Glazing Over Salt and Opaques

  This entry was originally posted on Saturday, September 15, 2012

Glazing with clear water or with a color over the results of salt and/or opaque colors can be a tricky thing to do.

Because the opaques and the salt leave the pigment on the surface of the paper instead of staining it, 

they can be lifted easily.

To glaze a color over these means that they might lift and mix with the color you are glazing with.

Then you have either ruined the salt effect or you've made mud.

 

To avoid doing this, make the glaze color nice and juicy.

Then quickly pass over the surface of your paper with your brush in one go.

Your brush should barely touch the surface of the paper.

If you stay on the paper too long with your brush, it will lift the color.

 

If it not the right color yet, you need to be patient.

Let it dry.

Then try again.

Colors to Glaze With

   This entry was originally posted on Saturday, September 8, 2012

 

I have mentioned this in a previous post but I feel like it is important enough to repeat.

It is easier to glaze with staining, transparent colors.

Opaque colors tend to lift with each wash, mix with your new color(s), and create mud. 

Stay away from the opaques until the very end.

Glazing For Detail

  This entry was originally posted on Friday, September 7, 2012

Glazing is a great technique for getting crisp clean detail.

For instance, in the above painting, the iris is done mostly with washes or glazes of color.

This made it the focal point since it kept it crisp with sharper lines and more detail.

The background is done wet-in-wet to create a softer look and to separate it from the focal point.

Glazing

 This entry was originally posted on Thursday, September 6, 2012

Glazing in watercolor is a type of layering of colors.

It is where a color is painted in an area then is allowed to completely dry.

Another color is then layered or glazed on top of that color.

It is also called wet-on-dry painting.

 

For instance, below I have painted an area yellow. 

 

When it is dry, I will glaze a red on top of the yellow. 

 

This will create an orange.

 

So why do I not just mix an orange?

Because in glazing, the colors of each layer come through and give a beautiful glow.

In this example, the orange on the left is glazed and the orange on the right is mixed.

There is more of a stained glass effect with the glazing and light seems to shine from it more.