How to Darken Watercolors
An important part of painting with watercolors is knowing how to lighten or darken different colors to portray light and shadow in your work. Lightening watercolors to show tints – lighter forms of a color – requires only that you thin the existing paint with water before applying it to the canvas. If you've tried to darken your watercolor paint by mixing black with it, you likely weren't pleased with the muddy and messy-looking color that resulted. If you mix too much black, it completely drowns out the original color. Instead, you can create shades and maintain a rich, vibrant color.
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Instructions
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Wet your brush and paint your base color on the desired region of the canvas. Apply paint evenly with uniform strokes.
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Look at the color wheel chart for your color, then look directly across from it to find the complementary color. Mixing one color with its complement produces a darker shade of the original color. For example, mixing green with a base red will darken the red, and vice versa.
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Clean and re-wet your brush, then dip it in the complementary color. Outline the area you want to shade in the painting with a thin line of the complementary color. You also can use a slightly darker version of the base color for shading.
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Thin the shading color out slightly with water, then apply it to the painting.
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Tips & Warnings
Err on the side of caution with shading; it's easier to go back and make an area darker than to try to lighten existing shading.
References
- Photo Credit PhotoObjects.net/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
