Transparent and Opaque methods.
One of my friends asked me this question: “If we’re not using white water color paint in transparent water color painting, why is there white paint in our watercolor paint set?”
A very good question actually. I myself asked that question a long time ago. Some people use watercolor paints in a variety of ways but for me there are only two ways. One is the transparent method as we have discussed earlier. The other one is the opaque method.
In opaque method, you can use white to make any color lighter and you can use black to make any color darker but I wouldn’t recommend the brand Prang for Opaque method. You might as well buy poster colors.
These poster colors are the ones in small bottles or containers and they come in 1 color per container. Usually there are 6 poster colors per box. You can also check this out at any bookstore or art store nearest you. If you would like to try opaque method, you can buy a 6-poster color box. Pick the colors blue, red, yellow, white, black and any secondary color.
Another difference of the two methods is this: if you are using transparent method, be sure to start with light colored subjects first and dark colored subjects last. Opaque method is the exact opposite of that. Start with the dark colored subjects first and light colored subjects last. I’ll write more about this soon.
If I may suggest, let’s start with the transparent method first since we are starting with watercolors. It’s ideal to use transparent method for watercolor paintings and use opaque method for oil paintings.
