How to Create Texture on Watercolor Paintings©

This week’s question asks:  “Recently I saw a watercolor painted that was textured.  Do you know how that was accomplished?”

Not knowing exactly what you saw I can tell you I do know how the technique goes.  You will need several things ready at hand.  You will need your watercolor paints, the paper you are going to paint on and a thin sheet of crumpled plastic slightly larger than the paper you are painting on, water, paper towels, your brushes and a mop brush.  I like to use a plastic shopping bag as the crumpled plastic and you might find this a handy recycled object.  You need to think here if your crumpled shopping bag is 12 inches by 14 inches then your paper you are going to paint on should be 10 inches by 12 inches.

Let us consider you are making a painting of a vase full of flowers.   First you will need to totally wet your paper using the mop brush.  Artist mop brushes are shaped like the classic shaving brush, are usually made for small hands and those with special needs. They have wooden handles and are often painted in primary colors. The hairs are natural hog bristle.  However one of them is a good brush to have in any artist’s arsenal.  Make sure you use enough water to make your paper totally shiny.

Next think of where you want to put your flowers and neatly drip paint straight from your tube or pan unto the web surface using whatever colors you choose.  Drop some raw sienna at the bottom where you want your vase to be positioned.

The next step involves your sheet of plastic which you will make sure is creased and well crumpled.  While your paper is still shiny and wet lay the plastic over your painting and press down the plastic with the ends of your fingers and this will allow random crinkled patterns to develop.  Once you have done this leave it all sitting to dry overnight.   I like to wait 24 hours, but sometimes just overnight is enough.

The next morning carefully lift off the plastic and your will be pleasantly surprised at what you end up with.  Now mix the colors needed to finish off your vase.  I am presuming your know a little about watercolor painting and if you do not just stop off at my studio and I will show you how to do this as it is pretty hard to explain how to do this in an article without colored pictures, but I think you will get the drift.

Once you have gotten to this point you need to load your mop brush up with clean, clear water and re-wet the whole surface using light and I mean very light strokes so as not to disturb the original paint.  Next step is to finish your painting and I suggest you use a small brush using your watercolors directly from the tube or pan to create darker tones where you want to form blossoms and create shapes.

While the paper is still wet you can drop some diluted color unto the background of your painting.  Remember that the vase will need some shadow on the side that is not getting the light. In other words if your light is coming from the left then your shadow is on the right and you will also need to create some shadow on the right at the base of the vase such as one might see if the vase were sitting on a table.

You will probably want to add some shadows on the right hand side of your stems to finish up your painting.

Hopefully this explanation will inspire you to try and do one of these yourself or come over and we will do one together.

May the Creative Force be with you!



Arlene Wright-Correll