Watercolor Lesson #1 - Introduction
Needed Supplies:
- Watercolor Paints – tube or pan type watercolors
*Good Quality and Affordable brands = Winsor & Newton; M. Graham & Co.; Holbein; Da Vinci; Daniel Smith; Rembrandt; Grumbacher
There are two grades of watercolor paints: Student and Artist:
Student Grade - has less true pigment (which is what gives the paint its color) and instead uses more binder and less expensive hues and pigments to create a cheaper version of the paints. Which, while they are cheaper, you have less vibrant colors and it doesn’t quite cover as well. However, I have found that they can be pretty useful in under-paintings to get a light base and not use so much of my artist grade paints.
Artist Grade – has pigments created from minerals, calcinated earths, animal and plant material; and some synthetic substances. These will be of higher quality, cover better and result in more vibrant and true colors. You will use more water with these paints. A little paint will go a very long way.
- Brushes – you want to have several sizes and styles available.
*Use SOFT bristle brushes to absorb more water and create even and smooth washes and lines.
*Use HARD bristle brushes to achieve details and certain effects.
Round brushes – good for details
Square brushes – good for washes
Angle brushes – good for both.
Specialty brushes (such as a fan brush or even a toothbrush) – used for different effects.
* include at least one large brush to create smooth washes.
- Watercolor Paper –
*Good Quality Brands – Canson, Arches, Strathmore,
Fabriano, etc
Important aspects of good quality paper –
- Weight.
The average weight used is 140lb (It has less
warping and is less expensive than other
weights) the second most popular but more
expensive is 300lb paper.
- Surface.
Hot pressed – fine grained and smooth
Cold pressed- medium rough texture
Rough – course texture
- PH Level : Acidity levels need to be neutral or they will
degrade and yellow over time. You want to look for
papers labeled as ‘Archival’.
- A Paint Palette- I've found that a scrap piece of glass or plexi-glass works wonderfully (Just make sure the edges
are sanded smooth).
- 2 water containers – one for cleaning brushes and one for clean water to use while mixing or thinning colors. (coffee
cups work well)
- Painter’s Tape / Masking Tape
- A Pencil, Eraser and sketchbook
- Transfer paper
- Paper towels
Supplies used to achieve different effects:
- Masking Fluid (Rubber Cement works very well and is far less expensive)
- Salt (Kosher, Sea Salt, or Table Salt)
- Hydrogen Peroxide/Alcohol
- A Rough Sponge
- Seran Wrap/Aluminum Foil/Grass/leaves/cloth/tissue paper (aka anything you can lay over the paint to get the effect of a simulated texture)
An Introduction to Watercolor Painting
Watercolor is, as it states in it's own name, a water-soluble paint. This means that the only additive that you truly need when painting with this medium is just simply, water.
The paint is a transparent medium, and as you work, you can either paint by mixing the colors directly on a palette or create the colors and shades you want through creating layers of paint on the paper itself. In the second, you would let one layer of paint dry and then paint over it later with a wash of the same or a different hue. The more water you use to mix your paints, the more transparent the layers will be.
The most difficult part is that you must learn how to control the water. In my paintings, I usually start with more water at first and use less as the painting progresses. So, for example, I use 80/20 water to pigment at first to get the base colors in and then, when I start doing finer detail, I change it to 40/60.
Step 1:
Stretching watercolor paper.
In this first step, you are preparing your paper. You will want to stretch any paper that’s weight is less than 200lbs to avoid warping.
The website above explains 4 different ways to stretch your watercolor paper. Stretching the paper the night before is very important in order to avoid possible warping and will allow your finished painting to dry perfectly flat.
Step 2:
Create a sketch or even a fully rendered drawing.
While your paper dries dries; flesh out that drawing of yours. Shade it. Figure out just what you want it to look like in the end. Shading the image shows you the black and white version of how you want the image to end up looking. Meaning: your end product will look more finished and you will have fewer decisions to make and less mistakes along the way. You can erase watercolor...sort of. But it would be best to believe that what you put down will stay there.
In fact, that’s part of what you have to learn. Let go and accept the mistakes by turning them into something successful. A ‘happy accident.’
Step 3:
Create a transfer image.
- Lay transfer paper over your sketch. Tape down the edges so that it doesn’t move and then start tracing the contours of your image with a pencil.
- When you are finished tracing your sketch, carefully remove the tape from the edges and place your image (face down) over a scrap piece of paper.
- Then RE-TRACE on the back with an HB/B lead pencil.
- Finally, flip it over and lay your tracing (darker trace down) onto your prepared watercolor paper. Re-tape your tracing to keep it from moving around and causing smudges.
- Use an F pencil to retrace over the back of the tracing, which results in a light transfer of your image onto the watercolor paper. Lightly add details as needed if it hasn’t transferred entirely.
Step 4:
Begin your painting!
Here you can see my tracing underneath on the left side as I’ve begun to paint over the top of it. (Do not worry, most of it will be covered as you paint and you can erase whatever you can see at the end. I, myself, do not worry about the leftover pencil marks. I actually like leaving a bit of my process in the painting.)
There’s a couple ways to go about this. Depending on your style, you can put down a flat wash over the entire painting to give it a certain mood/atmosphere. You can also copy your shading from your sketch in a single hue.
In the above image, I did a little of both. I first laid a very transparent base of Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna and tossed some salt down over the wet paint for my own entertainment. Then, as you will notice in the ear, I took the Yellow Ochre and brought a bit of the shadows in. I did this 2-3 more times as needed in certain areas. Finally, I simply mixed a dark of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue to add details to the nose, eyes and mouth.
I chose this image because you can see a bit of my process from left to right. You will need to allow each layer to dry before you move on to the next layer.
Watercolor requires patience. Each layer will need to dry in order to avoid muddying the colors. You want to keep the colors vibrant, clean and clear (one of the main qualities that is admired about watercolors) and make sure the white of the paper always shines through in the highlights and lighter areas.
Below is a finished shaded image of The Lion and the Mouse. As you can tell, the mouse got muddied! I worked too much on him and now his face is rather dark so his eye blends in too much. But, you live and learn. That is how it is with watercolor.
Some extra advice - It's my opinion that you will never EVER need white watercolor. The white of the paper will be your lightest highlights and you will work backwards to the shadows through each layer of paint. So, flip your brain around from working with acrylic or oils. You will work the opposite of what you’re most likely used to. If you absolutely need to make some corrections, use white ink. White Gel Pens actually work very very well to correct small mistakes or bring some highlights back (Get your 90's on).
You should also never use black watercolor (also in my opinion). You can easily mix a much more interesting and vibrant dark tone using simply Ultramarine and Burnt Umbre/ Burnt Sienna.
Thank you for reading and I hope that this will help any beginner who is wanting to start using watercolor. If you would like some further instruction, this is a very good beginner website - http://www.watercolorpainting.com/index.htm
I'll be posting more information on how-to's for different watercolor techniques soon!
All the best,
Alana Rose
