I have a question about rinse water

[Ellen Easton]

I hope nobody thinks this is a stupid question but it's something I've wondered about a lot. I watch videos of watercolor artists a lot and some of the artists I watch have horribly dirty rinse water. One I'm watching right now is a good example. He's using such dirty rinse water that I'm surprised his brush wouldn't stand upright in it. It's so absolutely black that you can't see through it. But he just paints away, and his painting is nice and bright and beautiful. I just don't understand how that awful jet black opaque water doesn't muddy up his colors in the painting. If my rinse water gets even a fair amount of color, it bothers me and I have to dump it and get fresh water that's nice and clear. To combat this, I have two water containers---I rinse my brush in the "dirty" water and then rinse again in "less dirty" water but even so, I'll still go trotting to the sink to refresh both when the water in them starts to get much color to it.

Also, there's one guy whose palette is just absolutely caked with paint till I'm sure he's memorized where the colors are on it. He's added paint on top of paint on top of more paint for years from the looks of it. He always comes up with the colors he's after, so I'm sure he puts the colors always in the same spot every time he adds more paint to the palette.

I'm not criticizing the way they choose to paint, I just don't understand. How does the dirty water and the crusty palette not muddy up the paintings? Does anyone know? I can't bring myself to try it myself yet, but I guess I should.

 

[Bartc]

Working in various water media I am also amazed that dirty water doesn't automatically translate into muddy or neutral colors. But up to a point it doesn't seem to. After a point it does. I find that worse in acrylics than watercolors.

 

[Terri]

I don't work with watercolor, only acrylics - and I'm with you, I prefer to swap out the rinse water after repeated use and it starts to get really dark. I'll definitely rinse several times, but seeing it getting almost opaque is enough for me to dump it. It just seems a good practice.

I don’t see why you should follow this guy's lead if it makes you uncomfortable - how can general cleanliness in the studio be a bad thing?

Unless you have a real need to use water sparingly, you should feel empowered to stick to your own practice in the studio.

Regarding these guys online, I'd be wondering if this casual regard to working clean would translate to the kitchen, bathroom - or anywhere else in the house.

But that's just me. More people who work with watercolor should chime in!

 

[Enyaw]

I read from AI that if you can see the bottom of your container the water is good but once it gets opaque it's trash .. As Terri said, do what works for you .. some people teach without knowing and sometimes the teachers knowing doesn't get translated. I paint acrylic and I swish my brush in water that is weeks old and the brushes come out pretty clean. It's then one rinse in a clear water and I'm done. Actually wash my rubber gloves in the tainted water. That's not cheap .. economical .. had the trought and tried it today .. so tomorrow I use the same gloves .. will be fun to know how long I can get out of a pair.

 

[LizC]

I rarely change the water while I'm painting, if I do it's because I want to rub out something on the watercolor paper or possibly if I want to paint something very lightly and the water just seems too black. I don't change the water while I'm painting with acrylics either.