How to Master the Watercolor Glazing Technique

Mastering watercolor glazing techniques requires a steady hand.

Glaze is a translucent substance that when mixed with paint or pigments thins out the paint, changing its opacity. Glazes are used with watercolors, acrylics and oil paints. Glazes can be used to apply a final touch to paintings as a way of unifying the existing colors. An entire work can be done with glazes with much patience and drying time. Mastering the glazing process with watercolors is especially difficult because even dry watercolors are soluble and watercolors are already not as opaque as acrylic or oil paints.

Things You'll Need

• Watercolor
• Smooth, fine-grained canvas
• Filbert brush
• Fan brush
• Glaze

Instructions

1. Choose the appropriate surface for glazing. Since glazes thin paints to make them translucent, they have a tendency to pool in imperfections on surfaces. Preventing this build up allows for more control with glazing. Especially when beginning your watercolor glazing practice, paint on smooth, fine-weaved canvases to allow you more control of your technique.

2. Choose the appropriate paint for glazing. Glazing works best with the most translucent paint pigments. To test for opacity, paint a horizontal line of each color that you want to work with before adding the glaze, then allow this line to dry. Paint another vertical line over the horizontal lines with each color and allow this to dry. Opaque paints will block out the color of the paint below them. Avoid these paints as they tend to dry unevenly when mixed with glaze.

3. Mix the glaze with the watercolor at a four to one ratio to begin. This ratio is the standard beginning mix for a watercolor with a medium translucence. Experiment with the glaze to paint ratio by adding more or less glaze to the paint then applying it to a test canvas in quick, even brush strokes. Allow the paint to dry to the touch and then observe the translucence. Adjust the glaze by adding more or less to the paint to achieve the opacity you desire.

4. Apply the paint to the canvas using a soft, rounded brush, loaded on one side with a pea-sized amount of paint. Soft brushes allow for the light, flicking motion required to achieve a smooth glaze finish. Never press hard on the brush or force the paint onto the canvas. The paint show be applied in a flowing motion to eliminate the presence of brushstrokes or unsightly paint pooling.

5. Flick a fan brush lightly over the glaze once you have applied it to the canvas to even out the brushstrokes or any pooling and imperfections that might have happened.

6. Apply the paint to the canvas in order from lightest to darkest shades, using only one color application at a time. For instance, if you are painting with red, purple and blue, apply them in that order, letting the paint dry thoroughly before applying the next layer. The translucence of the glaze makes even the lightest colors visible underneath the darker ones.

7. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly before applying another layer. Most watercolors dry faster than their acrylic or oil counterparts, but care should be taken to guarantee that the canvas is not wet or tacky before applying additional colors. Painting when the canvas is still wet can cause the glazes to blend into one another and you can lose control of the painting.

8. Practice Steps 1 through 5 multiple times, working on brushstroke, pigmentation, opacity and allowing the canvas to dry properly.

References

• Fountain Studio: Glazing with Watercolor Paints