Beginners Notes on Watercolour Paints - Free Information
This is a useful handout I give to students in classes and workshops. It contains a short explanation of the different types of watercolour paints and papers, plus a description of items required for starting out with watercolour as a beginner.
Unfortunately, I can't upload it as a PDF without charging a fee for it. As I wanted to keep it free, I have just copied and pasted it below.
Feel free to copy and print for your own personal use.
SOME NOTES ON WATERCOLOUR PAINTS AND PAINTING FOR BEGINNERS
- Watercolour paints are available in tubes or pans and now also liquid watercolours in bottles.
- Paints are sold as student or artist quality with a large difference in cost. The artist ones have a higher ratio of pigment to binder and are less likely to fade. Plus less paint is needed with water to get a good coverage.
- Watercolour pigments can be transparent, semi-transparent, or opaque. Of all these, some are staining and others are easier to remove. Test your own paints and keep a record of the results.
- To keep transparency, only paint with 3 washes or less.
- Use transparent pigments first, opaque last.
- Some pigments are more granulating. These are sedimentary colours with granules that settle in the texture of the paper. In puddles, they will need to be mixed more frequently.
- Chinese White (Zinc White) can be added to any colour to make it more opaque and to create lighter colours. This is different to gouache (Titanium White) which is rather chalky and even more opaque and sometimes useful for highlights etc. However, in traditional watercolour painting, no white paint is used at all. The ‘white’ of the paper is reserved for whites and very pale colours are achieved through mixing lots of water with only a little paint.
- Paint darker than you need, as watercolour dries about 3 shades lighter.
- Always paint layers from light to dark, i.e., start with the lightest tones and colours, leaving the darkest and/or strongest colours until the last layers.
Tinting strength – This is the paint’s ability to affect other colours when mixed. For example: Transparent yellows are weak, and most blues are strong. When mixing colours, always start with the weaker pigments and gradually add small quantities of the stronger pigments until you get the right colour.
Codes –Artist’s quality watercolour paint tubes usually have codes printed on them which are the pigment numbers and letters, eg. PG 7 = Pigment - Green, 7- the number assigned to that particular pigment.
Check the code names rather than the colour names when buying different brands as various names are given to the same pigments from different manufacturers.
Paint colours are classed in ‘Series’, usually from 1 to 4. The higher the number, the more expensive the paint will be. This is because of the cost of the pigments used in the manufacture of different hues.
ASTM – American Society of Testing and Materials rates the light fastness of each colour. I and II are the best, V is fugitive. Some paint manufacturers also have a rating system of AA to C to signify permanence, or they may use asterisks or other symbols.
© Jan Lawnikanis
Mediums for watercolour: Gum Arabic or glycerine can be added to your painting water to make paint easier to ‘lift’. Gum Arabic also adds gloss and transparency while glycerine acts as a retarder in hot weather to slow down the drying time. Ox Gall is a wetting agent used to improve flow and is useful when painting on smoother papers. Add about 5 drops per cup of water. Granulation medium is effective for special effects, as it breaks up and granulates some pigments.
PAPER: Papers especially manufactured for watercolour are sold either in sheets, pads, blocks or boards and are available in a variety of weights, sizes and textures. The most common weights per sheet are 180 or 300gsm. The 300gsm paper is recommended as it is less likely to buckle.
· Paper can be Smooth (also known as Hot Pressed, or HP), Medium (or Cold Pressed, CP) or Rough. (Rough is also Cold Pressed). The smooth paper is ideally suited to more detailed work.
· Watercolour paper can be made from cotton or cellulose (wood fibres) and there can be a huge difference in the quality. 100% cotton paper is far superior but can be quite expensive. Avoid cheap paper from discount stores as it tends to soak up the paint like a paper towel and will only lead to frustration.
BRUSHES: Generally, only use designated watercolour brushes, rather than brushes designed for oils and acrylics. They can be nylon (Taklon) or the more expensive natural fibres from animals. Choose brushes that will spring back into shape when wet. A basic beginner’s set should consist of at least 2 ‘rounds’ – a small and a larger, a ‘flat’ brush or two and a large wash brush which can be either a nylon type or a goat hair ‘hake’.
PALETTES: These vary so much in size, shape, and cost. Look for one that has room for quite a few paint colours and a large area for mixing. You may choose to use old white ceramic plates etc.
OTHER ESSENTIALS:
· 2 water buckets. One for washing brushes and the other for clean water. A pipette is handy.
· An old towel, hand towel or other large absorbent cloth. Tissues. B or 2B pencil and a kneadable eraser. Masking tape.
* Position your palette, water, and towel on the same
side as your painting hand
* Remember to wipe your brush on the towel often
* Try not to leave brushes in the water pot
* Work from top to bottom
* Prepare puddles of colours before starting to paint
* To prevent back runs, don’t add wet paint into areas
that are already starting to dry
* Leave a border around your work
* Cover your palette when not in use to prevent dust
BASIC TECHNIQUES:
· Wet-on-dry; Wet-on-wet; Wet-in-wet
· Layering
· Dry Brush
· Graduated washes
· Lifting out
· Hard and soft edges
· Glazing
· Spattering & spraying
· Masking or reserving