Painting in watercolor, from first wash to finished picture

Three sections

Technique, materials and the subjects you paint

Each section opens with an index of its guides. Learn how the water behaves, choose paper and brushes with confidence, then take the techniques outdoors.

1. 

   01

   Start with the washes

   Flat, graded and wet-on-wet washes, glazing and dry brush, and the timing that decides every mark.

   3 guides inside

2. 

   02

   Know your materials

   Paper, brushes and pigments: what each one actually changes in the finished painting.

   3 guides inside

3. 

   03

   Paint the landscape

   Skies, water and trees painted from observation, with the outdoor sketchbook that ties them together.

   3 guides inside

Section 1 of 3

Technique

How water and pigment behave on paper: flat and graded washes, wet-on-wet, glazing and layering, dry brush, and the repair of mud, hard edges and blooms.

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  Technique

  Wet-on-Wet Washes

  How to lay a flat wash, a graded wash and a wet-on-wet sky: water-to-pigment ratio, board tilt, brush loading and the timing that decides the result.

  Flat, graded and wet-on-wet, one wash at a time.

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  Technique

  Glazing and Layering

  Glazing builds depth with transparent layers: how to let each wash dry, keep colors clean, plan the order of layers and avoid mud when colors overlap.

  Transparent layers, built from light to dark.

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  Technique

  Troubleshooting Watercolor

  Fix the common watercolor faults: muddy color, hard edges, backruns and blooms, overworked paper, and paint that dries lighter than it looked.

  Mud, hard edges and blooms: the cause and the cure.

Open the Technique index

Section 2 of 3

Materials

What the materials actually do: cotton and wood-pulp paper, brush hair and shape, and how pigments differ in transparency, granulation and lightfastness.

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  Materials

  Choosing Watercolor Paper

  Choose watercolor paper by fiber, weight and surface: cotton against wood pulp, 140 lb against 300 lb, cold press, hot press and rough, sizing and stretching.

  Fiber, weight and surface, and why the sheet matters most.

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  Materials

  Choosing Watercolor Brushes

  Pick watercolor brushes by hair and shape: sable, squirrel and synthetic, round, flat, mop and rigger, plus size, snap, point and how to care for them.

  Hair, shape and size, and the marks each one makes.

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  Materials

  Understanding Watercolor Pigments

  Read watercolor pigments by property: transparent against opaque, staining against lifting, granulating earths, lightfastness and a limited palette.

  Transparency, granulation, lightfastness and a limited palette.

Open the Materials index

Section 3 of 3

Painting Subjects

The landscape painted from life: skies and cloud, water and reflection, trees and foliage, and the sketchbook habit that makes all three easier outdoors.

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  Painting Subjects

  Painting Skies in Watercolor

  Paint watercolor skies with confidence: building a graded base, lifting clouds, keeping light in the horizon, and reading the sky before the paper is wet.

  A graded base, lifted clouds and light kept at the horizon.

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  Painting Subjects

  Painting Water in Watercolor

  Paint still water, moving water and reflections in watercolor: reading the surface, keeping reflections simple, edges and ripples, and reserving the light.

  Still water, moving water and reflections kept simple.

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  Painting Subjects

  Sketchbooks and Painting Outdoors

  Build a watercolor sketchbook habit and paint outdoors: a light kit, a small palette, working fast in changing light, and what to study from each sketch.

  A light kit and a weekly habit of small studies.

Open the Painting Subjects index