Water Control Tool
When learning to paint in watercolor or improving your watercolor painting skills, controlling the amount of water in your brush is very important. The ratio of water to paint, paint to water, water to paper, etc. is one of the more difficult things to learn.
Years ago, I took a number of Zoltan Szabo watercolor painting workshops. I learned this little trick in his workshop. It's in several of his books as well.
Create your own blotter. With this blotter, you will learn how to control the water in your brush faster than you would trying to use a sponge or an old kitchen towel.
1. Take a cheap roll of toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper. Squish it flat once or twice to crimp the inner cardboard tube. Pinch the tube with your fingers.
2. Twist and pull out the cardboard tube. Completely remove it. Recycle it. :)
3. I prefer Bounty paper towels. You will need 5 sheets in length of regular paper towels or 10 sheets select-a-size (my favorite!). Take the long length and fold it in half lengthwise. Then fold in each short side half way to the middle, this will end up about the width of the toilet paper roll. Wrap and roll the toilet paper with the paper towel.
4. Stuff it into a square plastic container. I used an old square Tupperware sandwich container. Charge or pre-wet the top of the surface with a little clear water.
You now have the perfect watercolor paint brush blotter, cleaner and water control tool.
As you paint, blot your brush on the top to decrease the amount of water in your brush. Swipe a paint filled brush across the top if you have too much paint in your brush. Or swipe a dirty paint brush across the top before cleaning it in your water, this will help your water container to stay cleaner longer.
The top gets dirty, swipe a wet wash brush across the top a couple times with clear water and the paint seeps into the middle of the roll. If it gets really dirty, twist the entire roll until a clean portion of paper towel is a the top. This little tool lasts quite a long time.
As silly as it sounds, it really is a good learning tool and extremely handy!
