Part 2 Practise painting watercolour on canvas by following this demonstration by Liz Chaderton

Watercolour

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

■ How to prime your canvas for watercolour

■ Practise wet-in-wet, wet-on-dry and dry-brush techniques

■ Add masking fluid and salt to canvas

Painting in watercolour on canvas is liberating – no more glare from the glass, no more framing, and no more size restrictions! In your first foray into this exciting world, I would suggest picking a subject that is close to your heart and one you are familiar with. You don’t want to be grappling with a new subject as you adapt your technique to the new surface.

I chose to paint a friend’s lovely donkey from their childhood. The photo is not the best quality, but I have painted it once before and really enjoyed it. The colours I used were suggested by my printer running out of ink as I printed the photo; you can find inspiration everywhere!

Prepare your canvas

I used a 16x16in. (40x40cm) deep-edge canvas and primed it with three thin layers of my DIY primer of three parts white gesso mixed thoroughly with one part modelling paste (see last month), letting it ‘cure’ for 24 hours before painting. You can choose any of the proprietary semiabsorbent grounds we looked at last month. Once dry, if there is a chalky residue, wipe with a damp lint-free cloth.