Soft washes that breathe on the wall

Why watercolour

Watercolour is mostly open ground, and that ground needs room to work

Half the picture is the pale space around the pigment, which is exactly why small watercolour prints disappear on a big wall.

On paper, the white you see is the paper itself. On canvas it is printed ink sitting on a woven texture, so the ground reads slightly warmer and softer. That matters more than people expect: a cool grey-white wash can look dull against a warm white wall, and a warm cream ground can look yellow beside a crisp white one. Hold the piece against your actual wall colour before you commit to a size.

Go one size larger than feels safe. Pale washes lose presence from three metres away, and a 60cm canvas that looks generous on a desk shrinks to nothing above a sofa. Keep watercolours off busy wallpaper and away from strong patterned textiles, and give them wider gaps in a group than you would give bold prints. Avoid direct afternoon sun on the surface too, since glare flattens the soft tonal shifts that make the piece worth hanging.

How your print is made

1. Choose the size and finishPick a size, then stretched ready to hang or framed. The size guide on every print shows it to scale.
2. Printed to orderYour print is made on canvas in Melbourne once you order, at the size you choose.
3. Stretched, framed, checkedStretched or framed in Melbourne, then checked before it leaves.
4. Delivered free, Australia-wideMade to order in 10 to 14 days, then tracked to your door. Thirty-day money-back guarantee if it isn't what you hoped.