“A Little Dab’ll Do Ya!” may have worked for Brylcreem in the late 1950‘s
by giving men lush, full hair, women wanted to run their fingers through….
but little dabs don’t work for watercolorists
who want lush, full watercolors
I often see little dabs of paint in students’ palettes in my workshops.
And not just litttle dabs, but dried, little dabs
When the student tries to get pigment out of the well, a lot of water has to be used.
She ends up painting with water instead of pigment. Which leads to pale, thin results.
If the wells are full of pigment, they are less likely to dry out. Plus, it is easier to transfer pigment from the well to the palette.
It is also easier and less frustrating to add a little water to obtain a rich pigment mix than adding pigment to a puddle of water on your palette.
And what do you get for all your trouble?
Rich, full watercolors your viewers
want to run their fingers through
Tip #3 – No More Little Dabs.
You’re Worth It!





Yummy! I just want to eat up those colors!
Thanks for commenting, Addie! I love all the colors too!
Wow, you sure are right there! I’m also a watercolorist and I squeeze out fresh paint each time I paint of just the colors I’m going to use. That way the others in the palette don’t dry up, but that’s me. For beginners, I surely don’t recommend doing that because you need to be able to work quickly and go from one well to the next one you need. And you may not know which ones you’ll need just starting out. But SQUEEZE OUT LOTS OF PAINT, Artists!!
Hi Lauren, thanks for commenting. Yes, a great practice to squeeze out fresh paint for each painting! Thanks also for the confirmation and encouragement!