The three parts of my project were painted on three different brands of watercolour paper. All three were fine, but I like Saunders the most.

Layering

The first stage is on the left: two columns of Winsor & Newton Winsor Blue (Red Shade) and two columns of W&N Raw Umber. Each column consists of five layers to make steps from light to dark.

The finished stage is on the right: five layers of raw umber painted over blue, and five layers of blue painted over raw umber.

The Raw Umber washes tend to be more mottled because it is a granulating colour, while Winsor Blue is a staining colour.

Paper: Saunders Cold Pressed 300 gsm.

 

Wet on Wet Washes

Wet on wet washes are fun!

For the two swatches on the left, I first painted a wash of Winsor & Newton French Ultramarine. While each wash was still wet I quickly added a wash of W&N Burnt Sienna.

For the two swatches on the right, I reversed the order, laying a wash of Burnt Sienna first, then French Ultramarine.

Paper: Arches Cold Pressed 300 gsm.

For the two swatches on the left, I first painted a wash of Winsor & Newton Winsor Blue (Red Shade). While each wash was still wet I quickly added a wash of W&N Raw Umber.

For the two swatches on the right, I reversed the order, laying a wash of Raw Umber first, then Winsor Blue.

Paper: Arches Cold Pressed 300 gsm.

 

Glazing

The first column shows the colours used: Da Vinci Arylide Yellow, Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose, and Winsor Blue (Red Shade). These colours have been painted across each row. The same depth of colour is used for glazing. The second column has a glaze of yellow over each of the three colours. The third column is glared with red. The fourth column is glazed with blue.

Paper: Stonehenge Aqua Cold Pressed 300 gsm, back side.

 

Another example of glazing, this time using Winsor & Newton Winsor Orange, Winsor Green (Yellow Shade), and Winsor Violet (Dioxazine).

The first stage is a row each of orange, green and violet.

The first column shows the colours used: Winsor & Newton Winsor Orange, Winsor Green (Yellow Shade), and Winsor Violet (Dioxazine). The second column is glazed with orange, the third column with green, and the fourth column with violet.

Paper: Stonehenge Aqua Cold Pressed 300 gsm, right side.

 

You can see my work on Instagram @annadayart.