Clean Wet Brushes

So what did I mean by clean wet brushes, large and small in my last blog? These are essential tools to anyone doing watercolour. A large moist brush without any pigment in it can smooth out a hard edge, graduate colour into another area and sop up unwanted liquid. The handy paper towel keeps the brush moist rather than loaded, a quick wipe and the excess is gone. A good rinse in a container full of clean water helps to reduce any surprise additions of colour in the wrong place, again with a quick wipe on the towel. In the photo above you can see how a puddle of colour had accumulated in one corner of the area in which I was painting. If left to its own devices during the drying process a bloom would eventually occur. A bloom is like a small bush-like spot that has a pale interior with a very hard, dark edge. What happens is the excess water leaches the colour towards the drying area and collects the pigment on the semi-dry edge as it evaporates. Sometimes this is useful. Usually it is not. Dipping a dryish clean brush into the puddle siphons the water and the pigment away. Several applications of the brush leaves just the correct amount of water on the surface and it dries evenly. The small clean wet brush is very useful for filling in small areas along edges and perfecting the strokes. So much fun! Life is good.