Watercolor Painting

WATERCOLOR is a painting technique that uses water soluble pigments that can be transparent or opaque. It is easy to apply but must be done with utmost care due to its quick drying properties.

There are a variety of techniques with watercolor application. However, I will just introduce the most basic ones and the rest  as we go along. You may want to try and experiment with new techniques. I encourage you to explore your creativity!

For starters, here is what you need:

• 16 colored set of Watercolors (I would suggest Prang)
• #9 rounded brush (You may also use a flat brush, if you want)
• Acid free Watercolor Pad (Canson)
• Water
• Tissue Paper (a roll)
• Mixing plate, bowl or bottle

TECHNIQUE 1: FLAT WASH

A  technique which gives a solid color in an area.

Instructions:

• Draw a 3" x 2" rectangle on your paper.

• Put a liberal amount of water in your mixing plate and select a color of your choice and mix it with water. Mix a medium intensity of paint. Make sure that you mix enough so you would not run out  of the mixture in the middle of your application. Otherwise, you might have to mix again and may not achieve the same intensity of color value

• Tilt your watercolor pad about 8 to 11 degrees so the color will pool on each stroke and be picked up on the next until you reach the bottom of an area you are working on.

• Dip your brush on the color mixture and start the application from left to right by dragging the paint with the tip of your brush across the area towards the right side of the rectangle. Dip your brush into the mixture again and let your brush pick up the previous stroke starting from your left and drag the pool of mixture towards the right end of the rectangle. Repeat the process until you have reached the bottom of the area you are working on. Once you reached the end line, pick up the excess mixture on your paper with your brush and dab it on a tissue paper; repeat until all excess liquid is out from the bottom of the rectangle.

Tips:

• To achieve an intensified tint, let the surface dry naturally and you may reapply the mixture by following the same process.
• Always stir the mixture before picking it up with your brush to avoid settling of pigments. You have to do this quickly so you can catch up with the pool of mixture that was previously applied to avoid from drying up. Undesirable water marks might be noticeable once it starts to dry up. 

See next post for technique 2.