Can someone provide me with practical instruction for wet-on-wet painting?

[JudiAU]

Can anyone tell me or show me a link to a blog that explains Waldorf-style of wet on wet watercolor painting. I bought "Painting for Children" but found it really short on practical information. It was mostly Waldorf color theory. It didn't really explain how much water to use on the paper and it didn't tell me in what ratio to dilute the watercolors. Also, what is the lifespan of mixed watercolor paint and how is it stored (room temperature, refrigerator?). Does it need to be stored in glass with a sealed lid? The watercolors were quite expensive and I hate to waste them. They don't have dilution instructions either. I couldn't find a local class and no one responded to my tribe post or on Craigslist about instruction.

I have stockmar watercolor paints, a high quality brush and watercolor paper. I was hoping to substitute one of our cutting boards as a base.

[operamommy]

I'm not an expert my any means, but here's what we do and our wet-on-wet paintings always come out beautiful. (actually, I matted and framed two of them as a gift for my husband to hang in his office - he says people come in all the time and ask where he got the beautiful paintings - and they were done by our 4-year-old and 2-year-old!!)

I just wet the paper on both sides under the sink, so that there's no dry space on either side. Give it a good shake, and it's ready to go. As far as diluting the watercolors, we use Stockmar as well and honestly I don't think there's any "right" or "wrong" way to do it. I just put a glob in the jar and add water and stir. Depending on whether you want the color brighter or lighter, just add less or more water.

Yes, the need to be stored in a jar with a lid. I read that they keep best in the fridge, so that's where ours have always gone. We've had ours in there for several months at a time before they were entirely used up and they've always been fine. Hope that helps a bit.

[JudiAU]

Very helpful. Thanks. Everybody is sick and we need a new project for the holiday.

[WindyCityMom]

What kind of paper is everyone using? I have some watercolor paper and it gets really pilly

[TulsiLeaf]

Originally Posted by WindyCityMom

What kind of paper is everyone using? I have some watercolor paper and it gets really pilly

I use water colour paper and i find when it gets to wet that it gets pilly.

[honeybunmom]

My daughter's first kindy teacher actually did a demonstration (and had the parents participate) at a parent/teacher night. She soaked the paper in a tub of water. Then, she laid it on the paint board and took a sponge to wipe off the excess water. She pulled it across the paper, in one direction, from side to side (and maybe top to bottom, too; don't remember).

The smallest children only worked with one color.

When introducing a second color, like yellow, for example, she'd say something like "the sun is coming out - would you like some sun on your page?" and add a drop of yellow to the paper. Sorry, I can't elaborate on this part; my ability to be imaginative and free flowing in stories or naratives is pretty nil.

We have some paper that is for wet on wet painting and it does not pill. It is pricey, though. We were lucky to get the paper she had left over when she closed the school, so, I haven't had to buy any more than that first pad I purchased. ETA, I either bought the paper from Mercurius (through a co-op) or Nova Natural.

ETA again: just mix the colors to you liking of saturation. No big deal here. And store the unused/undiluted portion that is still in the bottle in the refrigerator.

[JudiAU]

Thanks all. We tried wet on wet watercolor this morning and it went very well. I was able to dilute the colors at the right level (I discovered that the stockmar website also has instructions) and I didn't have any problems with the paper. I used the medium grade watercolor paper I had rather than the fancy $1/sheet kind I got at our local Waldorf / natural toy store and it worked well. No piling although I'll be a bigger size in the future. (Why can Los Angeles maintain a Waldorf toy store but no cloth diaper store!) I enjoyed the medium a lot too; it is has been awhile since I created art for myself.

I think I'll try and integrate this into our weekly schedule. It was so much more enjoyable than watercolors in tablet form. Next up: some watercolor postcards for the holidays.