How to Work with White in Watercolor: Essential Techniques for Beginners (and why I don't like masking fluid)

If you're new to watercolor painting, you’ve probably already discovered one of the medium’s most important quirks: there’s no white paint in traditional watercolor. Unlike acrylics or oils, watercolor relies on the white of your paper to create light values and highlights. This fundamental difference changes everything about how you approach a painting.

Learning to preserve and create white is one of the most critical watercolor painting techniques for beginners to master. Whether you’re painting fluffy clouds over Annapolis, sparkling water along the Chesapeake, or delicate flower petals in a DC garden, understanding how to work with white will dramatically improve your results.

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Understanding the Two Approaches

There are two main strategies for getting white in your watercolor paintings: preserving the white of the paper and adding white back in after you've painted. Each approach has its place, and most experienced watercolor artists use both methods depending on the situation.

Preserving white means planning ahead and protecting areas of your paper from paint. Creating white means applying opaque white materials on top of dried watercolor to add highlights or correct mistakes. Let's explore both.

Preserving White: Planning Ahead

Negative Painting (The Simplest Method)

The most straightforward way to preserve white is simply to paint around it. This requires planning and careful brushwork, but it's the purest watercolor technique and creates the most luminous whites.

Masking Tape

Perfect for straight edges like building facades or horizon lines, masking tape is easy to use. Press it down firmly to prevent paint from seeping underneath, and remove it while your paint is still slightly damp to avoid tearing the paper. This is my favorite type - made for artists and easier on paper.

Masking Fluid (Liquid Frisket)

Masking fluid is a liquid rubber solution you apply to areas you want to keep white. Once it dries, you paint over it, then rub it off to reveal pristine white paper underneath. When I use it, I use this latex variety.

However, masking fluid comes with significant drawbacks:

• Sharp, unnatural edges: The biggest problem with masking fluid is that it creates hard-edged shapes that often look too crisp and artificial. You'll need to soften these edges afterward with a damp brush or light washes.

• Requires advance planning: You must apply it before you start painting, which means you need to know exactly where your whites will be from the beginning.

• Brush destroyer: Masking fluid will ruin any brush you use to apply it unless you coat the brush with soap first. Even then, it's best to use an old brush you don't care about.

• Can damage paper: When you peel it off, masking fluid can tear the surface of your paper, especially if you're using student-grade or lighter-weight paper. This creates a fuzzy, damaged area that won't accept paint the same way.

• Messy application: It's gluey, sticky, and difficult to control. Getting smooth, natural-looking shapes requires practice and patience.

  
  

Despite these issues, masking fluid can be useful and many watercolor artists use it regularly with good success.

Wax Resist

Rubbing a white crayon or candle over your paper before painting creates a water-resistant barrier. Unlike masking fluid, wax resist stays permanently, creating interesting textured effects perfect for things like light on water or rough stone. These crayons are specifically designed for this, though any white crayon or even white birthday candle will do.

Blotting and Lifting

You can remove wet paint with a paper towel, sponge, or clean damp brush to lighten areas or create soft-edged highlights. This works best on fresh paint—once watercolor dries and stains the paper, lifting becomes much harder and less effective. I recommend thick white paper towels like Kirklands Best at Costco or Bounty.

Creating White: Adding It Back

Sometimes you need to add white after you've already painted, whether to create highlights you forgot about or to add finishing touches like sparkles or snow. In these cases, you usually need to use a medium other than watercolor to effectively bring the bright white you want back. But be cautious! Mixing mediums can have unexpected results and leave dullness or obvious texture differences on your paintings. Experiment with these options before you employ them in your serious work.

White Gouache

Gouache is opaque watercolor, and white gouache is the most versatile option for adding white to watercolor paintings. It mixes beautifully with watercolor for tinted highlights, creates smooth opaque coverage, and gives you control over opacity. Professional watercolor illustrators use it constantly. This is my favorite brand.

White Gel Pen

A white gel pen (like a Uni-ball Signo or Papermate Inkjoy) is perfect for tiny details like stars, light reflecting in eyes, or fine linear highlights on hair or fur. It's easy to control and creates crisp, bright marks. The downside is that it only works for small details, not larger areas.

Chinese White (White Watercolor)

Chinese White is a semi-opaque white watercolor paint. It's less opaque than gouache but more traditional to pure watercolor painting. Mix it with colors for soft, tinted highlights or use it straight for gentle white accents. Note that it stays translucent. Personally, I'm not a big fan. I feel that anything white watercolor can do, gouache can do better.

White Acrylic Paint Pen or Marker

These create bright, permanent white marks and work well for final highlights or mixed-media pieces. However, they're completely opaque and can look a bit harsh or textural, so use them sparingly. These are ones I've used in the past.

Finding Your Approach

Most watercolor artists develop preferences based on their painting style. Loose, expressive painters often rely more on preserving whites and embrace happy accidents. Detailed, realistic painters might use more masking fluid and added whites for precision.

The key is practicing both methods so you have options. Start simple—paint around shapes before you experiment with masking fluid. Get comfortable with white gouache for highlights before you worry about wax resist techniques.

Watercolor is a medium that rewards planning but also bravery. You can always add white back in if you mess up, and sometimes the most beautiful artworks happen when you stop overthinking and just paint.

Final Tips

• Test masking fluid on a scrap of your paper first to make sure it won't damage the surface

• Keep your whites intentional—not everything needs to be bright white

• The white of your paper is more luminous than any added white, so preserve it when possible

• Practice painting light-to-dark, which makes preserving whites easier

• Don't stress about perfection—watercolor is about embracing both control and spontaneity

  
  

Understanding how to work with white opens up the full potential of watercolor painting. These techniques might feel awkward for beginner watercolor painters, but with practice, deciding when to preserve white and when to add it back will become second nature.

What white-preserving techniques have you tried? Are you "team masking fluid"or "eam negative painting? "Share your experiences in the comments below!

For more ideas, checkout this post from another watercolor teacher.