Things I've Learned About Painting In Watercolour

[poliphilo]

1. Don't overwork the paint. OK- you can, but then you'll end up with something that looks like an early Rossetti and you'll have lost the fluency and transparency that makes the medium distinctive.

2. Brushstokes are beautiful in themselves.

3. Don't correct your mistakes. Corrections always look like corrections. If the thing really isn't right then start again on another piece of paper.

4. Some mistakes are actually happy accidents.

5. Don't dither . Go big and broad.

6. Don't overthink. The image in your head isn't the image you'll end up with. The image you end up with will be bolder and better. If it isn't, chuck it away.

7. Trust the brush.

Comments

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I have always found that #7 is huge. What I love about watercolors/gouache is that it feels like a collaboration between me and the brush. :)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I have ideas, the brush has other ideas. Between us we arrive at a result.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Ooh that is good .. like it.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

This feels like pretty good advice for life as well.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's certainly overlap...

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Don't you just hate it when your painting looks like an early Rossetti? ;)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There was a time- decades ago- when I rather wanted my pictures to look like early Rossettis. They didn't, of course, but they did have something of the same, scuffed and laboured look. These days I'm trying to get as far away from that as possible...