Workshop Lessons: Graduated Wash Technique

Watercolour - 'Creston Cherries'



Looking for luminosity in your backgrounds? Consider beginning with a graduated wash.
The only difference in this technique from the last post is here the watercolour paper was wet to begin the process. A light pink wash was added to the whole paper with a bit more intensity of colour at the top of the paper.

After drying completely a light sketch was place on top of the light pink wash. The cherries were glazed in successive layers allowing drying time between layers. Because the background pink colour was light, using green to paint the leaves did not result in a muddy colour but rather a toned down green. All leaves were not painted green in order to limit the amount of complementary colour. The red, a mix of the red and green, was used to depict the colours of the leaves farther back and a dark value of the red was chosen to bring out the highlights of the cherries and some stems.

Consider trying your own graduated wash as a background or even part of a background.