We are all familiar with the box of watercolors from our school days. It’s easy to get started: paints, paper, brushes and two glasses of water to wash out the brushes and have fresh water ready.

Presumably your old box from school days has long since been discarded in one of the many moves.

Agata Gladykowska / Alamy Stock Photo

Reward yourself or good friends with a new watercolor box and paint away from all the motifs.

For the fun of it

Creative experimentation with paint and water is fun. In contrast to many other creative pursuits, it is very easy to get started and the investment is comparatively low. A conventional watercolor box for school beginners, brushes and a good pad of paper are all you need to get started.

If you find that painting with watercolors is a welcome change from your efficiency-driven everyday life and the omnipresent keyboard, it’s fun to start at the next level: watercolors from Japan.

Japanese watercolors

Watercolors from Japan generally have a higher pigment content. More pigments result in a more interesting color effect and make it easier to work on larger areas of color.

You can, but do not have to, travel to the Japanese city of Nara, a center for the production of Japanese watercolors, or visit one of the specialized stores in Tokyo or Kyoto.

The small Belgian mail order company Nomado (Cool Goods For Global Nomads) has Japanese watercolors in its range.

Viewed with watercolors

King Charles III also began painting with watercolors during his school days at Gordonstoun School in Scotland. At first it was natural landscapes around Gordonstoun, then the castles and palaces of his family, which he captured on paper with watercolors.

Many pictures show King Charles III painting with watercolors while traveling: In a garden in Kyoto, hiking in the mountains of Bhutan or in Klosters near Davos in Switzerland, where he has been spending his skiing vacations for over forty years.

With the approval of the then crown prince, the lift operating company there used one of his watercolors, a landscape motif of Klosters, as the motif for the region’s ski lift map.

King Charles III describes himself as an enthusiastic amateur for whom drawing is a source of pleasure and relaxation.

King Charles III in the Himalayas, Paro, Bhutan, 1998 © John Stillwell/PA/Alamy Stock Photo

“The son messes up in oil”

wrote Johann Nestroy in “The Torn Man”. This does not apply to the son of Queen Elizabeth II. According to the Daily Telegraph, the motifs he captured in watercolors generated income of two million pounds between 1997 and 2016 alone. Well documented, as the proceeds went to the Prince’s Charitable Trust.

There are works in watercolor by almost all established artists. David Hockney, who likes to paint with a tablet, captured himself in 2003 in a portrait with red suspenders, which is one of his best-known portraits.

Established contemporary painters such as Georg Baselitz, Markus Lüpertz, Norbert Bisky and Andy Warhol have all also worked with watercolors

Karl Lagerfeld’s private estate, which was auctioned off at Sothebys, also included a number of watercolors, one of which shows the ruins of Königstein Castle in the Taunus.

See instead of click

Drawing while traveling opens up a different perspective. A series of digital photos is created within seconds. And it continues.

A drawing with watercolors, on the other hand, requires a much longer and closer look at the motif. Seeing becomes an experience.

Similar to a visit to a museum, 30 minutes in front of a picture can be much more memorable than 30 pictures in one minute.

Winston Churchill took up watercolor pencils when he was demoted in the army. He became an enthusiastic amateur painter and liked to take time out and travel to paint when the situation became difficult again.

World tour in watercolors

The English foundation Watercolour World Project digitizes watercolours from museums and private collections and makes them available to view free of charge in a database.

One focus is on watercolor paintings from before 1900, i.e. before the invention of photography. The database is a visual delight and provides highly interesting access to outstanding works that are otherwise protected from light in museum archives or private collections and are rarely or never seen.

Access to watercolors from all over the world is free of charge. One click takes you to other worlds: A visual treasure trove and a great pleasure for all aesthetes.

The special invitation

An invitation with a hand-drawn motif from you would be something very special.

There are blank paper cards available from various mailers or you can ask someone who has a paper cutter to cut your favorite paper for you.

Perfection and a realistic depiction can be, but it doesn’t have to be. An abstract motif in your favorite colors says everything about your style.

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Cover picture Blue watercolor © Norbert-Zsolt Suto / Alamy Stock Photo