Now that you’ve had an introduction to layering and glazing, it’s time to start making the technique your own. Experiment with different colors and mediums to discover the unique voice that these techniques can bring to your work. You can use layering and glazing to evoke a wide range of moods and effects, from the softness of a summer sky to the richness of a still life. Don’t be afraid to push the boundaries of what you can achieve with layering and glazing – remember, practice makes perfect!
There’s a notion about watercolor being a “first wash” medium, but some of the best tricks of the trade involve glazing. (Adding thin, transparent washes on top of previously painted dried areas.) This way you can enhance colors, cool them down or warm them up, without ever compromising the glow that makes watercolors look so appealing. The pigment from each layer mingles with the colors underneath, subtly changing values and visually mixing colors to create shades that are impossible to mix in a pan. When you’re just starting out, glazing goes against the rapid-fire expectations of watercolor, but it’s one of the techniques that can help you establish your unique style.
In glazing, the painter ceases to worry about the precise colors of the painting on the palette and instead studies the effects of colors layered over one another. A glaze of cool blue over warm ochre produces a quiet green grey, luminous with life. The delicacy of rose over the yellow of a flower makes the flower petal seem to pulsate from the inside, but without defining the petal itself. Such small discoveries urge patience and observational discipline, forcing the painter to observe frequently and judge whether the next glaze should make an area darker, brighter, or perhaps consistent with the rest.
One of the nicest things about learning glazing is that it teaches you to let go of past ‘mistakes.’ A section that’s too light or too dull can be easily adjusted with a single transparent glaze. Knowing this removes the anxiety a new painter might feel about the underlying layers and encourages more risk taking. Eventually you start to look at a piece as a series of conversations rather than a series of permanent statements. A glaze is both a correction and a refinement.
Just as you start to get the hang of glazing, you become increasingly aware of the emotional effect of colour. You see how one warm glaze on a cool base can transform a dreamy far-off scene into a warm embrace, or how a cool wash can engender a calm contemplation. It becomes less of a technical exercise and more an expression of your state of mind. The way one person glazes a sunset (say, orange over violet or pink over grey-blues) starts to become their signature, something nobody else can copy. And it is through these myriad micro-decisions that a style starts to emerge.
Ultimately, glazing is not a matter of piling on, but of uncovering that which has been there all along. With every gentle pass, we refine our original gesture, define our purpose, and edge the painting ever nearer to the impression with which we were first inspired when we set our brush to paper. To those who will submit to its meditative pace, glazing offers an aesthetic way of life, a chance to pay heed to the painting as it evolves, to allow the muted voice of color to utter the unmistakable sound of our own unique artistic voice.