Apply paint using basic techniques such as flat and graded washes, wet-on-wet, dry brush, layering and blending, and choose a technique to suit the effect

What this dot point is asking

SEAB wants you to apply paint using a range of basic techniques and to choose the right technique for the effect you want. How you put the paint on is just as important as which colour you choose: the same blue can become a smooth sky, a misty haze or rough waves depending on the technique. Learning a handful of methods gives you control and variety, and it lets you describe how a painting was made in the written paper.

The answer

Washes: flat and graded

A wash is a thin layer of paint spread over an area.

• A flat wash is even all over, the same strength of colour everywhere. It suits areas that should look uniform, like a plain background or a flat-coloured shape.
• A graded wash changes gradually, usually from dark to light or one colour to another, by adding more water or more colour as you work. It suits smooth transitions, like a sky that is deeper at the top and paler near the horizon.

Wet-on-wet and dry brush

These two techniques give opposite effects:

• Wet-on-wet means painting wet paint onto an already wet surface, so colours spread and blend softly with blurry, fuzzy edges. It suits soft skies, misty backgrounds and gentle blends.
• Dry brush means dragging a brush with very little paint over the surface, so the paint catches only the raised texture and leaves a broken, scratchy mark. It suits rough textures like grass, fur, sparkle on water and weathered wood.

Layering and blending

• Layering means building colour up in separate coats, letting each dry before the next (or, in transparent paint, glazing thin layers so earlier colours show through). It gives depth and lets you adjust gradually.
• Blending means smoothing two colours into each other so there is no hard line, used for soft, rounded forms and gentle changes of tone, like the curve of a cheek or a smooth shadow.

Working in the right order

Most painting goes more smoothly if you work from light to dark and from large areas to small details: lay the big background and base colours first, then build up the darker tones, and add the fine details and highlights last. This is especially important in transparent watercolour, where you cannot easily lighten an area once it is dark. Choosing the technique to suit the effect, and working in a sensible order, is what keeps a painting clean and controlled.

Examples in context

Example 1. A watercolour sky and sea. A painter uses a graded wash for the sky, wet-on-wet to blur soft clouds, and dry brush to flick sparkling light across the water. One small painting shows three techniques chosen for three different effects, a model of matching method to result.

Example 2. A smoothly blended portrait. In an acrylic or oil portrait, the artist blends colours softly across the face so the changes of tone on the cheeks and forehead have no hard edges. The blending technique creates the soft, rounded form of skin, showing how application controls how solid and lifelike a form looks.

Try this

Q1. Explain the difference between a flat wash and a graded wash. [2 marks]

• Cue. A flat wash is even, the same colour strength all over, for uniform areas; a graded wash changes gradually (dark to light or colour to colour) for smooth transitions like a sky.

Q2. Describe the dry brush technique and an effect it creates. [2 marks]

• Cue. Drag a brush with very little paint over the surface so it catches only the raised texture, giving a broken, scratchy mark that suits rough textures like grass or fur.

Q3. Why is it usually best to work from light to dark and leave details until last? [3 marks]

• Cue. In transparent paint you cannot easily lighten a dark area, so light first protects your lights; laying big base areas before small details stops the details getting covered or muddied.