Free Watercolor Painting for Dummies by Colette Pitcher Page A

them. Your goal is to make a dark-to-light gradation from top to bottom. The transition is a smooth, soft edge. Here, the soft edge is in the middle of the square, as opposed to the hard edges on the outside edges of the square.
    8. Dampen the middle square in the wet column and paint a soft-edge, graded wash on wet paper.
    Paint clear water over the square as you did in Step 6. Then apply your pigment to the top of the square. Rinse the brush and move the paint down the square making the color lighter as it approaches the bottom of the square. Pick up unwanted puddles with a thirsty brush. Apply more paint if needed. Your goal is dark to light, top to bottom.
    9. Paint the bottom square in the dry column with rough texture on dry paper.
    Pick up some pigment in your brush and touch the base of the hairs near the ferrule on the sponge to absorb excess water. Use the side of the brush and quickly stroke over the square, leaving little valleys of white paper. Try again until you get some rough texture.
    10. Dampen the last square in the wet column and paint rough on wet.
    Dampen the square first (as you did in Step 6), then apply paint as you did in Step 9. This technique works better on dry paper and may not work on wet paper, but because you already have a square, you may as well try it.
    Along with hard and soft edges, both of which you need in every painting to make it interesting, you may hear about lost edges. Who lost them? Where did they go? A
lost edge
is a type of soft edge that disappears into another area. A lost edge makes the viewer decide where the edge is because the artist doesn’t spell out every detail. The viewer gets to participate in the painting experience. “Lose that edge” might be an artistic directive. To do so, gently nudge a hard edge with a stiff bristle brush to soften it. If you completely soften it so it disappears, you make a lost edge.

Lifting, Layering, and Glazing
    This section covers the three techniques every watercolorist uses to modify his basic painting. You can erase watercolor. It’s called
lifting.
You can continue painting to improve your work by adding
layers.
You can create focus and dimension on a final painting by
glazing.

One, two, three, lift!
    Want to remove or erase paint? You can! At least you can make an area lighter. You can
lift
(remove) paint to correct excess paint or create a highlight.
    How much paint you can lift depends on the paper and pigment. Some papers lift more easily than others. Some paper brands have a softer finish and lift very easily. Some brands absorb the pigment and are more difficult to lift; however, these papers can be layered with paint without disturbing what lies underneath. Your paper dealer can advise you on which brands to purchase for your needs. Earth-colored pigments are pretty forgiving and lift easily; staining pigments are a bit less forgiving and may never lift completely. (See Chapter 2 for more on pigments.)
    You can lift paint wet or dry:
    Lifting wet paint: If paint is damp on the watercolor paper, use a clean, damp brush and touch the area that you want to remove paint from. Follow the shape you need lightened with the damp brush: Draw a line, touch a dot, or use the side of the brush for a large area.
    After you lift out the paint, blot the area with a paper towel. If you want it lighter still, wait until the area is dry and then follow the instructions in the next bullet point.
    Lifting dry paint: Use a round brush with clear water to dampen the area you want to lift and blot the area with a towel. Turn the towel to a clean spot and rub the area vigorously and quickly using a bit of pressure. This usually is enough to lift what you want, but if you want more lifting, use a damp brush with stiff bristles and rub the area. Blot with a towel. Continue until the paper peels up in little crumbs. At this point, stop and let the area dry.

    Watercolor dries 30 percent lighter than it looks when wet. So wait to see if the area