A Simple Watercolor Wash

A ‘simple wash’ is a fairly homogeneous layer of paint (homogeneous in color and value). 

The key to getting a good simple wash is two-fold. 

1. Insure that the area stays wet enough.  In this case wet enough means in the ‘flow state’.  The ‘flow state’ means that you can tilt the surface and you will see water/paint flowing downhill.  So – keep you wash area awash.
2. Use the proper paints.  A simple, smooth wash is best accomplished with Modern Paints.  Modern paints will stay afloat and can be moved with the water.  Classic paints sink quickly and then cannot be moved about to smooth out the wash.

Let’s start with #1 – the Flow State

Tape your borders.  The tape on the edge makes it easier to sop up extra water and paint.  Just tilt the surface so the paint flows to the edge.  When the flow accumulates at the tape, use a paper towel, thirsty brush, or syringe to draw it away. Before you start, be sure the tape has been pressed down good, especially the corners. (All tape should be tested first with the paper you use.)

Use as large and as soft a brush as you can. I prefer a large flat squirrel.  Use the brush to gently apply the paint at first.  After that, do NOT use your brush to move paint around.  If you feel like there is too much paint in one area and not enough in another, use GRAVITY to move the paint around (i.e. tilt the board).  You can also blow your paint about. 

Watch your wash

When your wash starts, the entire area should be in the FLOW state. In the FLOW state you can tip the board and watch gravity take excess paint and water toward the low side.  If it quickly flows over you tape you have too much water. Tilt the board so that some of the excess comes to the taped edge and sop it up with a little piece of paper towel.  Repeat until you just barely have flow.  While in the flow state, you can add more paint by dropping it into the wet and using gravity to help spread it around the area.  Drop it in where you want the color to be the strongest.  Don’t be shy about the amount of paint, you can always remove some. Once you have the right amount of paint and right amount of water in the wash, level the board and let it dry some. Keep an eye on it, you may want to adjust a little using gravity or light breath.  Do NOT use your brush. 

Slowly the GLOSS state turns into the DULL state.  The DULL state looks dry – especially next to areas that are still in the GLOSS state.  But it is not totally dry – there is water in the paper under the paint.

Typically, a wash will dry a little faster in some areas than others.  You can control that somewhat by propping your board slightly – the paint/water will creep downhill and the highest area will dry first. When the wash is in the state of partially GLOSS and partially DULL it is the most prone for disaster and/or magical effects. In the glossy area, the pigment particles are still swimming and can be moved easily with the addition of any water or paint.  In the dull area, there is water in the paper, and the pigment particles are just about out of reach on the top of the paper.  These particles are starting to cling to the fibers of the paper.  They can be made to float again, but the particles already clinging may require some physical rousting. 

Now, let’s talk about #2 – how paint choices can affect your washes.

Modern paints (mid 20th C on) can usually be identified by their chemical-sounding names like Perylene, Phthalocyanine, Quinacridone, Benzimida, etc.  I also refer to these as ‘floaters’ because the pigment particles of Modern paints tend to be lightweight and stay afloat in the Flow state.

Modern pigments provide the most leveling and a homogeneous result (smooth wash).  If you use a variety of modern paints in the wash, they will blend uniformly, particularly if your wash is still in the FLOW state. Most modern paints have particles that are so small and have such low density that they remain in suspension (afloat) until the point where the water has been totally absorbed into the paper.  Gravity will affect modern paint particles in a pool of water. If the surface is kept level, gravity will tend to take the lighter particles to the edges of the wet area, and you will end up with a darker ‘edge’.  You can emphasize and/or de-emphasize this phenomenon with different techniques.  For example, dropping some additional water into the wash will increase the edging.  This is the same phenomenon that is responsible for ‘blossoms’. If you don’t want these, always beware of any areas that are in the DULL state.  If you feel you need to add more paint to an area that has begun to turn dull, get it wet first with water only – the WHOLE area. Then drain off the excess water to the point you are in the GLOSS state again. At this point you can add paint.  Just drop it in anywhere in the wet area and use gravity or gentle blowing to level it out some: but NOT your brush.  This technique can also work to remove blossoming if you catch it before any part has dried completely.  As long as the pigments are floaters and they have water around them (DULL state), they can be lifted with water.

Summing up then:

Reasons to use Modern paints in a wash

1. They tend to self-level and produce a smooth finished look.
2. As long as the wash is kept wet, it is easy to remove excess paint, or to add additional paint without messing up the smooth, homogeneous look of the wash

Reasons to avoid

1. They can produce strong edges, which may not be desirable in certain situations
2. Can produce blossoms when they are in the drying stage

Now let’s talk about the Classic paints (I also call these ‘sinkers’)

Classic paints can add a lot to texture in your washes.  The heavier and often larger particles of the Classic paints tend to drop to the paper faster. They do not stay afloat like the small-particle moderns.  If you load your brush with a classic paint and sweep it through a wet area, you will see a stroke on the paper. 

Play with different ways to introduce the classic into the wash. If you don’t want to see a brush stroke, then avoid the brush entirely, or use it as a big eye dropper. 

Try mixing it with a modern to get a play of colors, or an intensification of the classic paint.  For example, if you want to use cerulean, mix it with a deeper modern blue or green – like a Phthalo – to intensify the color.  Alternately, mix it with a compliment, like a modern red-orange, such as a Quinacridone.

Classic paints are more of a ‘what you see is what you get’.  As they dry they to hold their color and their chromo better than the Moderns.  The modern paints tend to lose some chroma and/or have a hue change as they dry. 

The larger pigment particles tend to settle on top of the paper, rather than down in the crevices where only the tiny particles can reach.  This makes them easier to lift (wait until dry).  Imagine a mixture of a classic and a modern.  When they are put to the paper, the classic paint particles sink quickly to the paper surface and then, as the water absorbs and evaporates, the modern particles come down to rest on top of the classic particles already there.  This means that both paints will lift more easily because the classic is on the bottom. Washes that include a classic paint will have less sharply defined edges, and dried edges will be easy to soften.  If you add a classic light yellow paint to your light and medium-valued washes it will not affect they color or value much but they will help you soften edges on your wash. I love a lemon ochre or even an Indian Red here (Grumbacher is my choice).

The larger particles are easier to lift.  In one sense, that can be quite useful.  If you try to apply a second layer of paint, it will tend to lift and move the classic paint underneath – even after it is fully dried.  So, try not to brush over it too much. I prefer a large soft squirrel brush for this.

So, we have several reasons for using classic paints in a wash:

1. They act like a sizing and facilitate lifting
2. They don’t edge as much and they help mitigate the edging when mixed with a modern. Also they do not blossom readily, but they will not prevent a floater from blossoming in a mix.
3. They can provide texture by way of granulation (Cobalts, Ceruleans, Viridian, Ultramarine, etc)

We have some reasons to avoid them in a wash:

1. They tend to remain wherever they are introduced into a wash, sinking quickly to the paper. This is not synonymous with the idea of a homogeneous wash, but it can have its own merits.
2. Classic paints are more fragile once they dry. Subsequent brushing over dried classic paints will likely lift and re-distribute them in unwanted ways.

Next I will do the same procedure with Cobalt Blue – one of the classics that have heavier pigment particles.