Watercolor Painting Terms: How to load, rinse, and blot your brush

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Have you ever heard an artist or teacher use a painting term or phrase and you were not quite sure what it meant? Some watercolor painting terms are made up, but for the most part, the terminology used in watercolor is pretty much the same.	Watercolor Painting Terms
	Brush terms with instructions
		Rinse Out - Fully Load - Blot

On this page I have compiled a few popular brush painting terms, along with a brief description of each of their meanings.


			To remove the color from your brush thump it lightly on the bottom of your water container. This will open up the brush hairs to the ferrule and clean out most of the watercolor. If you have just finished with a dark color and need to switch to a lighter color, thump your brush firmly several times on the bottom of your water container. Then transfer your brush into a clean water container and thump it until your brush is clean.

			Slide your clean brush along the bottom of your puddle of color then lift. Your brush hairs should be so full of watercolor that when you lift your brush from the puddle, the excess watercolor will drip from the tip. Remove the excess by sliding just the tip of the brush *once* against the rim of your mixing tray.

			Begin as when you fully load your brush, but then remove the excess watercolor by sliding the brush several times against the rim of your mixing tray.

			Another way to remove the excess watercolor or water from your brush is by pressing your brush down on a folded paper towel. This term is also used to describe how to remove watercolor or water from your painting.

			Touch the tip of your brush to either a tissue in your hand or against your paper towels just once. This removes just some of the excess watercolor or water from your brush. This term also describes the amount of pressure you apply to the tissue when you are removing watercolor or water from your painting.

			Step 1. Lay the brush hairs down in one direction on paper towels all the way up to the ferrule.
			Step 2. Then lift the brush and lay the brush hairs down in the opposite direction on the paper towels, removing almost all of the watercolor or water.

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