Learning to control water-colour washes

Tissa HEWAVITARANE

Colour mixing in water-colour can be both fascinating and frustrating. Sometimes magical things happen, other times a colour will turn to mud for no apparent reason.

This article deals with the practical problems involved in controlling such an unpredictable medium as water colours, and shows you how to avoid the pitfalls of both muddy colour and weak washed-out colour. In addition you'll discover how to improve the vibrancy of your colours by mixing them wet-in-wet or applying them in transparent glazes. First I will deal with problem.

The problem

In water colour, there is no more thrilling sight than that of big, soupy washes of colour being brushed onto a sheet of sparkling white paper and allowed to diffuse softly together. The effect is magical and, to me, wet-in-wet washes are the very foundation of water-colour painting. Yet so many beginners miss out on all this fun because they are afraid that they won't be able to control wet washes. Instead they just sit frustrated over the paper, making dry little marks with dry paint on dry paper. And then they wonder why their water-colours don't look water colours.

Solution

Learning to control water-colour, washes can be nerve-wracking at times, but it is also exciting and exhilarating. Observe the bold and confident handling of wet-in-wet wash I have done in this painting related to this article. Dry on wet strokes are used to create an impression of a misty morning. To develop your confidence in handling paint in this way, try working on large sheets of paper than you might normally use. A too small painting area is often the cause of tight, constricted brush strokes.

When you're learning how to handle water-colour, remember the three P's: Patience, Perseverance and Practice. You will need patience because depending on the humidity and the type of paper you're working on, water colour washes may dry more slowly or unevenly than you anticipate. To avoid back burns and muddy colours, you must be prepared to allow one wash to dry before adding another colour on top (unless you're working wet-in-wet).

Generally, the best time to apply a second wash is when the shine has just left the first wash. You can judge this by holding your board up to the light, horizontally and at eye level. It is always good to try out different water colour papers and test how they respond to wet washes – by scrubbing and lifting out paint, scratching out and so on. Different papers behave in different ways, depending on materials they are made from and on their surface coating. Your control of the paint can be helped or hindered by the absorption of the paper, which can be discovered only through practice. In water colour there are four ways to apply paint to paper; wet on dry; dry on dry, dry on wet, and wet on dry.

Generally you should aim to include at least two different kinds of brush strokes in a painting to give it variety and textural interest.

Dry on dry

When colour is picked up on a dry brush and skimmed lightly over dry paper, a rugged broken stroke is created. This method known as dry brush, can be highly expressive in suggesting rough, weathered textures or the sparkle of sunlight on distant water. Never labour dry brush strokes. Use quick, light movements. This technique works best on medium or rough paper that helps to break up the paint.

Wet on dry

Controlling shapes is easy when you apply paint to dry paper with a wet brush. The paint stays right where you put it and dries to a clean, hard edged shape. If over-used however, this method can make a painting look rather static and lacking in atmosphere.

Glazing, however, is a wet-on-dry method that will enrich any water-colour painting. When a thin transparent wash is applied over another, dry, colour, the effect is more vibrant than when two colours are mixed together on the palette. Never attempt a glaze unless the underlying wash is bone-dry, otherwise the under wash will be disturbed and the colours will mingle and turn muddy. Always work quickly and lightly when glazing. Don't glaze more than two or three layers of colour. And finally use only the transparent colours, such as alizarin crimson and viridian. Opaque colours like cerulean blue and yellow ochre are not suitable for.

Dry on wet

In this method a dry (damp) brush is loaded with paint and applied to wet paper. The deposited paint (pigment) swims on the wet surface before settling into the fibres of the paper, forming a shape with diffused ages. Because the paint is relatively thick it doesn't spread too far, so you get attractive effects while retaining some control over the shapes you make.

Wet on wet

Now we come to the most beautiful, the most expressive, and the least controllable method. Again, the paper is wet, but this time more water is carried in the brush.

The deposited pigment, being more diluted, floods out and into the wet paper and creates exciting diffusions and colour interactions that you could never equal if you planned them. Of course, the potential for disaster is there too, streaks and “back burns” being the main problem.

Decisions before you paint

Careful decisions has to be maid before you start painting especially outdoors. What kind of day is it? Where is the sun whether it is too hot or low? Is it going to be a rainy day or windy? Windy conditions can be most trying to temper when gusts make your paper flap and threaten to blow your easel over.

As to the problems of a sunny day or hot day. Whenever possible try not to paint with the sun direct on your paper. I know it can't be avoided always. Avoid painting in the middle of the day with the hot sun directly overhead, it is much cooler before ten in the morning or after five but the lighting shadows will differ. Probably the easiest condition to work under is a bright but overcast light.

There are no hard shadows or extreme points of glare yet there is plenty of contrast. Another advantages is that the light usually remains constant over a long period and you have a much longer painting time as the sun can travel for ours above thin cloud without any obvious change in landscape.

There is no answer is rain. It can ruin a water-colour in ten seconds flat so don't try to start painting even it is cloudy. There can be few atmospheric effects more fascinating and mysterious. Mist lends itself ideally for portrayal in water-colour.

Mist has a distant colour of its own which may be a cold grey or even have a yellow tint. For example, when the sun is struggling to break through a morning mist everything in the picture is in various tones of this golden colour.

The painting I have done titled ‘Misty morning’ will show the dark and the light and the approach to wash work.

The atmospheric effect of mist and sunlight is achieved with weak washes of cobalt blue, burnt sienna and cadmium, yellow, applied wet-in-wet.

The sharpest details in the picture is the bullock-cart in the centre of the picture to pale delicate tints with man seated on the cart, which form the centre of interest. Dry on wet strokes are used to create an impression of misty trees on the left. Here is an excellent example of how to use water-colour with controlled freedom.

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