Watercolor Painting II

TECHNIQUE 2: GRADED WASH

This is the second basic wash skill. This technique is a smooth transition in value from dark to light. This is somewhat similar to flat wash except that its application starts with a dark value and transitions with a lighter paint or just water to decrease the intensity of the color.

Instructions:

• Draw a 2" x  3" rectangle on your board.
• Pick a color of your choice and mix a liberal amount of medium intensity with a little water. Mix well and charge your brush with it and start the application from left pulling a straight line of paint across the edge of the rectangle. Repeat the process until the middle half of the area you are working on. Lightly dab your brush on a sponge or tissue paper and dip the tip of your brush in the water and continue working on the previous stroke; overlapping it. This would automatically blend the color with water. Repeat the process all through out the bottom. 

• It is alright to reapply and do a second coating to correct uneven strokes. Make sure to dry well before reapplication.

I did a second application here.

A third and final application to smoothen the transition.

• It really takes practice to perfect your wash. Experiment with different colors and intensities. You may try with one color to another for interesting multi-color effects. You can also practice this technique with some basic shapes like the sample rendering below. 

Graded wash used in rendering a cone.

Flat wash used in rendering a slab.

Note: Do not forget the light and shadow lesson I taught you in the previous lessons. No matter what medium you decide to use in the future, you always need to consider your light source.