Author: Johannes Vloothuis, Associate Editor

Watercolor painting has gotten a bad rap for a long time. Many artists agree that it is very hard to control, especially when paint is applied to wet paper. Some artists have tried to avoid this problem and usually paint on dry paper. As a result you get too many hard edges giving a "pasted-on" feeling, as well as not taking advantage of one of the best virtues of watercolor painting, that is, wet on wet with nice, soft diffused areas.
Fig. 1	Fig 2.
Fig. 1 The tree in the back ground has a diffused look, looks like it is in the distance. Fig. 2 The foliage tends to compete with the foreground tree.
One other great benefit that watercolor offers is its transparency. Instead of reflecting light like all other media it actually allows the light to go through and bounce off the white paper, thus making the painting more luminous. If used correctly the paint is cleaner as a result of subtracting one pigment, white.
Oil painting	Same painting done in watercolor

There are four ways to apply paint to paper:
Fig 3. Dry on Dry	Fig 4. Wet on Dry (trees)
Fig 5. Dry on Wet (trees)	Fig 6. Wet on Wet (sky)

Dry on Dry Dry on dry is the procedure in which a dry brush loaded with thick and barely moist paint is dragged over the grain on the surface of the paper to create texture and is not being absorbed within the fibers. (More easily done with rough paper). This is used to make objects look weather beaten such as old wooden doors, textures on rocks, etc. (Fig.3) Wet on dry Here the paper will absorb the wet paint. We have absolute control and can determine exactly how far to go. However here we will get hard edges, which is all right in some areas but if you want to convey the feeling of distance you will have to rely solely on color and value, not diffusion. Personally I feel that if the whole painting is done on dry paper, it gives a cut out and pasted on feeling, at times a cartoonist look. The real purpose of watercolor is lost. (Fig. 4) Good for straight edges, close ups, etc. Dry on Wet This is done with moist paint on a damp brush with all excess water squeezed out painted on wet paper. With this means of application we have general control over the edges . Exact shape is not a concern. We get nice diffusion that will push elements back into the distance making it belong to the background. Good for background mountains and foliage. (Fig 5) Wet on Wet This is the same as dry on wet, except here the brush-as well as the paper is very wet. It is used when soft diffusions are required, but when retaining a particular shape is not a concern, The paint will go where it pleases. This way we will get "happy accidents". All edges will be lost. This is when a painting looks fresh. Particularly a good way to paint clouds in a sky. The sky will paint itself. (Fig 6.)

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