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SectionsSuppliesPurchasing Supplies Preparations Painting SuppliesThe supplies that I use in a typical watercolor painting include:6H pencil
Purchasing SuppliesWatercolor is one of the few areas of art where it is very important to use more expensive, good quality materials or the end product is going to suffer. If you are serious about having professional looking paintings, you absolutely *cannot* use cheap cake watercolors. These are meant for children and no serious artist should ever use them. There is a *huge* difference in quality between cake watercolors and paints from a tube. I highly recommend shelling out the cash for better watercolors, if you don't have any. The finished product always looks much better with watercolors from a tube. I personally use Windsor and Newton Cotman paints. They are student grade, so they are less expensive than professional grade watercolors and they work well. (The difference between student grade and professional grade watercolors has to do with the ratio of pigment to filler in a tube and thus the price. Student quality paints are usually sufficient unless you intend to make a living off of your paintings.)It's also best to get a wide variety of brushes - large ones, tiny ones, round ones, flat ones. The better the selection of brushes you have, the more textures you can create and the more lifelike your painting is. Don't be afraid to spend a little extra money buying good brushes that are going to last. It's well worth it in the end. Sable brushes are the best that you can get. Also, it's wise to buy brushes that are meant specifically for watercolor as they hold water better and are easier to use. Watercolor brushes typically have shorter handles than brushes for acrylics or oils. Also, it is imperative to paint on something
thicker than computer paper. In fact, even Bristol board is *way*
too thin to be painting on. What you need is watercolor paper, illustration
board or watercolor board. If you go for watercolor paper, the thicker
the paper (heavier "weight") the better. Watercolor paper comes in
hot press (smooth), cold press (textured), and rough (very textured). PreparationsThe best thing to do when doing *any* kind of painting on watercolor paper is to soak the paper for a couple of minutes until it's saturated with water. A large tray or bathtub works well for this, although holding it under running water in a sink works as a last resort. The wet paper should then be carefully taken out of the water and gently set on a piece of plywood that is larger than the paper. I make sure that the paper is put on evenly with no wrinkles or trapped bubbles of air, then I staple it to the plywood at regular intervals. If paper is not soaked and stapled to a board, when it is painted on the paper becomes warped and wrinkled. Soaking and stapling keeps the paper flat and smooth and makes it easier to paint on.Let the paper dry. Once it is dry, the next step is to mask off a border with masking tape. The tape protects the border of the painting from paint seeping over or under it and keeps the edges of the paper neat and even. When applying the tape, I stick the tape to my jeans a couple of times so it doesn't tear the paper when I take it off. Once the paper is attached to the board,
is dry and is taped off, the next step is to sketch out my image using
a 6H pencil (as shown in the sketching and inking tutorial). Remember
to use a very hard pencil because your lines *will* show through the paint.
If you feel the need to ink your image, remember to use waterproof ink
so that the ink doesn't bleed and ruin your image. PaintingPlay around with mixing your colors in your palette. Using colors straight out of the tube is hardly ever a wise decision. Try desaturating colors by adding opposite colors (i.e. add purple to yellow, green to red, etc.). Paints are *excellent* for helping you get a feel for color.Build up lots of thin layers of color. (This is why you need thick paper.) Don't be afraid to water each layer down or to use very thick paints. Watering the paint down is good for putting down base layers and for making the paint go on more smoothly. The thicker the paint is, the harder it is to make it go on smoothly. Of course, it all depends on the effect you're going for. Thin layers of color are also good for making things look light and airy or transparent. With watercolor it is important to work from light to dark. Remember to leave areas that are supposed to be white unpainted. It's more time effective than going back in with white watercolors or gouache. Add more and more layers of color to areas that are supposed to be dark; add less paint to areas that are highlights. Use darker, less saturated colors for shadows. When you're all finished painting, let
it dry completely before you attempt to take it off the board - otherwise
the paper may still warp. Once the paper is dry, carefully remove
the masking tape from the paper, then cut around the edge of the border
with a razor blade or an Exacto knife to remove the paper from the board.
Tear the remainder of the paper off of the board, then remove the staples
from the board using a screwdriver and/or pliers.
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