Hi, for this post I have a collection of three watercolor paintings that have in common one thing, they were done (drew) using the back of the paintbrush. But before we enter into details, let’s look at the materials used for the completion of them.
Background information:
The paper, for this project I used the Arches (this is the brand of watercolor paper). See picture of the paper below:
This Arches paper above – is very resistant to scratch, and holds a lot of water without forming buckles, or, bending. It is not cheap (compared to most brands found at the crafts stores), but it is worthy if you want to work on pieces that show higher quality, or, if you are selling your art in the market. People who know about art, value the use of good materials, because they last longer, and offer better quality of the product.
Additional materials:
Watercolors. I used the Winsord and Newton brand packed into small containers, or, tubes. I used them because they are fluid, and the pigment can be applied directly in the paper – more easily than ‘tablet’ watercolors. But it is up to you, if you want to use watercolors that come in another presentation, it is fine. See below a picture of these watercolor’s brand:
Paintbrush. For this type of project, there is no need to find an expensive paintbrush, on the contrary, a cheaper one is better because the back of it will be used to draw (instead of a pencil).
This is the key in the technique used to complete the paintings mentioned in this post:
Be sure that you wet the watercolor paper very well (with abundant water), after that, start painting by adding some layers of watercolor’s pigment with the paintbrush, and while the paper is still wet, use the back of the paintbrush to draw your composition. Sometimes, and I used this frequently, I used an old paintbrush and sharpen the edge of the back; and use for this technique.
Painting one: Urban Landscape.
Below is a video clip of the first project in which I am demonstrating the mentioned technique.
Below a full picture of the completed painting:
Second Painting: Drying Clothes. The video clip below show in a time lapse video how the painting was completed:
And, the picture of the completed painting.
Third painting: Hibiscus The process for this work can be seen in the video clip below:
Now, see a picture of the completed painting.
Now that you have seen the three paintings above, what do you think? Do you want to try it?
Simple Painting Ideas 