Essential Watercolor Techniques for Every Artist

Are you thinking of taking up watercolor painting? Or maybe you’ve already dipped your toes and it and are now looking to hone your skills. Wherever you are in your journey, understanding and practicing the basics will help set up a solid foundation for your craft, making it even more enjoyable and rewarding. So grab your paint and brushes, and let’s explore this beginner-friendly guide to essential watercolor painting techniques.

The Wet-on-Dry Technique

This technique involves applying wet paint to dry paper. It’s perfect for painting small details, as it gives you control over how the paint behaves on paper and allows you to create clean, sharp brushstrokes. You can experiment with paintbrush sizes, the amount of water and pigment you add to them and how hard you press on the paintbrush to achieve the look you want.

Use the wet-on-dry technique to paint on white paper or areas of your painting that already have color—just be sure to let the first layer dry completely before adding on a new one. Layering colors in this way is called glazing.

A watercolor painting features a collection of overlapping red, blue and purples circles. — These watercolor circles were made using the glazing technique. Still from Skillshare class Essential Watercolor Tools & Techniques for Beginners by Aima Kessy.

The Wet-on-Wet Technique

This technique involves adding wet paint to wet paper or an existing layer of wet paint. It’s used to create soft edges, gradients and blurred backgrounds.

The wet-on-wet technique relies on the fact that water moves from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration. So if you load a paintbrush with pigmented water and then touch it to a slightly wet paper, the water will flow to the wet surface and spread out in beautiful, spontaneous patterns.

You can start with white paper and add water to it with a clean brush, before dropping in a color. Alternatively, you can paint a shape and, without letting the paint dry, drop in a different color to let the two colors intertwine.

You don’t have much control over how the water spreads, but you can play around with the amount of water on the paper and the brush, the amount of pigment you use and where you place it.

Knowing how water moves, you can control where you want the pigment to flow. For example, if your brush contains more water than the paper, pigment will flow onto the paper. But if your brush contains less water, it will lift pigment off the paper. You can use this to lighten areas that are too dark, create light spots or soak up excess water.

A piece of watercolor paper has a wet circle on it, and a paintbrush is used to drop a bit of purple pigment inside the circle. — The wet-on-wet technique uses water to create soft, blurred edges.

Wash Techniques

In watercolor painting, a wash is simply an application of color to a broad area. It’s usually used when filling in larger objects or underpainting backgrounds. The challenge with washes is making sure the color is evenly spread out and doesn’t show any unintentional streaks.

There are three main types of watercolor washes: flat, graded and variegated.

1. Flat Wash

A flat wash is filled with one solid color. To paint it, start by creating a mixture of pigment and water in a palette—this ensures that every time you need to dip your brush, you pick up the same concentration of pigment.

2. Graded Wash

A graded wash is filled with a single color that gradually transitions from dark to light. Once again, you can start with a mixture of pigment and water, but every couple of strokes, either dip your brush in clean water or add a few drops of water to the mixture.

3. Variegated Wash

A variegated wash is filled with a blend of two or more colors. You can use the wet-on-wet technique and let the colors mix together while they’re still wet, or use the glazing technique, allowing the first color to dry completely before adding on the next.

Two colored rectangles are featured on a piece of watercolor paper. The top one gradually transitions from yellow to blue, and the bottom one transitions from pink to yellow. — The pink-yellow variegated wash was created using the wet-on-wet technique, and the yellow-blue wash was created using the glazing technique.

Other Watercolor Techniques

Once you’ve mastered these basic techniques, try experimenting with more innovative methods to create interesting textures and patterns.

Use a dry painting technique to add texture—dip a dry brush in a small amount of pigment and lightly stroke the bristles across the paper.
Try scumbling—use a thin round brush to “scribble” on dry paper in small random movements. This gives the illusion of texture and is perfect for depicting things like fur, feathers and gravel.
Create a splatter effect by tilting the paper in different directions, blowing on it through a straw or using a spray bottle.
Slide your finger against a paintbrush or toothbrush dipped in paint to lightly spritz tiny dots of color.
Sprinkle some salt or spray rubbing alcohol onto wet paint to repel pigment and create spontaneous patterns.
Instead of a paintbrush, use a sponge or crumpled-up plastic wrap to create unique textures.

Two rectangles, blue and purple, are featured on a piece of watercolor paper. The blue one has splashes of lighter color where it was sprayed with rubbing alcohol. The purple one is sprinkled with grains of salt, which repel color and create patterns. — Both salt and rubbing alcohol repel pigment, creating interesting patterns.

Watercolor Tips & Tools

Keep the following tips in mind as you put your favorite watercolor techniques into practice:

When using the wet-on-wet method, it’s important to work quickly, especially when painting a wet wash or covering large areas. If parts of your painting dry at different speeds, it can cause blooms—uneven areas with hard edges.
When working on graded and variegated washes, pay attention to the amount of water on your brush. For example, if the concentration of water on the brush is higher than in your previous stroke, it can push the pigment up and cause an uneven transition. Similarly, if you’re blending out a darker area, make sure your brush is loaded enough, or else it will soak up pigment off the paper.
If you’re looking to create a darker wash, but then add lighter details on top using the glazing technique, the lighter colors likely won’t show through. To fix this, use masking fluid to block specific areas from absorbing the wash colors. Once everything is dry, you can rub off the masking fluid and reveal the white paper underneath, ready for you to fill in with lighter colors.

Learn Watercolor Painting Online

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mastering watercolor painting. To dive in further, be sure to take a watercolor class and follow along with step-by-step watercolor tutorials. With the right resources and regular practice, you’ll have all the skills you need to turn anything you envision into a stunning watercolor painting!

Written By

Sayana Lam

Sayana is a musician, writer and graphic designer based in Toronto, Canada.