Success with techniques

This article is not about how to achieve certain specific effects or how to lay a perfectly flat wash, but I hope it will explain some of the considerations and approaches to technique that are sometimes overlooked and why frustration can creep in when followed advice seems not to work.

The success or failure of any watercolour technique will depend on a number of factors. Clearly the proficiency of the artist plays a big part, and often beginners overlook this. Artists become proficient at rendering techniques because they repeat those techniques again and again. They know their materials and how those materials behave when used together.

The materials in question are the support, the paint being used and any additive, including water. The tools used to apply the watercolour also play a part and again artists become proficient at certain techniques and rendering certain effects due to repetition and experimentation with various paint application methods – this can take many years to achieve,