Ways with Water

It is important always to keep your water clean. Some artists have two or sometimes even three containers of water on the go – one for rinsing the paint off their brushes and another for clean water to use for mixing paint for the next brush load. Some interesting effects can be obtained with watercolour depending on how the artist uses their water.

Wet-in-wet

This refers to the technique of applying wet paint to an area of wet paper or an area where the paint is still wet. When applied to a wet area the paint spreads across the area and is diffused, resulting in a soft edged area of colour. The usual way is to dampen the paper slightly before you begin painting. You can always deepen the colour by dropping in further pigment but remember not to use too much water or the paint becomes uncontrollable.

Wet-in-dry

This technique refers to wet watercolour paint being applied to dry paper or a previously painted area that has dried completely, resulting in a sharp hard-edged area of colour.

A transparent wash made of dilute paint can be applied over a previously painted area that has dried completely. This is called a glaze and is used to change or enhance the colour beneath. For instance, a wash of yellow over blue will result in green.

An almost dry brush can be swiped over dry paper or a previously painted and dried area and this results in a stippled effect which can be useful when painting ripples on water or stony ground for example.

Water mist

A fine mist from a spray bottle can be useful in creating soft edges as well as drips and runs by spraying along the edge of the painted area. Runs can be manipulated by carefully tilting your paper in the opposite direction you want the water to move. Any unwanted drips or excess runs can be gently wiped away with a clean dry paintbrush or a paper towel. 

Water droplets.

To produce random areas of soft edges and hard edges, the paper can be lightly sprayed using a spray bottle with an adjustable nozzle. You need to produce water droplets rather than a water mist for this technique and I use the kind of bottle used for spraying plants. Once paint is applied over the area that has been sprayed, the colour will diffuse and become soft edged on the wet spots and will stay hard edged and undiluted on the dry spots.

Under the tap

Interesting textures and marks can be obtained by washing away the paint in spots or even larger areas by putting the painting under the tap. The dryness or thickness of the paint will determine the effects. It is all down to experimenting and being brave!

Happy painting!

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