PREPARATION OF THE WORKSPACE
the sheet must be smaller than the media
it should be glued with the paper tape making a frame all around
the sheet should not be peeled off until the job it is finished and dry
GRADATIONS OF INTENSITY
The watercolor is transparent, so to obtain gradations of increasing intensity, successive coats are superimposed using the diluted color always in the same way.
PURPOSE OF THE EXERCISE : to obtain a gradually more intense and uniform color, overlapping successive coats of color
• On the sheet glued to the back of the album, I add a vertical strip of paper tape
• I paint a coat of color all over the strip
• I let it dry
• I spread the same diluted color on the already painted strip, leaving a part with the color of the first draft (at least a couple of centimeters)
• I let it dry
• I repeat the same procedure several times starting to paint each time lower
• I observe how many coats are necessary for the paper to be completely saturated with color (this means that at a certain point I will no longer see the difference even if I try to lay out other passages of color)
NOTE: How to tell when the sheet is dry enough to work on it again
Since this technique requires the use of a lot of water, it is normal for the sheet (especially if it is not watercolor paper of good thickness) to swell. It is precisely for this reason that before starting to paint we have to glue it to the support with a frame of paper tape all around.
When the sheet dries, it returns to spread out. Also, by touching the sheet with your hand, you should feel it no longer wet and cold.