The darkness or lightness of watercolors depend on how much water is mixed with the pigment. While other paints (oils, acrylics) can be lightened with white, watercolors get muddy and opaque because of the properties of the paints. Every artist has a slightly different technique when it comes to mixing paints, but generally there are two types of watercolors: pan paints (hard cakes of paint which become liquid when water is added) or tube paints (more like traditional oil paints or toothpaste). These also can be thinned with water. In general, the more water you add to watercolors, the more transparent the color will be. The less water, the more opaque. Because of their transparency, watercolors tend to get muddy much more easily than oils or acrylics, so it's necessary to keep the colors separate when you're mixing. Their fluidity can be useful, however- a popular technique in watercolors is called "wet-in-wet" where the paper is dampened with either plain water or paint and color is spread or dropped on top, next to each other. This allows the colors to blend and merge organically, and can give quite distinctive effects.
In the most basic sense, watercolour paint mixes just like any other medium - you combine various colours until you get the result you want, such as the basic red+blue=violet. However, because of the qualities of watercolour paint, in practice you may need a more delicate or precise methodology, and likely more patience.
MIXING BEFORE APPLYING IT TO YOUR WORK:
Style 1 - Side Tray
Especially for a beginner or those looking to paint directly in specific colours, it might be simplest to mix paint off to the side first, such as on a tray, plate, &c, and then apply that to the painting (similar to how you would with other types of paints). To hold your paint use plastics or metals which won't absorb the liquid. You can start with a little bit of water and add the pigments you want until you achieve the desired colour. Then you can transfer that new colour onto the painting. The limits of this are if you simply have not produced enough of the colour or have left it out to dry and therefore need to recreate it. This is a bit harder if you are using cakes rather than pigments from tubes, and impractical with watercolour pencils.
MIXING DIRECTLY ON THE PAINTING:
Style 2 - Direct from the Brush
This is perhaps the most common style people revert to. It is similar to the above method of mixing paint on the side, except here instead of doing the mixing separately away from the work this is directly on the spot you want the colour to go. This requires a working understanding of colour combinations, but if you are working with an area that is particularly water-heavy you might be able to remove the paint as well by dabbing it with a paper towel. This is a "practice makes perfect" technique, but one that is easy to fall back on and use in most situations. Drawbacks include the fact you are working directly on the paper, so if you tend to paint with a dry brush your mistakes are stuck there. Also it may be quicker than other methods if you use less water, which could be good or bad depending on how you work.
Style 3 - Layers
If you have a knack for understanding what colours mix for subtle differences, with some practice you can also try mixing through layering directly on your work. Watercolours are excellent at achieving transparencies. Think of it similar to looking through layers of coloured glass - even though each pane is different if you look at all of them at once the colours will automatically mix. Similarly, you can start with a base colour and wait for it to dry. Then slowly add layers of the other colours, waiting for each layer to dry completely before adding a new one. Remember to keep each layer very transparent by having plenty of water mixed in. A special benefit is that you can also mix over specific areas or over entire sections (for instance, if you want the entire painting to have a warm, afternoon feeling, you could simply have a very light layering of orange or yellow over the entire work, not unlike adding an Instagram filter). It is also particularly useful for going in and adding shadows to already painted areas or subtle elements such as skin blush. The drawback here is the time needed for each layer and having a high understanding of colour combinations. It is also best if you have good command over blending/reticulation, depending on if you would like the colour mixes to be seamless or to have pooled edges of colour where you have painted.
Style 4 - Water Blending
A more advanced technique that can be used to create interesting effects. Because of how easily watercolour pigments move and spread across liquid you can paint an area with water, fill a brush with pigment, and then drop small amounts of pigment into the water. The pigment will naturally wish to spread around (think of it like dropping food colouring into a glass of water and watching it move). However, small amounts of pigment may not reach an entire area, so you can actually create smooth transitions by dropping different colours in different spots, and maybe encouraging some delicate mixing with a clean brush while everything is still fluid. If you make a mistake and it is still wet you might even be able to take away much of the colour by delicately dabbing it with a paper towel (do not rub it, only tap it until dry!). Drawbacks are that this does require some practice to be proficient at, and like layering will need you to wait for it to dry. Water attracts more water, so if you paint next to it before it dries completely, you may accidentally connect it with another area of paint you want separate. It'll be sucked from your brush or the other section as if through a straw, so simply do not paint anywhere even close to the boarder of the area until it's dry.
Style 5 - Watercolor Pencils
This is specific to if you're using watercolour pencils. It is not unlike how you might automatically colour with normal pencils, though you do not need to worry so much about filling in all the white spaces or getting perfect blending. Simply use the pencils to colour and shade the general parts you need, and then use water to activate the pigment and turn your pencil lines into paint. Remember to focus only on one section and wait for it to dry before working on any section next to it, because once liquid touches liquid they will mix whether you want them to or not. You can do something similar if you use wax-based pencils if you have rubbing alcohol instead of water.
EXTRA NOTES:
Testing what techniques you use on a piece of scrap paper is also recommended, particularly if you have trouble balancing the amount of pigment and water, as more water would cause more transparency (meaning either add more pigment or you'll need to paint over the same spot again and again to achieve any thickness in colour), while more pigment means it is drier and does not flow particularly well (so it will feel almost as if your brush has run out of paint in only a few strokes).
I would also recommend avoiding white paint except for small details (like eye highlights), unless you are particularly fond of having a very thick appearance to your paint. But there are no hard and fast rules.
And remember you can also use as many techniques as you want in a single painting. You may like using watercolour pencils for large areas but need to using layering for adding delicate lighting.
Practice makes perfect! And you may even invent your own techniques on the way.
Watercolor paints use the same system as other types of pigments: Combine the primary colors in various ways to make the secondary colors. However, because of the specific techniques used in watercolor, careful estimates of water to pigment are necessary, depending on whether you are planning to do a wash, layer paint over a previously painted area, or trying to create a tint or tone.
White watercolor paint ("Titanium White") does exist, but it is also possible to create a delicate tint by diluting the pigment until it produces only a blush of color. On the other hand, watercolorists often use "Payne's Gray" to tone a color. This neutral takes down the color, and can also be used for shadowed areas.
Generally speaking, before applying mixed color to an actual painting or sketch, it's best to test the transparency and color out on a test sheet; also, test it over a color you are planning to place it over to see the effect of the layering, especially after drying.
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