Italian artist Ottorino De Lucchi works with watercolor in a technique he calls “watercolor drybrush”.
This is not the typical use of that term, meaning passages with a brush on which only a small amount of paint is present — normally used to create textural strokes. Instead, he refers to a specific technique of applying drybrush strokes layer on layer, in a manner similar to oil painting, a process he developed from studying the watercolors of Andrew Wyeth.
He gives a description of the process on handprint, Bruce MacEvoy’s superb resource on watercolor.
De Lucchi feels the result is richer, higher chroma passages of color and greater contrast of light and dark. Even web based images of his work (which are never the equal of originals) seem to bear out those characteristics.
His still life subjects, often backlit and set against deeply dark backgrounds, appear luminous and vibrant with color.
