7 Easy Watercolor Brushstroke Drills for Beginners — Quick Tutorials to Improve Your Skills

Quick Tutorials to Improve Your Skills

✅ Quick Overview

• 🎨 Practice 7 simple brushstroke drills to build muscle memory and boost technique

• 🔄 Videos range from 1–18 minutes, perfect for warm-ups or short creative sessions

• 💡 Learn essential strokes like thin–thick lines, C-curves, S-curves, and “dab & pull”

• 🔑 Beginner-tested tutorials from trusted artists with clear visuals and helpful tips

• 👩‍🎨 Great for improving brush control and gaining confidence, even with limited time

Introduction

Want to improve your watercolor skills quickly? Brushstroke drills are one of the best ways to strengthen your technique, build muscle memory, and boost brush control — and they're fun! 

Today, I’m sharing 7 short, easy brushstroke tutorials perfect for beginners. The videos range from under 1 minute to 18 minutes, and practicing these drills regularly will dramatically enhance your watercolor skills — promise! ✨

Fyi, these brushstroke videos were created by established and talented watercolor artists. Each video includes helpful verbal instructions, commentary on each stroke, and clear visual demonstrations.

Why Practice Watercolor Brush Techniques?

Did you know you could improve your painting skills just by including a few simple brushstroke exercises in your weekly painting schedule?

Brushstroke drills help you:

• Improve brush control with thin, thick, curved, and straight strokes
• Experiment with water and paint control while building muscle memory
• Fit in purposeful painting practice, even with limited time ⏰

I’m a self-taught artist who started watercolor painting 5 years ago, and back then, I considered myself a non-artist — the only creative thing I did was color in a coloring book once or twice a year! 

Maybe some of you are like I was, learning watercolor painting from online tutorials and library books. It’s an effective way to learn, plus it’s affordable and enjoyable — yay!

However you’re learning to paint, I want to share my own experience with painting drills. Within 2 weeks of incorporating brush control exercises into my creative time, my brushstroke technique and painting skills showed marked improvement. 

So, on those days you have only 10 minutes free to paint? Just do a few of these drills. And when you have more time, begin with a quick brushstroke warm-up. 💪

What Do You Need?

The only things you need are:
• A round brush
• Watercolor paper
• Watercolor paint
• A glass of water to rinse your brush
• A palette to mix your color (optional) 🎨

My Tutorial Review Process: 

This post is all about 7 Watercolor Brushstroke Drills for Beginners. Here’s the method I use to test and review each tutorial I share in this post:

1. Watch the tutorial in full at least once
2. Gather art supplies
3. Paint along with the video
4. Track brush sizes, paper, colors, and paint time
5. Let the piece dry and revisit it with fresh eyes
6. Check it against my review criteria:
•  Video under 20 minutes
•  Beginner-appropriate
•  Clearly presented and well-paced
•  Materials listed or easily identifiable
•  Effective camera angles
•  Total paint time between 5-20 minutes
•  Enjoyable and useful
7. If it’s a yes — I write the review!

Let’s get started!

🖌️ Featured Tutorials: 7 Watercolor Brushstroke Drills for Beginners

1. Kristin Van Leuven - How to Hold Your Watercolor Brush (10:11)

Kristin Van Leuven is a watercolor artist, author, and instructor known for her loose style and modern approach to painting.

Key strokes: Demonstrates how different brush positions achieve different strokes — e.g., vertical hold for fine, thin lines and slant hold for thick lines.
Why watch: Proper brush grip improves control and fluidity.

👉 My feedback: This is one of the clearest and most practical tutorials on brush-holding fundamentals.

💡 Think about it like this: When you use a pen to write, holding it at different angles affects your writing legibility. The same concept applies to your watercolor brush! 

2. Susan Chiang - 3 Brush Control Exercises (3:55)

Susan Chiang, a self-taught artist and former architect, shares her knowledge of watercolors through classes and tutorials.

Key strokes: Demonstrates 3 basic strokes: straight lines, thin-thick-thin lines, and twist/curve lines (called "dab & pull").
Why watch: After practicing this drill, you’ll notice smoother transitions between thin and thick lines.
👉 My feedback:  Bookmark this video so you can always access it as a quick warm-up! 

3. Jenna Rainey - Watercolor Brush Techniques - Part 1 (14:07)

 Jenna Rainey is a self-taught artist, author, and educator. She’s passionate about helping others discover their creative potential.

Key strokes: Focuses on basic shapes like circles and demonstrates vertical and slant brush holds.
Why watch: Circle shapes are fun to paint, and knowing when to use a vertical or slant hold is essential.
👉 My feedback: Jenna also includes tips for shaky hands and color bleeds — super helpful!

4. Jenna Rainey - Watercolor Brush Techniques - Part 2 (17:13)

Key strokes: Demonstrates compound strokes (brush pressure + release) for leaves and branches.
Why watch: This is a more advanced technique, but beginners can absolutely tackle it.
👉 My feedback: Leaves and petals are my favorite things to paint, so I come back to this video often!  🍃

5. Harriet de Winton - Basic Watercolor Brush Strokes (12:13)

Harriet de Winton is an artist, teacher, and creator of hand-painted wedding stationery.

Key strokes: Covers thin lines (vertical hold), thick lines (angled hold), and advanced strokes like tapered lines, C-curves, and S-curves.
Why watch: Harriet also discusses how to load the brush with paint and move your wrist to make different strokes.
👉 My feedback: Her explanations of brush holds and strokes helped me conceptualize the techniques more clearly. 

6. Emma Jane Lefebvre - 5 Easy Brush Strokes (18:12)

Emma Jane Lefebvre is a watercolor artist and author from Canada who shares her watercolor adventures on YouTube.

Key strokes: Covers 5 foundational strokes, plus a bonus 6th stroke.
Why watch: Includes fun strokes like C-strokes, S-strokes, and dabs (my favorite!).
👉 My feedback: I use this tutorial regularly — perfect for quick 10-minute painting sessions. 

7. Emma Jane Lefebvre - The most important brush stroke you need to know! (0.57)

Key strokes: Demonstrates the fundamental thin-thick-thin brushstroke and its variations.
Why watch: These strokes are essential for watercolor flowers and botanicals. 🌸
👉 My feedback: This 1-minute video demonstrates the technique beautifully — it’s a must-watch! ⏳

✨ Conclusion

Watercolor brush technique exercises are useful to warm up, refresh, and build muscle memory. They’re also great for fitting in purposeful painting even when your time is limited.

As a watercolor artist since 2020, stroke drills remain an integral part of my weekly practice — whether to warm up or maintain muscle memory. They’re enjoyable and meditative too! 🧘‍♀️

Key Takeaway

Brushstroke drills are one of the simplest and best ways to level up your watercolor skills. Start practicing regularly — even just 5-10 minutes a few times a week makes a difference! 💪

⏩ Quick Access Links: Jump to a Tutorial

1. Kristin Van Leuven—How to Hold Your Watercolor Brush

2. Susan Chiang—3 Brush Stroke Exercises

3. Jenna Rainey—Watercolor Brush Techniques-Part 1

4. Jenna Rainey—Watercolor Brush Techniques-Part 2

5. Harriet de Winton—Basic Watercolor Brush Strokes

6. Emma Jane Lefebvre—5 Easy Brush Strokes

7. Emma Jane Lefebvre—The Most Important Brush Stroke

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• How to Do Watercolor Washes for Beginners
• Beginner's Guide to Watercolor Terms

✍️ About the Author

Written by Mary Moreno of Mary Moreno Studio, a self-taught watercolor artist since 2020 and creative blogger sharing beginner-friendly tutorials, tips, and resources to help new artists find joy and confidence through watercolor.

What are your go-to watercolor drills? Share your favorite practice routines or video recommendations in the comments — I'm always up for hearing about new tutorials and tips!