Some of my favorite watercolor techniques started with deliberately giving up a little control. When a sketchbook page starts feeling too careful, I like using materials or processes that make the outcome less predictable.
These aren’t complicated special effects. They’re simple experiments I’ve used to loosen up my painting, create texture, simplify values, and stop treating every watercolor page like it needs to become a finished piece.
If your watercolor work feels stiff or repetitive, try one of these unusual watercolor techniques on a test page instead of changing everything about the way you paint.
The 5 Watercolor Techniques at a Glance
| Technique | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Wax pastel + watercolor | Adds broken resist, texture and unpredictable edges |
| Masking tape as texture | Creates blocked shapes, lifted pigment and hard or broken edges |
| Gray underpainting | Separates value decisions from color decisions |
| Dirty-brush mixing | Lets colors shift naturally instead of staying completely isolated |
| Unexpected portrait color | Pushes color toward mood rather than literal matching |
1. Combine Wax Pastel and Watercolor
One way I break out of a careful watercolor routine is starting with loose marks made with a water-soluble wax pastel before adding paint.
I don’t use the pastel to carefully draw the finished image. I make loose circles, curves, broken lines and other marks, then bring watercolor over and around them.
The interesting part is that the marks don’t behave exactly like ordinary watercolor. Some remain visible, some soften, and others become part of the paint around them.
I like this especially when I want texture in a background or landscape but don’t want to carefully describe every surface.
Try it this way
- Make several loose pastel marks before painting.
- Avoid outlining the entire subject.
- Brush watercolor across and between the marks.
- Let some of the resist remain obvious instead of covering everything.
If you want a softer variation, I also use watercolor pastels for layering and additional color.
2. Use Masking Tape as Part of the Painting
I normally think of masking tape as something that protects an edge. But it can also become a mark-making tool.
I’ve used torn pieces of tape to block irregular shapes, create negative space, and lift pigment from a damp painted surface.
The effect can move somewhere between watercolor and collage because the tape introduces edges I wouldn’t naturally make with a brush.
Create negative shapes
I can tear or cut the tape into a simple shape, place it on the paper, paint around it, and remove it to reveal the untouched paper underneath.
A geometric shape creates a completely different effect from a ragged piece of hand-torn tape.
Lift paint with tape
I’ve also pressed tape lightly against damp paint and lifted it again. The result isn’t completely predictable, which is why I treat this as an experiment rather than a precision technique.
I test the paper and tape combination before doing this on a page I care about. Different papers and adhesives behave differently.
My watercolor tape guide goes further into the types of tape I use with watercolor paper.
3. Paint the Values in Gray Before Adding Color
Another experiment I like is temporarily removing color from the problem.
I establish the major values with neutral grays first, let that layer dry, and then glaze color over it.
This forces me to ask whether the light and dark structure works before I become distracted by matching individual colors.
What I look for in the gray stage
- The lightest major shape
- The main middle-value areas
- The largest connected shadows
- Whether the focal area separates clearly from its surroundings
Once the value structure feels right, I can introduce warmer and cooler color without having to solve every problem simultaneously.
I prefer mixing many of my neutrals from colors already in the palette rather than automatically reaching for a premixed gray. My watercolor mixing chart shows how I test those combinations.
4. Stop Cleaning the Brush Between Every Color
Most of the time, keeping watercolor clean means rinsing the brush thoroughly when moving between pigments.
Sometimes I deliberately do the opposite.
I leave a small amount of the previous color in the brush and let it influence the next mixture. That creates subtle transitions across the painting instead of making every color feel completely separate.
I can also pick up two pigments without fully mixing them together on the palette. As the brush moves across the paper, the color shifts through the stroke.
This works particularly well for me when I’m using only three or four colors because the mixtures naturally relate to the rest of the page.
Intentional mixing vs. accidental mud
The point isn’t to contaminate every mixture until everything becomes brown.
I still pay attention to what pigments are entering the brush. I’m simply allowing a controlled amount of the previous mixture to influence the next one.
If you’re trying to understand those relationships better, experiment with the combinations in your own watercolor color mixing chart.
5. Use Unexpected Colors in Portraits
Another way I loosen up is deliberately abandoning realistic color in a portrait.
Instead of trying to match every skin color exactly, I might introduce green into a shadow, purple into a lighter passage, or blue into the underpainting.
That shifts the goal from reproducing literal color toward creating a particular feeling.
I still pay attention to value. A wildly colored shadow needs to function as a shadow if I want the form to remain readable.
That’s what makes this exercise useful for me: I can exaggerate hue while still paying attention to the underlying structure of the face.
Why Unusual Watercolor Techniques Can Help You Loosen Up
Each of these exercises takes away a little of the control I normally have.
The wax pastel interrupts a normal wash. Torn tape gives me an edge I didn’t draw. A gray underpainting separates value from color. A partially cleaned brush allows one mixture to influence another. Unexpected portrait colors stop me from chasing an exact match.
That uncertainty is useful when I’m getting too precious about the sketchbook.
Use These as Experiments, Not Rules
I don’t use all five techniques in every painting.
I’d rather isolate one of them on a page and see what happens.
- Make one page using wax pastel beneath watercolor.
- Make another using torn tape to create negative shapes.
- Try a small gray underpainting before glazing color.
- Paint a study with a deliberately limited palette and less brush cleaning.
- Make a portrait study using colors you wouldn’t normally associate with skin.
Working this way makes it easier for me to understand what the technique is actually doing instead of piling several experiments onto the same page.
The Materials Don’t Need to Be Complicated
Most of these experiments work with a basic watercolor setup.
I need watercolor, paper, a brush, water, and whichever additional material the exercise uses.
If you’re still building that basic setup, start with my guide to watercolor brushes for beginners and my overview of watercolor paper types.
For sketchbook experiments, my guide to the best watercolor sketchbooks covers the paper and binding characteristics I pay attention to.
Try One Technique on Your Next Page
When watercolor starts feeling too controlled, I don’t necessarily need a new set of paints or a completely different style.
Sometimes changing one part of the process is enough.
Use a material you normally wouldn’t combine with watercolor. Interrupt a clean wash. Separate values from color. Leave a little pigment in the brush. Push one color further than feels realistic.
The result doesn’t have to be a finished painting. The point is to see whether the experiment gives you another way to think about watercolor.
If you want the broader foundation rather than experimental techniques, continue with my watercolor guide.