Any tips on how to stop watercolours bleeding or running into one another? (e.g. placing a darker colour onto a lighter one!) 
Thanks!
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lostjohnny
- http://lostjohnnyparadox.blog.co.uk
- 2009-02-25 @ 13:52:17
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louisa-outram
Pro - 2009-02-25 @ 14:01:09
Hi Chyna, I asked my sister for you and this is what she said:
Yes, you let them dry first. Basically watercolours work three ways.
Wet on wet, wet on dry and dry on dry.
Wet on wet is where the paper is wet and the brush is wet and the colours bleed into each other.
Wet on dry is where the paper is dry but the brush is wet. The colours blend this way.
Dry on dry only works if you use tubes- the paint is much thicker and dryer this way and gives a really strong colour.
The best technique is wet on dry- let each of the colours dry between coats. You can use a hair-dryer to quicken it if you like Then apply the second colour VERY carefully, trying not to rub too much on the first because a wet brush can 'lift' the first colour
Hope that one helpsx-
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Chyna_Doll
- 2009-02-25 @ 14:06:13
I did let the bottom later dry throughly first before applying some darker shading but it still bled!
Sorry, I should have mad that clear above! But thanks for the tip on using tube watercolours and the other helpful tips. (I was only using a simple palette at the time!) x -
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At collegde we used to wet our paper under the tap and stick it to our drawing boards with brown tape - that wide stuff that you have to wet to make sticky.
Then when the paper had dried out you could paint on it without the paper buckling up from the moisture. I can't remember if it helped stop the colours bleeding into each other, but it made it a lot easier to paint.-
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Chyna_Doll
- 2009-02-25 @ 19:13:53
That sounds good. Will try that one out sometime. Thanks
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jenray
Pro - http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-02-25 @ 16:10:22
Yes, Old Nick's method is the one I used...thought the idea of watercolours was that the colours bled into each other and merged to produce a nice effect...unless you're talking about detailed work on top of the background then you don't want that to happen...can only do that when the background is dry...you can use tissue or anything that absorbs water as well to tone down your background colours and lessen bleeding...GBHs...XXX
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boredrich
- 2009-02-25 @ 16:40:15
lord knows but when I get back to the Uk I want to get into the crafts and art stuff including glass paint etc so I will hopefully know by then
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Chyna_Doll
- 2009-02-25 @ 19:14:37
I hope you will submit some here when you do!
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boredrich
- 2009-02-26 @ 00:42:07
definately you will have to suffer my failures
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Sometimes if the colours want to blend just let them. More often than not the best effects are obtained by accident.
Paintings sometimes do have lives of their own you know. -
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justgrrl
- 2009-02-26 @ 14:25:50
for isolating areas of paper where you don't want the colours to mix at all, you'll have to use masking fluid.
That is a fluid you brush on the area you dont want to be reached by a certain colour the area can be a free, unpainted zone of paper, or a previously coloured one/and already dried.
The masking fluid will build a rubber film, which protects the area from further colouring/aquarelling afterwards you can rub the thin layer (like a 'film') off.
Here you can see what I mean:
http://www.artifolk.co.uk/catalog/products/watercolour_mediums_and_primers/winsor_and_newton_masking_fluids.htm
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joebangles
- 2009-02-26 @ 14:56:58
I use a hair dryer to stop the bleeding at the point that I want or to dry the first colour when I am impatient.
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the-living-dead
- 2009-02-28 @ 07:01:17
acrylic colors! use them..i havent tried but apparently, according to this artist friend of mine, acrylic colors dry up real quick in comparison to water colors and the shades dont mix...
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Ask wendylane from the art group