything. Some techniques require the paper to be soaking wet. Others work only when it’s damp. Others require the paper to be completely dry. Learning when to leave a painting alone is just as important as knowing when to add another brushstroke.

Embrace the Unexpected

One of the greatest joys of watercolour is that it has a personality of its own. Pigments separate. Granulating colours create beautiful textures. Water flows in surprising directions. Two colours may blend into something even more beautiful than you planned. Instead of fighting these characteristics, experienced watercolour artists learn to use them as part of the creative process. Watercolour often feels less like controlling paint and more like collaborating with it.

And Finally . . .

If you’re coming to watercolour after painting with acrylics, oils, gouache, or another medium, don’t expect it to behave the same way. It won’t and that’s exactly what makes it so rewarding.

Your understanding of colour, composition, and painting fundamentals already gives you a strong foundation. The biggest changes are learning to preserve your highlights, control the amount of water, work in transparent layers, and trust the process. Most importantly, allow yourself to be a beginner again, and embrace how fun that can be,

Watercolour has a way of surprising even the most experienced artists. Every painting teaches you something new, and every unexpected bloom, soft blend, or glowing wash reminds you why this medium has captivated artists for centuries.

Once you stop trying to make watercolour behave like acrylic or oil paint, you’ll begin to discover what makes it truly special. And chances are, you’ll find yourself reaching for it again and again, just like I have.

Happy Painting,

Connie