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Watercolor painting is often seen as an amateur hobby. In actual fact, it is one of the most difficult types of painting to do well.

Watercolor painting is often taken up by the amateur artist because of the relative cheapness of the materials. To become an accomplished watercolorist, you will actually need high quality paints, great brushes and a good quality paper.

The beauty of watercolor painting is that the finished pieces show a delicacy and luminosity that cannot be matched by oils or acrylics. The artist needs to show a lightness of touch and a sensitivity towards the subject matter to achieve the best results.

Choose you subject with care as not all subjects are suitable for watercolor painting. You will be able to choose from a range of portrait,landscape or still life compositions, but choose those which have an airy feel, with some variations in light. Don't choose a very dark or brooding scene.

First, sketch out your composition. You can use a photographic reference for this by making use of Tracedown paper, which will help you transfer the main shapes onto your paper.

When you have chosen your composition, identify the focal point. This will be the main object in the picture, and the place you want the viewer to look. It could be a tractor in a field, or the eyes of the person in the portrait. This will be the area that you give most attention to. Make the colors brighter and darker than the rest of the painting, and put more detail in. As you paint in the rest of the picture, make the colors softer and less intense.

Make sure that the picture 'flows' by using subtle lines to draw the viewer's eye in. Use the branches of a tree or the edge of a building or seat to lead towards the middle of the painting, or to the main focal point.

When choosing the colors for your painting, make sure that they all go well together. Line up the tubes or blocks together and check that they all work as a set. Never put black into your painting, but mix this up from two or three of the darker colors in the range you have chosen.

Keep an eye on the overall effect as you paint. It is very easy to get sucked into putting too much work onto one tree or blossom. This painting will be seen as one whole piece, and should be painted with this in mind.

Try to make your colors are spread throughout the painting. If you are using red in one area, then use it again in other parts by making a paler mix and putting it into the background. This will give your painting a feeling of completeness,

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