Until you find your own way in watercolour, the different methods teachers/instructors give can be very confusing. Many people think that the next course or the next good teacher they hear about will be the illusive breakthrough they need to produce the perfect painting. They spend a fortune on courses and painting holidays in their efforts to learn. I’m not suggesting that it’s a bad idea to attend classes and for the beginner it can be very helpful, comforting and informative when starting out and not knowing in which direction to go. But if the student is taking one course after another in an attempt to find the ‘one perfect way’, he/she can find themselves following each different teacher’s methods so closely that their own individuality is lost.

Their own creativity and ability to think for themselves can be buried in the process. Unfortunately many students never break away from taking courses and although they may become very proficient painters they tend to become copiers of others’ work rather than inventers of their own.

Teachers will all vary in the way they suggest drawing and painting. Some may suggest painting individual objects using the local colour of the object then linking it to the next object like a jig saw puzzle. Others will suggest the way to go is to blend or bleed one object or colour into the adjacent object, area or colour with soft fluid edges. Some will suggest starting at the top of the paper and washing a pale colour right down to the bottom, allowing it to dry and working over the top of it. The initial wash they say will hold the painting together and create a cohesive look to the entire picture.

Yet another ‘way’ is to make a pencil or pen ‘contour’drawing which holds the picture together and is still visible after the paint has been applied. Although the washes of paint in this type of approach can be pale with only the odd section darker to contribute to depth and focus, the painting relies heavily on the under drawing. This can sometimes produce a charming loose painting.

I’ve found an interesting quote in a book by G John Blockley, Painting in Watercolour:-

“Many watercolour painters work in a different way. They aim to paint each part directly on to dry paper instead of building up from an overall wash. In this process the idea is to try to paint each part alongside its neighbour, piece by piece, until the paper is covered. Like building a jigsaw puzzle. This way of painting can lead to a delightful feeling of immediacy and purity of colour. The danger is that white spaces can be left between neighbouring brushstrokes and this can make the painting look restless and busy. My initial wash of colour holds the painting together from the beginning and allows a little more flexibility in judging tones and colour values. The other process calls from first time judgement and decision in applying the colour.”

I’m sure there are many other methods of constructing a painting but the main ones I’ve talked about here are:-

Painting the picture like a jig saw, building up individual objects next to one another.

Painting loose washes on top of a structured pencil or pen drawing

Painting pale washes and building up the image by using fewer washes with more dense pigment in subsequent layers, working from light to dark.

Which way do I paint? Well, each painting is a new adventure and once I get into it, the painting tells me the way to go.

Aileen

Masking Fluid is very useful in reserving the highlights in watercolour and with a bit of care can work well. I’ve always been careful using it in paintings because of the very hard edges and stark white patches it leaves when I come to rub it off.

After I apply masking fluid, I always make sure it’s completely dry before painting over it. I’ve dragged several good brushes over damp droplets or areas of masking fluid, which I thought were dry, only to discover that the fluid has stuck to the brush and I’ve got blobs of rubber scattered in the brush hairs, which is very difficult to remove. If you don’t get it off immediately it can completely ruin the brush and you will be left with an expensive sable brush only suitable for applying masking fluid.

I like to use masking fluid in subtle ways and will sometimes splash, drop, sponge or spread it on with various implements after the first wash is completely dry. It is not being applied directly on to the white paper and I don’t have to worry about hard white edges.

Normally I wouldn’t use it as the sole method of retaining light areas and will often use it in conjunction with candle wax (see previous blog) or alternatively lifting areas, for example on a petal or leaf using the edge of a damp flat bristle brush.

It is very important to make sure the painted area over the masking fluid is completely dry before removing it, which I do with either a hard rubber, finger tips or my preferred method the edge of my finger nail. Grease from finger tips can leave a deposit on the paper which can result in the paper repelling paint.

Sometimes I soften one edge of the masked area to blend it into the adjacent area or colour. Or alternatively overpaint the stark white area with a light colour like a pale blue or yellow to soften the harshness of the white paper.

Masking fluid is very useful in landscapes where a lot of broken washes are needed to show foliage, tops of waves, etc., and I also use it on the rims of jugs, highlights on fruit or glass/crystal etc., in a still life. In fact anywhere where an area is highlighted.

Aileen

This week I have been painting tulips.  Interesting effects can be achieved on the petals using white candle wax.   The wax creates the effects of differing light on the petals and gradations of light through the petals,  I find that wax is not as stark as using masking fluid and doesn’t produce hard edges.  Rubbing candle wax on the paper only catches the ‘peaks’ on the paper surface and not the ‘troughs’.  When you then put a watercolour wash over the area,  the wash goes through into the ‘troughs’ and some of the paper is protected by the wax, so you don’t get harsh edges as you do with masking fluid.  The amount of wax rubbed on an area will also influence the final effect achieved.

I like to use candle wax on petals, leaves, the rims and insides of dishes or bowls where the light strikes but is diffused and again the effect is more subtle than effects produced by masking fluid.

Aileen