Why Watercolour?

Watercolour is a very popular, versatile and accessible medium. The basic materials are simple, compact and can be relatively inexpensive. There is no need for extra solvents or paint additives, it dries fairly quickly, and it is one of the more environmentally-friendly mediums.

Some artists use watercolour as a sketch medium to play, work out ideas, or do value or colour studies in preparation for a finished piece, either in watercolour or another medium. Others like to add some watercolour to drawings done in pen & ink, graphite or pastel, and because watercolour can be painted or drawn over easily, you can combine it with almost any other mixed media work.

Watercolour is also a great stand-alone medium that has been used for hundreds of years for all kinds of subjects done in all kinds of styles. Typically done on paper, watercolour is traditionally used in a very 'lean' or watery consistency. That doesn't mean it is has to be pale, washy or pastel in colour! The pigments used in watercolour paints are the same as those used in other paints, but it lacks the substantial, sticky binders that oil and acrylic paint use. There is just enough Gum Arabic (a food-grade binder) in watercolour to keep the paint together in a soft, creamy solution, and is easily diluted with water to achieve the level of colour intensity the artist desires. Because watercolour is usually diluted so much, the pigments tend to be ground more thoroughly than in other paints, so that they will dissolve, mix and flow better in the water.

What Paint Should I Buy?

Watercolours are available in three basic formats, dry in a pan, moist in a tube, or liquid in a bottle, and in a range of qualities (and price points). As with most things, you get what you pay for. With paint, that mostly means which pigments are used and the pigment to binder ratio. More expensive paints will have more pigment and less binder. Most beginners choose to buy less expensive 'student' paints to save money, but you will get better results (and have more fun) with better paint, and a little goes a long way!

Another difference between less- and more expensive paint is the milling or grind. Because watercolour is designed to be greatly thinned out, the degree to which the pigments have been finely ground is more noticeable than with thicker paints. This matters because finer and more thoroughly milled pigment gives you a paint that thins more easily and evenly, with colours that spread better and seem stronger and more brilliant.

There are lots of compact watercolour pan (dry) sets which are great for traveling, or whipping out on a whim when you want to do a little sketch. They are like a little studio in a box and are very convenient to use. Tube colours are moist and ready to go, but require that you squeeze out a small amount onto a mixing tray and add water. They are good for larger work or when you want to generate a quantity of rich colour more easily than working it up off a dry watercolour pan.  The third type, liquid, is often treated like an ink, is a ready to use concentrated colour that is excellent with pen or brush, or can be splashed around or dropped onto paper for exciting effects.  Note: some liquid or 'brilliant' watercolours are dye-based and lack the colour permanence of pigmented paints.

Staining, Granulating, Transparent, Opaque -
What do these terms mean?

All pigments have inherent physical qualities aside from their colour, and again, because in watercolour the paint is usually diluted to a higher degree, these traits can be more noticeable to a watercolour painter.

Staining colours are those that penetrate the paper aggressively and are hard to lift or remove. They tend also to be intense and transparent, and most of the modern synthetic organic pigments (they usually have a chemical-sounding name like Dioxazine, Phthalocyanine or Quinacridone) are staining.

Granulating pigments are usually older mineral-based colours that are inorganic and are relatively coarse. They tend to be less intense than Staining colours, with a visible granular appearance on the paper, and are gentler, more delicate and easier to lift. Some brands, like Schmincke, have embraced the granulating nature of some watercolour pigments, and introduced an entire line of Super Granulating Watercolours

While the whole medium of transparent watercolour is, by definition, transparent, there is a continuum of transparency-opacity within that range. Colours are usually rated Transparent, Semi-Transparent, Semi-Opaque and Opaque. Colour mixtures made with transparent pigments will remain transparent and brilliant and may lend themselves to rich, clear washes. Mixes using more opaque pigments might end up a little less brilliant, or clear, or intense. It's not that one is better than the other, but it's interesting to be aware of each colour's specific properties and how they behave in mixtures.

All watercolour paints will possess these qualities to varying degrees, but manufacturers tend to only indicate these properties in reference material for professional quality lines.

What About the Water?

Because watercolour is usually applied quite wet, the way it behaves is as much about the action of the water on the paper as it is about the colours used. You can experiment with applying the wet paint to dry paper, or wet paper, or try dropping colour into a wet area on an otherwise dry sheet. See how the water moves on different surfaces, and how it carries the colour along with it. Often, many layers of colour washes are built up and overlaid on each other. While you can use any water, some artists prefer distilled water, as it is free from impurities and minerals that might subtly affect how the paint behaves.

What About the Paper?

You can (and should) try watercolours on all sorts of paper, thin, thick, smooth, rough, whatever you have around. Notice how the water and the colours behave on different surfaces. Some papers will absorb immediately, while others will hold the water on the surface a little longer. What happens when you start pushing and pulling the wet colour across the surface? Does the paper wrinkle, pucker, 'pill' up? While none of these effects is inherently bad, they are usually considered undesirable in a watercolour paper.

The most noticeable trait of most watercolour papers is the thickness. Even lightweight 90lb watercolour paper is heavier than most standard commercial papers, and the heavyweight 300lb is stiff like a board. The most common weight is 140lb (300gsm).

Simply by being thicker, watercolour paper is able to handle water better than most paper - but it's not just the thickness! The material the paper is made from can make a big difference. The best papers are made from Cotton (rag) because it is naturally alkaline (not acidic) and its fibres are longer and stronger than those in Cellulose (wood pulp) papers. Cotton papers (100% rag, or with a rag content) handle the water better than cellulose and tend not to wear out or disintegrate with repeated scrubbing and reworking.

It's also not just the material the paper is made from. Almost all paper includes 'sizing' or a starchy glue or binder that helps the fibres hold together (kind of like a binder in paint). Size is added to the wet mixture of pulp and water the paper is made from, and sometimes Size is added on the surface of the sheet once it is formed. The amount of sizing a paper has will affect how fast and how much water absorbs into it, and can affect the wet strength of the sheet. Watercolour papers also have more surface size than drawing or printing papers, which means you can work the surface more vigorously (to a point) without it falling apart.

What About Brushes?

You don't have to use brushes to paint with, but they are the most popular tool for the job and they are available in a dizzying array of styles, shapes and textures. You can use any brush you want for any kind of paint (if you like the effect) but there are some guidelines to help you choose the right brush for watercolour.

Stiff paint = stiff brush & Soft (wet) paint = soft brush. Thicker materials like oil paint often call for brushes with stiffer 'bristles', to push fuller bodied paint around. Thinner materials like watercolour work best with softer 'hair' brushes that can soak up the fluid paint and release it on the paper. There are times when oil painters want a soft brush and watercolourists want a stiff brush, but a good rule of thumb is soft hair for watercolour.

Synthetic vs Natural Brush? What’s the Difference?

Many watercolour painters are perfectly satisfied with synthetic hair brushes. There are inexpensive options that do a decent job of keeping their shape and holding water, fancy synthetics that do an excellent job, and everything in between (we won't talk about the disappointing cheapos that seemed like a deal at the time).

Natural hair brushes, usually Sable, are considered the best option for their superior capacity for holding water, and their ability to point up nicely. The best brushes are handmade and can be expensive, but painters rarely regret buying one. There are even Sable/Synthetic mixtures which offer the best of both worlds at a moderate price. Squirrel hair is also used sometimes and makes for a brush that is very soft and absorbent, but less springy than Sable. Watercolour brushes last longer than those used with oil and acrylic as they tend to be subject to less wear and tear (scrubbing on canvas etc.) This can make it easier to rationalize buying an 'investment' brush.

What is the Best Brush Shape for Watercolour?

Watercolour brushes come in many different shapes and sizes. Each shape has its own distinct properties and 'footprint' or characteristic mark. The most common are Round brushes that come to a point. They range from tiny detail brushes less than 1mm across to big bold ones that carry loads of water and come to a surprisingly fine point. Sizes from 00 to 12 are the most common, with the #4 Round as the unofficial most popular and versatile watercolour brush, in our experience.

Rigger, Liner, Script are names for a round brush that is very long and slender. The long soft hairs hold much more water (colour) than a regular Round brush of similar size. Long skinny lines = long skinny brush.

Do I Need any Additives?

Unlike acrylic paint, for which there is a huge range of additives and modifiers available, watercolour is pretty simple, with just a few common mediums. And unlike most other paints where there is the danger of over-thinning, you can use as much solvent (water in this case) as you like to modulate the colour intensity, transparency and flow. Remember, watercolour in tubes or pans is concentrated and designed to be thinned out.

Probably the most common medium watercolourists use is Liquid Frisket or Masking Fluid (sometimes called Miskit, Maskit etc). This is a liquid rubber (traditionally latex, but there is now a latex-free version also) used to mask off areas on your paper, or elements in your painting you want to protect from paint and subsequent washes. The Frisket can be removed by pulling it up (a crepe rubber 'Pick up' works a treat) when the area is dry.

Other mediums can affect the granulation of the pigments, add an iridescent sheen, aid in the lifting (removal) of colour, improve flow and penetration etc. All of these can be interesting to experiment with, but none is required to enjoy watercolour.

How do I Mix Colours?

Finding and mixing colours is an age-old obsession for artists and chemists. Thanks to centuries of their hard work, there is less of a pressing need for artists to mix paint, as so many ready-made colours exist. But unless you want to invest in dozens or hundreds of tubes of paint, or you actually enjoy the simple magic of colour mixing, a basic grasp of colour theory is invaluable.

Most people have heard of the three Primary colours, Red, Yellow and Blue. At least that is the approximation that became popular in the Renaissance when scientists observed the spectrum of visible light through a prism and determined that Magenta, Yellow and Cyan could be used to mix almost any colour under the sun. At the time, they could not source pigments for true Magenta or Cyan, so they settled on 'Red' and 'Blue' and the rest is history. Anyone familiar with colour printing will know about CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow + black).

Here is a set of Gouache from Holbein that uses the CYMK colour palette!

These 'Process Colours' are as close to the true primaries as you can get and are an excellent mixing set. The thing is, many people find these process colours to be a little strong, or unnatural looking, and prefer some of the older, more traditional pigments. In any case, it's hard to have a truly perfect set of primaries with just three colours.

Many painters find that a selection of six 'bias' 'split' or 'balanced' primaries gives them vastly more options for mixing, making it easier to achieve the colour in their mind's eye. In the same way that all pigments fall somewhere on the scale of transparent to opaque, all colours can be described by their relative warmth or coolness.

 

Reds, yellows and oranges are said to be warm colours, while blues, greens and some violets are thought of as cool - But there are warm and cool reds, warm and cool blues, and warm and cool yellows and a bias primary set would include one of each, for a set of six.

Most sets assembled by professional watercolour companies will follow this rule - For some examples, here are some of the sets that we carry!

Cotman Watercolour Travel Sets

Schmincke Horadam Aquarell Watercolour Sets

Holbein Watercolour Sets

Thanks for reading!  Watch for our Tech Talk on Gouache, coming soon....