Art 101

Creating magic with water

by Tissa Hewavitarana

It seems improbable that water-colours are often made with very little water. But this is so. Washes should be prepared in containers that will hold plenty of water. Painted washes are continuous areas of water that take more than a single brush stroke to apply. Succeeding strokes (of either colour or water) should be made at the wet edges to spread the colour area. All must be done rapidly to keep the tones of the wash even.

Some drawing papers help this process while others hinder it. Colour and value changes can be made while applying washes, but try not to scrub or overwork a good wash - it will just be destroyed. Applying a loaded brush to paper is a delightful experience and should be experienced for itself. Jumping directly into wet water colour can often produce (1) fear, (2) a feeling of helplessness or (3) a reverting to grade school practices. Several days or longer working hours with wash drawing stressing value contrasts and wet-in-wet techniques, is often valuable in overcoming these problems. Line can be included in the process, or not but the use of limited values of wash tends to create the correct attitude toward the transparent application of colour. Still lifes or student models make excellent subject matter for such drawings and for later watercolours. Keep the values limited to three and plus dark colour and work from lightest areas to darkest. Always notice the effect of wet into-wet areas, wet over dry white space left untouched and contrast obtained by over lapping washes. Keep working quickly and loosely to establish a painterly quality. Explore methods of simulating textures by spattering or allowing drips to run their course. Keep painting sessions relatively free of restrictions so that experiments can be done and discoveries can be made.

Succeeding steps might involve the introduction of one or to colours, while keeping the subject matter and work methods the same. Keep the first palettes limited in colour and stress transparency, overlapping and textural effects. Apply colour washes over three-value ink wash drawings. Substitute watercolour for the washes and work in the same manner.

Movement and action

Look at the painting I have done here. It moves but different, yet it share one common factor it shows dynamic action. It is differ from still life or most landscape painting and the difference was created on purpose. I have introduced a bullock cart with loaded items, the bull pulling up hill on a rugged road. To produce a feeling of real movement in the picture several things can be done. The technique of applying the paint can show movement in vibrating colours with rhythm. You will observe rapid and excited stroking of the brush can create movement. Study the colour washes done, they are wet, vibrant spontaneous and juicy in varying degrees.

Some are more controlled than others, but all are done with large loaded brushes. You will observe there is no detail in the drawing but bold brush strokes are introduced with darker areas wash in all sky and large shapes, negative and positive. Darker areas are added next working from light to dark. Notice now shadows fall and stroke darker washes over these darker value areas which tend to pull the painting together and produce a more unified result.

Do not overwork the surface, don't add too many details. Don't scrub and don't apply too many washes over each other or muddiness will result. All the don'ts seem to apply to doing too much of something to the painting. Watercolours generally work best when kept simple, and easy rule to remember is just 'keep simple'.

Easiest to apply are washes that can be laid on from top to bottom. By adding and stirring in more colour (or another colour as the wash progresses, it can be graded to dark or to another colour. By adding water with each stroke, the wash will be graded lighter. With practice you can learn to control the phenomenon. A small amount of paint can be placed on the pallette. Water colour paint from the tube is denser and more concentrated than solid colours, which are wetted and softened by running the brush back and forth across the paper. Once the colour is on the pallette, the water is added with brush.

The more water you add the more transparent the tone then appears. Moistering the paper before your apply colour is the best way to excute gradation. Paint is applied where the gradation begins. Since the paper is wet, the colour will spread much more easily.

The more you extend the paint, the more transparent the colour becomes. With a clean brush you wet the area where you want to paint the gradation in this way, the colour seeps into the wet area, since wet paper allows the paint to spread on its own.

It's a great way to get your feet wet in the medium, and to experience a sensation unique to transparent water colour.