The washing technique involves applying wet paint to moist paper and allowing the colors to run into one another. The moistness of the paper is crucial. If the paper is very moist, the color spreads easily. If it’s too dry, the color will not spread on its own. If you use too much water, the color may just puddle on the paper. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the paper will then take a really long time to dry. It’s important to find the right ratio of color to water.
Paint an oval shape in a light color using a lot of water on previously moistened paper. Dab a little paint with a deep color at the edge of the shape. The dark color will spread. The farther the paint spreads, the lighter the tone becomes.
You can also use the washing technique on dry paper by creating the color run with a brush. Using a strong color that is not too moist, paint the outline of a circle on dry paper. Rinse the brush, wipe away excess paint, and water the circle down. Then paint with the brush from the edge of the circle towards the center. The color at the edges is loosened and becomes lighter and lighter towards the center. The contrast of light and dark produced by this technique gives your illustration a feeling of space and more dimension.
