Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Paint Fresh from the Tube

Sometimes you gotta work out of the box. Take a break from what you normally do. I prefer to squeeze my watercolor paints into a nicely arranged palette allow them to dry and set up before using. Do you do the same? Then today's tip is just for you!

Squeeze a little fresh watercolor paint out onto your palette.

Create a painting using fresh from the tube watercolor paint!

What do you notice that is different?

Perhaps, you'll find it easier to get certain colors to go dark.

Are you someone who's watercolors are normally rather pale?

Splurge a little today, test out what it's like to paint with watercolor paint fresh from the tube.

Enjoy and have fun with it.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Painting Sky Around Buildings or Objects

If you are having trouble painting your sky around buildings or objects while creating your painting right side up, try turning your board upside down.

Sometimes while trying to paint the sky around a house or a barn can be difficult to paint because it's further away, the strokes feel odd, it's a drippy wet sky and you're afraid of runs.

Twist your painting board around, so the sky is now closer to you. Tilt your board, so if the sky drips, it drips off the edge of the painting on onto the tape and not onto your buildings.

If you paint on a board, your painting can be twisted and turned as needed to make the brush strokes feel more natural and make it easier to paint.

You don't need to paint an entire painting right side up.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Top Side?

I often get asked by my students, "Which side is the right side and which is the wrong side of the watercolor paper?"

If you are very particular and only want to paint on the top side of the paper, here's a tip for you. Do you purchase your paper in full sheets, then trim them down to quarter sheets to paint?

1. Look for the watermark

2. Using a pencil, lightly mark each corner with a small T.

3. Trim down your paper to quarter sheets.

4. You will now know which side is the top.

Having said all of that, if you're just starting out in watercolor buy high quality 140 lb. 100% cotton rag acid free watercolor paper and use both sides to practice on. The quality of the paper is the most important thing.

Many different brands of watercolor paper have a slightly different finish on both sides. Some manufacturers purposely make one side rougher than the other. Most of the time you can tell the difference between the top and the bottom, because the pulp is spread out onto a screen to dry. But there really isn't a right side and a wrong side to the paper.

Which side do you prefer to paint on?

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Colorful Shadows

Shadows do not need to be a dull plain gray. Add a little bit of color to your shadows and take your watercolors a step further. It's very easy to think of shadows as a simple flat gray. Make the shadows come alive with color.

Add a bit of local color, color from the ground, color from the sky, reflected color from the object that is casting the shadow. Add a bit of warm glow from the sun. Your painting will be livelier and more interesting with colorful shadows.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Popped a Dried Color?

I squeeze tube watercolor paint into my palette and allow them to dry completely before I use them. After a while, some colors tend to dry harder than other colors. The plastic palettes flex a bit, with traveling or even just moving them around the studio, it's rare but sometimes a hardened color will pop out of its well.

There's a simple solution to replacing a popped color:

1. Don't discard the popped color.

2. Clean the empty well with a wet brush and then wipe it out with a tissue or damp sea sponge.

3. Using clean water, brush across the bottom and sides of the hard paint.

4. Press firmly back into place.

Allow it to dry and you're back in business. Wetting the bottom of the dried paint will cause it to get sticky enough to stick back in place.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Granulation Medium

There are several different mediums available for watercolor painting. One of the mediums made by Winsor & Newton is called Granulation Medium. It gives a granulated or mottled appearance to colors that tend to dry in a smooth even wash.

For my sample, I used MaimeriBlu's Cupric Green. First I wet my brush with plain water, dabbed it into my color and created a square swash of the cupric green. Then I cleaned my brush in clear water and blotted it dry on a towel.

I poured a small amount of the Granulation Medium into a tiny little cup. I wet my brush with the medium, then picked up some of the cupric green from my palette and created the larger swash of color.

As the colors dried, the larger swash with the medium did not dry as a flat smooth color. It has slight changes in tone and a slight granulated textured appearance. It does have a splotchy, mottled, grainy look.

This can be useful in creating interesting backgrounds, stormy skies. Be creative and give watercolor mediums a try.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Sedimentary Colors

Some watercolor paints are sedimentary, which means there are particles within the paint's pigments when used in a wet wash they will sink to the bottom of the pool of water even on your paper. This may cause a granulating textured effect when dry.

In the example shown here, I am using MaimeriBlu watercolor paints, Burnt Sienna (puddle on the top left) and Ultramarine Deep (puddle on the top right). The center puddle is a mixture of the Burnt Sienna and the Ultramarine Deep. This creates a nice gray color when mixed evenly. If you want it to lean a bit more to the blue side, add more Ultramarine Deep. If you want it to lean more to the brown side, add more Burnt Sienna. This mixture also has the ability to go very dark and create a nice rich black.

Sample 1: A mixture of the two colors mixed completely on the palette and applied to dry paper.

Sample 2: I applied a juicy wet Burnt Sienna to the paper and then added wet Ultramarine Deep and mixed it directly on the paper. Allowed to dry naturally.

Notice how even the color is when first mixed on the palette and then notice how you can obtain a more varied watercolor effect by mixing the colors right on the paper.

Sample 3: I applied a small square of water to wet the paper first, then I painted on the premixed color.

Sample 4: Again, I applied a square of clean water to wet the paper first. I added in the Burnt Sienna and then added the Ultramarine Deep and mixed them together on the wet paper.

Having wet the paper first, you will be giving the sedimentary colors more water to float around in. The different particles will sink to the bottom at different rates.

Allow your sedimentary and granulating colors to dry naturally on their own. Do not speed up the drying process with a hair dryer. If you allow these colors to dry on their own, they will work their own magic and create a fabulous texture.

These two colors are both sedimentary and create a beautiful granulating effect. Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Deep are great color combination for creating rocks, trees, stormy skies.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Staining Colors Can Stain Your Palette

Yesterday, I began preparing for my watercolor class which starts tomorrow.  I took out my old class palette which is just like the bottom one shown here.  The last time I had used it, I guess I left the red paint a little bit wet.  Red paint had drizzled down out of it's well and spread across the big mixing area.  Having been there for months, it left a nice big red stain in the white plastic.  It would not wipe clean with plain water or even soap and water.  I decided to try a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge.  I dampened the sponge and swiped it through the big stain and it disappeared!  I was so happy, because I find it very distracting to have remnants of old colors on my palette even when they're nothing but a stain and cannot interfere with the new colors I'm mixing.  

I was so pleased, I wiped away the big red stain, I cleaned up the edges of the palette, the lid and bottom too with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, it is magic!  It even wipes away Sharpie marker.  I was able to wipe off the names of colors that were no longer in my palette.  I normally use nail polish remover to remove the old names.  I always write the name of the watercolor on the sides of my palette.  

After I so nicely cleaned up my palette I thought, this could be the new Tuesday's Tip!  Only problem was, my palette was clean, how can I show you?  A picture of a nice white palette means nothing, it could be new.  So I dug out all of my palettes.  I found one with a light green stain (bottom of the stack) and one with a purple stain (top of the pile) and the inside of a lid.  I snipped off about an inch of one of the Mr. Clean Sponges, dampened it and only partially wiped away each stain so you can see how well it worked.  Afterwards I wiped it down with a damp paper towel to remove any residue.  

Give those old white plastic palettes a fresh white look!

I even tried it on my white art table top.  It removes sharpie pen marks, pitt pen marks, dingy grey marks and even acrylic paint splatters.  Amazing stuff! 

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Charts, Charts & More Charts

One of my favorite charts is my chart of brands and colors. I will write the name of the brand of watercolor paint at the top of the page. Then I will paint a swatch of each color and label them with a fade proof black pen. I will note if it is a transparent, opaque or semi-opaque color. Sometimes I will add the manufacturers notations as well, what grade the paint is, if it is fugitive and if it's a staining color. If I purchase a new color I make sure I add it to my brand chart. This is a great way to see the variety of colors you have tested and tried over the years.

In watercolor painting, it is good to really learn your palette. Study your colors. Create charts. You end up with a bunch of charts. A great way to keep track of all your charts is to put them into a 3 ring binder. I have created a bunch of my charts on 300 lb. watercolor paper because it's durable and my favorite paper weight to paint on. I make sure they'll fit within a 3 ring binder and then use a three hole punch on one side. Pop them into the binder and they're all stored in one place.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Lose the Fear, Enjoy the Process

My tip for the very last Tuesday of 2009 is basically ... Just Paint!

We have all been wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it's time to just relax and paint something. Paint anything!

Don't fear the blank sheet of watercolor paper. Here's a plan to start. Following the rule of thirds, draw a horizontal line 1/3 up from the bottom of your piece of watercolor paper. Wet the top 2/3 with clear water. Now let your mind wander. Dip those brushes into colors of paint. Create something, create anything. Create a landscape. Start with a sky. Add in a pale background. Use medium tones for a middle ground and darker tones for a fore ground.

Forget your fears, forget the craziness of the holiday season and loose yourself in a painting. Enjoy the process!

I hope you have enjoyed my weekly Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting. I have really enjoyed creating them! Hope you continue to follow me through the new year.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Blow Drying Your Watercolors

Yes, you can use a regular hand held hair blow dryer for drying your watercolor paintings. The key is not use the blow dryer until the watercolor paint and water have finished doing their job of mixing, mingling and blending. You can speed the drying process by using a blow dryer on your wet watercolors. Make sure the watercolor paint is not drippy wet, otherwise you will run the risk of blowing the color across the page to areas where you don't want it to be.

Blow drying your watercolor paintings can speed the drying process so you can go onto the next step. You definitely want your watercolor to be completely dry if your next step involves a hard edge or a fine line.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Practice Strokes

Another great use for those left over scraps from trimming watercolor paper down to size or removing those giant watermarks and embossed logos is practicing strokes.

Let's just say you're trying to get the right stroke for painting those whispy leafless tree limbs. Pick up a scrap of watercolor paper and practice. You don't want those strokes to look all the same. You want variety in shape and size. A patchy scruff of grass, do you have the right color, the right brush, the right amount of paint and water?

A scrap of watercolor paper is perfect for practicing until you get the desired stroke down pat.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Scraps for Colors

Watercolor paper comes in big sheets 22" x 30" inches. Often times we trim down the big sheets to paint a bunch of smaller paintings. There are times when I do not want the company's huge watermark showing up on my paintings, so I will trim those off too.

What are we left with? A bunch of little scraps.

Save these little scraps. They can come in very handy for testing colors and choosing colors for a painting. You can use them to see how the colors you have chosen blend together and mix to make more colors. You can use them to make a swatch of colors used in a painting that you will not be able to finish in one sitting. Paint a little square of each color and label the colors with a pen or pencil. That way, when you are ready to start painting again you will know exactly which yellow, red or green you were using.

Save your scraps!

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Flower Centers

When painting flower petals, leave a space for the center. Do not paint the color of the petals all the way to the center of the head of the flower and then add the center color either wet or dry. By doing this the colors will bleed into each other and it will not show up very well. Leave some of the white of the paper to fill in a pretty contrasting color for the center. This will allow the center of the flower to have a bit of it's own brilliance. It will also give the flower more depth and shape.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Loosen Up Your Watercolors

Stop gripping those watercolor brushes so tightly. Loosen your grip, actually try to paint while holding your brush further up the handle. Keep your fingers off of the metal ferrule.

In sample 1, 2 and 3, the tree, grass and flower are painted with a tightly held and controlled brush. Often times, painting like this causes the strokes to become very uniform and rigid.

In samples 4, 5 and 6, the tree, grass and flowers are painted with a very loosely held brush. The hand is not resting on the table top. Use your arm a bit more and not just the hand. The strokes are freer and looser. The outcome is a more relaxed, carefree and emotional painting.

A bonus to this more expressive style would be the bristles will last longer and maybe your hand will not cramp up as well. Loosen up your grip on your brushes to create more expressive and free flowing watercolors.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Choose Your Colors First

When working on a watercolor painting, it is a good idea to think ahead about what colors you want to use. Choose your colors before you put a brush to paper. If you are planning to paint a large area make sure you create a generous puddle of color or colors.

Here on my palette, I have ready to go primary red magenta, permanent violet bluish and ultramarine blue. I have even mixed a bit of the blue and purple together on my palette. Some colors I like to premix on the palette others I like to make sure I have enough of the color to use but will mix them on my paper.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

The Hidden Water Catastrophe

Just imagine you're painting a super fine watercolor line adding the last touch of detail to a painting and ... wham-0! A water drop slides down the underside of your brush ferrule and creates this big blurb of color ruining your last bit of detail.

Make sure you dry the ferrule of your brush before creating little detailed areas or just adding a touch of color in a relatively small area. You don't want that hidden water gathering on the underside of the brush ferrule to build up and slide down the bristles to wreak havoc on your painting.

One of the big secrets to successful watercolor painting is water control. So make sure you don't have hidden excess water on the ferrule or even the handle of your brush.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Clean Your Brushes

Thoroughly rinsing your brushes with clean water when done painting for the day is semi-sufficient. It is a good thing to clean your watercolor painting brushes occasionally with soap. It helps condition the bristles and clean out some of the hidden paint. I use the Master's Brush Cleaner and Preserver. It comes in a little round container and so far it has lasted me a very long time.

1. Gather your brushes, the brush soap and dip your brushes in water.

2. Swish the brush over the soap a few times.

3. I then swirl the brush on my white painting table, to lather up the bristles. Rinse in water and repeat. I repeat this process until the soap lather is white and the brush is clean.

4. Rinse in water. I use two water containers. One that is for the first soapy rinse and a second container of water for a cleaner final rinse. Then with your fingers, carefully form the bristles to a point and allow to dry flat.

This is a simple process that does not take long to do and it will help extend the life of your brushes.

Here's an extra little tip: Have a brush with a stray hair or two? Use this brush cleaner to clean your brush. Then lightly rinse the brush leaving a very small amount of soap behind. Using your fingers shape the brush to it's original point or shape. Allow to dry completely. Just remember to rinse the brush well before you begin to paint with it to remove all the soap.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Don't be Stingy with Your Water

This is a great tip. Make sure you use a large water container to rinse out your brushes. Often times I see people trying to paint an 11 x 15 inch (1/4 sheet) watercolor painting and they use a tiny cup of water to clean their brushes. Think big! The bigger your water container, the longer the water will stay clean and the fresher your colors will be. Guess what, dirty water will transfer to your painting.

Make sure you have a container that will hold at least one quart or one liter of water. I like to paint using at least two water containers and sometimes three. You don't need a fancy water container. Think green, recycle. Wash and reuse a food container. I have a bunch of organic yogurt containers which I bring to my classes to give to students who bring in a teeny tiny cup.

Shown here is exactly what is on my painting table this morning. One Tupperware container which was forgotten at my house after a party. I still do not know who it originally belonged to, but it makes a great water container for painting. One lingonberry container (fabulous swedish berries) and one quart sized organic yogurt container.

I always keep one filled with clean clear water, perfect for blending away and softening an edge or wetting the paper. The other two end up with different stages of dirty water. As you paint, if the water becomes real dirty, change it. Dump it out and start with fresh. You don't want to be able to paint color on your paper with your water because most of the time it is an ugly grey-ish brown.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Working Mat

A great addition to your watercolor equipment and supplies is a working mat. As you are painting and trying to decide ... is this painting complete? Use a pre-cut mat to lay over your artwork to help you make your decision. I have several of these working mats in a variety of sizes. These are mats you can use and reuse and not worry if you get fingerprints on them or splash of paint. This is not a mat to use when framing a completed piece.

You can cut your own mat. You can also find an inexpensive mat in the reject or bargain bin at your local art supply store. They often discount mats they cut in the wrong size or color for a customer. Keep a working mat on hand when you are painting.