3 Techniques to Add Zest to Your Watercoloring

Watercolors have long been used by the grand masters as they are so flexible and can bring great results. The masters such as Turner and Van Gogh loved the medium as a means of bringing what they saw to life on paper.

While we can’t promise the children you buy bulk watercolors from Color Swell for will be the next artistic genius, with the three techniques below you can let them explore their creativity further!

3 washes

A ‘wash’ is where the artist uses paint to cover an area with paint. You can do a ‘flat wash’, a ‘graded wash’ or even a ‘dry wash’.

A flat wash might be the hue of the air - a smoky bar or polluted street could have a dull tone for the atmosphere on which the images are overlaid. This is achieved by spreading the paint lightly and evenly across the page. This will be with a very wet brush.

A graded wash could be used to add perspective to a scene with a darker background and lighter foreground. Here you can put more pigment on the brush towards the top of the page or area and as it comes off the brush, allow the color to lighten further down the page. This will involve using less water on the brush than for a flat wash.

A dry wash is where the artist uses an almost-dry brush to put the pigment on the page. This is a lot heavier than what a wetter brush would achieve and can be used for showing things like animal hair.

Have a play!

Ultimately the best way to master an art is with trial and error. By playing with different water and pigment loads on the brush so you can see a range of different outcomes and understand the medium you are using. Isn’t that the fun of art?!

Bulk watercolors from Color Swell

Our customers come to us time and again thanks to the quality of Color Swell’s bulk watercolors. You can explore your artwork for both fun and the development of art skills and techniques. You never know - you may even become famous doing it one day!