Watercolor

Watercolor paints contain four principal ingredients: pigments, natural or synthetic, mineral or organic gum arabic.

The Medium of Watercolor

Overview

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About Watercolor

Water is the vehicle or mixture solvent used to thin or dilute watercolor paints for application. Once the water evaporates, the paint hardens or dries, fixing the pigments onto a painting surface, such as paper. If the paint is dry, water activates or reactivates it. 

Arcadia Tree that Produces the Watercolor Gum Arabic Binder

Gum Arabic is the binder that holds watercolor paint or pigments together in tubes or pans. This water-soluble exudate comes primarily from two species of the Acacia tree in sub-Saharan Africa (Acacia senegal and A. seyal).

Humans have used Gum Arabic as a medium for thousands of years. Once the binder is dried, it suspends the paint or pigment on the surface of the paper. Additives such as glycerin, ox gall, honey, or other preservatives may be added to watercolor paints to alter their viscosity.

A Brief History

Watercolor (American English) or watercolor (British English), as well as aquarelle (French, from Italian diminutive of Latin aqua "water"), refers to both the medium and the resulting artwork.

The watercolor medium dates back to Paleolithic cave paintings in Europe and was used on papyrus during the Egyptian civilization. It was frequently used for manuscript illustration in monasteries during the European Middle Ages. It was well documented during the German Renaissance since the artist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) used it.

Watercolor

In the early 19th century, American artists seemed to regard watercolor primarily as a sketching tool in preparation for the "finished" work in oil; however, it is an ancient medium.

In East Asia, watercolor painting with ink was referred to as scroll or brush painting. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese painting has been the dominant medium, often in monochrome black or brown, frequently using an ink stick or other pigments. India, Ethiopia, and other countries have long traditions of watercolor painting.

Transparency

It refers to transparent paints that let light pass through, allowing the objects beneath to be distinctly seen.

What is Semi-transparent?

It refers to pigments that are partially or imperfectly transparent. These pigments allow light to pass through, so the objects underneath can be seen.

How to Work with Transparency or Semi-transparency?

Use a black magic marker to find out the transparency of your paint in any medium. Draw a line on the paper or canvas with a black Sharpie, then paint over it to see the paint's transparency. You can check the tube to see the opacity; however, opacity varies among manufacturers.

Testing for Transparency

Use a black marker, then paint over it with your paints to see if they are semi-transparent or transparent.

Testing pigments for transparency

Preferred Watercolor Paint Brands

Watercolor Travel Kits for Sale

  • The Art Toolkit is a small, compact palette for travel.
  • The A. Gallo honey-based watercolor travel palettes.

Watercolor Paper

The traditional and most common support is watercolor paper. Papers are selected based on their finish and weight.

Manufacturers generally sell three or more finishes, usually labeled Rough, Cold Press, or Hot Press. See "Paper Finishes" for a description of each.

"Watercolor blocks" keep the paper from buckling up when it gets wet or is waterlogged. Once the artwork is completely dry, each paper may be removed using a razor blade or a thin object to separate it from the block.

Types of Paper Finishes

"Hotpress," "Coldpress," and "Rough" are all designations for watercolor paper. Different processes make paper, producing a different tooth or surface texture. Including the following:

  • Unfinished or rough, this finish retains a particular texture. The coarse or textured paper has a strong tooth and can grab smooth materials such as charcoal or pastel.
  • Hotpress is utterly smooth because it has been ironed. This type of finish allows for the most detail or smooth gradations. It is excellent for polished or finished drawings and best suited for printmaking.
  • Coldpress is smooth. It is less textured and has a slightly weaker tooth than rough paper.

Unfinished

It is highly coarse or textured. When manufactured, cylinders are not used to press the paper flat; they are often not pressed at all, or pressed mechanically, resulting in highly textured, rough surfaces. These papers can withstand multiple washes in wet media and are typically preferred by pastelists for enhancing texture.


Hotpress

It is incredibly smooth. When manufactured, heated cylinders press the paper flat, causing it to mold and flatten into a smooth surface. Hotpress papers are typically preferred by portrait artists, pen-and-ink artists, and anyone looking for control or precision in their mark-making, including detailed watercolor paintings.


Coldpress

It is coarse or textured. When manufactured, unheated cylinders press the paper flat, leaving minor grooves on its surface. Coldpress papers are typically preferred by landscape artists, watercolor artists, pastelists, or anyone looking to exploit the surface texture.

Brushes

See the following topics.

Recommended for Watercolor

  • da Vinci Watercolor Series - Traditional Quill - Sizes 1 & 4 - Pure Russian Blue Squirrel for Mop & Wash Techniques
  • Esconda Versàtil or Escoda Reserva Kolinsky-Tajmyr
  • Mimik Kolinsky Synthetic Sable
  • Princeton Neptune #10
  • Silver Brush Limited Black Velvet
  • Squirrel Quill or Mouilleur Brush

General

Tools

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Misters

You can slow the drying time of water media by misting your paints or surface. You can purchase an inexpensive bottle for spraying water at any local or art store.

Watercolor Atomizer Bottle—This high-quality atomizer bottle creates a stippled mist, ideal for many painting techniques. It is a clear, 2-oz (59-ml) plastic bottle with a non-clogging nozzle.


Techniques

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Washes

This technique is primarily used in watercolor.

Wet into Wet Wash

It is produced by first wetting the paper surface with clean water. "Charging in" is the addition of color to wet paint. It's created by painting on the wet surface with a wet brush that holds a lot of pigment. Once sufficient pigment has been added to quickly fill the entire area, let it dry.

Flat Washes

A flat wash is used to cover a large area of paper. Using only one color is the most basic water medium technique, resulting in an even tone area across the paper. The more water added, the lighter the tone will be. The more pigment added, the darker the tone will be.

The Bloom Effect

Also called backrun happens when clean water comes into contact with on wet or semi-wet paint already on the paper. It also occurs when a wash is partially dry and more water is added, usually from the brush. The clean water pushes or spreads the existing pigments outwards, creating a cauliflower-like or flower-like ring when it dries. If you do not want this effect, it is important to let your washes completely dry first before adding water with your brush.

Gradation

It is a watercolor technique used to transition. It is a visual effect that may create space, distance, atmosphere, volume, and curved or rounded forms. Any of the following may be used in a gradual change.

Value

Change in value from lighter to darker (or vice versa), i.e., a change in tint or shade.

Color

Change in color or hue (gradually from one color to the next), e.g., from red to blue or vice versa.

Temperature

Change in temperature (gradually from one temperature to the next), i.e., from warm to cool or vice versa.

Intensity

Change in brightness or dullness (from one chroma or intensity gradually to the next).

Wet on Dry

The advantage of this technique is that you have more control. It is produced by adding water to your brush with sufficient paint or pigment onto dry paper.

Glazing

It is a layer of semi-transparent paint laid over another painted surface, so the original colors still show through. Practice only when the paint is dry. Use a THIN wash with color and a soft brush. Drag the brush over another color once or twice, then let it dry. The layers of paint in different colors create an optical color mixing effect.

Color Mixing

Color mixing studies from Stacy Egan's notebook.
To enlarge, click on the image.

Earth Yellow Mixtures
Brown and Gray Mixtures
Neutralized (Earth) Oranges
Neutralized (Earth) Yellows
Color Study of Greens
Neutralized Greens

Palettes

See the following.

Bright Earth Palette

Created by Artist Nita Leland

Color Paint or Pigment Number Manufacturer
Yellows Indian Yellow
Permanent Lemon Yellow		 Holbein
Holbein
Reds Perylene Red
Burnt Sienna
OR Transparent Oxide Red		 Holbein
Holbein
Rembrandt
Blues Indanthrene Blue
Hydrangea Blue OR Navy
Indigo OR Blue Black		 Winsor & Newton
Holbein
Holbein
Green Olive Green
Greenish Yellow		 Holbein
Holbein
Earths Raw Umber OR Burnt Umber
Raw Sienna
Mars Yellow OR Gold Ochre Mars Violet		 Holbein
Holbein
Holbein
White Permalba Weber

Getting Started

There are many ways to start a watercolor painting. Some depend on the final intent and some are based on individual skill set or preferance.

Layering

Layering is primarily used in watercolor and may also be called "Illuminism" or veiling. It involves building up color with several thin layers of transparent paint, where a transparent watercolor wash, or a thin layer of pigment, is laid over, or "veiled," over another layer, creating a darker or richer color. Each paint layer must be dry before the next layer is applied.

Underpaintings

Begin by creating an underpainting to cover most of the white of the paper. Build the values over the underpainting using the pencil lines as a guide but, let each layer dry before the next pass.

First Pass Underpainting in Watercolor

Viscosity

It is a term used for the paints fluid’s resistance to flow from brush to surface. Think of honey dripping off a spoon versus water pouring from a bottle. Honey, with its slow, syrupy flow, has a much higher viscosity compared to water. Paint behaves the same way, and striking the perfect balance is key to how it performs when you are painting. There are environmental contidions that influcence viscoisty but, it may be manipulated with mediums to be thick or thin as well as the amount of paint on your brush.

"Tea, Milk, Honey" is a layering method and watercolor cheat sheet on a single page that walks you through the layering process, using the paint viscosity. The handout is a folded booklet that is also crammed with notes on sketching in watercolor, created by Marc Taro Holmes.

Milk, Tea, Honey Approach By Marc Taro Holmes. Retrieved August 19, 2014, from citizensketcher.com

Tea = locoal color, Milk = shadows, Honey = Deepest shadows

Perserving the Lights

Working from light to dark.

Masking Fluid

Used to perserve the white of the paper and removed at the end after the paint has dried.

Lifting

One of the biggest challenges in watercolor painting is controlling the water in your brush. If you accidentally end up with a puddle of water on your paper because you had too much water in your brush, make a "thirsty brush" by rinsing it out, then squeezing the water out with a paper towel or sponge. The brush will absorb the excess water.

Working with Darker Values

Working from dark to light.

Local Color

Begin by build the values or darker shadows with the local color but, let each layer dry before the next pass.

Begin with the Darker Shadows First

Background Last

Paint the object allowing the paper around it to remain white, then after the paint has dried lightly spatter the paper afterwards.

Adding the background color last

Resources

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General

Still Life

Animals or Wildlife

Landscapes

How to Books

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