Painting a Transparent Glaze with Watercolors

Series Summary

Glaze in painting refers to a transparent layer of paint which allows the background color or any layer directly behind it to show through. This technique creates interesting blends and color combinations which take place as you add more paint, or in the case of watercolors, dab away some of the paint you have already applied. By using glazes, the artist has more control over the evolution of the colors in their painting versus techniques which require the paint to be mixed ahead of time.

In this free series of art instruction videos, our expert painter and painting instructor takes you through the creation of an entire painting using water color glazes, also known as transparencies. She discusses which colors make the best watercolor glazes, such as cadmium red, cobalt blue and rose madder. Watch her vary the degree of transparency to get the effect she wants. You will also learn how to prepare your paints ahead of time and how to control them once you have applied them to the background.