Watercolor painting is quite difficult to master and needs lots of practice by employing the right techniques. In the process of mastering watercolor painting, these techniques play an important role. The techniques evolved over a period of time since the watercolors were developed thousands of years ago.
Once you get a hang of watercolors, you’ll realize that they’re a complex but amazingly versatile medium. Now, let’s take a look at some of the creative water color techniques that are used in paintings:
1. Working dry to wet
When you’re painting using watercolors, you must consider the wet and dry factors. You can manipulate the saturation and darkness of the pigment depending on the amount of water that you’re adding. There are many ways, in which, the artists paint using watercolors.
Upon trying watercolor painting by adding water to the paint, you’ll know how much water to use and when. You can have more control by working dry to wet.
2. Working from light to dark
This is yet another fantastic technique worth considering. Anything in your watercolor painting that you’re keeping light or white needs to maintain its shade. It must stay this way for the entire duration of your work. Add the layers one upon the other in order to arrive at the desire effect. Of course, this would take much planning, but the results would be worth the effort.
3. Splattering the watercolors
Using the splatter watercolor technique, you can add some element of fun to your painting. Some of the examples are a water spray or floating dust. You need to hold your paintbrush between your thumb and middle finger. Then, pulling back on the bristles with your index finger, let them snap forward.
Although this technique is a bit unpredictable, it can yield good results. As it’s not completely reliable, you can use it as an experiment.
4. Bleeding the colors into one another
Also called blooming watercolor technique, it involves adding a good amount of water to the pigment in your brush. It is then applied to the paper. While the stroke is still wet, add another color with the same quantity of water. You can then make the necessary changes to move the colors to where they need to be. When this dries, you’ll notice the presence of simple gradients throughout the stroke.
5. Layering the colors
Watercolor is a thin medium and this gives it certain advantages. You can build up color gradually and mix colors right on the paper. Take a color and allow it to dry upon laying it down. Then add another shade. When they overlap, you’ll see a different color as the pigment mixes. This technique would be ideal for building flesh tones.
6. Scumbling
This technique involves layering the color in soft and indirect layers. It creates the hue and look that you want. You need to simply lay in strokes of paint that are partially wet in watercolor. When you’re adding more color, make sure you keep adding water as well.
This will make the colors blend and stay soft. Many of the oil painters use this watercolor painting technique in the process of creating soft hues of light and layered pigment.
