About John Fisher

I was born and educated in England, graduating from the Luton School of Arts (now Barnfield College) in 1945. It was my hope to become a graphic artist, but at the end of the Second World War returning service men and women had first crack at the few jobs available, and rightly so. I took a number of jobs while I tried to break into my chosen field, and ended up being a reluctant carpenter. Many years passed and I emigrated to Canada in 1952, married a Canadian woman, started a family, and in 1955 finally started on a career which took in graphic arts, owner of my own graphics arts company, art director at an advertising agency, and careers in marketing, advertising and public relations.

I wish I could claim that my passion for art burned brightly throughout those years, but alas, the need to make a living took prominence. As with many people, I always promised myself that when I retired I would get back to painting again. That time came in 1989, when my wife and I were living the winter months in our condo in Destin, Florida. Robert Long, a talented watercolour artist, was offering private lessons from his nearby condo. He was my mentor, and made my retirement years infinitely richer.

In those days Robert taught only technique, and there were rarely more than four to six of us in those early classes. From Robert I regained my interest in photography as an adjunct to painting, and as the cliche goes – I never looked back. I have had many paintings accepted and hung in exhibitions in Florida and Ontario, where I now live. I’ve won some prizes, come first in some exhibitions, and occasionally won the Citizens’ Choice awards. But I mainly paint for fun – hence the choice of name for this site.

To learn more about John and to view more of his work, please follow the link below:

===> http://www.watercoloursforfun.com/

Watercolor Still Life Painting Demonstration

(Click Images For Larger Views)

My beginner’s class in watercolour painting is doing one more still life before tackling landscapes. This high-key photograph was set up in my studio to avoid the necessity of doing a background wash – never an easy task for absolute beginners. These still life projects have been exercises in a number of watercolour techniques: colour mixing, wet-in-wet, dry brush, wet-on-dry, loosing edges, liquid masking, colour lifting, brush dexterity, and the general feel of how colour acts on the paper under a range of circumstances. Each student worked from a 5″ x 7″ print, plus my initial painting of the subject full-sized: 8″ x 6″. I show them each stage on a large flat-sceen TV, and re-paint this as a step-by-step demonstration.

Step 1

I always have them prepare a careful drawing on 300 lb paper as “homework” to save class time and ensure we all start at the same level.

Step 2

To enhance brush dexterity, and to help our lone left-handed student, I encourage them to turn their board up side down to help paint or draw around curved objects such as this glass. Here I’ve mapped in the basic glass “colour” made from a light wash of Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder, with the darker rim made from a much stronger mixture of these two colours. For more on painting glass see my site at:
watercoloursforfun.com/Glass/TechniquesGlass.html We work from a limited palette and I avoid giving lectures on colour theory to beginners as it means little until they have actually handled colours in a real-world situation. By using a small amount of liquid masking before painting in the glass they begin to learn the magic of white paper. Later, they can often dispense with this with negative painting techniques.

Step 3

The wine was painted in using a mixture of Alizarin Crimson and a shadow or darker mix of Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder, working from light to dark. The use of a small scrub brush, water and facial tissue, lifts out the some reflected lights. Then the masking is removed and further blending to complete this stage.

Step 4

The knife and cheese block were painted in next, with the knife handle a mixture of Raw Sienna and Burnt Umber, plus our standard shadow mix of Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder. The cheese block was Cadmium Yellow Deep, Cadmium Red and a touch of Brown Madder. The blade was a mixture of Ultramarine Blue and a touch of our shadow colour.

Step 5

Here I’ve mapped in the Melba Toast slices using a mixture of our cheese colour plus Raw Sienna and Brown Madder. Part of this was a dry brush technique. The final shadows will be left until the cutting board is in. Incidentally, I love Melba Toast, cheese, grapes and red wine, so I made use of my still life set-up right away!

Step 6

A little more tinkering on the Melba Toast slices using a dry brush technique to reproduce the textured surfaces.

Step 7

I’ve jumped ahead here a bit, but the grapes were mostly Aureolin Yellow and a touch of Sap Green, with our shadow colour where needed. The shine is achieved by the dab and lift technique shown here.

Step 8

Now the cutting board is roughed in with a wash mixture of Raw Sienna, Brown Madder and a touch of our shadow colour.

Step 9

With the edges protected by liquid masking the various grain texture and shadows, it enables us to paint straight across and not “paint up” the the other elements. The shadows are still to come of course. All these effects are a mixture of the colours already in our palette, some used as a dry brush technique. Then the final shadows are out in with our basic shadow colour.

Step 10

For the more daring of my beginners I suggested a “paint outside the box” finish to this piece. In order to fill in the background with a strong shadow colour I used a ruling pen to give us a straight edge all around. This requires several strong glazes of Antwerp Blue and Brown Madder, so the ruling pen must be loaded with pure colour.

Step 11

This gets tricky and is a good exercise in brush dexterity. Turning the board all ways to make the brush work for you is also good experience for beginners. It’s also fun, although a high-wire act with no net!

Step 12

The first wash can be imperfect as subsequent washes will cover this up.

Final Step

The third wash completes this project, and when matted and framed, makes a nice painting to hang in the kitchen.

For a series of these see:

watercoloursforfun.com/Galleries/NGallery08.html
watercoloursforfun.com/Coffee/Coffee19.jpg
watercoloursforfun.com/Featured%20Painting/Oranges.jpg
watercoloursforfun.com/Featured%20Painting/Vine_ripened .jpg

I hope these were of some use to you.

John

About Barbara Fox

Barbara has achieved a tremendous following on both the national and international level as a watercolor painter with a vivid and unique style.

Her paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States, including the Phillips Museum of Art in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, Mexico; the Salmagundi Club New York City; The Neville Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin; and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

Barbara is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, the International Guild of Realism, the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, and the Northeast Watercolor Society, among others.

She has been published in the major watercolor publications Splash: the Best of Watercolor Painting, and  Secrets of Watercolor Masters. Barbara has been a featured artist in the leading national art magazines American Artist and Watercolor Magic.

Barbara is represented by the Oxford Gallery, 267 Oxford Street, Rochester, NY 14607

Visit Barbara’s Websites Today:

Main Website

Barbara Fox – Daily Paintings

Barbara Fox Studio

Barbara Fox Art Studio

3 MacIntosh Apples – Watercolour Painting Demonstration

3 MacIntosh Apples watercolor 11 x 11"

This demonstration uses lots of richly colored layers.

Paints I used (These paints are either Winsor Newton or M. Graham brand paints):

• Dioxazine Violet
• Permanent Rose
• Napthol Red (Cadmium Red medium is comparable)
• Cadmium Orange
• Alizarin Crimson
• Sap Green
• Hookers Green
• Prussian Blue
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cobalt Blue
• Burnt Umber
• Burnt Sienna
• Raw Sienna
• Sepia

Paper I use is Jack Richeson 300 # cold press watercolor paper

Here is the photograph I worked from. I generally do a simple outline drawing, then blow it up to the size I want to paint.

Here is the drawing.

Step 1. Base Layer

My first layer of wash I call the “Base Layer”. This is generally a wet on wet wash using the actual colors of the subject, in this case, red and green for the apples (Permanent Rose*, Napthol Red, and Sap Green). The apples were first wet with pure water, then the colors were applied by just touching the brush to the paper. The paint is carried by the water, and the 2 colors mix beautifully, with just a few nudges of the brush. Too much brushwork at this point would muddy the colors. Remember, there are lots of layers of color to come, so there is plenty of time to tweak the image. Also, leave white areas for the very light areas and highlights on the apple.

A close up of one apple, Step 1:

The apples were first wet with pure water

Then the colors were applied by just touching the brush to the paper.
Leave white areas for the very light areas and highlights on the apple.

The paint is carried by the water, and the 2 colors mix beautifully, with just a few nudges of the brush.

An extra bit of Permanent Rose on the lower left side, and blotting the hard edge around the stem.

The wash under the lace material is Burnt Sienna, Dioxazine Violet, and Permanent Rose, all flooded into a wet wash. Again, notice how well they mix when added to the wet paper. The background wash is Burnt Umber, Dioxazine Violet, and Ultramarine Blue.

Step 2. Shadows (photo above)

I use Dioxazine Violet to paint the shadows on the apples, leaving the highlighted areas.
I begin painting the shadows and the detail on the lace using Dioxazine Violet, Cobalt Blue, and Raw Sienna. I don’t mix them, but just dip my brush into a different color from time to time, and let them mix themselves. It can look a little garish at this point, but I know I will be painting over them again , and the shadows will eventually be darkened which will unify the colors.

The lace detail and shadow is coming along. Although painting the lace is tedious, I know that rendering it carefully will make a better painting.

Step 3. Second Layer (photos above and below)

I painted a layer of Ultramarine Blue in the background, and a layer of Burnt Umber below the lace. You can see where I have a few more holes to fill in the lace. I painted another layer of green (Sap Green) and red (this time Alizarin Crimson) on the apples.

For Layer #2 on the apples, I wet the entire apple with water, then flood in the colors**. Remember to leave the highlights.

I painted a very light layer of Raw Sienna over the entire lace area. This helps unify the colors that I used for the shadows, and keeps the material from being too glaringly white, and attention grabbing.

Step 4. Value adjusting (photo above)

The painting needs deeper shadows, and I would like the apples to have richer colors. I paint over the apple’s shadows using Dioxazine Purple in the red areas, and Prussian Blue in the green areas. I paint a little Cobalt Blue on the highlight on the middle apple, and a wee bit of Cadmium Orange on the top right of the first apple.

I deepen some parts if the folds in the lace, and work on the lace detail a little more.

Step 5. Details (photo above)

Another layer of Alizarin Crimson and Sap Green on the apple, this time with a little Hookers Green for the cooler green areas.

I use Dioxazine Violet and Sepia on the stems of the apple. I deepen the shadows between the apples using Dioxazine Violet and Ultramarine Blue, with a little Alizarin Crimson.

More detail work on the lace, and another layer of Dioxazine Violet under the lace AND in the background.***

The final step is making really dark areas darker (the stems, and shadows right under the apples), and lightening some highlights. I scrub out some lighter areas around the stems, and the highlights and reflected lights with a small, stiff brush and plenty of water.

* when painting a red subject, I usually start with Permanent Rose. It is a rich and warm pink, and looks better then a lighter wash of Alizarin Crimson. I use Alizarin Crimson for dark, intense reds, but a washy version looks dull to me.

** Doesn’t the water wash out the color underneath? No, not as long as you aren’t brushing it too much. The dry paint will stay put for the most part, unless it is disturbed with a lot of brushing. Water, good, Brush, bad.

*** Why so much Dioxazine Violet??? Not quite sure why, but I love it. It is a lovely purple, but also the perfect neutral. It seems to work great as a shadow color on any other color, and seems to cool when a color needs to be cooled, or warm when a color needs to be warmed. Take note, that I almost never mix it with another color, but use it as a wash over another color.

About Steve Fleming

Good art is the result of hard work and dedication. It only happens when the artist finds his or her own story to tell and then learns to do so with his or her own unique language.

I am an artist who works in watercolor and acrylic, and I teach both for The Art League in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as workshops across the country and abroad. My goal as an artist is to be creative; my goal as a teacher is to help my students learn to interpret the world around them, not to promote the belief the goal of art is the perfect rendering of a subject. One of my core messages: art is a creative process and is not just the sum total of the work we sell. In this era of digital cameras, I caution artists to look — really look both inside and outside — for the subject matter that lights our artistic fires. Otherwise, our work will be lacking everything but technique.

Click over to my blog for behind-the-scenes insight into some of my paintings in progress, musings and a few complimentary lessons for you to take and learn from.

Enjoy. — Steve Fleming

Creative Jumpstart

The “Creative Jumpstart” section of  Steve’s blog is designed to help all artists, regardless of medium, with ideas to get them thinking in expressive ways. They are intended to take about 30 minutes to an hour to finish and are warm-ups not finished paintings. Each one has a specific focus, such as gestural drawing with color accents, and they will be of value to artists of all levels. I plan to do at least 1 per week and hope to challenge readers to really broaden their horizons and move beyond their comfort zones. Along the way the artists will enhance their skills in drawing, color usage and have general less fear when being creative.

Follow this link to learn more!

Demonstration: “Tranquility, Reflections”

In this Demonstration we will be working on created a nice peaceful painting that is emphasizing the simplicity of calm water reflections. Drawing the boats will be fairly easy if you remember to keep them flat and in perspective with a low horizon. Here goes have a nice time with this it should air out all of your brushwork practice.

15 x 22 watercolor paper cold pressed drawing with a 4B pencil

wet the paper completely and let the water set up for a few minutes and try to angle the paper higher at the top than the bottom so the water will run down toward the bottom. This will keep it from pooling in the middle of the paper. Run a couple passes of Raw Sienna paint horizontally in the sky followed by a couple horizontal passes of Cobalt and Cerulean Blue. Pull some of the blue into the water under the boats.

Using a round brush a size 12 works for me pull some Cobalt Blue at the horizon line indicating a loose feeling of distant land then drop in some Raw Sienna. Don’t rub these colors or they will turn a nasty grey you want the colors to stay separate. Pull a little Raw Sienna into the foreground water.

Staying with the number 12 round brush and painting with the side of the brush not the point start up in the trees with a mixture of Sap Green, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue begin to get a nice rough textural passage of trees make sure you are leaving openings in the trees. This involves the trees and the sky and makes the trees look real. A point I need to make here is that when I say use the colors I am not brushing them together in a big pool of mushy colors I am adding colors to the mixture and letting the added colors have a voice or show up on the paper. Using the side of the brush get a wash of Raw Sienna with a hint of Sap Green onto the rocks. Leave lights on the rocks and remember to cut around the top edges of the boats.

Still using the round brush I add a mixture of Alizirin Crimson and Burnt Sienna to the rocks creating shadow forms and I leave some Raw Sienna showing for the light. I really clean up the edge of the boats not cutting them out of the background.

detail of the rocks and the cutting around of the boats, notice the texture at the bottom edge of the rocks it looks like water moving, the darker pieces on the rocks is the Alizirin, Burnt Sienna mixture with some Ultramarine Blue added to get a rich dark. I drop that in while everything is still damp so the edges will stay lively.

I repeat all of the colors from above with a series of very fluid brush marks to create the feeling of gentle movement in the water. Notice that I am not trying to exactly repeat the objects that are being reflected I am just getting the impression of the objects. Don’t be afraid to use lots of color and bold brushwork. leave lights and leave the color of the sky. I then used a Raw Sienna mixture with some of the left over Alizirin mixture to paint the warmer sides of the boats and dropped in a little Cobalt Blue on the transom of the left boat. I used a cool grey, Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna, mixture to indicate the shadow forms inside the boats and dropped few dark accents into these to make them more vibrant.

Add in some dark lines and a few dark dots and dashes and the painting is finished. I used a number 6 liner brush to make the fine detail marks in the water and in the trees above. Use a lot of restraint when doing details nothing ruins a painting quicker than over doing the details. Enjoy painting this it will test your brushwork and application of paint skills.

About Steve Fleming

Good art is the result of hard work and dedication. It only happens when the artist finds his or her own story to tell and then learns to do so with his or her own unique language.

I am an artist who works in watercolor and acrylic, and I teach both for The Art League in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as workshops across the country and abroad. My goal as an artist is to be creative; my goal as a teacher is to help my students learn to interpret the world around them, not to promote the belief the goal of art is the perfect rendering of a subject. One of my core messages: art is a creative process and is not just the sum total of the work we sell. In this era of digital cameras, I caution artists to look — really look both inside and outside — for the subject matter that lights our artistic fires. Otherwise, our work will be lacking everything but technique.

Click over to my blog for behind-the-scenes insight into some of my paintings in progress, musings and a few complimentary lessons for you to take and learn from.

Enjoy. — Steve Fleming

Creative Jumpstart

The “Creative Jumpstart” section of  Steve’s blog is designed to help all artists, regardless of medium, with ideas to get them thinking in expressive ways. They are intended to take about 30 minutes to an hour to finish and are warm-ups not finished paintings. Each one has a specific focus, such as gestural drawing with color accents, and they will be of value to artists of all levels. I plan to do at least 1 per week and hope to challenge readers to really broaden their horizons and move beyond their comfort zones. Along the way the artists will enhance their skills in drawing, color usage and have general less fear when being creative.

Follow this link to learn more!

Give Some thought to the Color Palette and the Effect Can be Remarkable

(Click Images For Larger Views)

Every time you decide to paint, a major decision is going to be how to use color. This is not as simple as use a dark blue for the sky or make a red piece a purple piece; those are selective choices inside a bigger arena. What I am talking about is are your values, the lightness and darkness of your colors, going to be concentrated in the lighter values, the middle, or a broad range, or are you going to use very bright intense colors, grayed colors, or a stark light and dark palette. This color decision is very important and one that is overlooked in the paintings of the painter who is just reproducing the perfect photo. In this world a big decision is to change the color of the trashcan from blue to dark blue, wow not that’s creative.

In this lesson I will be painting the same wonderful sunlit New England building, each time handling the color and values differently. I think you will see how the changing of the color palette and the contrast of value can really make a huge difference in the mood and feeling of your painting.

In the first painting I have used a very narrow value range and focused on early spring light greens and yellows.  The shadow on the building is a very light value mixed from Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet and a hint of Raw Sienna.  Since it is a white building I want the shadow to look white and I really tried to get a feeling of the warm bounce light that would be visible with this much sun on such a clear day.  I accented the feeling of sun with the warmth in the windows.  The green on the trees and in the foregrounds were mixed with the same colors, Hansa Yellow, New Gamboge, Cobalt Blue and some Raw Sienna in the details of the tree trunks.  I scraped out the Trees with a small penknife.  The foreground gradation is a warm mix of Hansa Yellow, New Gamboge, and Cobalt Blue with Olive Green mixed in to the field on the right.  I splattered wet Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna into the field with a round brush when the colors were still wet.

Remember to keep the values of the painting light, to use vibrant colors, to really pay attention to the lightness and the color of the shadow this color is  not purple or a flat lifeless grey.

For the second painting I have chosen a more neutral color palette, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, Cobalt Violet.  The value range of the painting is much darker and is more focused in the middle ranges.  I will be using very little white although there will be the occasional highlights around the painting.  I decide to add some water to the painting and from the very start I know I want to have a real dark agitated edge at the waterline and I make sure that I apply the paint with the side of my brush to get a nice active edge.

There is much more brushwork in the foreground and I have put a lot more interest in the lower portion of the painting.  I think it would be really boring if it were a graded field like in the first painting.

The building is a mix of Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna with some Raw Sienna to warm up some of the walls.  I painted around the one window to give the effect of being able to see through the window.  I textured the roof with a light mixture similar to the color on the walls, I use the side of a round brush to apply the paint and then splattered some color on it to give some details.  Where the trees meet the dark side of the building I lose some edge between the building and the trees and cut around some little highlights to give the painting depth.  I also cut around some random shapes at the bottom of the facing wall of the build again this gives that area some strong depth.  Working in grayed colors is not easy; first if you don’t remember to vary your colors the mixtures will be boring, and if you rub the paint too much you will get very flat and uninteresting passages of color.  Remember to grade your major shapes and to vary your details, brushwork and colors.  A grayed color palette can produce a boring painting if you don’t put enough effort into subtle changes.  It requires a very thoughtful approach but can result in very nice paintings.  Just look at Andrew Wyeth.

In the third version, I am trying to get a very strong stark feeling of light. Using a value range from lightest light to darkest dark and very rich colors with lots of active brushwork and scraping, I have produced a much more powerful painting.  The light jumps off of the paper.  The shadow on the house is a touch darker but is still transparent and I made it using the same mixture I used in the first version, Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet, and a hint of Raw Sienna.  I occasionally will use some Cadmium Scarlet to gray the mixture and it adds a nice warmth.  After running the cast and form shadows on the house I dropped in some Raw Sienna at the top of the shadow and let it bleed down into the wash.  I think I went a little too far but better some than none.  On the left side of the house, with the porch, I have lightened the shadows and put more warm colors in.  This gives a much better feeling of bounced light.  Note the pieces of white paper I have left at the bottom of the tree line this both adds interest and a sense of depth.

The foreground is painted with very rich middle valued colors, which are heavy on pigment and light on water.  Too much water and the colors will be too diluted and weak.  I made a big change in color across the foreground from very rich Raw Sienna on the left with a touch of Sap Green, and in the middle I moved the mixture to a dominance of Sap Green and then back to a more Raw Sienna/Sap Green mixture on the far right.  The bottom of the painting is a mixture of the field colors plus Ultramarine Blue, and Burnt Sienna and this is applied with very little water and very aggressive brushwork.  I scraped out the weeds and rocks with a scraper and a knife.  A point to remember is that when I put together these mixes I am not over brushing them on the palette creating a one dimensional boring mix, but rather I am just mixing them a little and trying to preserve each color as a distinctive part of the mix.  Try not to over mix your colors and you will have more vibrant and translucent washes.

The last version of the house is light filled but the colors are very warm and summery.  The trees in the background have a more modeled feeling than in the previous versions and the value range is very wide.  The brushwork in the back of the painting is supported by the amount of detail in the foreground.  This is necessary if you want the background to stay in place and not come forward.  The heart of the painting is in the foreground with its scattered pieces of light and active brushwork.  The paint was applied with the side of a number 16 round brush, I use a Silver Black Velvet brush they are great and fairly inexpensive.  I really moved the brush along and varied the color and angle as much as it made sense.  Too many direction changes and the foreground will get very confusing.  I splattered a few darks in and scraped the smaller weeds.  The shadows on the house are the same mixes as before but I did shorten the shadows.  The tree line behind the house was started with New Gamboge and I added cool dark greens on top of the yellow the get a strong-modeled form.  The rich warm tones in the trees are a mixture of New Gamboge, Raw Sienna, and probably Cadmium Scarlet.

The trees were painted in one continuous process, no time out for drying.  Just keep using less water as the process goes on and keep changing the color and brushwork.  I scraped the trees out with a knife and added some dark details with a number 6 Script Liner also from Silver Black Velvet line.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson on how changing the color and values can really add to your interpretation of a repeated subject.  If you like a theme than get some mileage out of it and really let go of the one approach is best attitude.

About Arnold

Arnold Lowrey has been painting for 36 years. He has regular exhibitions of his paintings in the South Wales area and has had work accepted and exhibited in the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. He has won several prizes for his paintings in a number of Art Exhibitions.

He is a painting demonstrator for major art material suppliers e.g. Winsor & Newton, . and Art Profile and regularly provides painting demonstrations to Art Societies throughout South Wales and Southern England.
He has demonstrated for a number of years with Winsor & Newton  in Zurich, Switzerland, and has tutored workshops and painting holidays in Portugal and Texas.

Over the past eighteen years, a considerable number of artists have attended these courses, which  cover watercolour, acrylics, pastels and oils. The subjects of his paintings vary from landscapes to still life, portraiture, abstracts etc. The weekly courses are currently located at Taffs Well Rugby Club, Taffs Well, Near Cardiff.
His motivation is a desire for good shapes and texture in his paintings but foremost is his desire to interpret his feelings for each subject using colour and luminosity.

Follow this link to visit Arnold’s Website

The Control of Water in Watercolour

I see so many watercolours fail because artists have not come to grips with the control of water in their paintings. Many books on watercolour concentrate more on pretty pictures and the materials used, rather than tackle this subject, which is vital for success.

Most watercolours fail because too much water is used and the results are a wishy- washy mess. So, let’s come to grips with this important subject.

The question you must always ask is “Where is the water? – Is it in the brush, the palette or on the paper?”

If you have a lot water in your brush and water on the paper, the result is two lots of water combining and flooding everywhere out of control. To have full control of water, you must have a palette with a flat mixing area that does not collect unwanted water. It is also advantageous to have one with open-ended colour wells.

So here are the five most important ways of water control.

• Dry on Dry
• Wet on Dry
• Wet on Wet
• Dry on Wet
• The Half-loaded Brush

Dry on Dry

This is where the paper is dry and all the water is squeezed out of your brush, so that when you pick up paint and paint it on the paper, virtually no water is involved and the result is a scumbling mark.

(No water on the paper and virtually no water in the brush.)

Wet on Dry

If you load you brush with wet paint and paint on dry paper, an area is produced which is soft and flowing in the middle but with hard edges.

(No water on the paper and water in the brush)

Wet on Wet

When the paper is wet and the brush is fully loaded with wet paint, the result is two lots of water on the paper. Consequently, the paper can’t handle this amount and the paint pigment flows on the surface. Tipping the paper will allow the pigment to flow around creating a lot of interesting shapes but accurate control is missing. Useful for backgrounds but you are relying on “happy accidents” to produce any meaningful shapes.

Dry into Wet

If you paint an area of paper using “wet on dry” above and then squeeze all the water out of your brush, you are able to lift the paint off the paper.

This is because you are using a “thirsty brush” i.e. there is less water in your brush than is on the paper. The water travels from the paper back into the brush leaving an area of paper dryer than that surrounding it. (This is the same effect as wringing out a sponge and soaking water out of a puddle.)

If you now repeat this, but having squeezed all the water out of your brush, you pick up some neat pigment (no water!) and paint it into the wet, you will find that you can place it accurately without it flowing all over the place. Water has, again, traveled back into your brush so that the new painted area is dryer than its surroundings.

Watch how the wet area tries to attack the dryer area and softens the edges. This is ideal for those soft-edged misty trees in the background of your landscapes or soft reflections.
To lighten the tonal value of the added colour, drag out some of the pigment from your brush onto a dry piece of paper before applying. This will ensure the brush stays “thirsty”.
(Paper wet but virtually no water in the brush)

The Half-loaded brush – Mingling

Dry into wet techniques tend to replace the existing paint with the new, so if you wish to create an area (say skies) by accurately painting into another whilst the paper is still wet, this method is the only way it can be done.
Mix your first colour with water (on a flat palette) to a suitable tonal value. Paint this first colour on the surface wet on dry.

Clean you palette and repeat this with the next colour. If necessary thin the colour with water so that tonal value is near the first colour. However, before you pick up the paint, squeeze out your brush, then pick up the wet paint with one sweep only. The brush loads from one side of your brush and is half loaded. This allows you to paint the new colour into the wet area without it flowing all over the place. You have total control. This action can be repeated as many times as you like as long as you keep the paper wet. All the different pigments mingle down to one layer and you keep the resulting luminosity.

What about “Cauliflowers” (back runs)?

These are caused by painting wet paint into half dry areas. The water in the new paint leaches into the old causing strange light shapes.
This often accidentally when water drips off your brush into a newly painted area which is “damp dry”. Do not, ever, try to paint this out while it is still wet – you only feed the cauliflower with more water and it gets worse.

Here you can see where a drop of water accidentally was dropped into an area of half dry paint.

Glazing or Mingling?

Glazing

The traditional watercolour techniques, which are so often taught, create a series of glazes, (wet on dry), allowing each one to dry before the next is applied. Each new glaze stacks on top of the next, making the thickness of the overall paint greater.

This method can produce some effective results.
However, the down side is that every time you paint on a new glaze of colour you reduce the luminosity of the painting, as light, which creates the luminosity, has to travel through these layers and reflect back off the paper.

Notice that the shadow glaze has been painted over the windows. This unifies it. If the windows had been painted in afterwards they would have a “stuck on” effect.

Mingling

Mingling is achieved by using the dry into wet or half loaded brush technique shown to the right. Painting into wet areas allows the pigment to settle on one level instead of stacking one on top of the other. Luminosity is retained

Another mingling example:

Keep the paper wet and pump in new colors with a half loaded brush.

Wet on dry – the windows have sharp or rough edges

This painting uses most (although not all) of the previous techniques. Remember, if you have control of water you have control of watercolour.

Dry into wet allows the door, steps and handrail to be placed in the wet and the images to be retained with soft edges.

The Finished Painting – “Orange Wood Cottage”

Spending the time to come to grips with these techniques will move you forward with your watercolour. The above techniques are important keys to practicing your watercolour crafts and mastering them will allow you to concentrate on the importance of the art in your paintings. Composition, design, unity, value, colour, intensity, etc. which, when applied properly, will put you a step ahead of the crowd and help you to sing with your own voice!

Keep painting and good luck!

Arnold Lowrey

(A special thank-you to Phyllis Franklin (llis) who worked with me as editor for this article!)