Free Watercolor Painting for Dummies by Colette Pitcher

working.

    And, speaking of dry, to test the paper to see if it’s dry yet, use the back of your hand to gently touch the surface of the paper. If it’s cool to the skin, the paper is still wet. Notice that I said the
back
of your hand. If you use the palm of your hand, the paper may feel dry before it really is dry. The palm of your hand has been used so much — burned, blistered, lotioned, and so on — that it’s no longer as sensitive as the back of your hand.

Tackling Three Basic Painting Techniques
    Master these three watercolor painting techniques, and you’ll know all you need to paint anything you want. These techniques really are all you have to work with. I have no idea why it took me 40 years to figure that out. Truly, the rest of this book is just refinement and details. Here are the basics:
    Flat wash and hard edges: A
wash
is pigment in water. A
flat wash
is an even color with no variation in color value (light or darkness). A
hard edge
is a crisp, abrupt change, like a line.
    Graded wash and soft edges: This wash is a
gradation
of color from light to dark. The
soft edge
is a slow change that may not even be perceptible.
    Rough texture: You need a paper with some texture — a cold-press paper or one with a bumpy surface (see Chapter 2 for more on paper textures) — to stand up to the rough texture technique.
    To achieve rough texture, use paint that is slightly dry. Make a quick stroke with the side of your brush so the paint just coats the paper’s surface bumps and leaves the pockets between the bumps paint-free. You want white paper showing through. This rough texture can simulate sparkle on a lake or tree bark.

    Make a chart to explore the three techniques on wet and dry paper. Figure 3-7 shows what you’re aiming for.
    1. Draw six 2-inch squares on cold-press or rough watercolor paper.
    Make two 2-inch-wide columns that are 6 inches long. Divide each column into thirds. You have three rows of 2-inch squares.
    2. Label the columns
dry
and
wet.
    The first column will be techniques on dry paper, so write
dry
at the top. Label the second column
wet,
because you’re going to do the same techniques after you wet the paper.
    3. Label the rows
hard-edge, flat wash;
soft-edge, graded wash;
and
rough texture.
    Figure 3-7: The three basic paint techniques on dry and wet paper.

    4. Prepare your paint.
    Use a paintbrush of your choosing to gather one color of pigment and mix it with water in the mixing area of your palette. I used burnt sienna, but any dark color works. You want a dark paint, but not so dark that you can’t see through it. Add just enough water to make the pigment move like ink, but still remain dark.
    5. Paint the top square in the dry column with a flat wash with hard edges on dry paper.
    Fill in the square with the paint. Try to fill it in with even color. If you use a flat 2-inch brush, this could be one stroke. If the brush is smaller, it may take several strokes. If you get puddles, dry your brush with a paper towel. This makes the brush a
thirsty brush
that absorbs liquid from the paper instead of dispensing it. Or if you touch the top of a puddle with the edge or corner of a paper towel, it will absorb just water, leaving the heavier pigment on the paper.
    6. Dampen the top square in the wet column with clear water and paint a flat wash with hard edges on wet paper.
    Use your brush to paint clear water over the square. Try to make even wetness, no puddles, just a shiny surface. Absorb any excessive puddles with a paper towel. Apply paint as you did in Step 5. The object is to make an even tone throughout the square.
    7. Paint the middle square in the dry column with a soft-edge, graded wash.
    Paint at the top of the square. Rinse your brush and apply a stripe of clear water at the bottom of the square, leaving dry paper between the two. Dry the brush on the sponge to make a damp, not drippy, brush and use it to introduce the two stripes by painting a stripe of clear water between