Spring Sunshine, watercolour, (14" x 21")

Michael Edwards shows how to lay a large wash – and then to add line in this article from the June 1999 issue of Leisure Painter.

The essence of watercolour painting

The essence of a good watercolour is the smooth flowing wash that changes in tone and colour as it spreads across the paper.

The luminous, delicate colours achieved give watercolour its great attraction and differentiate it from oils, gouache and other opaque media.

The ability to handle large washes can mark out the experienced watercolour painter from the beginner. It can also be the most frustrating aspect in watercolour painting. It looks so easy when viewing the best artists’ work, yet it is so difficult to emulate.

Creating a successful wash

Three of the most critical aspects which, I feel, determine the success or otherwise of the wash are the type of brush, the paper and mixing the paint.

1. The brush

A large brush is essential to hold sufficient paint and water to flow a wash across the paper without constant recharging. I use a No. 24 Prolene 101 – a soft, pointed, large synthetic brush that provides both wash strokes and detail.

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2. The paper

The paper has a fundamental influence both by its texture and its composition.

The manufacture varies from brand to brand and the amount of size and therefore, the absorbency is particularly significant.

An absorbent paper will allow several washes to be laid on top of each other without too much pick-up of the wash underneath, but that process will not be good for lifting out passages.

Experiment with different makes of paper and choose one to suit your particular approach. The surface finish or texture will affect the appearance, some giving a grainy appearance, others very smooth and even. The texture is also important if you use dry brushing for effects such as light on water.

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3. Mixing the paint

The third key element is mixing the paint.

For a big wash, a lot of water is needed so a large mixing bowl or palette is required. I use tubes of colour rather than pans so that I can get a large reservoir of liquid colour quickly.

Certain colours will granulate, i.e. sink into the texture of the paper. To a degree, this can be controlled by the angle of the paper. Horizontal allows the paint to sink in and increases granulation; vertical will reduce or eliminate it.

Creating vertical strokes

Figure 1. Chalford, Gloucester, watercolour (14" x 20")

The first illustration, of the disused canal at Chalford, Gloucester (above) uses extensive washes to achieve the effect of sunlight filtering through the trees and creating areas of light and shade on the banks and towpath. To achieve this effect, I added the main washes last.

I started by painting the background, the banks and the water, the light on the water being achieved with masking fluid.

The trees and cottage were added, together with the details of fencing and ivy on the branches. To this point, the painting followed a traditional watercolour pattern.

When I had completed the details and let the work dry thoroughly, I loaded the brush with ultramarine, very wet, and washed vertical strokes over the trees to the right.

While these were wet, I added some vertical strokes of Naples yellow in the same area.

To achieve the diagonal shafts of light, I brushed Naples yellow across the painting. This blurred some of the outline of the trees, adding to the atmospheric effects.

When I felt the balance of the diagonal and vertical washes was right, I used a hairdryer to dry the washes rapidly.

The paper, Saunders Waterford 300lb NOT, had been about 20 per cent to the horizontal. With this approach, one has to accept that there is an element of luck in the result.

To a degree, the bet painting is a happy accident, but practice seems to improve the luck you have.

Sunshine on water

Figure 2. Polperro Winter Sunshine. Watercolour 11" x 15"

The same approach was used for the painting Polperro Winter Sunshine, above.

I painted the boats first, using masking fluid for the highlights, then the background was added almost in silhouette form.

I used masking fluid to create spots of light in the pattern of waves, the colour being created by cerulean with a touch of lemon yellow. The sky was left untouched.

When the work was dry, I again put quite heavy washes over the top, using ultramarine, cerulean, Naples yellow and a touch of alizarin crimson.

I used the brush strokes to create the effects of swirling mist. These washes were added after lifting the masking fluid from the waves; hence the white of the paper was covered.

I reinstated the sparkles on the water with body colour. I used acrylic ink, but gouache white would have worked equally well.

The seagulls were touched in with white ink also.

Adding ink

Figure 3. Cottages at Hampnett, Pen and Wash 12.5" x 21"

I have experimented with pen and wash to see if I could achieve similar results.

If waterproof ink is used, the ink can impair the effectiveness of the wash by remaining too visible in the shaded area.

If non-waterproof ink is used, the drawing can disappear and the ink can discolour the watercolour too much.

After much trial and error, I have been pleased with the effects achieved with non-waterproof ink, often sepia in colour, using an approach similar to that of figures 1 and 2.

In Cottages at Hampnett (above), I painted the watercolour in the traditional way using ultramarine/cerulean in the sky, lemon yellow and cerulean for the foreground meadows and Naples and yellow ochre for the Cotswold stone.

For the pen work I used a Berol Italic pen with non-waterproof sepia ink.

When the painting was dry, I washed vertical strokes of ultramarine and a touch of cobalt.

The washes were quite heavy and picked up some of the lemon from the foreground. Also, the ink ran extensively, adding sepia to the washes.

Later, I had to reinstate some of the ink work in the branches and detailing on the cottages. I also used body colour to pick out the negative spaces between branches and around the cottages at the horizon level. I was pleased with the result, but at one stage I thought the picture was a total loss.

Using extensive washes

Figure 4. Spring Sunshine. Watercolour (14" x 21")

A more complex subject is in Spring Sunshine (above) – a mountain stream in Wales. I had painted this scene as a classic watercolour some years ago and decided to tackle it using more extensive washes to create the light filtering through branches and sparkling on the water.

An approach similar to that for Figures 1 and 2 was used, with masking fluid for the sparkles on the water and Van Dyke brown for the banks and the trees on the left, and in the rocks in the foreground. Again, the sky was left as bare paper.

When I washed on top of this painting using cerulean, alizarin crimson and Naples yellow, the washes took away too much of the highlights on the grassy bank to the right and also reduced the sparkles on the water to a dull blue colour.

I mixed white acrylic ink with some lemon yellow to reinstate the highlights on the grass and white highlights on the water. I then decided that I needed more shafts of light across the stream, and brushed a band of dilute Van Dyke brown diagonally over it. I also brushed a thin wash of dilute acrylic white ink to achieve the ray of sunshine across the stream.

After all the reworking, I was happy with the result.

Dark and light

Figure 5. Coates Church, Glos. Detail. Pen and Wash 8" x 14"

Some dramatic atmospherics can be depicted with this wash approach. Coates Church, Winter (Figure 5) has strong washes to create the dark winter sky against which the church and houses stand out, highlighted by the low winter sun.

This painting followed the same procedure as that for Figure 3, but the ink used was both black and brown non-waterproof.

The colour in the sky is a combination of the ultramarine with some black ink.

After the washes were dry, I had to reinstate some of the branches and paint body colour into the sky near the horizon and also on to the church, houses and buildings.

Figure 6. Porlock Weir, Somerset. Watercolour 11" x 15"

The final painting is of boats at Porlock Weir, Somerset (Figure 6).

I chose this subject to contrast the dark of the wall with the light on the water and to use the wall to outline the yachts against the dark backdrop. A similar approach was used, painting the picture in a traditional way without painting the sky and finally washing over the top to obtain the misty atmospherics often found by the coast in winter.

I used some acrylic white ink to emphasise the light on the water and to touch in the windows of the cottage reflecting the sun. The cottage was kept simple; too much detail would have detracted from the principal subject.

The light catching the edge of the harbour wall and dock gates was an important element to suggest the low sun coming through the entrance.

The paintings described above all had the same basic approach, two using pen and wash.

The paper was either Arches or Saunders Waterford NOT finish.

The transient light effects that I am particularly keen to capture respond well to this technique. There are many other wash techniques to achieve other effects.

I hope that in this article I have helped you to uncover some of the secrets of wash.