Playing with Wet Into Wet

FOR A SIMILAR LESSON, SEE THE ZEBRA POST FROM APRIL 21, 2017. 

Here is a simple lesson that introduces four basic watercolor techniques: 

wet into wet;

 lifting color; 

glazing over color; 

and using primary colors (red, blue, yellow)  to create secondary colors. (orange, 

violet, green)

1. Draw a simple picture with one large shape (such as the pot) and other smaller, longer shapes.

(such as the aloe stems)

2. Make a "puddle" of each color you want to use. This will prevent having to constantly rewet paint. The thicker the puddle, the darker the paint will be. 

3. Using clean water, wet one of the shapes. You want it to have "shine," but not be puddly.

4. Apply one of your colors to the end of the shape. Then, just below it, apply another color. Let them run together a bit until a secondary color forms between them. I started the far left leaf with cobalt teal blue; I added magenta beneath it and let them run together to make purple; then I added yellow beneath the magenta to make orange. You just keep going, changing color every 1-2 inches. (if it's a small painting)

You can try painting some of the stems without wetting it first (wet on dry) to see the difference in the flow of the color. 

Below you see all of the leaves of the aloe done.

Here is how the pot is done.

Wet the pot, using a flat brush. Put a vertical stripe of warm color (in my case yellow)  down the middle. Then add a stripe of red on each side of the yellow, allowing part of the yellow to become orange. Next to the red, add blue on each side. 

While the paint was still wet, we took a "thirsty" brush to lift paint off the lower rim of the pot.

When the pot and leaves are dry, you can experiment with lifting and glazing.

LIFTING

To lift, your painting needs to be completely dry. Wet a "scrub" brush. (you can buy a pack of these from Hobby Lobby for about $4) To remove paint that may have gotten out of the lines, gently apply clean water to the area with the brush. Give it a few seconds to soak in and loosen the paint. Then gently rub back and forth with the brush. Blot with a tissue.Too much scrubbing can remove the sizing from the paper.

To lift a hilight, or to blend colors a little more, apply clean water to the area. Give it a few seconds to soak in. Gently brush the area, then blot with a tissue.

GLAZING

Often artists will use glazing to unify a painting. Glazing is just applying color over a dry layer of paint. It can be the same color or a different color. In this picture I glazed over the entire pot with yellow. (that is why the sides look green instead of blue).