Wet Into Wet
One of the most difficult qualities of watercolor to master is also one of the most fun and interesting qualities to explore. As you stroke the paint onto paper, the particles of pigment are suspeded in water untill the water begins to evaporate and the pigment settles onto the surface. During this time, the pigment is basically along for the ride as the water moves between areas of high and low density - a property that is in turn affected by the nature of the pigment itself. This interaction creates all sorts of unexpected results that can be quite wonderful or quite maddening, depending on the intention of the artist. The technique, called Wet-Into-Wet, is an approach where the artist doesn't try to fight this tendency and in fact tries to create areas that promote it and take advantage of its unique properties.
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