Collins 30-Minute Painting. Alwyn Crawshaw

is an area of colour that is equal in tone throughout with no blemishes.

      The secret of producing a good flat wash is to use plenty of water and not to allow the wash to dry as you work it. Start at the top on dry paper and take a large brush, fully loaded, from left to right. Start on the left again, picking up the reservoir of paint left by the first stroke, work to the right and continue in this way to the bottom. The paper must be tilted slightly to allow the paint to run slowly down. You can add in different colours as you go. For a graduated wash, make the colour paler by adding water to the paint in your palette as you work down.

      ▲ Learning to paint a perfect flat wash is just a matter of following the basic principles and practising until it comes easily.

      ▲ Evening Sky

      10 x 18 cm (4 x 7 in)

      On Bockingford Not paper, I started the sky with French Ultramarine, adding Alizarin Crimson towards the horizon. The sea was French Ultramarine, and the headland was painted once that was dry.

      Rough washes

      Most of the time you don’t need to achieve a pristine wash – in fact a wash with blemishes and tone and colour changes gives life and movement to a sketch. From a practical point of view, having to work quickly outdoors does not allow for carefully laying a perfect wash and you will sometimes have to paint on top of a wash before it is perfectly dry, which will disturb any perfection you have managed to achieve. But remember, however you paint your sketches you must use plenty of water to keep your paintings fluid and simple.