how to paint watercolor whites

Learn how to paint watercolor with the techniques of preserving the white paper.

We use the paper for the white in watercolor paintings.

Why, you may ask? Because a really good white watercolor paint is not available. There are several techniques artists can use to preserve the white paper.

Paint watercolors using the white paper.

how to paint watercolor white saving the white paper

There are a number of techniques a watercolor artist may use to preserve the white paper. Here are the most common methods.

1. Leaving the white paper unpainted is the easiest way to get white into our watercolor paintings.
2. Masking fluid (also called frisket) is a liquid rubbery type substance that is applied to areas before painting. It is removed when the watercolor paint has dried, thus exposing the white paper.
   
3. Frisket sheets can be cut to shape. Use them to cover large areas. Cut them a tiny bit smaller than the area you are protecting. Then use the liquid frisket to seal down the edges.
4. Artist masking tape may be used. It is good for straight lines like the horizon or a building.
5. Lifting preparation may be applied before painting. Then the paint may be removed down to the white of the paper.
6. Sand paper may be used to remove the paint from the tops of the bumps of watercolor paper for added texture. It may also be used to take all the paint away down to the bare paper.
7. Scratching and scrapping tools are available to use on Aquabord, Claybord and other art panels.
8. A brisk water stream from a spray bottle will wash some paint away. Then blot up the loose paint and water.
9. A damp brush can also be used to lift paint. A stiff brush works the best. Rub the brush to loosen paint and then blot up the loose paint with a paper towel. A bright brush may be used in a straight line to make slender tree trunks or leaf veins in a painted area. 
10. A wax crayon may be used on an area you don't want to paint. The area's color in the final painting will be the color of the crayon.

how to keep watercolor paper white

The fish painting above has examples of how to paint watercolor with some of the white paper techniques.

leave the white paper unpainted

Paint around the parts we want to be white. The fish body colors were painted around the white stripes.

Paint around the white areas.

After the body was dry, blue shadows were painted across the entire bottom of the fish, including the white stripes.

The body needed to be dry, so the blue and orange wouldn't mix and neutralize each other.

use masking fluid / frisket

The many years I lived in Florida, it was fun painting all the underwater scenes. One of my favorite things was to add water bubbles.

It was so easy to just add a spot of masking fluid, let it dry and then paint the water. After the water was completely dry, the masking was removed and bingo - there's a water bubble.

Masking fluid made water bubbles.

Many people use a brush to apply masking fluid, but I never had much success with a brush. It was hard to get fine lines.

For quite a while I used masquepen masking fluid in a bottle with an applicator tip. It worked wonderfully, as long as I used it often.

When it was unused for a while the tip would stop up and the fluid would get yucky in the bottle. It would be trashed and I'd get a new bottle. It would happen all over again, if it wasn't used often.

Now, I use ball stylus embossing tools to dip into a bottle of fluid. Their round metal tips are easy to clean after using them. Pebeo drawing gum is blue and easy to see on the painting. You can't go wrong with the classic Winsor & Newton masking fluid.

** You may wonder about the highlight in the fish's eye? I painted around the highlight, leaving it white and then touched it with color. That's why it looks square.

paint after the masking is removed

Here masking fluid was used on the coral fingers before the background was painted. It kept the violet out until the coral painted.

Masking fluid kept the coral fingers clean.

The violet background color did however pile up against the edges of the making fluid. 

This is a common problem when using masking fluid. To solve the problem, the extra violet could have been sopped up with a thirsty brush.

After the background was dry the masking was removed and the orange fingers were painted.

Some of the orange mixed with the violet around their edges making them brown. I didn't bother trying to remove the brown because it helped them look three-dimensional.

use scratching or scraping tools

Instead of painting individual scales, I scratched out lines in a diagonal pattern to simulate the fish scales.

The paint may be scratched off panels.

This fish painting was done on Aquabord made by Ampersand. Yes, that's the correct spelling of their brand name. It's my favorite watercolor painting support.

Ampersand's tool kit has several tools that may be used to remove paint from their art panels. Caution, don't use sharp tools on paper to prevent tearing the paper.

Less abrasive tools like an old credit card can be used on watercolor paper. It will scrape out areas of paint without damaging the paper.

** An additional white paper technique was used on this fish. Spots of masking fluid were used to preserve the white paper for some highlights on the scales.

After the masking fluid was removed, the highlights were painted according to their surrounding colors, pale violet, light green, etc.

popular ways how to paint watercolor whites

The beaches in Florida are wonderful. One time when I was walking the beach I came upon an area with a whole bunch of coquina shells. That sparked my artist's instinct and the result was the painting below.

Two popular ways to keep watercolor paper white.

The painting used the two popular techniques to preserve the white watercolor paper.

The number one way is to paint around the white paper. That's what I did with the foam on the beach. The sand colors were painted around the foam leaving it white.

After the sand colors were dry, some areas of the foam were softly painted.

The second popular technique of how to paint watercolor white is using a masking fluid, sometimes called frisket. The coquina shells were protected with frisket while the sand was painted.

After the sand paint was dry, a pick-up eraser was used to remove the masking fluid. It can also be rubbed off with our dry fingers.

Be sure the paint around the masking fluid is dry before rubbing the masking off or you get a mess by moving the paint around. This tip is from my unfortunate experience.

why not use white watercolor paint?

There is a Titanium White watercolor paint. It may be mixed with a color to lighten it, but it makes the colors opaque and chalky looking.

Titanium White watercolor or white gouache can be painted on top of a dry color, but it creates a dull white. The white paper is always brighter and cleaner looking, than painting white over another color.

What you think is the best way how to paint watercolor white? You can see an example of doing it both ways HERE.

the wrap-up

The natural white of the paper provides the brightest, cleanest whites in watercolor painting.

Successful watercolor paintings require planning and techniques to preserve the whites. That's better than trying to add them later with white paint.

The whites add sparkle and vitality to our artwork.

many successful painting to you!