Watercolor Texture Tips

You can find many tips online for texture, but tips are scattered here and there. When I first started out, I found that texture or having a few shortcuts help to cut down on painting time and yet, provide the quality needed. I have gathered together tips that work and an explanation of how and where to use them. As I find new ones I will send an email to those that subscribe to my website.

#	Watercolor Texture Tip	Description (Images to follow of sample textures)
1	Plastic Wrap	Over the area you are wanting texture, wrinkle plastic wrap and place it over the wet area. Leave until dry.
2	Cheese Cloth	Cut a piece of cheese cloth a little larger than your paper, wad it up and put on the paper. Take colors (very wet) and paint on the cheesecloth. If you did not draw a pattern first, you my find your picture to paint in the ideas the pattern leaves. Be sure to let the cheese cloth and paper dry before removing the cheese cloth.
3	Salt	Salt makes a wonderful mottled look. Sprinkle salt on the paper just after the paper starts to dry.
4	Alcohol	Alcohol when dropped into the watercolor with an eyedropper, leaves a circular pattern.
5	White Birthday Candle	White birthday candles leaves an area of resist in whatever pattern you make it. You can texture lightly to leave light or make a highlight.
6	Resist Crayons	Work the same as White Birthday Candles
7	Sponges	You may cut sponges to shape to make branches for trees and shapes for bushes and flowers. Sea sponges are useful for backgrounds when mottling is needed.
8	Stamp	Some stamps come in handy for shapes that are repetitive and drawing is not an option. Save unusual shapes that are conducive to watercolor. Never know when they will come in handy.
9	Wadded Paper	Provides another pattern often used for background. I have dipped the paper in watercolor paint and pounced it on my paper for a nice looking background for a portrait.
10	Sharp box cutter	Sharp box cutter to remove tape secured to keep water out. This is a complete process and will cover this in another blog. It is so cool!
11	Ink	Ink dropped into watercolor gives you a lot of different effects.
12	Dry Bush	Dry brush for texture: this is a well know fact, but so many of us forget to do it. We feel like everything has to be wet sometimes.
13	Lemon juice	Will give you a nice removal of color to give a good transition between colors. You can let it sit on the dry painting for a couple of minutes. You can then dab off with a sponge or tissue. The acid in the lemon juice will bleach out the paint giving you new color, or a pattern. Experimenting with this one now.
14	Spattering	Toothbrush, Splattering Tool, You can use paintbrush or a long bristled spattering tool they now have available.
15	Dripping	Dripping paint and connecting to form florals. Some Artist use this as their mode of operand for creating interesting paintings.
16	Scraping (Sgraffito)	Credit Cart, blades, brush handles, this technique is simply a way to scrape the paint off to create rocks, uncover mossy banks, etc.
17	Negative Painting	Painting around an object to bring it forward, this will allow the object to appear as if it is heightened or standout.
18	Paper Layers	Tissue, Masa Paper, or similar paper can be tacked to a watercolor paper surface to give you a batik look. Try this link: https://www.annieglacken.com/2017/07/12/painting-magnolias-on-masa-paper/. Do a copy and paste
19	Lift Paint	Use clean water and brush to remove paint to create highlights
20	Texture Rollers	This can be a lot of fun for making cards and crafty projects. Good for backgrounds that need a consistent pattern.
21	Ground Pigment	Add to watercolor for snow or other textures
22	Watercolor Pencils	Watercolor can give you more pigment to blend
23	Drawing Techniques	Use cross-hatching and other drawing techniques with your brush
24	Scumbling	Dab wet watercolor onto paper and mix in gauche to give it thickness, mix as you see fit to give it an ethereal look and feel.
25	Pastels	Ground pastels and add to water color mixture or paper
26	Masking Fluid	So many uses other than just resist. I saw a demo to create windswept trees in one of my classes with an artist that lives on the west coast. I will need to check this out a bit further.
27	Straw	Blow on wet water color with straw to create bubbles.
28	Colored Tissue Paper	When you wet colored shapes of tissue paper they will fade onto the paper. Circles, squares, and triangles and other fun shapes would be fun with kids.