Softening An Edge

  This entry was originally posted on Monday, April 23, 2012

 

Wet-in-wet painting is a great way to get soft edges but sometimes you just want to quickly soften an edge.

 

Softening an edge is easy but needs to be done while the paint is still wet.

Then you take a clean, damp brush (not wet! just damp!) and lightly touch the edge of what you want softened.

The paint will flow into the water that the damp brush leaves behind.

Misting Bottle

    This entry was originally posted on Wednesday April 18, 2012

Many art stores carry spray bottles that do have a light mist.

 

My favorite mister is a bottle that some sort of body spritz came in.

It was one of those gifts that a family member gave me about 15 years ago. 

I immediately dumped the smelly spritzy stuff and have used the bottle ever since.

It was one of the best gifts I have ever received. 

 

Eye glass cleaner bottles also make great misters. 

Just don't mix it up with the real eye glass cleaner.

 

So before you go running off to the art store, be sure to check around your house for a bottle with a nice light mist.

The cosmetics expert in your house just might have one they are willing to part with.

 

Keeping It Moist

    This entry was originally posted on Monday, April 16, 2012

When working wet-in-wet, it can be hard to keep your paper moist.

This is when I have a spray bottle handy.

It needs to be a spray bottle that has a light mist though.

I will use this light mister to spray the air (about 6-8 inches) above my painting. 

That way the air is keep humid and moist and I don't have water drops affecting my wash.

 

Using Gradated Washes to Paint Skies

     This entry was originally posted on Friday, April 6, 2012 

Cattle Point Sunrise

7x10"

 Layering (also called glazing) your gradated washes make a fabulous sky.

Start with your lightest color first (usually yellow).

Then layer other colors on top of that color.

Allow each color to dry before layering the next color.

 

In Cattle Point Sunrise, I first did a gradated wash of yellow from the lower third portion of the painting and gradated it out to the top. Next I added my red just above the yellow, allowing it to gradate out the top.

Last, I added my blue at the top and washed it out toward the bottom.

Gradated Wet Paper Wash

    This entry was originally posted on Thursday, April 5, 2012 

A gradated wet paper wash is similar to the flat wet paper wash.

Only you don't put the color over the whole paper.

Start off by wetting the area with water.

Then add your mix of color only half way down the area.

 

Rinse out your brush.

Dry it off.

Then pull the wash down into the rest of the wet area using a crisscross motion.

Continue to rinse and dry off your brush until you reach the bottom of the paper.
You may need to tilt your paper and let the water spread evenly throughout, wiping off the edges.
Just make sure the paint doesn't spread too far down into the area you want left lighter. 

I use this technique when creating skies and sunsets.

Rebecca Spit

7 x10"

 

Gradated Beaded Wash

   This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 

A gradated wash is a wash that gets progressively lighter in value.

It starts out with a desired color and value and gets lighter as more water is added to the wash.

 This type of wash can be done as a beaded wash

The only difference is that water is added to your mixture of color as you progress down the board.

 I have an eye or medicine dropper that I use to drop clean water into my mix of paint.

It is best to give your paint mix a little stir with your brush every time you add more water to it before you apply it to your bead.

This is so the water and paint mixes evenly.

The blue stripes in the lower left hand corner of Crashing are done as a gradated beaded wash.

Losing Hair

 This entry was originally posted on Monday, April 2, 2012 

 

Sometimes you get a brush that is losing its hair.
Or you have a dog that likes to shed.
Either way, you might end up with hair in your beautiful wash.
It can only be removed when the paper is really wet or if it is completely dry.
If you try to remove the hair while the paper is in between those two stages, you will ruin your wash.
When it is really wet, take another brush and try to carefully lift or push it out.
If you have missed that opportunity, wait for it to dry, and then brush it off.

Push It Out

  This entry was originally posted on Friday, March 30, 2012 

When doing a flat wash, sometimes the paint gets trapped under your taped edges.

Be sure to push it out from under the tape and wick it away with a tissue.

If you don't, that excess paint might come back and haunt you as blooms.

Which is not what you want for your beautiful flat wash.

Wet Paper Wash

 This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 

Just over a week ago I had a post on flat washes. 

Then I went on to discuss the Beaded Wash.

Now I will tell you how to get a flat wash using a wet paper wash.

(That isn't the technical term- it is just what I call it)

First, mix up your color in a recyclable container.

Then wet your paper with water using your hake brush.

 

Once wet, apply the color that you mixed using a criss-cross motion. 

After I have done this, I like to tilt my board/paper to make sure the water and paint has been distributed evenly. 

(see the paint moving)

 

 

Then I will wipe up the excess paint off with a paper towel.

 

 

Leave flat to dry.

 

For my painting, Sisters, I masked out the 2 girls and did a flat wet paper wash for the background.