
When you mix some paint at the beginning of a new painting, this is called your “ wash puddle”. But the term “wash” is slightly confusing since it seems to have a double meaning…įirstly, when watercolor artists refer to a “wash” they often mean the wet paint you use to paint with mixed from water and pigment. You hear watercolor artists talk about washes all the time. What is a watercolor wash ?įirst a quick tip about terminology. It will be time and effort well invested.īelow you’ll find some step by step guidance and a whole load of tips to help you troubleshoot any less than perfect washes. If you’re determined to get a grasp of this aspect of watercolor painting I have a suggestion.ĭon’t be afraid to invest in some paper and simply practice your technique again and again. And I’m going to go over them in detail below. Washes are said to be one of the fundamental techniques in watercolor painting, and they can be difficult to master !īecoming competent with this technique takes practice, but there are some basic methods that will help you paint successful washes. You need to control the level of wetness of your brush and paper, and you can't waste time or you risk ruining the wash. Watercolor washes, whether flat or blended, need to be brushed quickly and evenly across the paper surface to achieve a smooth uniform result. So what happened ? How do you paint a successful watercolor wash?

I finished up with a very streaky watercolor wash !

So I went back in with a damp brush to play with the wash some more. You know what’s it’s like… you often think you can do better. I had just laid down a nice graded wash of watercolor for the background of a new painting.
