When Winter Comes Howling In (Part 3)

August 8, 2023

I’ve spent the last few weeks writing a series of articles on how to paint in extreme heat & low humidity. These two conditions lead to your paint & paper drying fast. They have been making my life very difficult recently! However, I don’t want to neglect my peers from other hemispheres, my beans from other scenes, my legions from other regions… Don’t want to season shame anyone.

So if you want to learn how temperatures over 90°F (32°c) can affect your watercolor painting, various techniques that can help you watercolor in hot & dry weather, as well as a number of solutions you can buy to help you in this endeavor, read Part 1. If you would like to read all about my #WatercolorScience experiments with DIY solutions for hot & dry weather, read Part 2. If “hot & dry” are not your current problems, read on!

How Does Cold Weather Affect Paint?

Watercolors, as the name implies, rely heavily on water. If you have to paint at or below 32°F (0°c) your paints can literally freeze. Tube paints are more susceptible than pan paints, as they have a much higher water percentage. Previously-frozen paints can end up with a grainy texture & are more likely to develop mold. Paint tubes subjected to freezing temperatures are more likely to rupture as the paint expands & contracts.

Paints Are Like Human Beings

There are myriad tips & tricks to weather the cold a little better while painting. Please be aware, painting in extreme cold is much more dangerous than painting in extreme heat. Sitting still for the long periods of time required to paint helps you stay cool on hot days, but that is exactly what you want to avoid in the cold- even above freezing temperatures! The following tips are more appropriate for painting in an unheated studio or out on your porch than on a mountaintop. Please read guides on proper clothing & safety equipment before painting en plein air (fancy art term for outside) in cold weather.

Do not paint in the cold, if you can avoid it. Working in the middle of the day or early evening when it is comparatively warmer will be more comfortable for you & your watercolors.
Work smaller, if you can. Cold paper dries more slowly. If you can finish fast enough, neither you nor your paints will have time to freeze up.
Give your paintings lots of support. The water can freeze as it dries on the page, which can crack if your paper is bowed or bent. The adhesive in tape can fail at low temperatures, so consider using binder clips or a watercolor pad instead.
Recognize the effect freezing will have on your painting, even if it doesn't crack. When you bring it inside it will thaw & need to re-dry, which can make your picture muddy & blurry. This is probably not the time for an extremely detailed masterpiece.
Switch to a different medium entirely! I recently had to switch from watercolors to ink mid-painting as the temperatures climbed so high the “water” part of my colors was evaporating before I could work.

Watercolor & Ink painting of a telephone pole with lots of wires towering over trees. The sun is so low you can't see it. Yellow streaks the sky & pink tinges the underbellies of the heavy grey clouds.

‘Art differently’ may not be my favorite tactic, but it is a tactic. Pencil, charcoal, alcohol-based markers, & oil paints will all work better at lower temperatures than watercolors will.

Happily, there are other solutions. For example:

The Cause Of – And Solution To – All Of Life’s Problems

Alcohol is the famous answer here. Traditionally, painters have added anything from gin to vodka to their water to keep it from freezing. This absolutely works for watercolor paint! Painters have also traditionally added it to themselves “to keep from freezing”, but this is a myth. Drinking alcohol makes you feel warmer, but makes you cold faster. So far as paint is concerned, mix the alcohol in with the water used to dampen your paint pans, brushes, & paper, as well as the water you wash brushes in. ⅓ to ½ alcohol seems to be what most people prefer. This will damage brushes, don’t use your nice new ones for your boozy painting.

PSA: Do Not Use Rubbing Alcohol!

I tried this once, to see if it worked like DIY alcohol inks. It does not! The watercolors gets all gross- on the palette, the page, & in the pan. I ended up washing a fair amount of paint down the drain trying to make sure it was all rinsed out of my paint pans!

DIY Solutions

Putting your palette on an electric heating pad or radiator set to “low” is almost certainly a fire risk, but it is a suggestion I have seen several times. Your metal & ceramic palettes could easily get too hot & your plastic palettes could melt! I wouldn’t even mention it, except it keeps being suggested online & I wanted to emphasize how easily that can backfire.

Warm water. Seriously, try it. Hot water will damage your brushes, but warm water will take longer to ice up.

Turn A Bug Into A Feature

Work with the freezing temperatures to make new, cool art! Many different artists have experimented with intentionally letting their paintings freeze. I tried to do this in my small freezer, it resulted in a muddy mess! People who work outside have gotten very nice results, though.

I Want YOU To Do #WatercolorScience

I hate the cold. I am very dedicated to never being cold again, & I live in an area that doesn’t get very cold even in winter. In other words, I can’t test any of these solutions. This is your chance to shine!

Test the various solutions in this article & any tricks you may have of your own, then send me your results & pictures! That way I can write a #WatercolorScience article for cold weather. You can contact me on Ko-Fi or Mastodon. Please include the name/user name you would like me to use so I can give you proper credit! I can’t wait to hear from you!

This is an ongoing series of #WatercolorScience articles about how different types of weather affect your painting, even if you work inside.

Extreme Heat & low humidity: We're Having a Heat Wave & I Started This Heat Wave Freezing Temperatures: When Winter Comes Howling In Humidity & Rain: Lost in a Fog

Karin Wanderer Learns