Techniques Used in Watercolor Paintings

Watercolor paintings can be created using several techniques. Wash technique, glazing, wet in wet and dry brush are several techniques that have been used throughout the ages to create stunning watercolor paintings. These are the basic methods of applying watercolor paint to paper which are used in watercolor paintings.

The wash technique is the application of very diluted wet paint applied to paper, usually to block in large areas of color in watercolor paintings. This wash technique will not show any brush strokes, but just be a light wash of color in varying grades of opacity. It is also know as a flat wash, because the paper is laid flat to stop the wash from running down the paper.

The glazing process used in watercolor paintings is the application of varying opacity of paints that are applied over a layer of paint that has already dried. The added layer is transparent enough to allow the under layer to show through. This is a very popular technique to give depth and dimension to watercolor paintings. It is used to mix two colors, to adjust color or to achieve a color transition from light to dark.

Applying paint to a surface that is either wet with water or with a watercolor wash that has not dried is called the wet in wet technique. This method is used to block in color, or create variations in color saturation in watercolor paintings. Wet in wet is commonly used to create backgrounds and skies.

Dry brush is the name given to the technique of using a slightly wet watercolor brush and picking up undiluted pigment to apply to fairly dry paper. This watercolor painting technique results in sharp and very saturated colors. It is wonderful to use in watercolor paintings to highlight areas you want to draw attention to and for adding detail to watercolor paintings.

These are the basic techniques used to create watercolor paintings and which distinguish watercolor paintings from other media. These techniques are commonly used for watercolor paintings of landscapes, botanicals, portraits and still lives.