Getting the right water-to-paint ratio in watercolor

Getting the amount of color and water right can be challenging, so today I want to give a few tips for that.

I’ll start this by saying that I’ve been notoriously bad too with water control when I started out. I added tons of water to my mixes, resulting in very watery, diluted washes that created lots of backruns, to fix this I needed to add several layers of paint. I took me a while before I realized I can actively control the amount of water I add to my mix, I just have to make it a habit to think of it.

But how do we know how much water is needed? It depends on what stage of the painting you are in, what’s already there, and what you are about to paint.

Traditionally, paint consistency seems to be associated with different beverages (tea wash, milk consistency, etc.), but I find this slightly confusing, so I’ll just call it watery, balanced, concentrated and thick, for lack of better terms.

You can try out how to create the different paint consistencies by starting with a very thick amount of paint, and then adding water to that bit by bit. Try to change the consistency from a rather opaque, almost pasty wash, to a saturated, vibrant wash, to a very diluted light wash.

Thick, concentrated, balanced and watery wash from left to right, lots of watery wash on the palette, concentrated paint in the pan:

Concentrated and thick paint is best used in very small amounts, like for details. Balanced washes work well for larger areas with bright, saturated color, and very watery washes are great for the base layer or light areas like skies, or very delicate subjects. If we think back to the apple blossoms from last week, I mainly used a watery base layer of pink, a watery layer for my yellowish shadows, and then a slightly more balanced wash for the leaves, stalk and darker bits on the blossoms. I used concentrated paint for the yellow highlights.

When you work on a sketch, you will often have areas that have changing consistencies within a single layer, particularly when working wet in wet. In the apple blossoms sketch above, the concentrated yellow paint is running into the watery pink washes where they aren’t fully dry yet. I could prevent this by letting each layer dry, but I find the effect adds something to the sketch.

Additional thoughts + tips:

• These consistencies are not absolute categories, the pigment-to-water ratio will also be slightly different for different pigments, it depends on how the paint is formulated, etc. For some opaque or very intense pigments you will only need very little paint to turn them into a balanced or concentrated wash, for weaker pigments you will have to mix in more of the pigment. You have to try this out.
• When creating a mix, it can be harder to get the water ratio right. I would start with a concentrated or balanced wash to get to my desired color, and then adjust the consistency by adding water in very small amounts. (you can find more info specifically about mixing colors in the resources at the end of the post)
• Bigger brushes will add more water quickly, and water tank brushes will often remove any control over how much water you add. Use a smaller brush for a while if you have a hard time with water control, and have a painting rag nearby, because you can:
• Adjust how much water you have on the brush by tapping it against the water container or blot away a bit of the water on a rag.
• You can also adjust the consistency of your mix on the paper by starting with concentrated paint in a small area, and adding clear water or more diluted paint to the existing wash. This will distribute the pigments. Works great for skies.
• Test your mix on a piece of paper first. Some mixes change on the paper, even if they look fine on water. Wait until it’s dry, then see if it’s dark enough. Most watercolor pigments go through a drying shift, that means their value and saturation will be lower after they’re dry. Some pigments also shift slightly in color.
• Paper quality and finish can also play a role – the bright wash that looks great in your mixing area can look a lot different on paper. Cellulose paper will take less water than cotton paper and can lead to frustration when you apply lots of watery washes.

So testing on a small piece of paper is a good measure – I don’t do this often enough either, but writing this post has reminded me of the value of doing it, and to be mindful about the amount of water I add to my paint.

Additional resources:

• Mixing greens: A look at different combinations with watercolor greens
• The properties of color + how to mix colors
• How to mix interesting neutrals and greys with watercolor