Saturated Wet Technique

Preparing the Paper

Many of you have asked how I prepare my paper for this watercolor technique. I first learned of this saturated wet technique at a workshop with my local Watercolor Society. I was both amazed and thrilled with the result of what seemed so effortless while also creating such atmosphere. I was familiar with wet into wet painting, and use this quite often. However, with this method, you wet the entire sheet front and back and once the fibers relax, it adheres to a non-porous surface like plexiglass, gator board, or a smooth plastic corrugated sheet. While I'm painting, I can continue to lightly mist the paper if it begins to dry (especially around the edges.) I can paint for quite a long time this way, creating soft atmospheric leaves, petals and fluid shapes. I begin using nearly saturated paint (or almost fully concentrated), for areas with either shadow, or rich color. Nearly saturated paint just means that there is very little water mixed in to dilute it. This is the really fun part. Because the paper is damp and the paint has a thicker consistency like heavy cream, it doesn't spread very far. It stays in place while still maintaining soft edges.

Blocking in the Shapes

At this stage, I have a rough idea of where my flowers and leaves are, and where I'll place my highlights and shadows. However, this style of painting is very forgiving, because I can always 'lift' out highlights if needed. I love painting this way because it doesn't feel like my paper is ever 'too precious" because I can always lift color or add some darker values without worrying about creating hard edges yet. At the end of the day, I tell myself 'it's just paper and just paint. Don't worry if you make mistakes.' I make them all the time. I believe in order to paint something, you have to make the garbage first! 😆Of course, using good quality 100% cotton cold press paper 140lb or more is best. There are several brands out there I love including Arches, and St. Cuthbert's by Saunders Waterford, or Fabriano. I buy it when it's on sale, and I like to purchase the full sheets and cut them down to size to save money.

Non-Staining Paint

The other important part of this method is to use non-staining paint. I don't always follow this rule, and in fact don't follow many watercolor rules. Where is the fun in that?😉However, if you are new to this technique and plan to lift areas, it will be easier if you use this type of paint. Use staining paint if you love the color (pthalo blue) in areas you don't plan to lift.

Tape or No tape?

 You might be wondering why I don't use tape with this method. Sometimes I use tape and other times I do not. Sometimes I just don't want to fuss around with tape. With this method, I often let the entire painting dry between sessions. There is some slight warping, but then when I am ready to add another layer of paint, I prepare the paper the same way back and then front and it lies flat again. The paint doesn't smear or smudge with this type of quality paper. 

Adding Detail

As the paper begins to dry while I paint, I begin adding harder edges, and this starts to bring things into focus, while leaving the background soft and atmospheric.

Finalizing a Piece

When I finished with the piece, I let it air dry completely. Then there will be some slight warping. I will typically only lightly dampen the BACK of the piece, sandwich it between paper and then place heavy books on top for a few days. This is how I flatten my pieces completely. 

I will be adding more blog posts featuring this method and I will also be adding a new online workshop where I'll show you my in depth process featuring this technique.