Watercolor: Florals & Botanicals

Mastering Basic Techniques

with Joan Hansen

WATERCOLOR IS A PERFECT medium for experimenting with different painting techniques. You don’t need special tools or additives, and you can practice on any piece of scratch paper you have on hand. But the best part is the added personality your paintings will have when you have mastered a few simple watercolor techniques.

Covering the Basics

In the examples on these pages, I present detailed explanations of a few basic techniques—such as painting onto wet paper, applying transparent glazes of color, making graduated washes, and using stencils. As you can see, I combined all these painting methods to give my orchids and butterflies painting a little more interest—and because they’re a lot of fun to do! ...