Written by My name is Baha Börü, and I’m based in Ankara, Turkey. I’m not a professional watercolour artist (yet) and about to change this (I hope) soon.
I met with watercolour 3 years ago by a coincidence and loved the medium. The translucency, mixing of the pigments on each other, and countless possible effects. And of course, the uncontrollable nature of the watercolour, changing the rules of the game every time.
Those are the things that impressed me most with this medium. Of course I’ve made charcoal drawings in the past, since childhood, which is essential for all paintings (I think… Not so sure)
As I remember, my first attempt in watercolour was an apple referenced from a tutorial that I watched on YouTube. The final result was fantastic at one shot (I must say that I have ability on learning things fast), and this encouraged me very much. During that period, I spent a lot of time watching watercolour tutorials rather than painting, because I thought that I had to learn the technique first instead of struggling aimlessly.
In my opinion, a painter is just an observer who knows how to use art materials. I think there is no such skill named “painting skills”. It is just a combination of “observing skills” and technique. By technique I mean, the knowledge about the usage of the medium. In watercolour, it is simply knowing how pigments behave on different degrees of wetness on the paper. For observing, it is the ability of seeing the colours on the subject that is being looked at. It sounds very simple at first glance but it takes forever, I think, mastering both of these.
Using high quality watercolour materials is essential. Even beginners must start with high quality materials without waiting to gain experience. According to my opinion there should be only one factor between success and failure – the painter himself. If a painting would end up a failure, this would be because of me not because I’ve used cheap paints, brushes, paper etc.
Over the years (actually 3 years), I realised that, among all watercolour art materials, I think the paper is the most important one. At the beginning I had started with mid-quality materials. I firstly changed my brushes with high quality ones than bought artist quality paints, they all increased my success a bit, but when I changed to high quality paper, it really boosted things up.
Materials I Use For Watercolour
Paper: Saunders Waterford and Arches
Paints: Daniel Smith (Mainly), Van Gogh
Brushes: Escoda (Mainly)
I like to paint the beauty I sense rather than the reality of a subject. I think it makes me an impressionist. It is seen by the exaggerated lights, shadows, and unnatural colour on my paintings like the mood of a fairytale. I like to paint both cityscapes and landscapes, but the cityscapes are my favorite and also the most challenging ones (especially Istanbul is my number one). I like adding figures to my paintings, they make composition alive and helps tell the story to the viewer.
About my career; my very first exhibition was held this year, in Ankara. I’m planning to exhibit again in 2018. I’ve already started to work on the new collection. Besides exhibitions, I also have an active YouTube channel. I try to publish a watercolour demonstration video there every week.
You can subscribe to my channel in order to be informed of newly uploaded videos and give likes in case you really like something! Also, I have an Etsy shop for selling some of my originals and prints. In the near future, I’m planning to give online classes on demand.
I’m doing my best to take the necessary steps on the way to becoming a pro. I hope this year will be a successful one for achieving my goals.
Enjoy watercolour!
Baha Börü
YouTube
Etsy
Patreon
Instagram
“An observer who knows how to use art materials” – very true, but you might add “brilliantly.” At least in your case, Baha. You really have mastered the medium of watercolor. Your paintings are rich with detail and color and capture the personality of the scenes you depict.
Thank you Sharon for your nice feedback
Your work is lovely and exceptional…you are well on your way to “Pro”.
Thank you. You encouraged me 🙂
Are you kidding, you are professional, I love to learn from your paintings, Amazing work.
It felt so good thank you
Your work is incredible and looks like you have been painting forever, instead of three years. I would say you are already a professional artist.
Thank you very much Kaye for your nice thoughts.
Wonderful journey, wonderful tips!! Loving all your Painting work. Kudos!!
You’re well come. I’m very happy to hear that
Lovely work. Your choice of colors are incredibly beautiful.
Thank you very much Mickey
Your work is so expressive and full of talent!
Thank you very much
You said, “I like to paint the beauty I sense rather than the reality of a subject.” and I can see that in every one of your works!
🙂 Very nice thank you.
I think you paint beautifully, and I wish you a bright future as a professional artist. I enjoyed your article. Thanks.
Thank you for your nice wishes and thoughts Susan
New subscriber here! Thanks for sharing everything with us. 🙂
Also make sure not to forget giving likes to the videos also 🙂 Thank you for subscribing
Love your work!
Thank you very much Kathy
Wow! Your paintings are wonderful. I’ll check out your youtube.
Thank you very much. Don’t forget to subscribe in order to be informed about the new videos
you are so incredibly good at using your whites to their best advantage, that’s the hardest thing for me.
A lovely collection of paintings. You are a master at this. I can never imagine an impressionist scene in my head, leave alone paint it out, and I have a high regard for your skill in this domain. Should subscribe to your youtube channel.