Wet on dry technique

From my last post, you can see I've come a long way from my first painting. Watercolor painting is a great hobby, and it has been a favorite of mine for the past 35 years. Being self-taught, I’ve faced many learning challenges. One of the biggest obstacles is setting side time to paint. Practice is the best teacher. Unless you practice the techniques, you will never master them. Wet On dry is a simple technique to master. It’s great for painting details, creates sharp and defined edges. Because the surface is dry, the paint will only move in the direction you pull it.

Wet on dry – stroke practice exercise

1. Start with a dry surface. You’ll get different results on cold pressed and hot pressed watercolor paper.

2. Moisten a medium-size brush with clean water and pick up some paint. Water dilutes paint. So, experiment with the amount of water, and see how the transparency of the paint changes.

3. Apply a simple shape outline, like a circle or a rectangle. Use smooth strokes in the same direction to fill it in. I like to start with small shapes, so that I can paint them quickly before it gets dry.

4. When the shape is completely dry, pick up some more of the same paint and paint a smaller shape over a part of the first shape.

The key is to notice and be aware of what's happening and how you made it happen. So you can repeat the process when needed. Happy painting!!