The wet-on-wet technique in watercolor was developed during the Renaissance, used by artists such as Albrecht Dürer. Today, it is extremely popular due to its ability to create soft edges and blended colors, making it ideal for skies and landscapes. Its versatility and capacity to produce atmospheric scenes make it an essential tool in contemporary watercolor. Thanks to modern artists’ access to high-quality materials, now widely available, and to the abundance of knowledge sources on their uses, the method is employed extensively in today’s watercolor painting, in ways completely different from how it was originally utilized. Nevertheless, there are countless technical details that can elevate works making use of it today. By applying wet paint onto wet paper, artists can create dreamlike landscapes and atmospheric settings.

Explore specific aspects of the technique in the dedicated presentations in the following articles:
My Art Aspirations: offers practical tips for this technique, including ways to create graded and varied planes. See HERE
Amy Bailey Art: provides step-by-step guidance for creating works with this technique. See HERE

*The watercolor illustrating the text is a work by Foti Kllogjeri. More information about the artist can be found on his website HERE.