Laying a Wash

7/28/2019 Laying a Wash

1/50

laying a wash

A wash is a large area in a

watercolor painting where the paint flow anddiffusion have been manipulated to efface

individual brushstrokes. Within wash areas,

color transitions are usually gradual and span

analogous hues.

Laying a wash a flawless portrait

background or a landscape sky that shadesfrom bright to mist is one of the most

satisfying tasks in watercolor painting. It's a

skill that takes practice to master, although

the essentials are not difficult to learn.

As a novice painter, I discovered that the

instructions provided in watercolor handbooks

are often inadequate. You're sometimes told to

use incorrect techniques, or to use a single

approach in all situations. An example:

Set your board or block on a slant, raising the

top edge about 1-1/2" to 2" off the top of the

table. Load your 1" flat brush with paint and

make a pass horizontally across the top of the

aper. The paint will move downward, with abead forming at the bottom of the stroke.

Load the brush again, and make the next pass

a little down the page, in the opposite

direction, slightly overlapping the first. It's

important to pick up the bead on each pass.

Don't waste time: a line can form. It's also

important to reverse the direction of the

stroke with each pass. This will prevent a

buildup of darker pigment on one side of the

age. Repeat the process until the paper is

covered.

That's the total guidance. Even the wash

instructions in David Dewey's watercolor

book, though unusually accurate and

complete, still leave many things

unexplained ... what happens when I use

different papers, different brushes, different

brushstrokes, different types of paints,

different angles of tilt? How can I vary washes

technique

the setup, brushes &papers

pigment & paint behavior

tilting the wash

wash brushstrokes

to wet or not to wet

wash strategies

basic wash principles

Page 1 of 50handprint : laying a wash

9/4/2010http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/tech24.html


2/50

to get expressive effects?

The difficulty in learning watercolor is that

there is too much going on at once. I found

the only way to unlock the problem was to

break the technique down into its basic

components brushes, papers, pigments

types, paint behavior, tilting the wash,brushstroke techniques, prewetting,

application strategies then examine each

component carefully, see what happens whenI change or vary it, and finally put everything

back together in a spirit of exploration and

improvisation. That's the outline of this page.

As with any skill, the key is practice and

more practice. A good way to start is to try

out the wash strategies described on this

page. Buy six or eight medium sized (10"x14")watercolor blocks, five or six with rough (R) or

cold pressed (CP or NOT) finishes and one or

two with a hot pressed (HP) finish. Select

different paper manufacturers so that you get

different qualities of paper and variations in

finish. Use these up (paint on both sides) asyou explore the different wash techniques

described here. I guarantee you will feel it is

time (and paper) well spent.

For starters, a few aspects of wash

technique are part of your general painting

methods and only require brief comment.

These include the setup, brushes and papers.

The Setup. Every painter develops a

personal, habitual setup for painting. This

work space depends on the space available,

the painter's physical comfort and stamina,

the typical size of work, and the artist's

preferred painting technique. But a fewspecific requirements are necessary for

proficient wash application.

The essential thing is a clean and

uncluttered working area. Everything

extraneous to the wash task pencils, brush

holders, coffee mugs, tubes of paint must

the setup, brushes & papers




3/50

be stowed or cleared to one side. All surfaces

must be clean of dirt, hair, pencil shavings,

eraser rubbings, drips of paint and anything

else that might stray onto the paper.

You also need a a tiltable work surface

the paper should lie on or be affixed to a hard,

flat surface that can be tilted quickly to anydesired angle. Some painters use a tiltable

drafting table, which gives maximum control

and comfort. Some work on the floor and tilt

the surface by lifting a corner or edge of the

sheet this gives good control, but crouching

to paint is physically tiring.

My work surface is a compromise: the largest

dining table I could find retail (about 4 by 9

feet, from Crate & Barrel), set away from the

walls so it can be addressed from either side.This is my "floor". Paper rests on two or three

sheets of Daniel Smith's watercolor board,

23" x 31", propped on a long strip of 2x2 or

4x4 lumber. This is my tilt, which I manipulate

by turning, lifting or bending the sheet from

the edges, or with a system oflumber and

weights.

a generic wash setup

You'll also want flat, reachable work space

to hold all your incidental tools within easy

reach. In my setup, this is the table on either

side. Painters who use a tiltable drafting table




4/50

set their tools on a taboret or nearby

bookshelf.

The wash mixture, or paints used to build

the wash, should be in a separate container

located close to the painting. Some painters

mix their wash solutions in the mixing area of

a flat palette, eldajon palette or butchertray, which lets them swirl in a bit of fresh

paint to adjust the mixture on the fly. I use a

system of separate mixing dishes andpremix all paints before starting work.

Whatever your system, if the paints are not

set close to the work, you'll find yourself

making a rapid swing from paint to paper that

can cause a hasty splatter. The container

should be heavy and squat enough that it does

not tip over if accidentally struck with thehand.

Always mix up a generous quantity of wash

mixture, more than enough to cover the entire

area you want to paint, with slop off the sides.

Running out of wash mixture before you aredone is always fatal to the wash. But mix up a

punch bowl, either. I find one tablespoon is

just enough to cover a moderately sized full

sheet.

Finally, a water supply primarily for

prewetting the sheet and gradating the wash

density. (This should not be the brush rinse

water.) I use both a bowl and a spray bottle.

Other tools are useful. It is prudent to have

paper towels at the ready, and a roll of

towels within reach, to absorb excess runoff,

blot or shape the wash edges, and catch drips

before they sink into the paper. Many artistsuse hold fasts bulldog clips, binder clips,

carpenter's spring clamps (right), tacks, tapeor weights to hold the paper in place when

it is tilted or to control cockling or warping.

(Chinese painters use narrow lead weights to

hold down their rice papers, but these may be

insufficient for heavier cellulose papers and

can slide if the support is tilted.) Many

painters use tape, masks or resists to

reserve areas that the wash should not cover,

a variety of clips, clampsand clamp pads




5/50

or sheets of paper anchored with drafting tape

to protect unpainted areas of the paper from

drips or splatters.

Should you stand or sit? Half sheet or smaller

works are easy to bring off while sitting,

though larger works are awkward to do. For

small paintings, I prefer to sit on a small stoolthat raises me above the work but that I can

kick aside to stand if necessary.

If you find yourself rearranging tools andmaterials as you work, or putting tools down

in a place different from where you picked

them up, then reconsider your setup. You

want to avoid any interruptions created when

you have to stop and look forsomething, and

especially the interruption created when you

knock something over. Don't fight it: start byputting things where you conveniently or

normally reach for them, and clear away

everything else.

A fresh, flawless wash usually requires a

rhythmic and uninterrupted performance.

You can't stop in the middle to answer thephone, let out the cat, or look for a different

brush. It's tricky to go back and do a small

section over. Once you start, you're

committed to finish. That's part of thechallenge and the fun. Take the phone off the

hook, let out the cat, and you're ready to

start.

Brushes. The common advice is that you

should use the largest brush practical for a

wash. In fact, you can lay down a wash with

almost any brush, but some brushes make the

task easier than others.

Most painters go to a 1" or less flat brush

(bright or one stroke) or a #16 to #12 roundbrush; the flats are especially useful for

carving precise edges or wedge shaped

cutouts, or for "scrubbing in" pigment or paint

over an area of especially rough paper texture,

a folded deckle, or a blotch of water repelling

tub sizing.

However, in many situations a smaller brush




6/50


7/50

to have a second editing brush at the

ready, premoistened with the wash solution

and shaken out. (Don't moisten with pure

water, unless you intend to dilute the wash

color.) A filbert brush or smaller sized round

brush is most useful to refine the wash edge

around areas of more detail, smooth out a

blotch of coarse pigment, or soak up smallquantities of excess wash.

I suggest you purchase and use the largewash brushes only after you have practiced

your wash technique with a #12 or #14 round

anda 1" flat. The larger wash brushes can

conceal a lot of faults in your technique and

give you excellent results in big areas, but

someday you will need to paint a wash that

requires detailed edges or complex patterns

where the standard wash brush is too big orclumsy to maneuver. If the big wash brush is

the only brush you know how to use, you're

stuck. If you can lay a good wash with the

standard brushes, then using the specialized

wash brushes will be a pleasure.

Papers. You can lay a wash on almost anykind of paper, but some papers make it easier

than others.

The best paper for good wash results ismoderately sized with a moderate surface

finish or tooth (cold pressed or a gentle rough

pressed). If the surface texture is too heavy,

you will have difficulty laying down the wash

mixture without pinholes popping open over

the paper indentations, especially for active

pigments. It's possible to lay a flat or evenly

graded wash on hot pressed (HP) paper, but

the paper will ruthlessly show anyirregularities in your wash mixture,

brushstrokes, or brush wetness. However, if

you want a wash to show painterly, expressivevariations, then hot pressed may be ideal.

Most painters prefer the paper stretched, or of

a sufficiently heavy basis weight (400GSM or

higher) that it will not cockle or warp when

wet. Note that a heavier basis paper generally

has a slightly rougher surface texture.




8/50

All painters discover, once they have matured

their technique, that it is straightforward to

complete a single wash application before the

paper absorbs enough moisture to cockle

(especially if the paper is tilted to drain the

excess paint downward), and it is relatively

easy to lay a second wash over moderately

cockled paper, provided that the brushpressure is kept constant across the paper

surface and the paper is tilted enough to

prevent puddling.

The surface of the paper must be absolutely

clean, free of any oil or dirt from your fingers

or the painting surface. Nothing is more

disheartening when you are most of the way

through a perfect wash than to hit a skid of

invisible grease or heavy surface sizing that

repels the paint to make an ugly white blotch.If this happens, stop and give the area a

quick, vigorous, all over scrubbing with the

brush tuft, then retrace from the wash stroke

above and continue downward.

Most wash tutorials give the

impression that paints don't matter in your

wash technique: all wash mixtures can beapplied in the same way. This assumption is a

legacy of "color theorists", who teach that

paints are just "colors", so one "brown" or

"blue" wash mixture is just the same as any

other.

In fact, painters make paintings with paints,

not with "colors", so the types of paints in a

wash mixture have a major effect on the

quality of the wash and how the wash should

be applied. In addition, the pigment behavior

depends on how much the paint is diluted with

water. So painters need to consider bothfactors before they apply the paint to paper.

The behavior of pigment particles depends

primarily on three things: (1) the weight of

the pigment in water, or its specific gravity;

(2) the average pigment particle size; and

(3) the color difference between small and

pigment & paint behavior




9/50

large pigment particles. These differences in

pigment behavior are enhanced by diluting the

paint with water, which thins out the vehicle

ingredients.

Basics of Pigment Behavior. Let's consider

first how pigments behave when suspended in

water.

All paints contain millions of microscopic

pigment particles. These particles are not allthe same size, but form a particle size

distribution, as shown in the figure. It's the

same with sand at the beach, gravel in the

road or stones in the river bed: there is a size

variation around the average. These variations

are always present, and the distribution of

sizes has a similar shape, regardless of the

average size of the particles.

pigment particle size distribution

In pigments that are relatively light in water

and have a very small average particle size,

even the largest pigment particles are kept insuspension indefinitely by continuous jostling

of water molecules. Like an infusion of tea, the

solution remains the same even if left

undisturbed for several days.

The contrasting behavior of heavy pigments is

probably familiar to you. If you mix up a

quantity of water and a grainy mineral




10/50

pigment, such as viridian, cobalt blue or

manganese violet, then let the mixture sit

undisturbed in a clear glass container, the

paint visibly begins to separate after a few

minutes.

settling of pigment particles in a wash

solution

The heavier particles sink to the bottom, while

the lighter particles remain suspended. How

much of the pigment settles out depends on

the weight and size of the largest particles,

but the separation always becomes more

pronounced if you let the solution sit

overnight: the concentration of paint changes

from nearly transparent at the top of thesolution to nearly opaque at the bottom.

This variation in particle size might be trivial,except that in pigments with medium to large

particle sizes, pigment color can change

with particle size: smaller particles are

typically a different hue, and typically are

lighter in value. In fact, by manufacturing

pigments to different average particle sizes,

pigment manufacturers can adjust a pigment's

color, hiding power, lightfastness and other

attributes. So many heavy pigments are

really mixtures of two different paints

one made of coarse, saturated particles, andthe other made of whitish, light particles.

You can observe this by mixing up a

moderately diluted solution ofcobalt teal

blue (PG50) in a flat bottomed highball or

drinking glass, then letting it sit undisturbed

for two days. Examined from above, the paint

will seem to have changed color to a dull

bluish gray, but this is because the smallest




11/50

cobalt particles, which are whiter and bluer,

have settled as an opaque layer on the top.

Scrape this layer aside with a brush, or look at

the container from underneath, and the larger,

bright turquoise particles become visible.

Basics of Paint Behavior. Two additional

factors depend on the paint formulation andhow much the paint is diluted with water.

Paints contain many other paintingredients besides pigment, including

binder, plasticizer, humectant, filler and

dispersant. These invisible ingredients are

also dissolved or suspended in the paint

solution, and they often affect how the visible

pigment disperses, flows, settles and backruns

when diluted with water and applied to paper.

The proportion of pigment in a paint varies

across paint brands and types of pigment or

paint. In general the proportion of pigment is

smaller in low quality or inexpensive

("student") paints, and in high quality paints

that are made with strongly tinting pigments(such as the phthalocyanines or dioxazine)

where a little pigment goes a very long way.

The proportion of pigment is also smaller in

pigments with very small particle sizes,

because the total surface area of pigmentparticles increases as the individual particles

get smaller, and this larger total surface area

requires proportionally more vehicle to cover

or "wet" completely. Finely divided pigments

are also more likely to be formulated with a

dispersant to aid in milling (mixing pigment

and vehicle) when the paint is made, or with

fillers to moderate an excessively high tinting

strength.

Both aspects of paint formulation mean that

the pigment behavior or "pigment personality"depends both on the type of pigment in the

paint and the manufacturer (brand) that made

the paints. The primary way the painter

controls the effect of vehicle ingredients on

pigment behavior is through the brand of paint

you choose. Most modern watercolors, such as

DaVinci, are formulated so that all "colors"

behave the same, regardless of the pigments




12/50

in the paints. M.Graham tube paints, and

especially the Kremer pan paints, which

contain pigment, gum, glycerin, sugar and

little else, show a wider range of pigment

behavior. Student paints often rely more

heavily on dispersants to reduce the time

required to mill (thoroughly mix) the paint,

but the dispersant causes these paints todiffuse rapidly when applied wet in wet.

However, you usually must add water to thepaint to get a suspenison of pigment at the

right concentration, and the more water

added to the paint, the less effect vehicle

ingredients have on pigment behavior. So

paint brands tend to behave more alike, and

pigments tend to behave more differently, as

they are more diluted. This is the second way

that the painter can control the effect ofvehicle ingredients on pigment behavior.

Wash Mixture Guidelines. To sum up: the

pigment behavior in a wash is determined by

three pigment attributes weight in water,

average particle size and hue variation across

particle sizes. The quantity of dispersant in the

paint, the proportion of vehicle (binder,

humectant and plasticizer) to pigment, and

the proportion of paint to water (dilution) also

change the paint behavior; but these effectsare weaker in heavily diluted paints.

These basics of pigment and paint behavior

suggest these important wash principles:

concentrated paints impede diffusion and

flow, and magnify differences in the rate of

evaporation between paint areas of different

wetness, producing irregularities in the wash

diluted paint mixtures more easily produce a

flawlesspaintapplication with no visiblebrushstrokes, but enhancepigmenteffects

related to weight, size and color variation

heavier particles sink faster than lighter

particles to the bottom of a diluted wash

solution

larger particles sink faster than smaller




13/50

particles the smaller particles are kept

suspended by the jostling of water molecules

around them

larger vs. smaller particles separate in a

wash: and if there is a noticeable color

difference between large and small particles,

then their separation creates a visible colorseparation as well.

light, small particles are more easily

displaced by capillary water movement,brushstroke irregularities, and the flow of

wash solution down the page

Four Types of Pigment. By combining the

basics of pigment and paint behavior, we can

conveniently classify all paints into one offour

pigment types:

Active pigments. These pigments are very

light (specific gravity under 2.0), have a very

small average particle size (less than 0.5

micron), and little color variation across

particle sizes. They include iron blue, carbonblack (specific gravity 1.8), phthalo blue,

dioxazine violet (1.6), indanthrone blue (1.5),

and most of the quinacridones. Excepting the

iron oxides, active pigments have high tinting

strength and therefore comprise less than20% of the total paint volume (a vehicle to

pigment ratio of at least 4 to 1) most of

what you apply to the paper is binder,

plasticizer, humectant and filler. These vehicle

ingredients increase the osmotic difference

between paint and pure water, causing the

pigments to diffuse more aggressively wet in

wet, and to dry more slowly. The light, small

pigment particles are also more easily moved

along by capillary flows that occur in the last

stages of drying, which creates backruns and

other visible imperfections in the washtexture. They often diffuse or shoot wildly

across wet paper, because a dispersant has

been added to the vehicle to help it completely

wet the extremely small pigment particles,

which tend to clump or cake during milling.

(Ultramarine blue and ultramarine violet,

though they have much larger particle sizes,

can behave like active pigments when




14/50

dispersants are used to wet the pigment

particles during milling.) In general, active

pigments apply smoothly, but are susceptible

to diffusion and backruns.

Heavy Pigments. These have a specific

gravity of 3.5 or more, a medium to large

average particle size (on the order of 5microns or more), and significant color

variation across particle sizes. Pigments of this

type are mostly metallic crystalline pigmentssuch as viridian (specific gravity 3.5), cobalt

violet (3.8), manganese violet (3.9), cobalt

turquoise (3.9), cobalt blue (4.0) and cobalt

green (4.1), and some red iron oxides labeled

"transparent" that in fact have a granulating

texture. Because larger pigment particles

require less vehicle to be thoroughly wetted,

the pigment usually comprises more than 40%of the paint by volume (a vehicle to pigment

ratio of about 1 to 1). The thicker vehicle

makes these paints more likely to streak or

show brushstrokes if applied at high

concentrations, and are especially difficult to

apply evenly to dry paper. The vehicle usuallycontains proportionately more gum arabic and

glycerin to prevent the large, hard, heavy

particles from separating out in the tube, and

contain the least dispersant. The large, heavy

particles rapidly sink out of a wash solution,which must be stirred each time the brush is

charged, or they will produce a dark blotch

where the brush first touches the paper. But

they do not diffuse wet in wet and are

resistant to backruns even when rewetted with

paint or water, and blotches or irregularities

usually can be smoothed out with a brush

while the paint is still wet.

Muddy Pigments. Finally, there are some

exceptional pigments that are both very heavy

(specific gravity above 4.0) yet have average

to small particle sizes (0.5 micron or less) and

little color variation across particle sizes. In

most brands of watercolors, these include the

red, orange and yellow cadmiums (specific

gravity 4.4 to 4.5), chromium oxide green

(5.1), red iron oxides (venetian red or indian

red, specific gravity 5.2), any opaque but

nongranulating umber, sienna or ochre, and




15/50

chinese white (5.6). These paints have a

dense, opaque texture caused by the heavy

pigment specific gravity, the small particle

size, and the relatively limited variation in the

size of particles (or particle aggregates)

produced by the methods of chemical

synthesis and finishing. They usually have a

high refractive index, low tinting strength andin many cases a relatively dull color, so more

pigment must be used in a wash to obtain the

same color density as other paints. Theproportion of gum arabic or glycerin in the

vehicle is higher than in average pigments but

not as high as in other heavy pigments

(cobalts). In dilute solutions they are as likely

to backrun as the active pigments, are

resistant to backruns when moderately or

heavily diluted, but are likely to cake, streak

or bronze when applied near full strength.

Average Pigments. What remains are the

pigments that do not fit into any of the

previous categories. These usually have a

specific gravity between 2.0 and 3.5, an

average particle size between 0.5 and 1micron, and consistent color across all particle

sizes. Nearly all of these average pigments are

synthetic organics (most of them laked

dyes), yellow iron oxides, and a few synthetic

inorganic pigments such as nickel titanateyellow and the metal azomethines. In these

paints the pigment usually comprises around

30% to 40% of the total paint volume (a

vehicle to pigment ratio of about 2 to 1). Most

watercolors are manufactured so that these

"average" pigments behave the same way:

relatively inactive wet in wet, consistent

across different concentrations of paint and

water, and producing a flat, textureless colorno matter how they are applied.

Pigment Mixtures. Very often the paints

mixed in a wash solution contain two or more

pigment types. The painter can manipulate the

wash behavior by the choice of these pigment

combinations.

Heavy + Muddy. The mixture of two

granulating or powdery mineral pigments

(synthetic inorganic compounds of cobalt,




16/50

cadmium, manganese, chromium or iron) of

very different particle sizes is the most difficult

of all wash mixtures to control. The crystalline

components settle out of solution quickly, but

at different rates, and usually one pigment is

more concentrated in the first touch of the

brush. Painted with juicy, randomly varied

brushstrokes on flat paper, these mixtures drywith a mottled, mineral appearance, but it is

very difficult to get an even, flat color.

Active + Heavy. An especially versatile

mixture consists of a granulating or

powdery mineral pigment (a heavy pigment,

such as viridian or a compound of cadmium,

cobalt, manganese or magnesium) with a

synthetic organic or "staining" pigment (such

as iron blue or any quinacridone,

phthalocyanine, perylene, dioxazine orbenzimidazolone). The synthetic organic

pigments produce a bright, consistent and

strongly tinting basic color, and create subtle

color variations in concentrated applications

due to small backruns; the heavier mineral

pigments mute backruns and induce pigmenttexture in diluted, juicy applications, and

importantly reduce the staining behavior of a

concentrated mixture, making the paint easier

to lift or edit.

Wash mixtures normally should be stirred

each time the brush is charged, otherwise the

heavier pigments (cobalt teal blue in solution

with a phthalocyanine) or heavier pigment

particles (in grainy pigments such as cerulean

blue or cobalt violet) separate in solution.

However an unstirred wash mixture provides

the painter with a simple method to modify

the paint color on the fly, by the way thebrush is charged with new paint. If the brush

is dipped into the surface of the wash mixture,

it only picks up the smaller, lighter pigment

particles, which usually provide a more fluid

color. If the brush is swept along the bottom

of the container, it picks up the heavier,

coarser pigment particles and usually leaves

a heavy paint concentration or grainy blotch

where the brush first touches the paper.

Active + Muddy. These mixtures produce




17/50

similar paint behavior as the active+heavy

mixtures, with two exceptions: the smaller

particle size of the muddy paints makes the

mixture more susceptible to backruns at all

concentrations, and typically makes the

mixtures more staining.

Active + Active. These mixtures, forexample a phthalocyanine with a quinacridone,

are very stable in solution. On paper, slight

backruns may cause the two pigments toseparate, producing very subtle, feathery

contours of color within the wash area. These

can be produced by brushing upwards into the

previous was stroke after each new stroke is

applied, or by lightly stroking satin wet wash

areas with a thirsty or wicked brush. The

amount of color variation depends on the

specific pigments and brands of paint in themixture and the absorptance of the paper, and

must be discovered by trial and error.

Average + Heavy/Muddy/Active. The

"average" pigments generally mute or buffer

the attributes of any of the other pigments,but the amount of change depends on the

specific paints used and their concentration in

water.

Decanting Pigments. If you require agranulating (usually blue or violet) pigment for

one reason or another (hue, mixing behavior,

lack of alternative paints), but want to

minimize the paint texture or pigment

separation, or pigment banding during the

wash application, a traditional remedy is to

decant the paint solution.

In the 19th century, the procedure was to

pour the wash or paint solution into a papercone (like the paper cups used for "snow

cones" today). The largest, heaviest particlessank into the point of the cone, out of reach of

the tip of the brush. The paint mixture could

then be drawn directly from the cone (though

the solution had to be regularly stirred to keep

the smaller particles in suspension, while the

heavier particles would quickly sink back out

of reach), or the bottom of the cone could be

pinched with thumb and finger (to trap the




18/50

heavy particles in place) and the rest of the

paint solution poured off into a mixing cup.

The same trick works well today, and if you

can't buy the snow cone cups at a party

supply or culinary supply store, use a sharply

tapering cocktail glass (some martini glasses

work fine), or a funnel rolled from heavywaxed paper with the tip folded upwards to

seal the bottom.

I prefer something simpler: I mix up the paintin a mixing cup, let the paint settle for an hour

or so, then decant the paint by pouring it off

into a second mixing cup. A sludge of the

largest pigment particles remains behind.

(Keep in mind that decanting off these largest

pigments will usually alter the paint color.)

A traditional component of wash

technique is the tilt of the painting surface.

The tilt creates a fall line or directed

gravitational flow across the paper. This pulls

the wash solution from high to low and

collects the excess liquid in a reservoir, called

the wash bead, along the bottom edge of the

last brushstroke.

the downward flow of the wash bead

Each brushstroke cuts into the existing wash

bead and creates a wetted area underneath it,

allowing it to flow down the stroke to the new

edge. This downward flow has three functions:

tilting the wash




19/50

It erases brushstroke edges, by flowing

perpendicularly (across) the horizontal

direction of the brush.

It equalizes variations in the quantity of

paint applied in successive brushstrokes,

producing an even concentration of pigment

down the paper.

It prevents upward backruns as paint is

applied, and makes it easy to wick up excess

paint with a thirsty brush.

The question is, how much of a tilt should you

use, and why? Watercolor tutorials differ as to

the optimal tilt to use. The advice quoted

above suggests 2 inches which can be

almost any tilt, depending on the size of the

painting support. Rex Brandt suggests you tiltthe surface to 15; David Dewey suggests

40.

First, let's make the inquiry: what are the

actual limits on the tilt you can use in

painting?

If you lay horizontal brushstrokes of clear

water on watercolor paper, one below the

next, tilting the surface upwards at a greater

angle as you go, eventually the wash bead will

break and run down the paper. This usually

happens when the tilt is around 40. So 40 is

the upper limit on a tilt that still lets you

confidently control a wash.

If you pour a teaspoon of pure water on a

flat watercolor paper, then slowly tilt the

surface upward, the puddle of water starts to

run downwards at a tilt of about 6. Because

gravity does dislodge this large puddle ofwater if the tilt is below 6, there is little or

no tilt effect below 6.

A little trigonometry shows that you get a tilt

of 40 by raising the back edge of the painting

support by about 2/3d's (64%) of the support

height. That is, if your drawing surface is four

feet from top edge to bottom edge, you must

raise the top edge so that it about 2-1/2 feet

higher than the bottom edge to get a 40 tilt.




20/50

A 6 tilt requires you to raise the top edge by

about 10% (or 5 inches/4 feet).

the painting surface at a 15 and 30 tilt

Within this range, there are two convenient

benchmarks. A 15 angle is obtained byraising the top edge of the drawing surface to

a height equal to 1/4 of its top to bottom

dimension. A 30 angle requires a tilt of

exactly 2/4 (or 1/2). These proportions are

easy to judge by eye.

How does the tilt affect the paint behavior? As

you increase the tilt of the watercolor surface,

several things happen:

1. Greater tilt causes more water to flow from

the top edge to the bottom edge of a new

wash stroke in the time between strokes; this

water collects into a tighter, larger bead at the

bottom edge of the wash, which is more likelyto break and run down the paper. So the

tilted wash forms a larger wash bead that

is more likely to drip and therefore must be

watched and manipulated with more care.

a tilted wash forms a larger wash beadbrushstroke viewed from the side




21/50

2. Because a greater tilt causes the wash

solution to flow more quickly off the surface of

the paper, the tilted wash dries more

quickly from top to bottom than a wash

painted on flat paper. This leaves less

opportunity to brush out small imperfections

and less leeway to vary the tempo of yourbrushstrokes.

a tilted wash dries more quickly

3. As the tilt increases, more pigment is swept

into the wash bead by the faster water

currents and force of gravity, leaving less

pigment on the paper above; as a result the

tilted wash leaves a lighter color than a

wash painted on flat paper.

a tilted wash has a lighter color

4. There is increased gravitational resistance

to the capillary pull upwards of water in the

new wash stroke, caused by the evaporation

of water from the previous wash strokes; this

capillary pull can cause backruns. So a tilted

wash is less likely to backrun as it dries,

because excess water is drained away.

(Backruns can still form from a wash bead that




22/50

is not wicked up from the bottom edge of the

wash.)

5. The optimal wash brushstroke is achieved

with the brush handle held nearly vertical to

the ground andperpendicular to the paper

surface. This is also puts the least strain on

the wrist. The tilted wash brushstrokeimpairs brush action by forcing the brush

toward a horizontal angle to the ground (if it is

held perpendicular to the paper) or forcing anoblique angle of contact with the paper (if it is

turned vertical to the ground); the increased

angle also forces the wrist into an

uncomfortable extension.

a tilted wash can impair brush action

6. More of the large pigment particles are

swept into the wash bead by the faster water

currents, rather than coming to rest on the

paper where they are applied; but these large

particles settle quickly on the paper

underneath the wash bead before the next

brushstroke can be applied. The tilted wash

brushstroke shows heavy pigment

banding, while a flat stroke has none.

larger pigment particles form bands in a

tilted washbrushstroke viewed from the side




23/50

7. The increased water flow and paint

movement downward effaces any unevenness

in the density of pigment applied by the brush

or marks left by separate brushstrokes; so a

tilted wash creates more even color,

especially on a dry painting surface and for

average or active pigments.

Some watercolor books explain that, in a tilted

wash, the wash bead presses with a greater

volume of water against the lower edge of the

stroke, and this inhibits evaporation orcapillary action along the "dry" edge of the

wash area that can form a hard edge of paint

by drying. But you have to be pretty stingy

with paint application in order for this to

happen.

If a hard edge does begin to form, it can

usually be scrubbed out with the brush as the

next brushstroke is applied. In addition, the

appearance of dried edges can be better

controlled by prewetting the wash area.

The ease of applying a wash when the surface

is relatively flat the paint can be appliedmore quickly and with less worry about

managing the wash bead, especially around

"cut out" forms actually compensates for

the supposed advantage of a tilted painting

surface. Overall, tilting the painting surface is

not the most effective way to control whether

edges form in your wash area.

This means there are really only two unique

benefits to tilting the paper (#4, fewer

backruns and #7, more even color), and

several potential drawbacks (primarily #5,

impaired brush action and #6, pigment

banding; but often also #1, larger wash bead,

#2, too rapid drying and #3, lighter color).Tilting therefore seems overall like mixed bag.

All things being equal, we should tilt the

paper no more than necessary just

enough to get the beneficial effects, but not

enough to amplify the drawbacks.

If we view the wash benefits in terms of the

four types of pigment, then three basic




24/50

approaches emerge:

For active pigments and concentrated muddy

igments, the pigments are usually

homogenous enough to minimize brushmarks

and banding. The benefits #4 and #7 are most

important, and too rapid drying (#2) is a

significant hazard because it can inducebackruns from the wash bead. So the principal

goal is to tilt the wash far enough toprevent

backruns, provided this does not aggressivelydrain the color or cause the wash to dry too

quickly. This can usually be accomplished by

using a tilt of 15 or more.

For average pigments and diluted muddy

igments, the benefits #4 and #7 are

relatively less important the capillary forces

that can cause backruns are not as strong, andthese paints usually apply very smoothly at

moderate dilution. But their lower tinting

strength makes drawback #3 more significant.

So the tilt should be just enough to smooth out

the wash (keep the wash bead moving down

the page to efface brush strokes), whileminimizing the drawbacks caused by the

increased downward flow. This can usually be

accomplished by using a tilt between 6 to

15.

For heavy pigments, the wash bands formed

by the largest particles form more quickly the

more the painting surface is tilted, and for

most heavy pigment paints (the cobalt paints,

especially) backruns almost never occur unless

they are mixed with a different type of

pigment. For these wash situations the best

approach is often to use a minimal tiltor to

paint the wash on flat paper and thenimmediately but very slowly tilt the paper to

drain off the excess liquid (as described

below). This can usually be accomplished byusing a tilt of 6 or less.

Once the wash application has been finished,

the tilt may be sharply increased up to 90

if desired to drain the paint more forcibly

and produce a greater blending or smoothing

effect on paint irregularities or color

transitions.




25/50

These tilt recommendations apply to a diluted

wash mixture as it is brushed on. Thicker paint

mixtures must be applied at a more extreme

tilt, sometimes 60 or more, to compensate

the increased viscosity of the paint mixture

with an increased gravitational pull. Thicker

wash mixtures may show no water movement

at tilts of 15 or less, color gradients orimperfections are blended less forcibly by

extreme tilting, and backruns caused by too

rapid drying (#2) are more of a hazard. If ahigh color density is required in the wash, a

smoother wash texture can always be

obtained from two or three diluted

applications, rather than one thick application.

The tilt no more than necessary rules

depends on the dilution of the wash mixture

and the type of paint, paper, paper surfaceand brush you are using, as well as the wash

appearance you want to achieve. You learn to

navigate the nuances through experience. But

the rule is a useful starting point and can

guide your judgment as you look for the right

solution.

Now we turn attention to thebrushstroke, which is the primary way that the

wash bead, pigment banding, backruns and

other paint behavior is controlled in a wash.

All watercolor handbooks recommend applying

the wash with quick, even, horizontal

brushstrokes. Yet the brushstroke is an aspect

of technique that you can (and should) adjust

to suit the pigment and the kind of wash

texture you want to achieve.

Holding the Brush. To find the best way to

grip the handle of your brush, consider thedifferent ways you will need to adjust the

angle of the brush to the paper.

wash brushstrokes




26/50

right and wrong start to a wash

brushstroke

When you start the new stroke, always brush

upwards into the wash bead from the dry

paper underneath. Do not dip the brush into

the bead or into the lower edge. This willbreak the liquid's surface tension, but provides

nothing below the water to stop its downward

flow.

If you are using a round, gently pull the brush

upwards into the bead. If you are using a flat

wash brush, touch the lower corner of the tuft

at an angle to the paper, then press the brush

to lay it flat against the paper, touching the

wash bead with the upper corner. These

movements set the brush tuft as a cup or wall

under the bead before you break its surface

tension, so any drip of water is caught beforeit gains momentum.

To make a smooth wash, hold the brush

handle as near to perpendicular to the

paper as you can without limiting your arm

movement or cramping your wrist. A vertical

brush increases the liquid flow from the tuft

and also strikes the tips of the hairs against

the paper: this helps to fill in pinholes on the

paper.

If you want to show more of the paper texture

(or the texture of the brush bristles), then

hold the brush with the handle nearly parallel

to the paper surface. This reduces the rate of

liquid flow from the brush, and hits the paperwith the sides of the hairs instead of the tips:

both contribute to make a scratchy, irregular

wash application that highlights the texture of

the paper.




27/50

Third, unless you are scrubbing the paper to

disperse heavy pigment deposits, dissolve

surface impurities, or cover up the texture or

pinholes in a rough paper, lightly touch the

brush to the paper with just enough

pressure to maintain contact. This draws the

pigment evenly from the brush (rather than

extruding it with pressure), and spreads thepigment evenly across the stroke. Heavy

pressure forces the paint away from the center

of the stroke and toward the edges; a lighttouch also keeps the bristles from pressing

heavy pigments deep into the paper texture.

Finally, many washes must be applied around

the edges of objects that are perceived to

stand in front of the wash area, and these

"cutout" edges must be painted cleanly and

accurately. These edges usually requireflexible wrist movements, which are more

difficult if the wrist is held at an awkward

angle.

Try different ways of gripping the brush until

you find one that gives you the most flexibilityto perform these four essential brush

movements upward movement at the start

of the wash stroke, perpendicular angle to the

paper, gentle pressure across the stroke, and

flexible wrist movements. You should be ableto perform these across a wash stroke of any

length with any type of brush you want to use.

Three Wash Brushstrokes. Now, what

pattern of brushstrokes should you use? The

diagram shows the three basic types of wash

stroke patterns.

The straight brushstroke (left) is the

commonly recommended approach. The

strokes are made to overlap just enough tobreak the wash bead at the bottom of the

previous stroke. The top edge of the brush

passes through the bead in the stroke above,

breaking the tension along the bottom edge

and allowing the excess paint and water to

flow across the width of the new brushstroke

and form a new wash bead along its bottom

edge.




28/50

You must alternate the direction of the

brushstroke to keep the pigment coverage

even: either by brushing in the opposite

direction over the stroke you have just made,

or by switching direction from one brushstroke

to the next. If you always start at the left (or

right) edge of the wash area, the bead is large

on that side and small on the opposite side,where the brush has little liquid left. This can

cause irregularities in the wash color, or

backruns. A back and forth stroke alsoimproves pigment mixing, as shown in the

examples below.

pigment mixing in horizontal wash

brushstrokesleft to right only (left) or alternating directions (right);

tilted surface, first stroke is yellow, all other strokes areblue

At the start of each new straight stroke, most

of the paint applied to the paper is actually

drawn right out of the brush: the paint in the

wash bead flows downward only toward the

end of the stroke, when the brush runs out of

liquid. If all the strokes are made in the same

direction, the concentration of paint is not the

same on the two sides of the paper.

The straight stroke is fine for average pigment

washes: but with active or heavy pigments it

causes three annoying problems. You are

locked into a fairly mechanical rhythm,

completing one horizontal stroke all the way

across the page before starting the next,

which limits your ability to handle complex

edges or cutout shapes, such as clouds, in the

horizontal washbrushstrokes

top: full width horizontalbrushstroke; bottom:

refreshed horizontal

brushstroke




29/50

middle of the wash. Second, you must work as

quickly as you safely can, because the longer

the time between strokes, the more visible

imperfections will result. If you're using an

active pigment, backruns will appear just from

capillary action at the upper edge of a

stationary wash bead. If you're using heavy

pigments, the bead quickly collects the largestand darkest pigment particles. These backruns

or pigment stripes will show up very clearly

when the wash has dried even though theymay not be apparent while the wash is still

wet. Finally, the action of brushing in

alternating directions can be awkward to

manage with one hand, especially with a flat

brush.

The scalloped brushstroke (right) solves

these problems by creating an irregular,broken pattern to the wash strokes, freeing

the artist to add new paint randomly over the

entire surface of the wash. Each scallop

creates its own small wash bead at the bottom

of the curved stroke, and this bead is picked

up by the new stroke coming underneath it, so

the timing and flow of the wash application

can be adjusted with great flexibility and

accuracy. Just make a new scalloped stroke

anywhere along the irregular bottom edge of

the wash, to add paint or move a bead thathas been resting for too long.

Lay this stroke down in a graceful, light,

movement don't daub or dither with it. The

shape of the stroke should not be mechanical,

but varied to fit the location and shape of the

specific wash area you paint. Mechanical

repetition creates a regular pattern, which is

easier for the eye to detect.

The scalloped stroke lets you control banding,

brushstroke edges and backruns with greater

freedom. You can start with the wash bead of

a stroke, pull it downwards, then back up into

another bead nearby, combining two beads

into one. Or you can start below one wash

bead, pull downwards to make a new bottom

edge, then brush upwards into a second wash

bead to dislodge any heavy pigment particles.

You can make the lower edge sharply curved,

scalloped washbrushstrokes




30/50

to create a focused wash bead, or nearly flat,

to spread the wash bead across a larger edge.

In short, you can fit the stroke to the

situation, and solve problems the moment you

see them appear.

If banding occurs in the scalloped wash beads

across the wash area, the irregular shape andplacement of these bands will make them

much less noticeable and create a subtle

textural variation that blends well into theoverall watercolor effect.

cerulean blue washespainted with straight (left) and scalloped (right)

brushstrokeson a tilted surface

The example shows the difference between

these two strokes for a robustly granulating

pigment, M. Graham cerulean blue (PB36).The banding on the left shows the straight

brushstroke at its very worst: but the

scalloped stroke solves the banding problem

completely.

If you must paint against very complex or

detailed edges, the scalloped strokes allow you

to break these maneuvers into small

segments, independent of the overall

accumulation of the wash. You can paint part

of an edge, quickly refresh any wash beads

that have gathered for too long, paint anotherincrement of edge, and so on, giving you

much greater control over the overall

movement of the wash.

Finally, the crossed brushstroke (right) is

the most aggressive. The paint is laid downwith short, overlapping strokes, and except for

the strokes at the top of the page, the start of




31/50

each stroke crosses over the end of a previous

stroke. The brush is used almost with a

scrubbing emphasis, so that any collection of

heavy pigment particles that may have formed

is dispersed by the new stroke.

The strokes can be crossed with either an

upwards or downwards direction; the diagramshows downward strokes, which are safest to

use only when the painting surface is nearly

flat. However, this stroke is useful for heavilygranulating pigments, and (as discussed in the

section on tilting), these are painting with very

little tilt anyway.

Very coarse pigments, such as cerulean blue

or manganese blue, may require this kind of

aggressive brushing to smooth out

irregularities in pigment density at the startand end of a single wash stroke, and to break

up bands that form within the wash beads. If

necessary, you can go back into an area of the

wash that you've already laid down (to add

paint or smooth out visible brushstrokes),

because heavy pigments tend to backrun verylittle when new pigment or water is added to

them.

The crossed brushstroke is also useful in

painting graded washes, as it can pull thedarker wash mixture downward much more

effectively than the scalloped or straight

strokes, which rely only on the flow of the

wash bead.

Complex Cutouts. By this time you should

have guessed that you can use pretty much

anyapplication method or combination of

brushstrokes, provided that you (1) control

backruns, (2) efface brushmarks and (3)obtain even paint distribution. You fit the

application to the problem.

Complex cutouts require technical flexibility.

Most washes necessitate a "cutout" at the

edges painting around the edge of a

differently colored area. Clouds or a city

skyline against the sky, or the background

behind an object, are common challenges. The

normal procedure is either to use a straight

crossed wash brushstrokes




32/50

brushstroke which you break and then

continue on either side of the foreground form

(s), or scalloped brushstrokes to take the

wash first down one side of the form, then

down the other side.

Botanical painters are familiar with even more

complex situations, where the upward andoutward radiation of stems and flowers

produce many separate, narrowing spaces.

The example shown below is a recreational

painting (unretouched) that I knocked off in a

few hours because I enjoyed looking at the

subject. The problem here was to get a

homogenous background behind the weave of

stems and petals. I wanted to use an active

pigment (phthalo turquoise), but the paper

was relatively absorbent which minimized theproblem of backruns.

I could not get a horizontal stroke across all

the detail edges before the start of the stroke

had dried to a hard edge; scrubbing out the

edge would leave a backrun. I could have

turned the paper sideways, effectively painting

left to right down the sheet, to reduce the

length of each horizontal stroke, but decided

that wouldn't be much easier. I did not want

to go to the utter fuss of reserving all thebotanical detail with a liquid resist, especially

as i wanted to paint it freehand (without an

underdrawing).




33/50

wash sequence around complex shapesa still life watercolor (top) and the strategy used to

paint the background (bottom)

Instead I (1) simplified the design, (2) painted

in all the botanical detail first, and then (3)

painted the background sequentially with the

paper laid flat, as shown above with arrows

and numbers.

The design was simplified by carrying a few

stems to the paper edge, as shown by the

white dots. These cut the background into four

detached areas (not counting the peekthrough

areas around the vase handle). Each of these

areas could be painted independently of theothers.




34/50

I started with an upward path (1) that let me

practice the petal cutouts early on, then

carried this over the top of a bordering stem

(2). I painted outward and downward along a

gradually expanding edge (3), and when the

paint reached the opposite stem I painted first

down (4) while lightly rewetting the edge

along (5), then across the remaining area tothe corner. I carried this edge around the

second stem and repeated the strategy into

the next area (6,7). This completed the firstbackground section and I stopped for a rest.

Other sections were completed in the same

way, and I finished by filling in the leftover

peek through areas (16).

This strategy works because at every spot

where I had to negotiate detail cutouts, the

stem patterns left me with only a few inches ofwash bead to keep wet and moving forward.

With the paper laid flat the "bead" is really the

wettest paint edge, but as long as this edge is

kept moving at a constant rate with even paint

application, backruns will not usually form,

even in active pigments. That is, I paintedwithout the wash bead because I didn't need it

to get color homogeneity.

The crux is that it is normal to increase

pressure on the brush during detail painting,to improve control; but this also reduces the

paint flow onto the paper and produces

uneven color and minor backruns. With a

small paint edge to control there was no panic

imperative to keep working quickly, which left

me more time to paint the detail cutouts with

care, and ensure even paint application.

The final wash nuance is whether

or not to prewet the wash area or the paper asa whole. Some artists first sponge or brush the

area with water and let it dry completely.

Others wet the area in the same way, then lay

in the wash while the surface has a shiny to

satin wetness. Still others paint the wash

directly on dry paper.

to wet or not to wet




35/50

Prewetting as Surface Preparation. Many

artists habitually prewet a wash area, or the

entire paper surface, as a way to minimize or

eliminate contaminants on the paper surface

that can destroy an otherwise smooth wash

texture.

There are two types of problems. The first isfine pinholing tiny white flecks that

appear in a wash after it has dried. The

second, related problem is unsightly largewhitish splotches that appear immediately

after a wash has been applied.

Both these problems seem to occur most often

on block sheets, but I have also encountered

them on supposedly high quality individual

sheets from large manufacturers. The usual

causes in both cases are impurities such asoils on the paper surface or a somewhat thick

layer of gelatin tub sizing that has collected in

the paper depressions and will repel paint until

it is dissolved.

Both problems can be prevented by prewettingthe entire paper with pure water or with a

highly diluted gum arabic solution, then

quickly and lightly "polishing" the paper

surface with an acrylic flat brush or large

sponge in a gentle, rapid, scrubbing orpolishing motion. After this brief cleaning,

hang the paper vertically until it is completely

dry. Do this before you begin to draw or paint

on the sheet.

This treatment dissolves away any surface

impurities, breaks up the dried skin of tub

sizing on the paper, and also slightly raises

the nap of the compacted cellulose fibers,making the surface more absorbent. If you do

not want to disturb the surface texture

(especially in a hot pressed sheet), you canidentify large problem areas by first flooding

the paper surface with water, then

immediately holding the sheet vertically by

one corner to drain the water away. The entire

sheet should dry in even gradations of

wetness from top to bottom: any areas that

will repel a wash become visible as

prematurely "dry" patches on the surface.




36/50

These should be treated as described above.

Tiny pinholing usually occurs in paints made

with dark valued, finely divided pigments with

a low pigment to vehicle ratio typically

this includes the phthalos, quinacridones, iron

blue, dioxazine violet and carbon black. These

require extra attention as you paint. Paintsmade with a high pigment to vehicle ratio

(cadmiums and iron oxide pigments) or large

particle size (cobalts) are less affected, butcan still show this problem in diluted solutions.

A partial remedy is to use a stiffer wash brush

and to pull the brush more slowly across the

paper. If pinholes appear while the paint is still

completely wet, go back into the area with the

brush and a little more paint and use a

circular, scrubbing motion to work the paintinto the imperfections. Don't do this if the

paint has partly dried, as you will create

blossoms or backruns. If the pinholes appear

long after the paint has been applied then the

only remedy is a second coat of paint.

But keep in mind: anything that happens while

you paint can be used for expressive effect. If

you can learn to produce pinholing at will

through your choice of paint and paper, you

can use it to produce a glittery visual texturein a dark color area.

Prewetting for Paint Blending. Prewetting

the surface is also a simple method to improve

the evenness of the wash. It obscures

brushmarks and prolongs the wash drying

time, so it is an obvious help for pigments that

dry quickly or have a tendency to streak (the

heavy pigments in particular). Prewetting alsoencourages different colored paints to blend,

which is especially useful in a graded wash,

where extra time is especially valuable and asmooth mixture (between paint and clear

water, or two different colors of paint) is hard

to achieve. Prewetting is also advantageous

when painting around complex edges, as the

longer drying time gives you more time to

paint accurately.

Prewetting is awkward when the painting




37/50

surface must be tilted (that is, for active

pigments), as the wash bead will not form on

the wet surface the brush strokes

immediately start to diffuse down the page.

For these pigments, prewetting and then

applying the paint in a level wash is best.

Also, prewetting gives pigments of very

different textures more time to separate onthe paper. If you mix a wash with a cobalt and

quinacridone pigment, a prewetted application

will give the quinacridone more incentive toseparate and blossom away from the cobalt,

producing more interesting blossoming and

two color effects. Of course, these become

more spectacular when the separate pigments

are very different colors from their mixture

for example, when you apply a violet mixed

from a dark magenta quinacridone and a light

cobalt teal blue.

Whenever possible, I prefer to prewet the

wash area with brush and water, just as if I

were applying the actual wash. I use water

that is very lightly tinted with the wash

solution or a harmonizing color, so that I cansee where the paper is still dry. This

prewetting lets me practice the overall wash

strategy, assess the timing of the wash

application, and recognize any difficulties

created by complex edges. If I stumble into aproblem with the wash application, or discover

that water is evaporating too quickly, or locate

a splotchy patch on the paper surface, I find

this out with an almost invisible tint of water

instead of an irreversible layer of paint. This

prewetting will make the paper more receptive

to the wash layers whether or not you let the

paper dry.

I wet approximately around complex edges,

not actually up against them. It's always

harder to paint a complex edge twice rather

than once, and if I prewet beyond the edge by

mistake, then I must let the area completely

dry before I can apply the paint. So I save the

one time for the actual paint. If the edge area

is dry, but the area near it is moist, then the

prewetting actually helps to wick paint toward

the edge as it dries, making a crisp and

slightly darkened border around the wash




38/50

area.

Some artists use special wash additives in

order to manipulate the drying time or

viscosity of a wash solution. These

preparations require carefully adjusted

concentrations of pigment in the mixture, and

the use ofpaint additives such as ox gall,glycerin, or alcohol. I've also experimented

with adding a little glycerin soap to the wash

solution, to break the water tension.

I urge you to experiment with these additives

to learn their effects. I excluded them from my

own methods on the grounds that I did not

want additional equipment (chemicals) as part

of my wash technique, and because my limited

experiments with these additives did not show

me that they added anything essential.

So: we've divided up the wash into

its separate components and examined each

in turn. Now we can put these back together

in wash practice, using whatever combination

of methods is appropriate to get a specific

result.

Homogenous Wash Techniques. The goal

in a homogenous wash is to create a colored

area with no perceptible variation in the

color, texture or value of the paint. There

are three ways to approach this.

The Level Wash. In this method you lay the

paper perfectly flat to start. Using whatever

brushstrokes are convenient, you cover the

area to be washed with paint to a shiny

wetness. If areas of the wash begin to dry

before you have finished, rewet them with a

moderately wet brush. When the entire washarea is covered to an equal wetness, quickly

and lightly brush over the entire area as

needed to ensure smooth coverage, then wick

off with a brush any puddles of water in the

wash or around the edges. Let sit undisturbed

until dry.

wash strategies




39/50

This wash covers the paper with a good dark

color and slightly uneven texture and that's

the main point of a level wash. Heavy

pigments can be smoothed out nicely with the

brush to create a somewhat random, feathery

texture. Active pigments, such as prussian

blue or ivory black, tend to show subtle

backruns and streaking as well. But all washapplications, brushed out or not, will show

slight variations in surface pattern.

These texture variations largely follow the

patterns in which the wash area was painted:

the last painted areas are the wettest, so they

will backrun into the earlier painted areas,

which have already started to dry. By varying

the amount of wash solution painted down at

the start and finish, and by choosing the start

and finish of the wash and the sequence ofareas painted in between, you can control the

pattern of the backruns without adding more

water. (Painting the wash in one pass, using

the minimum amount of wash liquid, and not

going back to rewet areas that begin to dry

too quickly will increase these randomvariations.) This is a spontaneous approach

that lets the water play a natural role in the

finished effect, with surprisingly lyrical results.

The level wash also interacts strongly with thepaper surface. Papers that are heavily sized

and therefore relatively unabsorbent, or thin

papers or papers that have already been

wetted and have cockled, will cause pooling or

puddles in the wash. These create areas of

darker color and also areas at the center of

expanding backruns. If a large amount of

liquid accumulates in the pools, the dried

pigment can show impressively complex,random variations in pigment color and

density.

The Tilted Wash. This is the commonly

recommended approach. You begin the wash

with the paper tilted to a small angle, and

apply the paint to dry paper from top to

bottom of the wash area. You normally use a

straight or scalloped stroke, and pull the wash

bead downwards as you go. Finish off with

strokes that do not add more paint, so that




40/50

you use up what remains of the wash bead in

the bottom of the wash area. Let sit until dry,

using a moist, thirsty brush to wick off any

excess paint that beads at the bottom edge.

For the majority of watercolor paints, this

method works fine. You can adjust the force of

gravity on the water by changing the tilt of theboard: below a 10% slope there is very little

pull, and above 25% the pull is very strong. As

described above, you use a higher tiltprimarily to inhibit backruns in lighter than

average pigments, or when using a large

brush that applies a large amount of liquid in

one stroke.

The Two Step Wash. This method combines

the two previous approaches and can be very

effective, especially for active and heavypigments.

The paper is laid perfectly level to start, and

the wash area is filled in completely with paint

using a scalloped or crossed brushstroke.

Sufficient wash liquid is used to bring the

paper to a soaked wetness.

Once all brushing is done, tilt the surface up

very slightly (about 5), and use a moist brush

(shaken out, or wicked on a paper towel) todraw off the excess liquid at the bottom. When

the downward flow of paint at this tilt begins

to slow, tilt the paper slightly higher to keep

the water moving. Wick off excess paint as it

forms a bead along the bottom edges.

Continue increasing the tilt and wicking off the

excess until the wash area has stabilized or

the paper is tilted vertically. Let stand

undisturbed to dry, and continue to wicking offany excess that collects along the bottom

edge.

The two step wash is the only method that can

suppress irregularities in very active pigments,

yet can be manipulated to produce subtle or

strong variations in wash texture with heavy

pigments. The surface is extremely even and

consistent, with one exception: a darker band

of concentrated pigment may form along the

bottom edge of the wash area.




41/50

You can suppress this darker band by using

less paint, by tilting the surface more slowly

as it dries (this requires some practice, to

keep backruns from forming!), or by carrying

the bottom edge of the wash entirely off the

painted area, onto the stretching tape or the

paint board. I find it is also possible to lighten

this band by wicking directly from it, ratherthan from the edge of the paper but this is

a little risky, as the wicking can cause

backruns.

three washes of iron (prussian) bluescalloped brushstrokes with level (left), tilted (center)

andtwo step (right) wash technique

The example shows these three techniques

used with the same brush, paper and Daniel

Smith iron blue (prussian blue, PB27) wash

solution. An active pigment, iron blue willbackrun slightly if capillary movement is not

controlled; it also contains visible grains,

which will cause banding in a tilted wash with

straight brushstrokes. Using a scallopedstroke, all the wash techniques get good

results: the level wash technique gives the

richest color with subtle and expressive

variations in paint density, while the two step

method gets a really impressive flatness and a

perfectly random distribution in the darkest,

heaviest particles (note also the dark band at

the bottom).

Graded Wash Techniques. In the graded

wash, the objective is to create a gradient in

the hue or value of the color area. Most

often this means an even transition between a

full strength mixture and a transparent wash(pure water), but it can also be a transition

from one color to another.




42/50

This is the most difficult wash effect to do

correctly, and it verges on the impossible if

you must also manage complex edges or

cutouts as you work. Don't get discouraged,

though: practice will bring you familiarity with

the common problems and how to deal with

them.

One approach is to build the gradient through

two or more wash applications, so that the

imperfections in each wash average out. I findthat this often only invites disaster several

times instead of once; in particular, it is hard

to paint complex edges exactly the same

across all the different washes.

The other approach is to reserve the whites

with tape or resist, and then paint one or more

wash gradients with abandon. Once thewashes have dried, remove the resists, and

you have crisp, perfect edges. To my eye, the

edges created by resists look contrived and

artsy, and resists and tape are a major

addition in equipment and fuss. They also tend

to make the finished paintings appearmechanical.

With experience, you'll also discover design

points that make the finished result more

acceptable. For example, if the wash gradientis exactly parallel with vertical, any deviation

from a perfect gradient shows up with

exasperating clarity. If you tilt the gradient

slightly to one side or the other, for example

in imitation of late afternoon light or a slanted

shadow across a wall, then a missed gradient

is along the diagonal, and appears as part of

the overall textural variations in the painting.

I'll describe three different approaches. Thereis a lot of diversity in the gradient wash

methods explore different combinations ofthese methods to discover what works for you.

Dry Gradient Wash. In this approach, the

paper is dry, and either tilted or laid flat to

start. If tilted, use a moderately steep angle

(15% to 30%) to enhance the blurring of the

gradient across wash strokes. Orient the paper




43/50

so that the dark area of the wash is at the top

and the light (clear) area is at the bottom: the

line of flow of the water down the page must

be parallel with the line of the gradient.

Start at the top with a single straight stroke of

pure wash solution on dry paper, mixed to a

darker color than you need. Now, dip the endof the brush tuft lightly in the rinse water, and

lift it out without stirring or shaking it. When it

has stopped dripping, apply the mixture ofwash solution and water to the paper, again

using a straight stroke back and forth, pulling

the bead of pure wash mixture downwards.

Overlap the strokes more than you normally

would on a straight stroke up to half with

width of the brush. Dip the brush again, but

this time farther up the tuft; apply the second

stroke. On the third dip, shake the brushslightly in the rinse water, lift it out and let

drain, then paint.

Bring more rinse water in successive strokes,

shaking the brush more aggressively each

time you dip, until you're bringing clear water

at the end of the wash. Always use alternating

or back and forth strokes, so that the paint

and water are well mixed as you move down

the page.

You can leave the wash in position, either flat

or tilted, or tilt it upwards from flat position, in

the two step approach. This will enhance the

blurring of the gradient by increased

downward flow of the water. To do this, you

need to manage very cleverly the amount of

liquid on the surface: too much liquid at the

top or sides will flow down the page in uneven

rivulets or curtains, marring the effect. I canonly get this to work by starting flat, then

increasing the tilt as I go (and as the wash

mixture becomes more diluted); this drainsthe water down before puddles can form.

The challenge is getting the successive

mixtures of paint and rinse water in the right

concentrations to make an even gradient from

the darkness you want to the lightness you

want. You are pulling the bead of pure wash

mixture down with each stroke, so you have to




44/50

balance the strength of this mixture by the

amount of water you add with the brush; yet

you can't shift gears quickly to pure water, as

this will create a sharp change in the gradient.

You also have to pace the mixture change

differently, depending on the size of the wash

area. Practice will teach you how to manage

the added water.

When the wash is at a satin or moist

wetness, you can go back up into the washand brush on more wash mixture if the

gradient is not changing fast enough, or to

smooth out visible brushstrokes. If you try this

when the wash is at a shiny wetness, you'll

create a backrun.

You must get the moisture of your brush just

right, neither too wet (it will leave a blossomor backrun in the wash area) nor too dry (it

will soak up paint, leaving a light mark). This

is not hard to adjust: at the right moistness

the brush will leave light, drybrush like marks

that dry immediately on dry test paper. In the

wash, apply the brush very lightly to leavesoft, feathery strokes that resemble the marks

of chalk or pencil. These marks will not

backrun, yet will diffuse just enough to

disappear.

Prewetted Gradient Wash. This proceeds

exactly as for the dry gradient wash, except

that the wash area has been prewetted with

clear water. This eliminates the wash bead, so

that paint diffuses freely down the paper as

you work, and blends the brush strokes more

quickly.

The downward flow of paint makes the

gradient more even down the page, but as adrawback it also makes it easy to run the dark

values too far down the wash area, and doesnot give you a wash bead to work with. As a

result, the flat or two step wash methods work

best for a prewetted gradient wash: the

change from one color to another is adjusted

before water is allowed to move.

Because the paper is already wet, you need to

reduce the amount of liquid you bring to the




45/50

page on each stroke. This somewhat defeats

the purpose of prewetting the page in the first

place, since these less juicy strokes are less

likely to blend evenly. A different kind of

balancing act: and one that judicious brushing

with a moist brush will help to get just right.

Brushed Gradient Wash. This approachthrows pride to the wind and works the wash

downward with explicit brushstrokes, just as if

you were painting in oil or acrylic. Scalloped orcrossed brushstrokes are best, working flat or

tilted, on prewetted paper. This method works

best with heavy pigments.

Starting flat, first use the prewetted method to

get the wash basically in shape top to bottom,

tilting the surface slightly upwards in the two

step method as you work, and finishing with atilt at around 15%. Add extra pure pigment at

the top of the wash if it should be darker, or

wipe away pigment at the bottom if it needs to

be lighter, and finish by wicking up excess

liquid.

Then use a large, completely dry wash or hake

brush to stroke very gently the surface of the

wash to smooth out any irregularities or

blemishes. The surface must have a satin

wetness, and a slow drying time fr

Laying a Wash

Documents

Transcript of Laying a Wash