How to Avoid Mixing Mud in Watercolor Painting with Julie Gilbert Pollard
Every watercolor artist will eventually face the dreaded challenge of mixing mud. If your painting looks muddy, it is muddy—there’s no mistaking it. But according to watercolorist Julie Gilbert Pollard (Ep. 25), mud isn’t just an unavoidable frustration—it’s something you can prevent.
By understanding where mud happens and why, you can take control of your colors and keep your watercolors vibrant and fresh. Let’s explore the four common places mud occurs and the essential strategies you need to avoid it.
To understand how to avoid mud, first let’s look at where and how mud is happening in the first place.
1. Palette Mixing Mud
Mud can develop in the palette when certain colors don’t mix well together. This might be due to incompatible pigments or color combinations that just don’t work when mixed.
While many artists worry about mixing too many colors, the key to preventing palette mud is not the number of colors used but rather understanding color mixing principles. When mixed correctly, even a large number of colors can remain vibrant rather than turning into a dull, lifeless mess.
It’s also important to distinguish between mud and neutrals. When complementary colors like red and green are mixed, they create neutral tones rather than mud.
As you gain experience, you’ll learn which combinations create beautiful neutrals and which lead to unwanted murkiness.
If you notice mud forming in your palette, that’s a good thing—you’ve caught it early enough to fix it. Simply wipe your palette clean, start fresh, and take note of the color combinations that caused the issue.
2. Paper Mixing Mud
When working wet-into-wet, colors mix directly on the paper, making it easy for mud to appear if the wrong pigments are combined. Again, some colors simply don’t play well together in watercolor, and recognizing these problematic combinations is crucial.
“If you know how to mix color, you can mix a whole bunch of colors together and it still won't look like mud if you understand color.”
-Julie Gilbert Pollard
One of the biggest factors in avoiding mud during wet-into-wet painting is moisture control. Experienced painters can transition from one color to another—such as pink to green—without creating a ton of mud because they understand how to move between colors without having everything run into everything else.
3. Glazing Mud
Watercolor allows for optical mixing through glazing, where thin washes of color are layered over dried layers.
When done correctly, glazing creates luminous, rich colors. However, if too many incompatible colors are layered, they can mix optically into a muddy mess.
Again, taking notes on successful and unsuccessful color layering will help build your knowledge and improve future paintings.
4. Grade of Paint Mud
While professional-grade watercolor paints can create mud, lower-quality paints often pose a greater risk.
The reason is due to the physical properties in watercolor paintings. Granulation, pigment size, and the amount of filler—all affect how colors interact. Investing in artist-grade paints can help reduce unwanted muddiness and produce more vibrant results.
Put it to practice.
Now that you understand where mud originates, here are three key strategies to avoid it in your work:
1. Invest in High-Quality Artist-Grade Paints
If budget is a concern, start with a limited palette of high-quality paints rather than purchasing a wide range of lower-grade ones. Professional paints have better pigment load and fewer fillers, reducing the likelihood of creating mud.
2. Keep a Color Log or Journal
Take notes on color mixtures that work well and those that don’t. Record both physical (palette and paper) and optical (glazing) mixtures to build a personal reference library for future paintings.
3. Get Clear on Where and How It’s Happening
A lot of reducing mud is about understand which colors play best together. But it’s also about learning which techniques you can strengthen to improve mud. For example, the fix to palette mud will be slightly different than a fix for paper mixing mud.
4. Practice, Practice, Practice
The more you paint, the better your instincts will become. Over time, you’ll develop an intuitive sense of which colors work well together, how moisture levels affect blending, and how to transition colors without creating mud.
Overcoming Mud
Mud can be a frustrating part of learning watercolor, but by recognizing where it happens and understanding why, you can take control of your paintings. With practice and mindful observation, you’ll be able to create glowing, vibrant watercolor pieces free from the dreaded mud.