Mix watercolors like a seasoned artist.

Mixing watercolor paints using the wet-on-wet technique creates paintings that are refined and interesting.

One of the most important techniques in watercolor painting is the wet-on-wet technique. Like any skill, it takes time and practice to hone in on blending and mixing watercolor paint. As you build this skill, you’ll find that your paintings become more interesting and look more refined.

Key Takeaways

1. Mastering the art of mixing watercolor paints takes time and practice.

2. Mixing watercolor paint on paper is a technique called wet-on-wet; this is how wet paints blend on the paper.

3. Your paper needs to be at the right "temperature" for a successful wet-on-wet painting.

The Secret to Watercolor Paint Prep: Your Paper

The most important part of mixing watercolor paint wet-on-wet is beginning with paper that’s the right temperature. The temperature of your paper refers to its wetness. Your paper needs to be wet in order for your wet paints to blend well. You can either choose to wet the entire paper, or just the area where you’ll be mixing colors.

As the water soaks in, the paper relaxes and it begins to open up the tiny pockets in the paper where the pigment of your paint will sit. Think of it like a dry sponge - as you wet it, it begins to relax and the pores of the sponge open up to accept soap - or in our case, paint.

With a clean brush, cover your paper with clean water. If you’re not sure if the paper is wet enough, bring it to eye level by holding it up or bending down to view it on your painting surface. At this angle, you can see what’s wet and what’s still dry. Look for any unintentional gaps in your wet surface. They will be noticeably dull and not shiny. Add your water to these spots.

Once completed, there should be no pools of water - just an even coat. When your paper is no longer shiny, you’re ready to add paint. By wetting your paper to the perfect temperature, your paint will move and flow with the water and allow the pigment will settle out of the paint medium.

How to Mix Watercolor Paints

As you begin adding paint to your paper, think of your brush as the delivery system. First, it picks up the pigment. Then, it mixes the pigment with water on your palette. Finally, it brings that paint to your paper.

As you mix the pigment with water on your palette, you should aim to evenly distribute the paint on your brush. Avoid adding paint up to the hilt of the brush - this will be very hard to evenly distribute on the brush. In turn, that lack of balance will show up on your paper and you’ll get dry pigment on paper.

Once you’ve laid pigment onto your paper, wet your brush again. Then, use that wet brush to move the paint that’s already on your paper around, blending the colors together. This will give you a nice, transitional blend.

There are some schools of thought that believe you should blend colors on your palette, and others that believe you should blend paints only on your paper. For more vibrant pieces, you might prefer blending directly on the paper. For other pieces, you might prefer to mix paints on your palette so you know exactly what color you’re getting. Try both and see which you prefer - there’s no right or wrong answer.

For small mistakes, don’t try to correct it by mixing watercolor paint on paper. This will just add too much water and cause your color to move around, ballooning out in ways you did not plan for.

Final Thoughts

For blending, watercolor paint prep is just as important as mixing watercolor paints. Start with the right temperature paper, adding water and letting it soak in. Then, carefully load your brush so that the wet paint is evenly distributed throughout. As you add pigment to paper, this wet-on-wet technique will make it easier to mix watercolor paint like a pro.

Interested in learning more?

Learn to paint a beautiful Hawaiian plumeria by following Jess Rice's minicourse

Check out our YouTube video on this subject with Arts of Course instructor Jess Rice.

Read "16 simple things to know to begin with watercolors and create successful paintings" by clicking here.

Categories: Watercolor Paint, Watercolor Techniques, Watercolor tips