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Watercolour Practice
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Front cover
Duck Eggs and Spring Elizabeth Jane Lloyd
Times are given here as a guideline: you may want to spend a lot more. Your research and writing time to produce
a study, time for reflecting on your learning and logging your learning are built into the guideline times below.
Introduction 5
Appendix
Guidelines for submission for formal assessment 180
Learning new skills in painting and drawing in any media requires time and practice. It is
important to approach a new medium with an open mind and an experimental approach to
techniques.
While sometimes considered limited or constricting, watercolours have great versatility and by
their nature can create effects in just moments that can capture fleeting sights and
experiences with both power and simplicity. Techniques and effects can be learned and
certain problems avoided but the aim of this course is for you to develop your own individual
means of expression and to avoid the pitfalls of ‘rights and wrongs’ in the often formulaic
approach to watercolour adopted by many books, courses and teachers.
Watercolour has a great tradition and many fine artists for you to study and learn from. The
history of watercolour is well worth exploring and a section of the Introductory Course
Information booklet is devoted to it. You should explore this further in your own individual
research. But try to keep an open mind about what you wish to achieve with this versatile,
unique and fluid artists’ medium.
Time: You should spend at least 10 hours a week on this course, mostly on practical work.
There are also references in the course to research (Research Points). These involve you in
looking at paintings to inform your practical work, develop your judgement and your level
of achievement as a painter. If you only have 10 spare hours per week, set aside one of
those hours for research. If you spend this amount of time each week on the course you
should finish it in about 10 months.
In historical accounts of the development of watercolour different writers have seen things in
different ways and as such they emphasise a variety of aspects of watercolour painting.
Some authors take the view that watercolour painting really started in England with Paul
Sandby (1730-1809). Watercolour painting existed well before the eighteenth century but
English watercolourists of that century were so widely acclaimed that watercolour painting
became known as the English Art and Sandby is often credited with its invention. However
the German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) had painted hundreds of watercolours more
than two hundred years previously. The watercolour illumination of manuscripts was a major
art form for almost a thousand years before Dürer. Illuminations that have been painted in
what can only be described as watercolour have survived from the sixth century AD.
Towards the end of the twentieth century there was something of a resurgence of interest in
watercolours as a ‘serious’ painting medium, and artists such as Elizabeth Blackadder and
Norman Adams have shown that watercolours can be used in a personal and expressive way
and have given the medium a new lease of life. Contemporary artists such as Andy
Goldsworthy have also used watercolour methods on occasion.
There are a number of different kinds of paint that are water-based. These include poster
paints, gouache and acrylics. They are water-based in that water is used to thin them.
However the properties of these paints are very different from what we shall be referring to
as watercolours. While the paints listed can be diluted so that they can achieve a certain
transparency (some pigments more than others) they are fundamentally opaque, whereas the
chief characteristic of watercolour is its transparency. The paint when moistened with plain
water creates a transparent stain which is then applied to white or tinted paper. The classical
English method is to use the white ground of the paper as the lightest tone and to apply
varying loads of pigment or layers of transparent washes in order to achieve gradations of
tone and colour.
All paints have three constituents – first, coloured pigment particles; second, a medium
which, when mixed with the pigment, binds the particles together to make the particular
kind of paint; and third a diluent (sometimes called a vehicle) which is a liquid of some kind
which allows the artist to thin the paint to the required consistency. In the case of
watercolours the pigment is ground very finely into gum arabic (the medium) which comes
from the acacia tree. The gum is easily dissolved in ordinary water (the diluent) and when
the paint is applied by a brush to paper, it adheres firmly to the surface. The gum also acts
as a light, thin varnish and gives the colour greater brilliance.
It is worth pointing out here that in the context of painting the word medium has more than
one meaning. It can mean the kind of paints used – the medium of oils or the medium of
watercolours, for instance. As explained above, it can also mean the substance which is
mixed with the pigment to bind it together. To further complicate things, if you look through
artists’ materials catalogues you will see lists of ‘mediums’ for mixing with paints, for
example, to obtain special effects or accelerate drying.
Watercolours are available in pans (small ‘cakes’ of colour in rectangular white containers) or
tubes. You will learn more about this in ‘Choosing materials and equipment’.
Although often considered limited and constricting, watercolours in fact have great
versatility. Their chief characteristic is their transparency. The paper on which they are
painted shines through the thin transparent layer of paint and gives it a sparkle and
brilliance of colour that cannot be achieved by any other painting medium. Once on the
paper however, watercolours cannot easily be changed. Changes are possible, as you will
discover, which is contrary to a myth about watercolours; that alterations are impossible. The
difficulty in making alterations to a watercolour painting is, nevertheless, one of the reasons
for such a strong emphasis being put on painting to a predetermined formula, leaving
nothing to chance. It is also why watercolour painting is often approached so tentatively.
The formality and mystique surrounding watercolours can be intimidating and prevents an
understanding that the medium can be exciting to handle. The true fascination of
watercolour painting lies in its unpredictability – chance if you like. You can exploit and
enjoy this uncertainty. Often the paint itself, if you let it, will do things you would never have
dreamt of. What you have to do is recognise and retain happy accidents.
The paper on which you paint plays an important part in watercolour painting and because
of the transparency of the paint, any marks on the paper tend to show through. The actual
surface texture of the paper is therefore important and lines drawn on the paper with pencil
or ink, for example, can be painted over and still seen through the layer of paint. Other
effects can be created by, for example, scratching the surface of the paper with a knife or a
sharp point, or drawing on it with a material which will resist the paint, such as a wax
crayon.
There are also mould-made papers, which are machine-made papers which look very similar
to hand-made papers. There are three standard grades of surface to these papers:
• Hot-pressed – a smooth, glossy surface
• NOT (which means not hot-pressed) – a medium rough textured surface
• Rough – a highly textured, almost crinkled surface.
The NOT surface is suitable for most uses, though with experience other surfaces can be used
to good effect. Mould-made papers are very good and much cheaper than hand-made ones.
There are other machine-made papers which are cheaper than mould-made but some have a
monotonous surface texture and if they are too light they tend to buckle (form bumps and
hollows) when wet.
Paper is available in different weights and sizes. The weight indicates the thickness of the
paper. Papers of 300gms (gram per square metre) or 140lbs (meaning 140lb weight per
ream of 500 sheets) and over can be used for painting without any preparation. Lighter
papers usually need to be stretched before you can paint on them. If you work on larger
pieces of paper you will find a greater degree of buckling at this weight so if you wish to
work larger than A2 a 200lb or heavier paper is recommended. We will be asking you to use
paper which does not need to be stretched.
It does not follow that the most expensive paper will give the best results. Once you have
some experience of watercolour painting and have an idea of the approach to painting that
interests you, you will be able to find the best paper for your style of painting. It is no use,
for example, buying expensive absorbent hand-made paper if your way of working involves
rubbing and scratching the paper surface, as this will only cause it to become battered and
woolly. A much harder paper will be more suitable.
• For some of your assignments you will need sheets of watercolour paper in order to
make large paintings. These can usually be found at your local art shop where you can
buy individual sheets. The sheets come in the same grades and qualities as you will find
in a pad and vary slightly in size. A good quality paper is recommended for your
assignment paintings and a NOT surface is usually suitable for all but you may use
other surfaces if you prefer them.
• Two or three sketchbooks: an A4 size and a small one (A5 or A6) which will go in a
pocket or bag and can be taken everywhere. You may find that you also want a much
larger sketchbook as your work increases in size. Sketchbooks don’t have to be of
watercolour paper and the paper doesn’t have to be 300gms in weight. You won’t be
using watercolours all the time in your sketchbooks and if the paint causes slight
buckling on a few pages it doesn’t matter. Don’t however buy sketchbooks with very
thin smooth paper. These are not suitable for the kind of work you will be doing. In
general the smaller the format the lighter the paper you can get away with using.
• Watercolours are available in two kinds: Artists’ and Students’. Artists’ quality
watercolours are generally more finely ground, are purer pigments and are the best
available but Students’ watercolours are cheaper and could be used for this course. The
best paints will not necessarily produce the best paintings!
• The choice is yours to decide whether to buy pans, half pans, or tubes of watercolour
paint. Pans are neater to store and good to take with you when you are working
outside. Tubes, on the other hand, are preferred by some artists as they can provide rich,
intense colour more quickly than pans.
• Pans are available in two sizes, pans and half pans. You will probably be familiar with
the traditional watercolour paint box made from enamelled metal with a lid which
doubles as a palette when opened out. These watercolour boxes have divisions in which
to place pans or half pans and clips to hold them in place. Watercolour boxes can be
bought fitted with paints, or empty for you to fill with your own choice of colours. If you
decide to use watercolour pans you will need a suitable box for them, so if you haven’t
already got one, buy a box of a size which will hold the number of colours we suggest
you have, plus a few extra which, no doubt, you will wish to add to your range of
colours later. Similar boxes with lids which can be used as palettes are also available for
watercolour tubes. You could use any small, strong box, for example a small ice cream
tub to hold your paints and have a separate palette.
• Tubes also come in different sizes and it is economical to buy larger tubes of most used
colours.
• You can be sparing in the amount of paint you squeeze out from a tube but try not to
let economy dictate what you do and don’t be too conscientious about cleaning
palettes – residues can always be used again.
Almost all painters and painting tutors have their own ideas about the most useful colours to
buy. In the end the choice is yours and you may wish to experiment with additional colours
as the course proceeds.
There are excellent substitutes for sable on the market, including brushes which combine
sable with synthetic hairs. These brushes are considerably cheaper and you will find by
experiment which ones suit you best. One test you can carry out in most art shops is to dip a
pointed brush in a pot of water before you buy it. If it comes to a good point when you draw
it out, you will probably have a useful brush for watercolour. Your tutor may have advice
about brushes too. If you have access to the internet you will find companies offering
reasonably priced sable brushes which you can order online.
The most important features of watercolour brushes are their ability to hold paint and water,
and their keeping a good point. Natural hair or synthetic bristles each have different qualities
and it is a good idea to try a range of brushes if you can to find the ones which suit your
needs the best.
You can make a start with only three brushes but as you progress through the course you
may find you need more, so that you do not have constantly to clean them before using
another colour.
OCA Painting 1: Watercolour Practice 15
Palettes
If you don’t have a conventional watercolour paint box, a large white saucer, a white enamel
plate or an old white dinner plate could be used as a watercolour palette but you will have
to be cautious about where the colours run into each other. You may also wish to have a
palette in addition to using your paint-box lid. If you have already completed one of our
other painting courses you may well have one of these already which has been used as a
palette for acrylics. There are various kinds of palettes available for watercolours at artists’
materials shops. The most common are chinaware ‘saucers’ with divisions for different
colours. There are many cheap plastic or aluminium alternatives; either round or oblong with
wells for mixing. Whatever you use, it must have space for you to squeeze out your paints, if
you are using tubes, and also plenty of space for mixing colours. If you are using pans you
only need space for colour mixing. Once you have tried out your paints you will soon have a
good idea of how much space you will require.
Masking fluid
Art masking fluid is sometimes used to protect areas of your paper from washes of colour. It
is essential for some projects, but you only need a small bottle. It is important to read the
cleaning instructions if you choose to use masking fluid as it can be difficult to remove from
a brush especially when it starts to dry. It is a good idea to use a cheap synthetic brush with
masking fluid or a stick. If you use a brush you will have to wash it quickly with warm soapy
water before the latex solidifies.
Note: some makes of masking fluid come with a special fine nozzle which can be more
effective to use than a brush.
Bulldog clips, drawing pins or masking tape will be needed to fix your paper to your board.
The type of clips needed will depend on the thickness of the board.
Water pots
These could be glass jars; for example jam jars or smaller glass containers. With glass jars it’s
easier to see when the water is getting dirty and needs to be changed. If you paint outside,
plastic pots or cut off water or milk bottles make a lighter alternative. The more pots you
have the better. Sometimes it’s worth keeping two or three by you to avoid crossing too many
colours as you keep dipping and mixing.
A note on art materials: The course can be done with two sorts of paper (140lb NOT
watercolour paper and sketchbook paper), a few brushes and about a dozen watercolour
paints plus a handful of additional materials.
Part one
Making a start
To start you need to learn to use the basic materials – brushes, paper and paint. Working
with new materials poses a challenge to all artists and takes time and patience. Remember
as you begin that everything you do will help to build up your knowledge and experience,
even the mistakes are important stages in your learning about watercolours and how they
behave.
Take time in between the projects to consider what happened during the process of painting
and assess how the end result turned out. Write your thoughts in your learning log to record
your progress and reflect on how you could improve your technique in the future. Look back
at earlier work and assess your progress noting in your learning log any areas that require
greater practice.
Try out the projects several times to make the most of your experience. You can try all sorts
of things in your sketchbooks which may come in useful later on. Try new colours, unusual
brushes, painting over collage or textured paper made from gesso or paste, for example. Be
adventurous and explore what watercolours can offer you.
Materials: It is best to work on watercolour paper but if you have cheap sheets of light
absorbent paper you should use this now. You will need a range of brushes but begin with
size 6 – 10 and use a single colour each time.
Always add the paint (from your tubes or pans) to the water and not the other way round.
This gives you control over the strength of the colour in the mixture and ensures it is evenly
mixed. If you add water to the paint you cannot always tell how strong your colour will be
when you start brushing it on your paper.
Make a small pool of water in your palette using your brush and add a small amount of your
chosen colour to the water. Give it a good mix until the pigment has dissolved in the water.
Continue to add paint, a little at a time, until you have the desired strength of colour you
require. Test the mixture by painting a few patches on a scrap of watercolour paper. Spread
the paint thinly to see how light or dark your mixture is. You should not make a puddle of
paint but a smooth, thin layer which can dry quickly.
If your mixture is too pale when it dries continue adding paint to your mixture as above. If it
is too dark you can dilute it with a little more water but be careful not to add too much at a
time – a little goes a long way.
Once the colour is as you want it apply it in the following ways using a large watercolour
brush (size 6 or larger):
• Load the brush so that it is dripping with paint. Try to paint a small even patch on your
paper. What happens?
• Dry the brush and dip only the tip in the paint and attempt another small patch. Is this
easier?
• Load your brush again but this time it should not drip but still hold its point. Paint a
small even patch. How does this compare to the two previous attempts?
Too much paint on your brush may result in flooding the painting and will take a long time
to dry. This can be resolved if you respond quickly to correct the situation. All you need to do
is lightly touch the paint puddle with the tip of a dry brush and allow the paint to soak up
into the brush. Don’t try to move the brush in the puddle – you will get a patchy layer. If the
brush is full lift it off the page and dry it and return to the paint to soak up more of the
paint. Continue as necessary.
Look at the areas of colour you have painted and assess what you have learned about the
handling of watercolour. Make notes in your learning log.
Sunset J M W Turner
Try this exercise several times and each time try to control the gradual fading with greater
accuracy.
• What happens when the paint dries?
• Does a drier brush make fainter marks?
• Did you notice any progress in controlling the fade?
• At what stage do you need to add more water?
Make sure that you wash your brush carefully before continuing. You must be meticulous
with washing brushes and change your water frequently. Single colours such as the yellows
pollute very easily.
Repeat this exercise with a different contrasting colour. Do you notice any change in how the
paint behaves? Some paints leave greater residues as they dry.
Once your exercise sheets have dried out, work over the top of the brush marks that you’ve
made. Repeat the exercise overlapping on some of the dry marks. You could simply turn the
paper around to help you focus on your new sequence of fading marks.
Notice the way in which you have achieved tonal variation and how the transparent stains
combine to produce new shades of different colours.
Much of the skill involved in watercolour painting concerns both the controlled and
accidental combining of transparent layers of colour and allowing the white paper ground to
illuminate the colours and provide tonal contrast.
Put down some newspaper to protect your table or floor– this is a messy exercise. You will
need a large, at least an A3, sheet of paper.
Load your brush so that it is dripping with paint. Flick this across your paper a few times.
Allow this to dry or use a hair dryer to speed things up. What do you notice?
With a thoroughly clean brush repeat the exercise with a contrasting colour. How does the
colour mixing vary from the more controlled used of the brush in the previous exercise?
Once dry, using a large wash brush paint a faint but even wash of a third colour across half
the sheet of splash marks. What do you notice about your increasingly complex mix of tones
and shades of colour?
Take a single A3 sheet of paper from your watercolour pad and fix it to your painting board
using drawing pins, bulldog clips or masking tape. Make sure you have a clear work surface
so that nothing is in the way when you are working. Set out your paintbox and at least two
good-sized containers of water so that you do not have to stretch for them.
For this exercise, as for most others, work with your board at a shallow angle so that the
paper is easy to see. You could use an easel or rest the top edge of your board on books or
some other support, or you could put the board in your lap and rest it against a table or
chair back, whichever is most comfortable. Don’t have your board at such a steep angle that
the paint runs down the paper.
Fish
Take a no. 10 or 12 sable or similar brush. Decide on a blue from your tubes or pans and
take water on your brush to the paint. Mix up enough paint on the palette or a saucer to be
able to make plenty of brush marks. Try a few shapes on scrap paper first if you like, but
don’t spend much time doing this.
Paint a single, simple blue shape that looks like a fish. Any fish will do, but keep it simple.
Paint your fish in one half of the paper, as you will be using the other half for the next
exercise.
Try to let the brush help you make the shape of the fish. The curved side of the brush can be
used as well as the point. A single brush mark may do the trick for the body, depending on
the size of your brush; if not, move the watercolour around to get a good shape with a more
or less uniform colour. You will probably find it easier to work from the inside, pushing the
fluid paint outwards to make the body edge; this edge can then be extended with the brush
point to suggest fins. If these suggestions don’t suit you, use the brush in whatever way you
like to get a reasonable looking fish.
However you work, be quick and don’t alter the shape once it is made. Now paint more fish
shapes around your first fish. Paint each quite quickly, but try to improve on their ‘fishness’ as
you go. Stop when you have a little shoal.
Leaves
Now choose a green from your box and mix up enough paint to make another group of
shapes. This time make the shapes look like leaves. Paint leaves on the other half of the same
sheet of paper. Once again let the brush help you create the shape of the leaves. It is always
better to work ‘with the grain’ of your materials if you can. Group your leaves together to
make a simple plant or branch. If two wet leaf
shapes touch, you may get paint running from
one leaf into the other. Don’t worry about this.
Working quickly, paint fish or leaf shapes across the entire page. Try to make your fish look
like a shoal, or your leaves something like branches or plants, but leave some spaces between
the shapes for more shapes later on.
When everything is completely dry, take the paper and put it under the tap. Wash off the
paint until the fish or leaves look quite faint. You can help this along by brushing the paint
gently as you run the tap over it. Let the paper dry completely.
Mix up some blue paint using plenty of water – perhaps a different blue if you already have
blue fish. Paint over half the shoal or branch or plant, as in the following illustration.
You have now, in this sequence of activities, experienced two of the main ways of picture-
making with watercolours. You have made coloured marks on the paper and you have also
applied a wash, a layer of paint covering a larger area. You have also seen the value of
removing a colour.
In these exercises you will begin to use watercolour in broad bold washes of colour. This is a
fundamental technique common to most watercolour paintings and an essential one to
master at an early stage. It helps you get to know what the paint can do on wet and dry
paper, how the colour dries, and how much paint to load the brush with to achieve large
areas of colour.
Big areas of wash are useful for flat skies, large areas of plain colour on which to build more
detail later, and as a base for an entire painting. They can also be used to unify a painting
by adding a pale coloured wash over the whole thing once the final layers have dried.
Washes do not always have to be painted as large areas of colour and small patches of paint
can also be termed as a wash. These are used to build up your painting in stages. The
patches of colour you will use in the following projects are an example of this.
Washes
This section deals with carefully controlled washes. These are usually made with a soft wash
brush but can also be made with a piece of sponge. You need something that will carry a fair
amount of paint. John Sell Cotman’s wash technique demonstrates exceptional delicacy and
control. Broad areas of colour have smaller secondary colour shapes nested within them, so
that each larger area is both simple and rich. In spite of the complexity that Cotman
achieves, his pictures are often made up from just one or two simple wash techniques.
Take a sheet of A3 paper. Mix up enough paint with a generous amount of water in a saucer
to cover an area equivalent to your sheet. You can choose how light or dark you want to
make this wash and what colour you will use. It can be a good idea to use a bristle brush to
mix a large amount of paint like this.
Choose a large soft brush – either round or flat will do – and charge it with plenty of paint.
Paint across the top of the page. Use the gentle slope of the board to help you keep a
continuous line of wet colour forming at the lower edge of the wash. Use your brush to move
the accumulating paint at the lower edge of the wash smoothly and evenly across and down
the page. You should be aiming for a flat featureless surface.
When the wash is dry, paint a simple shape in a dark colour in one area. Now assess the
simple pictorial possibilities of a shape on a coloured ground.
Take a sheet of paper and the same large soft brush, but mix half the amount of paint used
before. Then in a second saucer mix a similar amount of a second colour. In a third saucer
prepare a mix, in equal quantities, of the two colours you have already chosen.
Now using your first colour make a continuous colour wash from the top down about a third
of the page.
Work quickly, while the first colour is wet and continue the wash down through the middle
third of the page using your prepared mixed colour. When there is about a third of the page
to go, change to your other pure colour to complete the wash.
Don’t forget your tutor is there to help and advise you at all stages of your course and a
quick phone call or email may encourage you to carry on even when you think you have
made little progress.
Using resists in watercolour opens up a lot of possibilities and extends your control over the
medium. A material that resists water and can be painted over and around can help you to
plan a composition with what are sometimes called reserved shapes.
The absence of paint or a lower level of paint layers can represent an object or be an
abstract feature. Allowing the white of the paper to shine through in a controlled area can
also represent the lightest tonal area in a composition.
Try these exercises again, this time with a coloured wax crayon or pale coloured oil pastel. Try
to make the relationship between crayon colour and watercolour pigment a feature of your
little pictures.
Masking Fluid
Masking fluid is a white or sometimes tinted rubber liquid which can be used for highlights,
keeping the paper white or creating shapes like the ones you have just made using wax. The
fluid is painted on with a brush or any other implement. When it is dry you paint over it.
When the paint is dry it can be easily rubbed off with the finger, leaving a sharp shape
where the rubber has been.
You will find tinted fluid easier to see against white paper; if you use white fluid on white
paper you can see the fluid more easily if you angle the paper so that light reflects on it
while it is still wet.
Brush care: This is very important when using masking fluid. Never use a good quality
brush as the latex may damage it. You need to wash your brush in warm soapy water
immediately after using the fluid. If you are not sure about this, do the exercises using a
stick to apply the fluid – the effect will be good enough to demonstrate the basic point.
Put some colour down and let it dry completely. This time, try painting your object directly on
to the dry colour without the help of a preliminary pencil sketch. You should be able to see
the object materialise because the background will be darker than the object you are
painting. When the fluid is completely dry paint over the whole area again, this time using a
darker colour. When this second layer is dry, gently rub it off with your finger (or a cloth).
Paint over an area of paper about the same size as the previous pattern with a wash of a
strong bright colour. Let the paint dry and then use masking fluid to draw a texture or
pattern over the first paint layer. When the fluid is dry, paint over the whole area again using
a rich dark colour. You should now have a two-colour pattern. If the pattern is not very clear
keep adding washes as each layer dries until it is.
Line drawings
Use masking fluid to make a line drawing of a linear subject: try electric pylons, a crowd of
stick men or anything using only lines. Sketch the scene with a pencil first if you like. When
you have something you think will look reasonably obvious when painted over, cover the
picture with a coloured wash.
If you were to have two colours to make a little picture like your previous scene what would
they be? There will be one colour for the lines (your first wash) and a second colour for the
rest of the picture, made from the colour of the first layer plus the overlaid colour of the
second. Try to predict a picture using these elements. Then proceed as in the previous
exercises.
If you have time you could experiment in your sketchbook using either or both of these
materials. Try some exercises based on the ones you have just done.
You may decide, once you have experienced some of the techniques in this exercise, that you
wish to work further on certain textures and effects. Watercolour can be used in many varied
ways to help you express your ideas.
You have already seen something of how different brushes produce different effects. But
there are many other ways to put paint on paper. If you have a range of methods to choose
from you will be able to make more effects, both observed and imagined.
The following exercises give you the chance to experiment with some of the options
available to you. You will need several sheets of A4 and A3 paper. You will also need:
• A small clean sponge or fragment of sponge
• A clean absorbent rag
• Some kitchen paper towel
• Two or three brushes which you did not buy for watercolour painting – a house-
painting brush, an old toothbrush, a hairbrush; any brushes will do as long as they
are clean.
As well as your regular watercolour brushes try to find some other type of brush from around
the house – an old tooth brush or house painting brushes for example. Using as many
different brush types as possible have a go at painting tree shapes and clouds. Use simple
colours at this stage so that the brush mark prevails.
Try making some of these effects on two different types of paper – one smooth (hot pressed
watercolour, or a thick cartridge paper for example), the other with a rough texture. What
happens?
Compare dry and wet versions. Notice the softness the damp
paper usually produces.
You can experiment further by adding blue layers and sponging out until you have a very
dark blue seascape with dramatic clouds. Remember you are just exploring what the paint
and sponge will do – not making a picture for exhibition. Lifting off (as this technique is
called) will be explored further in Part 3.
Colour can be lifted off your paper while it is still wet, or damp, with a cloth, sponge or
kitchen paper. Experiment with different effects such as dabbing with a scrunched up tissue
or rag to lift out cloud effects from a sky, or wiping away colour in a random texture to make
a foundation for your later painting.
Salt Crystals
Sprinkle rock salt over a wet wash of colour and leave it to dry. When the crystals are
brushed away see what pattern remains. Again how could you employ these effects?
This list of techniques is by no means exhaustive and you will most likely discover many more
as you explore painting in watercolour. If you are feeling really inventive you may find new
materials and equipment to make a whole new range of effects. At this stage try out as
many techniques as possible in your sketchbook and on watercolour paper to see what
difference the paper surface contributes to the effect.
Research Point
Before you start your own watercolour painting using some of the techniques outlined above,
try to get to see watercolour pictures in galleries and exhibitions, or look up some from
different periods and in different styles in books or on the internet.
Try to identify different techniques used by a variety of artists. Study the effects and assess
what the impact of these have on the style or mood of the picture. Make notes in your
learning log. Make a few sketches in your book to record your observations and try to
incorporate your findings in your own work.
Considering your results: Look through the experiments you have made. Can you think of
other (perhaps unexpected) ways in which watercolour paint can be laid on and
manipulated?
Think of the exercises that you have most enjoyed and start to consider how you might apply
techniques you have learned in painting a particular subject.
Make a number of small studies in your sketchbook using just pencil to help you to decide on
the arrangement of your picture. Half close your eyes and assess the light source, noting
where the light falls and where the deepest shades are. Do a simple drawing that shows
where the broad tonal areas fit together.
Now start your painting on another sheet of A3 paper. If it makes you feel more confident
you may wish to make some pencil marks to guide you before you begin to paint. But try to
work loosely and with a free hand, adding in or taking out colours. Make sure that you have
used at least two of the techniques and effects explored so far as your tutor will be looking
to see how you have experimented with the techniques in this part.
Put your name and student number on the back of the painting and send it together
with any of your portfolio work that you feel is especially effective, sketchbook pages
and learning log to your tutor.
Alternatively, with their agreement, you can photograph your work, learning log notes
and sketchbook pages and email them to your tutor. The aim of this initial assessment is
to open a dialogue with your tutor and to obtain some early feedback.