When I decided to learn watercolor years ago, I started with washes and glazing. These techniques may seem very basic and you're right, they are! I feel that practicing and/or learning these techniques at any stage of your painting career will very beneficial to your painting process. Below are demos and exercises. I am also providing free downloadable exercise charts that I used for you to print. All you need to do is click the link provided to load them.
Washes can be painted wet in wet by wetting your paper first or wet on dry by leaving your paper dry and painting directly onto it. I prefer the wet in wet because the paint blends better and paint doesn't streak as easily.
The most basic watercolor technique is the flat wash. It is produced by first wetting the area of paper to be covered by the wash, then mixing enough paint to easily fill the area. You then tilt the paper at an angle and apply the paint to the wet surface one stroke at a time, slightly overlapping each new stroke. Work the wash from the top to the bottom of the wash. Let the wash completely dry before glazing or applying new paint to this area. If it is not completely dry, you will get water spots.
This is a wash that naturally changes in value from dark to light. You start this wash the same as a flat wash. With every new stroke, you will dilute the paint slightly with water. The result is a wash that fades out gradually and evenly.
This wash is created by blending two or more colors so that each color retains its character while also blending with the other colors in the wash. Let’s say that we are painting a sunset. First, wet the area of paper to be covered by the wash. Then apply a blue wash at the top of your paper by applying two or three strokes across your paper. Rinse your brush and add two or three strokes of a red and do the above process again with a yellow wash. Finally tilt your paper at an angle and allow the colors to bleed into each other, creating a variegated wash.
Glazing is applying a wash on top of another completely dry wash. You can continue to layer washes of the same or different colors until you get the density or color you desire. Non-staining transparent paints work best for this technique. Glazing can be very beautiful producing luminous color.
This process takes patience because of the drying time required between layers. Don't cheat and try to lay a new wash down before the previous one is completely dry. You will lift the previous layer and get blotches. For that reason, I paint more than one painting at a time so I can continue painting during the drying process.
I am painting a graded wash for this demo. It works with flat washes and variegated washes also. This technique works well from sunrises and sunsets, but can be used for anything from leaves to apples. Have fun experimenting :)
I like to wet the paper before painting my first wash.
Start this wash by painting pure paint at the top of your paper. I used Transparent Yellow (Winsor Newton) for the first wash. With every new stroke, you will dilute the paint slightly with water.
I allowed the first wash to completely dry. I then painted an other graded wash working from top to bottom of the paper using Quinacridone Magenta.
I allowed the this wash to completely dry. I then painted an other graded wash working from bottom to the top of the paper using Winsor Blue - green shade. You can continue painting washes until you achieve the tone and dimension you desire.
Glazing Chart Demo
Below is a demo of my glazing chart. Choose six colors to work with. or this demo I have chosen Aureolin Yellow, Transparent Yellow, Quinacridone Magenta, Alizarin Crimson, Winsor Blue - green shade and Indanthrene Blue.
Write the color names in the spaces provided from left to right. Again, write the color names on the left hand side of the chart from top to bottom in the same order as before.
Referring to the colors you listed on the left hand side of the chart, paint the boxes across the row as shown above. Fill in the entire strip.
Continue working your way down the chart filling in all the rows. Let it completely dry.
Now that your colors have dried it is time to glaze your second color over the first layer. Referring to the colors you listed on the top of the chart, paint the boxes down the row as shown above. Fill in the entire strip.
Continue working your way across the chart filling in all the rows.
You have now completed your glazing chart.
When looking at your glazed watercolor chart, the light passes through the two washes, reflects of the white sheet of paper and returns back to your eye creating a luminous color mix of the two paints.
Below you can download the chart. Print off as many as you would like and have fun glazing as many colors as you would like.
I love watching people paint. Every painter has their own unique style as they go through the process - from their original concept, to the research they do, to the drawing, to the painting. If you are an artist you will understand that you get into a 'zone' as you create your art. That sure happens to me!!! There are many times when I finish a painting that I would love to go back and observe myself and the process I went through to accomplish it.
Taking photos as you paint is a way to go back and look at the process. I have started doing just that. Not with every painting mind you - it breaks up the zone and process too much for that - but with some paintings it's fun to do. Below you will see slide shows for two of my paintings - Eagle for Anthony and Beach Wedding.
Try photographing the process of one of your paintings. It is fun to go back and look at how it changes as you go.
December is a great month to focus on winter and snow paintings. It's fresh and we aren't tired of the white fluffy stuff yet. I dug out two older snowy paintings for examples of luminous winter colors. They both were painted with a limited palette of three paint colors, plus spatters and splashes of an opaque white for adding the snowflakes. The following two paintings were painted with the same color triad... Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo Green and Quinacridone Gold.
The grays in these paintings were made by mixing the two complementary colors of Alizarin Crimson and Phthalo Green. There are hundreds of potential grays available
when you mix complementary colors. In fact, the grays you mix will not be flat or boring, but luminous and exciting. Your painting will have much more interest when you mix grays instead of using and painting with grays out of a tube.
Make a chart using triad color scheme to mix beautiful, luminous grays or click the link below for a free printable pdf chart like the one I designed below. Try using different triad color combinations to see what different colors and grays you can achieve. The colors I used in the following chart are, Quinacridone Magenta, Windson Blue (green shade) and Transparent Yellow. Have fun!!!
Creating grays... You can very simply make gray by diluting black. The problem is that gray from a black tube of paint will often look flat and/or will look out of place on your painting. It may not have the same background colors that are in your painting. Also, hand-mixed grays are typically closer to what you see in nature.
Primary and Secondary Colors... 1. You will be mixing the primary and corresponding complimentary colors together - red and green; blue and orange; and yellow and purple. 1 . Choose three primary colors and paint the them in the first row of boxes. 2. Using the primary colors, mix your secondary colors and paint them in the second row of boxes.
Working down the Chart... 3. We switch gears a bit now by working down the rows instead of across. 4. The next steps (noted below) are to mix the primary and complimentary colors above and below each other - red and green; blue and orange; and yellow and purple.
Painting the luminous grays... 5. Make a water puddle and add your first primary color - red. 6. Add a small amount of your secondary color to your puddle - green - and paint the color you just created into the box directly below the red and green boxes. 7. Continuing adding small amounts of green to the existing puddle and painting the boxes below as you make new colors. (Look at the painted example in the above photo.) Your colors will start looking mostly red to gray-red, to gray-green to almost green. 8. Continue this with the other two complimentary and secondary colors.
Note: any time you are painting and would like to tone down a color, use the above method - mix that color with it's complimentary to tone it down.