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Do you wait, or do you blow?
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Message
Posted
A question for all you watercolourists out there - it not being my primary medium, but I do love to play with it.
We know that it takes a while for washes to dry, and that to work into them immediately - or next to them - is asking for trouble because colours bleed into one another. And we know that on video demos, many artists will use a hair-dryer to speed up drying (some are even considerate enough to pause the camera while the awful noise persists). But at home, in the studio, when it doesn't matter how long it takes a wash to dry - do you prefer to let your washes dry naturally or, seized with enthusiasm, blow away? Is there a qualitative difference you've observed between the blown-dry washes and the ones you've just left to get on with it while you go and make a cup of tea?
Some, maybe all, will be familiar with Steve Cronin's painting demos - he just ploughs the paint onto his 140lb Fabriano paper, usually with a hake, and seems to use as little actual water in his watercolour as he can get away with: I've tried to emulate his approach, and just ended up with mud - and as for his speed, not a hope. He has been known to employ the hairdryer, but generally his paintings dry quickly because he hardly uses any water. Is this a method you've tried, and if so, how did you get on with it?
Posted
I use a hairdryer sometimes and I've not found it makes any difference to the finished painting. It's handy if you want to get on with the work and saves waiting for drying time. When I'm painting flowers (which is usually) I don't need to use it as I do one petal at a time so the paper doesn't get too wet. But if I put a background in then I might use one then.
Posted
I use a hair dryer all the time for drying washes etc - one of my most useful pieces of equipment. It's also a versatile piece of equipment and here's a top tip: you can also use it to dry your hair - you heard it here first folks!
On a serious note - no I see little if any difference between using a dryer and natural drying unless the wash is really wet and you apply the dryer too vigorously and it actually moves the wash around on the paper - as Syd has said: result can be mud.
Quick edit to add that I also use the dryer (on gentle setting I hasten to add ) ) to dry brushes after washing them.
Edited
by MichaelEdwards
Posted
I use one every so often, but usually I prefer to wait until things dry naturally (watercolour painting seems to be more waiting than painting sometimes, doesn't it?). there's a hair dryer at my art club that I'll use if it's getting late and I want to go home. I daren't use it on wet washes though, generally just things that are almost dry or getting there.
Kay M
Posted
I've used one when painting wet into wet on silk. It needed so much drying that I burnt the dryer out and it would not work again! But thinking on that event has anyone tried using silk paints on watercolour paper? The colours are so vibrant and permanent (when ironed), perhaps you could get a permanent Brusho effect.