4 Watercolor Wash Painting Techniques

You must know!

Watercolor washes are important for beginners to master.  They help you create backgrounds and build layers of color.

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To paint a watercolor wash, you'll need these materials:

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Water & Jars

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Painting watercolor washes is easy, though it may seem intimidating at first.  To get you started, here are 4 basic washes to try.

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Create a dry or wet flat wash by moving your brush side to side across your page from top to bottom.

Flat Wash

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To paint a gradient wash, start with full color on one end and dilute it until the paint is nearly or fully gone.

Gradient Wash

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This wash is similar to the gradient, but you blend two colors together rather than going from dark to light.

Variegated Wash

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First wet your entire paper, then load up your brush with a color and touch it to the paper. It will begin to bloom and spread. Add more colors if you want!

Wet on  Wet Wash

See the step by step guide for creating all of these watercolor washes at littlecoffeefox.com!

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