Best practice for layering Watercolor

Working in Layers is one of the main techniques when it comes to watercolor. When you start a new painting, it doesn't look like much. Often, it needs some layers until everything comes alive. So being aware of the different layers of color you want to work with is crucial to succeed in watercolor painting. 

And the most important rule is to wait until one layer is dry. When working wet-in-wet, we need to finish our painting process before the paper is dry. With layers, it's the opposite: We need to wait until the current layer is completely dry before we can start the next one. 

A simple hack to save time

This can take some time. But there is a simple hack - a hair dryer. You can use a normal hair dryer to dry the paper much faster. Like this, you can paint the next layer only minutes later. 

Also, be aware that transparent colors mix when layered. In the picture above, you can see how the colors change where they overlap. You will get a feeling and learn how colors interact when practicing. So painting yourself is the only way to learn these techniques. 

There can be a lot of layers in a watercolor painting. Always start with the lightest areas and get progressively darker. You can always add more shadows, but you need to leave the light areas as light as you want them to be. 

This is a section of a picture in which I mainly used the layering technique. Where there are now colorful flowers, I first left the paper white and carefully painted around it with green. Then I added the colors of the flowers.

In the next step, I added more shadows layer by layer. This gives the bushes and the flowers a clear shape.

This building was also created layer by layer. I worked with an ink drawing as a basis here. But everything comes to life because the image is built up in layers.

Without the right shadows, for example, the dome would appear flat rather than domed.

Learn to paint in Layers

Watercolor Fairy Fountain

This is one of three step-by-step projects you find in the free PDF Guide below. The background is painted wet-in-wet. But the Fountain is built up in layers.

And if you know every step, it’s easier than it looks. Inside the Guide, I show every step of the way and provide a printable drawing template.

When joining the “Watercolor Magazine” Newsletter, you get this PDF Guide as a Welcome Gift.

Enjoy these beautiful step-by-step paintings. From the best material to color mixing, everything you need is covered.

The best? In the Guide, you’ll find a drawing template you can print and transfer to your watercolor paper.