Chayim Shvarzblat: Tips on Mastering the Basic Watercolor Techniques

Watercolor is a tricky medium to master. It can be intimidating for beginners, and even some experienced artists find it challenging. In fact, throughout the years working in the medium, Lakewood, New Jersey-based artist Chayim Shvarzblat has met many talented painters who have a hard time switching over to watercolor because it just works so differently.



Internationally acclaimed artist Chayim Shvarzblat teaches watercolors through workshops and creative retreats, as well as through online classes. He works mostly in pure watercolor, but every now and then, he likes to stretch his creative wings. Shvarzblat recently led a watercolor class for combining watercolor paint, and here he shares his exciting process with us. With these simple tips, you’ll begin to understand how watercolor really works, get comfortable with your paints, and hopefully come up with ideas for new creations.

Wet-on-wet

There are a couple of basic ways to paint with watercolor. The wet-on-wet method is mostly used for painting simple skies, landscapes, or soft watercolor washes because the effect gives a nice flowy look that can be applied in different ways. Basically, you’re adding wet paint to a wet surface. As seen in Chayim Shvarzblat’s collection of paintings at Saatchiart wet-on-wet is a great technique for adding texture to painted shapes.

Wet-on-dry

Wet-on-dry is used to achieve more precise and defined shapes. In a recent interview for Patch, Shvarzblat shared that this is the technique he likes the most. In general, most illustration-style watercolors are created using wet paint over a dry area.

Building up color

Building up color basically means using just one color to achieve different values, looking to create a seamless effect, popularly known as ombre.

Creating gradients

Although similar to building up color, creating gradients differs from the former one. Namely, instead of working with plain water and different values of one color, when creating gradients you’re working with two colors and slowly transitioning from one to the other. Shvarzblat finds this technique great for painting skies and sunsets.

One tip of advice when using this technique: Don't forget to clean your brush every time you add a new color, and be sure to use colors that are close together on the color wheel to create harmony. Otherwise, your gradient will appear muddy. Chayim Shvarzblat in his style of watercolor painting often uses green and yellow, blue and purple, red and orange, blue and green, and other good combinations.