Today’s watercolor warmup:

Today, washes were on the agenda as per the Tate Watercolour Manual, Lessons from the Great Masters by Tony Smibert and Joyce Townsend. The lessons in this book are supposed to lead the reader/practicer to learn techniques of the masters.  I am very much looking forward to that.

Here is my chart of washes:

In the upper left panel is my flat wash, done with cobalt blue. I used a number 6 brush. The area of this cell of the chart is no larger than 6″x8″. I could have used a much larger brush for a more seamless wash.  The panel on the lower right is where I painted the graded wash. Again, I began with a brush loaded with cobalt blue. With each successive pass, instead of recharging the brush with paint, I dipped it in water. I need more practice with this.

In the upper right panel, I tested what happens when a field of cobalt blue meets one of cadmium red light. The degree of mingling depends on the pigment/water ratio.  I dripped a few drops of cadmium red light into a wet cobalt blue field.

What I need to do now is see how other pigments behave when used as washes.