One of the trickiest things to grasp with watercolor is getting your ratio of paint to water just right. In this article, you’ll learn how to master watercolor paint consistency and use the perfect amount of water to get your desired result every time.
Before we dive in, you may be wondering why paint consistency is so important. Well, unlike other painting mediums like acrylic and oil, watercolor requires water to activate the paint and allow it to flow across the paper.
Too much water can lead to a lack of control, unpredictable blooms, and back bleeds. Too little water can create hard edges and dry streaks where you don’t intend them. Mastering paint consistency gives you greater control over blending, layering, and achieving beautiful outcomes in your artwork every time you sit down to paint.
Understanding Different Watercolor Paint Consistencies
Watercolor paints require a different approach to palette setup than acrylics and other mediums. While acrylics can be squeezed directly from the tube and used immediately, watercolors benefit from a little preparation.* The process involves adding water to your brush, activating the dried paint in its well, and transferring this mixture to your palette. You'll repeat this process until you have enough paint to work with.
The key to watercolor success lies in the pigment-to-water ratio. This balance determines your paint's consistency and ultimately affects how it behaves on paper. Don't worry if it takes some practice to get it right – by the end of this tutorial, you'll understand exactly how to achieve the consistency you need.
Consistency is a spectrum, but there are three main ratios of pigment to water that will help you grasp this concept. Typically, we refer to these consistencies by comparing them to different types of dairy. Yes, it’s a little silly, but it really helps to visualize your paints.
(Lots of watercolor instructors use variations of this concept to help explain paint consistency, but as far as I can tell, watercolor artist Joseph Zbukvic originated this concept in his 2002 book, Mastering Atmosphere And Mood In Watercolor: The Critical Ingredients That Turn Paintings To Art where he compared paints to tea, coffee, milk, cream, and butter. While I teach these concepts a bit differently, it’s worth noting that Zbukvic paved the way!)
Let’s break it down. 👇
Thick Consistency (Heavy Cream)
One of the thickest consistencies of watercolor (besides paint straight out of the tube) is one where you barely add any water. You’ll still need a little water to activate the paint, but overall it should be mostly pigment in the paint puddle.
This is known as a “heavy cream” consistency since it resembles the consistency of cream! One of the best ways to test whether or not you have mixed up this consistency is by pulling a clean, damp brush through the puddle of paint. If there’s a line in the middle where your paintbrush swiped through and the paint is slowly moving back together, congratulations! You officially have a thick consistency of paint!
This is often one of the most difficult consistencies for new artists to achieve, and one of my tips is to mix up your paint in your palette and then let it dry completely. When you’re ready to paint with a thicker consistency of that paint, you slowly start to re-activate it with a damp brush and it will start out as a very thick paint that you can gradually thin out.
Medium Consistency (Half and Half)
Next up is a more medium consistency. You can achieve this by adding more water to a puddle of thick paint. When you pull your brush through, it should leave a line for a bit, but it will fill in with paint eventually. This is one of my most-commonly used paint consistencies, especially when I’m painting wet-into-wet.
Thin Consistency (Skim Milk)
When your puddle of paint has a really thin consistency, it means there is less pigment in the pigment-to-water ratio. This puddle of paint will move around quite a bit if you were to pick up your palette, and it is a lighter, more watery paint. Notice below that when I pull my paintbrush through the thinned paint on my palette, the line left by my brush fills back in immediately.
This thin paint is best for working on wet-on-dry or as an initial wash of color on your painting.
Now that you know how to mix up different paint consistencies, let’s talk about how to apply it to your paintings!
The Effects of Different Consistencies with the Wet Into Wet Technique
The reason watercolor paint consistency is so important is that each consistency performs differently when spreading in water. To illustrate this, I painted three identical, even glazes of water on my paper and dropped each mixture into them.
Thin Consistency (Skim Milk)
The thinnest paint immediately blooms through the water and takes up almost the entire space that I painted.
Medium Consistency (Half and Half)
The medium mixture spreads a little more in the water but is a bit more concentrated than the thinnest one.
Thick Consistency (Heavy Cream)
The heavy cream consistency barely expands in the water. This gives you much more control when you’re painting wet into wet. Heavy cream is what you should aim for most of the time since it allows you to place the paint exactly where you want to and blend it without any unexpected surprises.
The Effects of Different Consistencies with the Wet-on-Dry Technique
It’s also important to understand how the different consistencies react when painting wet on dry.
Thick Consistency (Heavy Cream)
When you fill your brush up with thick paint and swipe it across the paper, the paint runs out quickly and you start to get a dry-brush effect since there is so little water in the mixture.
Medium Consistency (Half and Half)
The medium paint gets a little further on the page but still runs out quickly.
Thin Consistency (Skim Milk)
The thinnest paint is easier to paint on the page and covers a much larger area. There is even paint left if you want to paint a second or third stroke.
If you’re ever struggling with watercolor gliding on the page, you likely need to add a little bit more water to get it to a thinner consistency!
How to Get the Right Amount of Water on Your Paper & Brush
The last variable I wanted to mention was the water itself. The amount of water is equally as important as the paint consistency since it’s the vehicle that helps us move our pigment around on the page.
It’s important to learn how to get the right amount of water both on the paper and on your brush. One of the most common struggles new watercolor artists face is using too much water, so let’s learn how to combat that and find the perfect amount!
Water on Paper
The wet-into-wet technique is one of the most used techniques in botanical watercolor painting for getting perfectly blended petals and leaves. When adding a layer of water on the page, you want to make sure you’re painting a nice, even layer of water without any pools or puddles. You can check this by tilting your paper to the side to catch the light, and you should see a nice even sheen without any pools of water.
If your glaze has too much water, even a thick consistency of paint will bleed uncontrollably.
Practice painting even layers of water in small areas and test them out by dropping in different paint consistencies! Take note of what you observe about how different amounts of water and paint work together.
As with everything related to watercolor, this takes constant adjustment. You’ll need more water if you’re painting a larger area, if the air is dry in your painting area, or if you’re using a thicker paper. You’ll also need to practice and observe the results of your painting to identify how to balance the amount of water with the paint consistency.
Water on Your Brush
Another sneaky place where you might be gathering too much water is on your paintbrush. Always make sure to scrape your brush on the rim of your cup or dab it on your paper towel before taking it to the paper.
And be sure to keep the brush damp, but not dripping. This will ensure that you don’t add too much extra water and can keep your carefully mixed paint consistencies at the level you want them to be!
The best way to learn about water control and paint consistency is to put a brush to paper and try it yourself. It can definitely be tricky at first but go into this with an open and exploratory mindset. If you don’t get it “perfect” the first time (or even the 50th time!) that’s ok. Every exploration will teach you something new, and soon, you’ll feel more confident than ever in your water control and paint consistency skills!
* Yes, you can use your watercolor paints straight from the tube, but for about 95% of your paintings, I recommend using the method in this article.
Happy painting,
Alex
