Watercolours Washes Tones Give Great Effects . . . by Anna Meenaghan
What do you mean by washes tones Somebody asked me this very question recently. This article should give you an understanding of the subject. Washes can create tones as you will see.
We are surrounded by colours each colour really is made up of its hue say yellow its actual tone. The tone being how for instance dark or light the hue is. Therefore if you are painting natural scenes the colours you see are vital to your work.
To get your hue lighter simply add water to your pigment. If you need to darken a shade you will need to add a dark colour to it. However it not always easy to know which one or it might completely alter your hue.
If you in fact put one wash over another wash you can build up your tone considerably as this way will give you a darker tone. This method is called overlaying. So how about you trying this. Get your dish mix up a wash in a pale hue.
Then on a rectangular sheet of paper lay a flat wash all over it then leave it to dry. Continue using the same wash that you mixed previously starting about a quarter of the way down lay a second wash over the first. Same again leave it to dry.
Next you could add a smallish amount of paint to your mixing dish to make your tone darker. This time start half way down before you leave to dry. Now add a bit more paint to the mix to make it even darker yet.
Hooray We have reached the last layer. This time you can wash from top to bottom of the sheet let it dry. This will leave you with four tones.
You can lay a graded wash on dry paper but you need to work fairly fast for this. You need to have your board so that it slightly sloping so that your colours will always be at the end of your brushes strokes. Then you should be satisfied with the result.
Mix up a dark blue wash in your dish then with a size 12 paintbrush lay a few strips of this dark colour across the top of your surface. We will use this as an example.
Go to your mixing dish then put about five brushfuls of water to this. Find a size 12 paintbrush then going across the top of your paper lay a few bands of this colour. Take your brush dip it in clean water before continuing to paint the rest of your paper fading gradually the colour as you go.
I will explain now how to do a graded wash on wet paper. Make sure you have clean water a clean brush. A bit similar to a wash but wet the paper all over. It needs to be moist but not soaked.
Mix up a colour wash in a dark colour then lay it straight on to your paper so that it will cover the top third of your sheet. your mix needs to be diluted a little more before you then wash the central third of your paper.
All that is needed now is to dilute your colour mix then wash the rest of your paper leave to dry.
The author of this article artist Anna Meenaghan creates all types of canvas art with abstract paintings being by far her most favourite genre of art. For more articles about art you are invited to visit her online art community where artists art lovers now have a popular interactive meeting place. Watercolours Washes Tones Give Great Effects . . .
