How to Plan Your Watercolor Washes, by Oliver Pyle - Our Landscape on YouTube. 47 min 32 s.
- Video length
- 47 min 32 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Make a light pencil sketch of the scene on watercolor paper. Keep the shapes simple and mark the main light direction so you know which sides stay pale.
Decide which highlights must stay white. Paint masking fluid over them and let it dry fully, or plan to save them later with negative painting.
Label each main shape as a lost edge, defined edge, or broken edge. Lost edges blend into a neighboring wash, defined edges stop sharply, and broken edges are interrupted.
Choose a wash order from light to dark. Paint pale, broad washes first and let each one dry before adding a darker glaze over it.
Test your glaze mix on scrap paper before applying it. Keep the mix thin and transparent so the layer below still shows through.
Use opaque paint only for small final accents, not for large early washes. It covers earlier layers and can kill the transparent look.
Paint two small studies of the same scene. Do one without a wash plan, then one with your planned sequence and edge notes.
Compare the studies while they are still wet and after they dry. Note where edges stayed clean and where you need masking or negative painting next time.
Tips and common mistakes
Let each wash dry completely before glazing, or you will lift and muddy the layer below.
Use masking fluid only on dry paper and remove it after the paint is completely dry.
Keep a scrap sheet beside you to test wash strength and edge behaviour.
Do not use opaque paint to fix large mistakes, because it flattens the transparent look.
Questions
Do I need masking fluid to plan washes?
No. You can preserve highlights with negative painting, but masking fluid helps with fine or complex white shapes.
How long should I wait between washes?
Wait until the paper is fully dry for hard edges, or let it stay just damp for soft blended edges.
What is a lost edge?
A lost edge is where two shapes merge because their values are similar, so the boundary is soft or invisible.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
