Watercolour Art Notes

Materials, tips and hints

Paint

There are two qualities of watercolour paint available: Student quality and Artist quality. The main difference is the pigment, artist quality being pure pigments. I started off using student quality but now use artist quality. In Winsor & Newton the student quality is known as ‘Cotman’ and in Daler Rowney they are known as ‘Aquafine’. Other brands are available.

Watercolour paint is available in two different forms: pans (small, solid cakes) and tubes (metal tubes filled with soft squeezable paint). The same paint is produced in either form but the choice of which to use is down to personal preference.

I use a paint box of pans as this is a lighter compact way of transporting my paints, particularly if you plan to paint on location. I also use tubes to fill the pans as they become empty. When working in the studio I use the paint direct from the tubes onto the mixing palette.

Paper

Although it may sound obvious, you should use watercolour paper. Most watercolour paper comes in a variety of sizes, textures and weights. For general purpose work I use Bockingford 300gms (140lb) which as a NOT pressed surface, that means it is ‘not’ pressed and therefore not smooth but textured. A ‘rough’ paper would have a higher degree of texture.

Any paper less than 300gms should be avoided as it would tend to cockle when water is added to the surface during painting.

Watercolour paper is available in single sheets or pads. Pads can be spiral bound or have gummed edges. Pads that have gummed edges on all four sides (except for a small section to aid removal of the sheet) are known as blocks. Blocks have the advantage that they hold the sheets firmly to avoid cockling whilst painting.

Brushes

Most art shops stock brushes for all forms and styles of painting. Not all are suitable for watercolour. For watercolour there are two distinctive types, synthetic (or synthetic and hair blends) and sable. You can also find squirrel and camelhair brushes.

Synthetic brushes tend to hold less water/paint than sable brushes. Go for what you can afford. You will find sable hair more expensive but arguably they are the best brushes for watercolour painting. It is essential that the brush has a good shape with a fine point at the tip.

You will need just a small collection of sizes to start with and add further brushes as you develop you painting style and settle on the preferred subject matter you are going to paint. I suggest that you start with a 1” (25mm) flat brush for laying down a wash. Nos. 7, and 3 round brushes for most other painting work and a size 1 for finer detailed work. I use a brand called "Premier" which are made in Germany. They are red sable and not expensive, look out for them.

Tip: Do not leave brushes standing in the water pot as this will destroy their shape.

Other materials

There are many items that are adaptable for painting in watercolour; some are listed below.

A toolbox that could be suitable for keeping all your materials together. Water pots, you will need two, one for clean water and one for rinsing. I use anything that is light and transportable such as food containers. You will need a palette to mix your paint on, your art shop will have a variety to chose from or use the wells in your painting box.

An easel is fairly unnecessary for watercolour painting because you can prop up your work on books on a table. When working on location I use a lightweight board made from foam board and hold the paper down using masking tape on all 4 edges.

For painting on location fit all your painting items in a rucksack, plus of course a flask of tea/coffee and some sandwiches. Check out charity shops for cheap rucksacks.

Which colours to choose

When you buy a complete box of watercolour paints you will have not have a choice of colours; the manufacturer predetermines these. You could of course buy an empty box and fill it with colours of your choice. However, buying individual pans or tubes will be more costly than buying a boxed set. Some tutors will argue that you should only need 6 colours and to a degree this is true. Personally I would recommend a few more to ensure a range to cover the subject matter you intend to paint. To give me a more versatile range my standard palette is augmented with more earth colours when I am capturing landscapes but I also add colours such as magenta and green/gold when painting flowers.

Suggested basic palette:

French Ultramarine Blue

Aureolin Yellow or Lemon Yellow

Yellow Ochre

Cadmium Red

Alizarin Crimson

Burnt Sienna

Burnt Umber

Sap Green (strictly speaking you should mix blues and yellows to make greens)

Additional colours can be added to suit the subject matter, more earth colours for landscapes and more vibrant colours for flowers.

Colour Mixing

French ultramarine and alizarin crimson to make mauve/purple/violet

French ultramarine and yellow ochre to make dull greens

French ultramarine and lemon yellow to make bright green

French ultramarine and burnt umber to make black (or grey)

Yellow ochre and alizarin crimson to make orange

60% yellow ochre 30% alizarin crimson and 10% French ultramarine to make pan tile colour (Terracotta)

Further reading

There are so many books on watercolour painting that you can be excused for being confused by all that is on offer. As a beginner, select books that show you how to achieve the required results by following simple illustrated steps and not books that just illustrate images of great masterpieces but with little or no indication as to how the artist achieved the finished painting. Shop wisely as books are a big investment. The Search Press series of illustrated books offer great value for money look out for them.

Suggested reading

Watercolour for Starters by Paul Talbot-Greaves

Watercolours in a Weekend by Charles Evans

Painting Watercolour Landscapes with confidence by Bryan Ryder.

Search Press produce very low priced art tuition books in their ‘Learn to Paint’ series and Collins also have a similar series of books which retail at less than £10 but can be found for £4.95.

"Watercolour: A step-by-step guide for absolute beginners" (Collins You Can Paint) by Alwyn Crawshaw was being sold on Amazon for 1p, yes just a penny !!

You may also wish to consider joining the Society for all Artists who sell a vast array of books, videos, and materials for artists at discount prices. Contact them on 01949 844050 or www.saa.org.uk for a brochure and information regarding membership.

YouTube

There is an amazing amount of free tuition to be found on YouTube. Just search for watercolour painting tutorials. Find an artisit whos painting style attracts and subscribe to them. Suggestion: Search for Jean Haines on YouTube or go to her website https://jeanhaines.com 

Painting Holidays

I do recommend that you join a local painting group or take a painting holiday, there are lots advertised in the back pages of painting magazines such as Leisure Painter. Many of the holiday painting courses accept non-participating guests so that you can take your spouse/partner too. Some even arrange separate events for them whist you are painting. Check out Manor House Hotel near Okehampton in Devon.

I hope that you have found these ‘Michael Turner Art Notes’ helpful and that they inspire you to take your art forward with great enjoyment.

These notes were compiled primarily for readers from the UK but equally apply worldwide except for the source of supplies, but I am sure alternatives can be found near to where you live.

Happy painting.

Michael Turner

© Michael Turner Rev. 17.01:2019