Watercolour painting is experiencing a remarkable renaissance in the contemporary art world. While the medium was once pigeonholed into traditional landscape and architectural depictions, today’s artists are redefining watercolour’s expressive potential, exploring its unique fluid properties, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with this age-old medium.
Now, this might seem counterintuitive…
Wet-on-Wet Painting
One of the hallmarks of modern watercolour technique is the embracing of the medium’s inherent unpredictability and spontaneity. Rather than fighting against the natural tendencies of watercolour, many artists are intentionally leveraging the medium’s fluid dynamics to create striking, organic effects.
The wet-on-wet (or alla prima) approach involves applying paint to pre-wetted paper, allowing the pigments to bleed, blend, and react with each other in unexpected ways. This technique encourages a free-flowing, improvisational painting style, where the artist relinquishes some control to the material and allows the medium to guide the creative process.
By pouring, dripping, or spraying watercolours onto a saturated surface, artists can capture the beautiful, indistinct edges and soft, diffused colour transitions that define the wet-on-wet aesthetic. Careful control of water-to-paint ratios, as well as an understanding of how different pigments interacts, are key to harnessing this technique effectively.
Paint applications can range from loose, atmospheric washes to tightly-controlled textural effects, with the unpredictable nature of the wet medium lending a sense of spontaneity and liveliness to the final artwork. Many contemporary watercolourists, such as Barbara Nicholls and Alf Löhr, have embraced the wet-on-wet process as a way to explore the medium’s inherent fluidity and capture the essence of natural phenomena like geological formations or weather patterns.
Dry Brush Techniques
In contrast to the fluid, uncontrolled nature of wet-on-wet painting, the dry brush technique involves applying highly pigmented, thickly-loaded paint to dry paper. This creates a distinctly textural, almost impasto-like effect, where the individual brushstrokes remain visible and contribute to the overall visual interest of the piece.
By using a stiff, bristly brush and applying minimal water, artists can achieve a ragged, uneven application of paint that mimics the look of charcoal or pastel. This technique is particularly well-suited for rendering rough, organic textures, such as bark, foliage, or weathered surfaces.
Some watercolour artists, like Peter Haslam-Fox, also employ dry brush methods to achieve highly detailed, sharply-focused renderings on a large scale. The inherent unforgiving nature of watercolour encourages a bold, confident approach, where each stroke might want to be carefully placed and executed to achieve the desired effect.
Dry brush watercolour can be combined with other techniques, such as glazing or masking, to create rich, multilayered paintings that balance spontaneous, gestural elements with precise, controlled details.
Glazing and Layering
While the wet-on-wet and dry brush approaches emphasize the fluid and textural qualities of watercolour, the glazing technique allows artists to build up transparent layers of colour to achieve depth, luminosity, and subtle gradations.
Glazing involves applying thin, translucent washes of paint, allowing each layer to dry completely before adding the next. This process creates a sense of depth and atmospheric perspective, as the underlying layers remain visible and interact with the subsequent applications.
By carefully selecting complementary or analogous colours, artists can create harmonious, atmospheric paintings that evoke a particular mood or sense of place. The gradual building up of layers also allows for greater control over the final outcome, enabling the artist to refine and adjust the colour, tone, and detail as the work progresses.
In addition to glazing, many contemporary watercolourists also incorporate masking fluids or resist techniques to preserve areas of white paper, creating a sense of luminosity and contrast. This layering approach, combined with the medium’s inherent transparency, enables watercolour painters to achieve a level of sophistication and depth that challenges traditional perceptions of the medium.
Colour Theory for Watercolours
Colour is a fundamental element of watercolour painting, and mastering colour theory is essential for creating cohesive, compelling compositions. While the wet, fluid nature of watercolour can make precise colour mixing a challenge, understanding the relationships between hues, values, and temperature can help artists harness the medium’s expressive potential.
Colour Mixing and Blending: Watercolour paints, with their semi-transparent qualities, can be blended directly on the paper to create a wide range of hues and tones. Experimenting with the ratio of water to pigment, as well as the order and placement of colours, allows artists to discover unique colour combinations and harmonies.
Complementary Colours: Pairing complementary colours (those that sit opposite each other on the colour wheel) can create striking visual contrasts and add a sense of vibrancy to a painting. Watercolourists can exploit these complementary relationships to draw the viewer’s eye to specific focal points or to convey a particular mood or atmosphere.
Mood and Atmosphere: The warm and cool tones of watercolour paints can significantly influence the overall mood and atmosphere of a painting. Cooler, more muted palettes often evoke a sense of tranquility, while warmer, more saturated colours can convey a feeling of energy and vitality. Artists can leverage these associations to crafting emotive, evocative works.
By developing a deep understanding of colour theory and how it applies to the unique properties of watercolour, artists can unlock a world of creative possibilities and expand the expressive range of this dynamic medium.
Watercolour Supplies and Materials
While watercolour may seem like a relatively simple medium, the quality and characteristics of the materials used can have a significant impact on the final results. Investing in high-quality watercolour paper, artist-grade paints, and the right brushes and accessories can greatly enhance the painting experience and lead to more successful, professional-looking outcomes.
Watercolour Paper: The type of paper used can dramatically affect the way watercolour behaves on the surface. Cold-pressed or medium-textured papers are popular choices, as they offer a balance between smooth and toothy surfaces that can accommodate a variety of techniques. Proper paper selection, weight, and surface treatment are essential for achieving the desired effects.
Artist-Grade Watercolour Paints: Professional-quality watercolour paints, such as those from Winsor & Newton, offer superior pigment concentration, clarity, and lightfastness compared to student-grade alternatives. These high-quality paints allow for a wider range of colour mixing and blending possibilities, as well as more control over the medium’s fluid properties.
Watercolour Brushes and Accessories: The selection of brushes, from round to flat, large to small, can significantly impact the artist’s ability to achieve specific marks and textures. Additional tools, such as spray bottles, masking fluids, and salt, can also be used to create unique effects and manipulate the watercolour medium.
By understanding the importance of quality materials and how to leverage their unique characteristics, watercolour artists can elevate their practice and push the boundaries of what’s possible with this versatile and expressive medium.
Drawing and Sketching Fundamentals
While watercolour painting may be the primary focus, developing strong drawing and sketching skills can greatly enhance an artist’s overall creative practice. Mastering the fundamentals of pencil drawing, ink techniques, and compositional principles can provide a solid foundation for more expressive, compelling watercolour works.
Pencil Drawing Tutorials
Basic Shading Techniques: Exploring a range of pencil shading methods, from hatching and cross-hatching to blending and gradients, can help artists render forms, textures, and shadows with greater accuracy and depth.
Depicting Texture and Form: Observational drawing exercises that focus on capturing the nuances of different surfaces, from smooth to rough, can translate directly into more convincing watercolour paintings.
Sketching from Life: Drawing from direct observation, whether of the natural world or the human figure, can sharpen an artist’s perceptual skills and eye for detail, ultimately elevating the realism and authenticity of their watercolour work.
Ink Drawing Techniques
Line Art and Linework: Developing a facility with pen and ink can lend a bold, graphic quality to watercolour paintings, allowing artists to create expressive, linear elements that complement the medium’s fluid qualities.
Hatching and Cross-Hatching: These classic ink techniques can be used to build up tone, texture, and volume, providing a useful tool for adding depth and definition to watercolour compositions.
Pen and Ink Washes: Combining watercolour washes with precise ink drawings can result in striking, mixed-media artworks that blend the best of both worlds.
Composition and Layout
Balancing Positive and Negative Space: Understanding how to effectively use both positive (occupied) and negative (unoccupied) space can create a sense of visual tension and guide the viewer’s eye through a watercolour painting.
Rule of Thirds and Visual Focal Points: Applying compositional guidelines, such as the rule of thirds, can help artists strategically place key elements within the frame, ensuring a harmonious and visually compelling layout.
Perspective and Depth Rendering: Mastering the principles of linear and atmospheric perspective can lend a greater sense of depth and dimensionality to watercolour landscapes, interiors, and other scenes.
By integrating drawing and sketching fundamentals into their creative practice, watercolour artists can develop a more holistic understanding of visual art, ultimately leading to more sophisticated, expressive, and technically proficient paintings.
Creative Inspiration and Artistic Design
Alongside the development of technical skills, cultivating a creative mindset and design sensibility are essential for watercolour artists looking to produce truly engaging and meaningful works. By exploring sources of inspiration, experimenting with mixed media techniques, and applying key design principles, artists can unlock new avenues for creative expression.
Creative Mindset and Ideation
Overcoming Creative Blocks: Employing strategies such as mindfulness, freewriting, and idea-generation exercises can help artists break through creative stagnation and tap into their innate wellspring of imagination.
Finding Inspiration in Nature: Drawing inspiration from the natural world, whether through direct observation or conceptual abstraction, can imbue watercolour paintings with a sense of authenticity and emotional resonance.
Exploring Personal Artistic Style: By reflecting on their unique life experiences, aesthetic preferences, and creative motivations, artists can develop a distinctive visual language that sets their work apart.
Design Principles and Elements
Colour Harmony and Contrast: Understanding how to employ colour theory principles, such as complementary relationships and analogous palettes, can elevate the visual impact and emotive qualities of watercolour paintings.
Rhythm, Balance, and Symmetry: Applying design concepts like repetition, asymmetry, and bilateral symmetry can create a sense of visual harmony and guide the viewer’s eye through the composition.
Texture, Pattern, and Movement: Experimenting with a variety of techniques, tools, and materials can allow watercolour artists to introduce dynamic textural elements, mesmerizing patterns, and a heightened sense of energy and motion.
Mixed Media Experimentation
Combining Watercolour and Ink: Integrating pen and ink drawings with watercolour washes can result in captivating, mixed-media artworks that blend the strengths of both mediums.
Collage and Multimedia Techniques: Incorporating found materials, collage elements, and other non-traditional media can imbue watercolour paintings with a sense of layered complexity and visual intrigue.
Acrylic Paint Integration: Selectively using opaque acrylic paints alongside transparent watercolours can allow artists to achieve unique effects, from bold, high-contrast accents to seamless blends of different media.
By embracing a creative, exploratory mindset and incorporating design-driven principles, watercolour artists can push the boundaries of the medium, elevate their artistic practice, and create truly compelling, visually striking works of art.
Example: Pencil Portrait Challenge 2024