In the following Watercolor Painting Tutorial you will learn how to create a Variegated Sky Wash. While similar to a graded or graduated wash, the purpose of the variegated wash is to create a smooth transition between multiple colors. This is the reason why this technique is so challenging for beginners. With more than one color involved, things can get messy if you are not careful.

In the following video, Bob Davies will demonstrate how to create this variegated sky wash. He will be using three different colors for this particular demonstration. The first color is a warm grey created from a mixture of light red and ultramarine blue. The second color is a light red and the last color is raw sienna. He is using a No.12 round brush and 140lb Bockingford Paper.

One particular problem that you may run into while painting your sky wash, are those annoying stripes, that can quickly ruin the illusion of the sky. If you would like to avoid those unwanted stripes while doing this kind of wash, Bob recommends that you dampen the paper first with clean water. This will enable your colors to blend much easier and help avoid the stripes. You will however need to make your colors stronger as they will be diluted somewhat with the addition of the water.

These three colors together will give you a lovely variegated wash reminiscent of a beautiful evening sunset.

Learn exactly how to do it in the step by step lesson below. Enjoy and happy painting!

Big thanks to instructor and artist Bob Davies for sharing this wonderful tutorial. Bob has more wonderful lessons, on his YouTube page, so be sure to head on over after viewing this lesson. You can also check out his website, Watercolor Secrets, which is a step by step online instructional course.