Wash Swatches

Wash Swatches
Watercolour on Paper
26cm x 35.5cm (10.25" x 14")

I found some excellent advice about painting watercolour washes on http://watercolorpaintingandprojects.com/index.html. The website describes a technique to obtain a smooth application of colour. It relies on angling the paper and creating a bead of watercolour that you gradually move down the page.

The instructions are very detailed. Initially, I followed them to the letter, but as I gained experience, I was able to improvise with the technique.

I’ve commented on previous posts that sometimes I am too heavy handed with the brush. An important moment for me was realising I could gently tease the bead down the page by touching the brush to the bead, without needing to touch the paper.

I painted the swatches from right to left and from bottom to top. The bottom row is a flat wash, the middle row is an example of charging (changing from one colour to another mid wash) and the top row is a graded wash. The two right hand columns are painted with a number 12 round sable brush, the second from the left is painted with a 1 inch synthetic flat brush and the left hand column is painted with a half inch decorating brush.

I am looking forward to apply this technique to some paintings.