Design April/May 2015 December 2015/January 2016 | Page 44

How to colour wash a wall

You can create your own watercolour
wall by colour washing it. Colour
washing is the process of painting a
wall with watercolours. Ehow.com has
a helpful article on how to colour wash
your own wall at home.
(http://www.ehow.com/how_2257238_
paint-watercolor-wash.html)
A watercolour wash is a basic technique.
Washes are useful for creating
background. There are three kinds of
washes:
1. Flat wash
2. Graded wash
3. Variegated wash
Here are a few basics about the
different types.

1. Flat Wash
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• Choose a large brush that holds a lot
of paint and covers a large area. This
will make it easier to get an even
wash.
• Select the colour you want for your
background and mix with about 50%
water. Mix well to prevent any globs
of pigment.
• Dampen the wall by wiping it down
with a wet cloth, or use a water
spray. Start painting at the top and
work with broad strokes until you
reach the bottom. Work quickly so
the paint does not dry in streaks, but
rather blends all the way down.
• Let it dry.

2. Graded Wash

• Begin the same way as you would
with the flat wash, with your watered
down paint and wet wall.
• You will have to decide if you want to
start the darker colour at the bottom
or the top. For ease of explaining we
will use the darker colour at the top.
desIgn Namibia December 2015/January 2016

Start with the loaded brush and a
broad stroke across the entire top of
the wall youyou are colouring.
• For the next line/stroke lighten the
colour by adding a bit more water
to each brush stroke across the
wall. The water will dilute the colour
and give you a paler/lighter colour
the further you go down the wall.
Continue down until you have a clean
brush for the final line at the bottom.
• Alternatively you can darken your
colour by adding more pigment to
your wash mixture thereby achieving
a darker colour with each stroke.
Remember to overlap each line
slightly to make the transition from
each colour line seemless.

3. Variegated Washes

• Dampen the wall by wiping it down
with a wet cloth, or use a water
spray.
• Typically one uses two different
colours such as blue and brown or
pink and yellow. Here it depends on
what kind of ‘landscape’ you want to
achieve.
• You start with the first colour eg.
Yellow at the top, and working down
the wall in smooth strokes you start
introducing a bit of the pink paint on
your paint brush without washing off
the yellow. As you work your way
down there will be a gradual/soft
transition changing from yellow to
pink. Drag the brush back and forth
in bold strokes overlapping each
stroke. Introduce the new colour
without cleaning the other pigment
off the brush. Keep going until your
wash is finished. You will have a soft
transition between the two colours.
• Apply different amounts of pigment
and water to th H