Side loading

Also called double loading; loading a brush with two colors side by side. This is a technique typical of tole and other kinds of decorative painting. In order to side load, use a paint of creamy consistency, and drag one edge of the brush through the lighter color as many times as needed to fill that edge with color; then stroke the clean edge of the brush through the darker color in the same manner. Once the brush is loaded this way, blend the colors at the center of the brush by stroking on the palette. Using this technique, each brushstroke (application of color) deposits a gradation of the two blended colors.Related link: A lesson on how to use double loading to paint a rose from Tole Expressions. Also see folk art.