How to Blend Watercolors Step by Step

Learning how to blend with watercolors can be more challenging than blending with other mediums… At the same time, blending is an essential part of learning to paint with watercolors.

In this post, you’ll learn the basic techniques to blend with watercolors. I will break down each step with explanations and examples so you can try it out too!

Let’s get into it…

Related articles:

• How to layer watercolors

• Wet on wet technique

• Wet on dry technique

How to blend wet on wet

The wet on wet technique is perfect for blending background washes or broad areas of the painting rather than detailed work.

When you wet the paper, the pigment diffuses into the moisture, creating soft edges; this is why it’s easier to blend soft edges with wet on wet

This technique is best used when

Blending with one color:

To blend using the wet-on-wet technique, you’ll need to wet the paper with the right amount of water.

You’ll know the moisture is enough when you see a nice even sheen of water. There shouldn’t be any puddles.

Now it’s time to paint any color of your choosing. Next, rinse the brush and dab the excess water on a paper towel.

You want your brush to roughly have the same amount of moisture as the paper(if it’s too damp, it’ll absorb water; if it’s too wet, it’ll drop water).

Using your brush, you can spread the paint and blend it on the paper.

Let’s look at the step by step demonstration of this:

Blending with two colors:

Once again, start with an even sheen and then add your first color. Rinse your brush and dab off the excess moisture.

Then spread the paint and keep an eye out for how wet your brush is. Make sure to leave some space on the paper for the second color.

Once you’ve blended the first color, repeat the process with the second color. 

Blending is all about judging the correct amount of moisture in your brush and paper. Remember this:

1. If the brush has more moisture, it will deposit paint
2. If the brush is more damp than the paper, it will absorb moisture
3. If the brush and paper have roughly equal amounts of moisture, then you can move the paint around.

The more you practice, the better you’ll be at judging how much moisture there is.

Using the right amount of moisture for blending

The key to blending watercolor using the wet-on-wet technique is figuring out the right amount of water to use for the effect you want to create.

For example, using too much water will cause the pigment to flow outwards. When the paint dries, you’ll be left with saturated edges and pale centers. 

However, if you use too little water, the paint will dry too quickly, leaving you with little to no time to blend.

With the right amount of water, the pigment remains where it’s supposed to be and can be spread with ease.

Take the image below for example. The first shape shows an example of adding too much water, the second with just enough water, and the third with too little water:

How to blend wet on dry

Blending using the wet-on-dry watercolor technique is better suited to painting finer details and blending smaller shapes. This is because you have more control over the paint. 

Two ways you can blend wet on dry:

1. The first is by painting the second color right next to the first color and blending the middle
2. The second is by blending both colors through a gradient.  

Blending two colors next to each other

How to blend two colors by painting them next to each other wet on dry:

1. Start by painting the first color. Don’t use too much or too little water; the key is to get it wet enough so there’s no puddle and there’s a nice even sheen to it.
2.  While the paint is still wet, paint the second color next to the first. Try to make sure that your brush has roughly the same amount of wetness as the first color. If your brush is too wet, it will repel the paint and cause a backrun (when all the pigment flows to the sides of the paper and forms a hard edge). If the brush has little to no moisture, it will absorb and lift the paint off of the paper.
3. Next, rinse your brush and remove the excess water onto a paper towel. Use the point of the brush to blend the middle of the two colors.

The images below show the step by step process:

Blending two colors through a gradient

How to blend two colors through a gradient, wet on dry:

1. Begin by painting the first color, starting with a saturated mix. As you move the brush along, rinse it and gradually add less pigment. This should create a gradient from saturated to diluted.
2. When you reach the end of the gradient, add a diluted version of the second color to the end of the gradient and slowly strengthen the intensity of the color as you move along.
3. Rinse your brush and blend out the middle if needed.

The images below show the step-by-step process:

You can also blend the two colors in a gradient by adding the second color a space farther from the first and then diluting it towards the middle where the colors will meet.

Remember, the key to blending is being able to judge how much moisture the paper and brush should have. The more you practice, the easier it will become for you to judge how much water to add. It will eventually come naturally.

Blending to create soft edges/faded edges

Using a combination of soft/faded edges and hard/sharp edges in your painting can make a huge difference in your work. Now that you know the basics of blending, let’s learn how to blend your edges. To create faded edges, you can:

1. Re-wet and smooth the edges
2. Slowly lighten the value by diluting the paint while it’s still wet.

To create a faded edge, start by painting a saturated swatch of color. Slowly start spreading the paint, then rinse the brush and continue lightening the value:

The image below shows a second example of how to blend to create faded edges.

This time instead of painting the swatch and then spreading the pigment, try painting the swatch, rinsing the brush, then painting clean water right next to the paint swatch.

You’ll see the pigment starting to bleed into the water. 

Once it starts to bleed, that’s when you spread the paint, then dampen the brush on a paper towel and blend it with the rest of the edge.

Blending a dried layer

Sometimes the paint dries before you can blend the edges out. Blending dry paint works best when:

• Blending small areas
• When the dried paint isn’t staining or opaque (these colors are more difficult to blend after they dry)
• When smoothing harsh edges after using masking fluid.

In cases like these, you can rewet the paint and blend it out; here’s how:

Start by swatching any color of your choice, then let it dry.

Rewet the edge you want to fade out with clean water. Once the pigment loosens, spread it out with your brush.

You can also dampen the brush on a paper towel, then lift and spread the paint. 

Note: It is best to blend edges while the paint is still wet. Blending large areas after the paint is dry can smudge and ruin your painting.

5 Mistakes Beginners Make When Blending Watercolors

Some of the common mistakes beginners make are:

1. Using too much water

When you use too much water on the paper or in your brush, you end up having far less control. The paint spreads far and fast. You also run the risk of unwanted backruns.

2. Using too little water

When you don’t have enough moisture, the paper dries quickly and you run out of time. Using too little water can also cause hard edges and streaks.

3. Blending too many colors

When you blend too many colors in one area, you run the risk of muddying the painting. If you want to learn more about what muddy paintings are, and how to avoid them, check out this article:

• How to avoid muddy paintings

4. Blending dried edges

Blending your edges after the paint has hardened does not always work out; you also run the risk of scrubbing the paper. Or you rewet and push the pigment back, causing more hard edges.

This is also why watercolor artists take time to decide where the hard, soft, and lost edges are going to be before they make their painting.

5. Overworking an area

Try to blend your painting in as few strokes as possible; once you blend, the paper starts to dry. It’s at this stage that you don’t want to keep going back and forth, overworking the painting

Quality of paper

Sometimes the quality of your paper can affect how well your colors blend.

Blending on cheaper quality paper can be very difficult and yield the wrong effects. Ideally, cotton paper works best when it comes to watercolor.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to buy the most expensive paper; just make sure to avoid super cheap quality paper.

If you’re interested, I have an article entirely focused on how to choose watercolor paper.

Practice and Explore

The blending techniques I mentioned above are the basics to help get you started.

However, many artists develop their techniques by experimenting until they find the ones they prefer.

There are some things you can only learn. Eventually, you’ll develop an instinct to blend naturally!

Thank you for reading this post! I hope you found the information helpful.

If you’re still new and struggling with beginner techniques, water-to-paint ratios, etc., then be sure to sign up for my beginner watercolor packages below: