Coloring Basics: Watercolor and Colored Pencils

The three properties of color

Color is described by three properties: hue, value and saturation. Hue is the kind of color, such as red or blue; value is how light or dark it is; saturation is how vivid or intense it is. Most people starting out focus on hue, but whether a picture looks solid depends on value. The value steps you practised for shading carry straight over to color. Converting a painting to greyscale or squinting at it lets you check value on its own; if every color then looks like a similar grey, the picture may be colorful but it lacks volume.

Mixing and complementary colors

Colors facing each other across the color wheel are called complements. Mixed together, complements dull each other toward grey or brown; placed side by side, they make each other look more vivid. This has two uses. Add a touch of the complement to calm a color that is too loud, and place the complement next to an area you want to emphasise. Rather than buying lots of paints or pencils at first, practise mixing with a few colors, such as a warm and a cool version each of red, yellow and blue. It teaches far more about color, and a small palette also makes the colors in a picture sit together naturally.

How watercolor works: light to dark

Watercolor paint is transparent, so lower layers show through the ones on top. You can lay a dark color over a light one, but covering a dark color with a light one is difficult. The order is always light to dark. Rather than using white paint, the watercolor approach is to leave areas meant to be white unpainted from the start, letting the paper provide the white. You control strength with water more than with the amount of paint: more water gives a pale, clear wash, less gives a strong one. Colors look quite different wet and dry, so get into the habit of testing on a scrap and letting it dry before you commit.

Basic watercolor techniques

In watercolor, results change dramatically depending on how wet the paper is. Try each technique below on scrap paper and you will quickly learn how water and paper interact.

• Wet on wet: edges bleed softly, good for skies and backgrounds
• Wet on dry: edges stay crisp, used to define shapes clearly
• Glazing: once the layer below is fully dry, add a transparent layer to deepen color
• Lifting: before it dries, take paint out with a brush or tissue to create lights

Watercolor paper and setup

Use a lot of water on an ordinary sketchbook and the paper buckles and pills, so paint will not spread evenly. Thick paper made for watercolor that tolerates water well is the better choice. Watercolor paper comes in smooth, medium and rough surfaces, and medium is the easiest to handle at first. Taping all four edges of the sheet to a board reduces warping as it dries. Keep two water pots, one for rinsing brushes and one for clean water, and your colors will not turn muddy.

Colored pencils: a layering medium

Colored pencil is hard to erase, and pressing hard flattens the tooth of the paper so no more color will take on top. The basic approach is therefore to build color through many light layers of strokes in the same direction. Different colors layered over each other mix on the paper into new ones, so instead of using black for shadows, layering a complement or a dark blue or violet produces much richer darks. Pressing firmly at the very end to fill the tooth, called burnishing, gives a smooth, glossy surface, but adding more color afterwards is difficult, so save it for the finish. Water-soluble colored pencils can also be brushed over with a damp brush to spread like watercolor.

Common mistakes and cautions

Problems that often appear when people start working in color. Some paint pigments can contain substances harmful to the body, so do not shape brush tips with your mouth, and wash your hands after working. When painting with children, choose products carrying a safety label for children's use.

• Shading only with black: build darks by layering complements or deep colors
• In watercolor, adding the next color before the first dries so it bleeds: let it dry fully unless you want the bleed
• Pressing hard with colored pencils from the start: build up light layers
• Using too many colors: mixing from a few keeps the whole picture harmonious
• Not checking value: squint to see the light and dark masses