TECHNIQUE
1
Working wet-on-wet, block in large
shapes of colour on your sketch.
There’s no need to colour inside the
lines at this stage. The paint should
be free to flow across the page.
Leave some of the white paper
shining through. This creates
beautiful highlights of sunlight.
Using the freedom of wet-on-wet
techniques and having colours flow
into each other will add spontaneity
to your painting.2
It’s okay if your painting looks
out of focus. At this stage, your
painting is like an orchestra warming
up. It’s only beginning to find its way.
Once the initial wash is on the
page, let it dry completely. When
painting outside, this will only take
a few minutes.3
Mix a cool grey for a shadow
colour. Remember that
watercolour dries lighter than when
you first apply it, so mix a colour that’s
darker than you think it should be.
Wash this colour on the page to
create bold shadows, deep recesses
under café awnings, and streets that
hold out shapes for crosswalks.Painting Process
Once I pick up my paints, I work with
an initial wash of colour. This is done
fairly quickly, often wet-on-wet.
The idea is to have colours blend
together on the page.
For this style of painting,
watercolour likes to be applied with
the lightest tones first, then later
moving into darker shades. The sky
and the sunlit areas are first. The
warm colours used to indicate
sunlight on stone will mix together,
creating variety.