The “wet” flat wash is great for large areas of solid, smooth color.

The flat wash “wet” technique is where you wet the area of your paper with water FIRST and then apply color to the wet area.

When you’re trying to color in a large area, it can be hard to do the entire section without one portion drying first. By wetting the paper with water first, you’re giving yourself more time to finish the swatch!

Here’s how to do a flat wash with the wet technique:
Wet the entire area you want to paint using just your wet brush (no color yet!). Make sure the water is even across the paper - we don’t want a puddle on one end and barely damp on the other end! The paper should look slightly shiny when you’re done. To check, you can hold up the paper and tilt it around to see the shine.

Grab some of your color onto your brush and mix it with a tiny bit of water in your pallet. Make sure to mix enough to apply to the entire area. I use about 80% color, 20% water as there’s already water on the paper.

Once you have enough color mixed, begin to apply it starting at the top of your paper, working your way down with strokes running the same direction.

Don’t overwork it! The first pass is usually the best one.

Dos
- Make sure the water is spread evenly over your paper.
- Use same-directional strokes to apply the color

Avoid
- Taking color directly from your watercolor pan to your paper. It won’t be desaturated enough to match what you’ve already mixed.
- Dipping your brush back in the water cup. This will dilute your color and make the swatch uneven
- Overworking it. Less is more here!

свернуть