Watercolor Painting Links

Sometimes you may have designed your composition so that you have a very dark background that will make the lighter subject of your painting stand out, or you have an area that you want to leave as a highlight. When you apply a dark wash to the watercolor paper, you can protect the areas so that you do not have to lift off the dark wash or wait until it is dry to scrape it off. You do this by using masks. There are two types of masks you can use depending on how large an area you want to protect.

• masking tape
  You can use masking tape if you are painting something that has very straight lines, such as buildings or some furniture.
• liquid mask
  You can buy either pure white liquid mask, or one that has a slight yellow tint, and apply it with a brush. You then wait for it to dry completely, then you can apply your wash over the area. Use liquid mask for protecting small areas such as for highlights, or for odd shaped objects such as tree trunks and flowers. Once you have applied the wash you can remove the liquid mask by gently rubbing it with a finger or an eraser.

Most people think that you cannot change a watercolor painting once you have painted on watercolor paper, but this is not true. There are a few techniques you can use to correct mistakes in your watercolor painting. Remember though that not all colors are removeable, the permanent colors live up to their name.

• removing the whole watercolor painting
  If you realize at the beginning of the session that the watercolor painting is not going the way you expected it to, you can completely remove the whole painting. Hold the watercolor paper under cold running water and gently sponge off the paint.
• removing part of the watercolor painting
  If you only need to remove a small area of the watercolor painting, wet a sponge in clean water and gently wipe the watercolor paper until the color is removed. If the area is very small you can use a wet brush. You can also use this technique to create highlights.
• softening a hard edge
  You can soften a hard edge by wetting a cotton swab and dabbing it along the hard edged object in your watercolor painting.
• removing small blemishes
  You can remove small specks of paint that fall into the wrong area of the watercolor painting with a razor blade. Wait until the paint has dried, then carefully scrape the paint off the watercolor paper. Do not scrape too hard or you could make holes in the paper.
• repairing a ragged edge
  If you have a hard edge that has run into another area, wait until the paint has dried then paint over the edge with opaque white gouache paint.

Before you start your first watercolor painting, there are a few techniques you need to master. They are not difficult but they do require some practice, and they are all important for creating a good watercolor painting. The basic techniques are:

• washes
• wet-in-wet
• dry brush
• lifting off
• glazes

Washes

This is the technique you use for covering large areas of the watercolor paper, such as the sky or flat water. First wet the area of paper where you want to apply the wash. Slightly angle your paper to let the paper and paint drain down. Next, mix up the color you want to use for the wash, load the brush with plenty of water and a little of the color, and run the brush horizontally across the paper. Before the paint dries, fill your brush again and paint another stroke across the paper, just overlapping the first stroke. Continue to paint these even strokes until you reach the bottom of the area you want to paint. Leave the painting to dry.

You can experiment with more or less water to get different intensity of color and value, and also change the gradation of the value from dark to light as you move down the painting. As your skills increase, you can use different colors in the strokes to simulate a sunset or the changing color of water as it recedes into the distance.

Wet-in-wet

This is the process of adding color to a wet area of the painting. First you wet the area of the painting with a large brush, then you apply the color. If you have an underlying wash, make sure it is completely dry before you wet any area of it. This creates a blurred image with soft edges.

Dry brush

If you want to have something with a definite edge, or you want to paint thin lines, use the dry brush method. The brush should contain mostly color and not much water, and you drag it over a dry area of the painting. This is the technique to use if you want to create texture in your watercolor painting, such as foliage in landscapes and hair in portraits. Do not paint all your picture with dry brush, but use it in combination with washes to create interesting compositions.

Lifting off

Regardless of whether the watercolor paint is wet or dry, most watercolor paints can be lifted off the watercolor paper so you can paint over with a different color or leave the area the color of the paper. Stains, such as the phthalos are difficult to remove, so stay with non-staining colors until you are more experienced. To lift off the paint, wet the area with pure water then use a tissue to blot away the color.

Glazes

Glazes are similar to washes, except you apply a thin wash of transparent color over an existing wash. You do this to adjust the color or warmth of the underlying color. Cooler glazes make an object recede and warmer glazes bring objects to the foreground. You should use non-staining transparent colors, such as rose madder, which can be applied in layer after layer until you achieve the effect you were aiming for. Always let the glaze wash dry before applying the next layer. Turner used a lot of glazes as you can see in this painting:

If you are using watercolor paper that is less than 260lbs, then you need to stretch it first so that it does not warp when you apply the paint. It takes a little effort, but it will ensure that your painting stays flat.

Here are the steps to follow for stretching your watercolor paper.

Materials

• gummed brown tape
• watercolor paper
• a large flat pan of cold water (or a bathtub)
• two sponges (preferably different colors)
• drawing board

Steps

1. Cut your watercolor paper to the size you want to paint on.
2. Cut four strips of gummed brown tape, one for each side of the paper. Make the strips slightly longer than the sides.
3. Place the watercolor paper in the cold water, using a sliding motion, until it is thoroughly soaked (no more than five to ten minutes, depending on the weight or it will disintegrate).
4. Gently lift the watercolor paper out of the water and allow the water to drip off.
5. Lay the watercolor paper onto the clean drawing board, which must be lying flat.
6. Smooth the paper with one of the sponges, which will also remove any excess water.
7. Moisten a strip of the gummed tape with the other sponge, and stick it firmly along one side of the watercolor paper. Make sure the tape is one-third of its width on the watercolor paper and two-thirds of its width on the drawing board.
8. Smooth the tape with the sponge.
9. Apply the other stips of tape on the on the other three sides.
10. Leave to dry for several hours, away from any direct heat source. Keep the board flat at all times or the water will drain to one side and the paper will dry unevenly.

Standard equipment

Watercolor painting is perhaps the easiest activity to begin in terms of the equipment and materials you need. Buying just a few items will quickly get you started but make sure you buy good quality materials. Get the best you can afford, do not buy the inexpensive items that are produced for schoolchildren who will give up after the painting class is over. Investing in the best materials will help you to create more successful paintings as you will not be fighting to make them work. The essential pieces of equipment you will need are:

• watercolor paints
• watercolor paper
• watercolor brushes
• watercolor palette
• water carrier

Watercolor paints

Watercolor paints come in two varieties: cakes (small blocks or pans) and tubes. Cakes are easier to carry around and work with as they usually come in their own plastic tray, however they do dry out quickly. On the other hand you have to squeeze an amount of paint out of a tube so you may lose it if you do not use it in one sitting. Use cakes if you are doing small sketches or outdoor painting, and tubes if you are working on larger paintings in the studio.

There are different grades of watercolor paint, from “student” grade to “artist” grade. Buy a few of the higher quality paints rather than a lot of cheap ones. To get started you only need six colors: ultramarine blue and phtalo blue, cadmium yellow medium and cadmium yellow light, and cadmium red medium and alizarin crimson. This gives you a warm and cool variation of the three primary colors. Even with this limited palette you can create virtually any color you need. As you expand your skills you can expand your paint palette.

Watercolor paper

Watercolor paper comes in three grades: rough (a very textured surface), hot-pressed (a fine-grained, smooth surface), and cold-pressed (a slightly textured surface). The latter is used by most beginners. The weight of the paper indicates its thickness, and the thicker the paper the less you have to worry about it warping while you paint, so it is best to start with something 260lbs or over. With heavier paper you also do not have to worry about stretching it before you use it. A block is easier to use than sheets.

Watercolor brushes

The best watercolor brushes are made of pure sable because they have very fine hairs with a good point, they spring back into shape quickly, and they hold more paint. If you cannot afford pure sable, at least buy a sable and synthetic hair mix. Brushes come in several shapes (rounds, flats, filberts) and sizes from #0 on up. To start watercolor painting, get three round brushes in sizes 2, 6, and 8, and make sure they have a good fine point. Another good one to buy is a size 4 or 6 flat brush - you can use this to erase or remove paint from the watercolor paper. You should also have a large brush for doing washes. This can be any inexpensive large round brush.

Watercolor palette

If you are using cake watercolor paint, you can buy a palette that fits the cakes that are foldable so that they store in a small space. If you are using tube paint you can use cheap disposable plates or even an old white dinner plate. If you want to be able to store any unused tube paint, you can buy a palette with a plastic lid.

Water carrier

This does not have to be anything fancy - an old jar will do as long as it does not leak. You should have two, one for cleaning your brushes and one for mixing your paint. You can use plain tap water, but be aware that hard water decreases the paint solubility and flow, and soft water increases the paint solubility and flow. If in doubt, use bottled water.

Other materials

You should also have a pencil and kneaded eraser for sketching your composition, some tissues for blotting the paper (and removing mistakes!), and paper towels for wiping your brushes.