Watercolor Tips and Tricks for Elementary Art Teachers: quick tips to get great results!

Do you have a fear of mud colored, over blended, water color projects? Let's face it: students love mixing colors and have a particular zeal for it when given free rein to a watercolor set. Read on for tips and techniques to help keep that mud puddle on the playground and off the artwork!

TIP # 1 Teach Rainbow Order

The first thing I teach my students when using a pan set is that watercolor sets are arranged in rainbow order. This information and a quick color theory lesson can help students make informed decisions when choosing their project colors. Most watercolor sets have removable pans, so you can put them in rainbow order if needed.

Tip # 2 Hello Neighbor!

Use the neighborhood analogy. When pan sets are in rainbow order, explain that the colors are like houses in a neighborhood. The “next-door neighbors” (the analogous colors) blend nicely to make new colors. Red and purple are located at the ends of the pan set. If their neighborhood street was in a circle, they would be next-door neighbors, too! Neighbors that have two colors in between them (the complementary colors) will make brown when blended.

Tip # 3 Use your Room as a Teaching Tool

Keep visual reminders in your room or on your cart, such as a Roy G Biv Poster and working color wheels. Surrounding them with information is empowering! We have posters and color theory slides here.

Tip # 4  Activate, Activate, Activate!

To achieve fully saturated colors, teach students to activate their pan set before painting. I like to do this together as a group during the first couple of watercolor sessions. We dip our brush in the clean water and add a drop to each color. I like to tap a drop off the tip of the brush, and some students squeeze their brush tip to get a drop or two. Then, we let the paint sit and soak while discussing the upcoming project, color theory, or anything that allows the water to get to work.

Tip # 5 Prepare for Disaster

Place water cups and pan sets on trays to keep them separate from projects. This way, if there are any spills (or should I say WHEN there are spills : ) , the liquid stays on the tray and not on their projects.

Tip # 6 Prepare for Success

Change the colors in the pan sets to reflect the colors you would prefer students to use. For instance, I usually remove the black and brown and replace them with white, magenta, or turquoise. Brown is easy to make when needed, and eliminating black keeps them from using way too much of it and ruining their project. It is a special day when I allow them to use black, and it is understood that it must be used carefully.

Tip # 7 Practice Blending

Use palettes or the lid of the watercolor set to make custom colors. Kids need plenty of time for exploring new colors. Getting the correct ratio of water to paint takes time, and so does creating the color blends they are trying to achieve. I show them how to use each little section in the lid for a new color combination. For clean-up, teach them to soak up leftover paint puddles with a towel so the lids are clean and dry. Special tip! Keep the lids open after class so the paints dry properly and don’t get sticky!

Tip # 8 Water Matters

Use two water cups, one for rinsing warm colors and one for rinsing cool colors.. Oh, how I wish I had learned this sooner! If you just have one water cup to rinse brushes in, then all the colors get combined into a murky mess and will affect the paint colors on the paper. But if you use the warm-colored cup when painting with warm colors, and vice versa, the paints stay nicer, as do the paintings! This is especially important if you are using the wet-on-wet technique.

Tip # 9 Adjust Brush Size

Larger brushes help get projects done on time! Are you ever amazed at how long it can take students to finish their projects? I love a nice-sized No. 10 round brush for most projects and am happy provide a second, smaller brush if needed for details. My favorite is the Creative Inspirations Dura-Handle. I am amazed at how the tips have held up over the years. (I do not receive any compensation for the brush recommendation).

Tip # 10 Take the Pledge

Use a pledge to help maintain supplies. When students repeat the Brush Pledge, they have “buy-in” to keep their brushes nice. I love it when students correct their table mates if they see them “making spiders”! The pledge is a fun and light hearted way to keeps brushes in good shape for years to come. You can print my pledge here.