20250205194658-Using_Washes_for_Adding_Hues

Using Washes for Adding Hues

From “Expanding Value Technique¨ in Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner

What is a wash? Essentially, it’s tinted water, made by mixing a small amount of paint with a large amount of water. A wash is transparent; you can see the texture of your drawing surface through it.

To sum up, a wash is hue-tinted water made from a mixture with a high water-to-paint ratio (i.e., with a highly diluted pigment). A common tool for mixing and applying a wash is a brush, or paintbrush (Garcia 2003, 75):

From “Expanding Value Technique¨ in Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner

You’ll create and apply washes with your brush. It can be an inexpensive watercolor or acrylic brush; just make sure it comes to a crisp point.

That is, what is most important is that the brush you use for mixing to create a wash and apply it has a pointy end (Ibid).

Creating a Wash

The process for creating a wash with a paintbrush is as follows (Garcia 2003, 76):

1. “With your brush, pull off a small amount of pigment from the edge of your paint, not from the middle.¨
2. “Mix water and paint together, making a puddle on your disposable palette¨
3. “[…] dilute the paint and lighten its value further,¨ adding “more water to the paint that’s still on your brush¨ if the paint’s hue does not have the right intrinsic tonal value

watercolor_brush acrylic_brush transparency dilution pigmentation intrinsic_tonal_value tonal_value watercolor_painting mixture

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bibliography

• Capp, Robbie, ed. “Expanding Value Technique: Wash, Pen, Pencil.” In Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner, 75. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2003.
• Capp, Robbie, ed. “Creating a Wash.” In Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner, 76–79. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2003.