Watercolor newbie
Kerr Reno
a not-so-good brush, three tubes of color (red, yellow & blue), a palette,
but it's rather small and has six little holding areas for the H2Ocolor.
Does anyone:
1) Know of a good mail order place I can get stuff
2) Have any recommendations for equipment (I know cheap = lousy, but I'm
no professional either)
3) Exactly what equipment do I need to start. I think I might like to
do outdoor stuff (but not in this weather!)
4) Should I use pans or tubes of H2Ocolor?
5) What good books are there on doing H2Ocolor (even though I work in a
bookstore, I don't know which books are good...and I can't even get a lot of
the books in print even then) I'd prefer something for the novice, of
course. I have something by Parramon/Fresquet called "How to Paint in
Watercolor" (I think) which doesn't seem all that bad. At least they're not
jumping from doing cubes to the female nude like a lot of books.
6) What's a fun thing for a novice to paint?
Thanks a million guys!
-Kerr
--
Kerr Reno -- KERR...@delphi.com /| ' MPG: "Kerr, Haagen Daas has
Journalist/Bookseller/Pragmatist |/ /> _ discontinued Peanut Butter
New Jersey, USA. For now. |\ \ |\|(_) Vanilla" KR: "OH NO!" =8O
FRAN...@delphi.com
1) The best Art MO supplier is DANIEL SMITH 800-426-6740. tHE 2ND best and
somewhat cheaper is CHEAP JOES 800-227-2788
2) For equipment get Cheap Joes round brushes Golden Fleece and Water Hawk,
Best colors are the Daniel Smith Colors. Very good and cheaper are the
Da Vinci colors. Be sure to get the Wilcox Guide to Watercolor Paints to
really learn whose naughty and nice among the manufacturers.
3) Have 140# cold pressed paper, a large plastic palette and water bucket
and a board to clip your paper to.
4)Don't even think of pan colors; they're for kiddies. Tube colors only!
5) The Wilcox Book is a must. Since most beginners paint mud I would advise
Jeanne Dobie's "Making Color Sing" which could be sub titled "How to
avoid mud.
As a beginner concentrate on getting deep dark clean areas of color. Avoid
any streaks and scratchiness. Most of the books are lousy in that like the
TV shows teach you how to cut a slick caper with salt & knives & frisket.
In W/C less is more and it's the most difficult thing on earth. All the
books on earth won't be as good as an hour a day of practice. Did I
care you off?
I realize all of the above is an over simplification but it might inspire
further questions which I'll be glad to answer. Good Painting
-Frank in Delaware-
Stephen F. Combs
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From: kerr...@delphi.com (Kerr Reno)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.fine
Date: 30 Dec 1993 06:40:54 GMT
Organization: Delphi Internet Services
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NNTP-Posting-Host: delphi.com
Kerr,
I'm also a newbie to watercolor, and do things a little differently
than most. I'm experimenting with using an airbrush for art and have
discovered all of the wonderful things which can be done with watercolors
and gouache. I recomend the following books:
1. Drawing on the Artist Within
by Betty Edwards
2. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
by Betty Edwards
The above two books cover a lot of the same stuff BUT are not the
same book! Book number 1 is Betty's extrapolation on the stuff
she presented in book number 2. Book number 2 is a copy of an
art course she teaches/taught? at Cal State, Long Beach CA.
For drawing/perspective and color I recomend book number 2
(the color has been added to the latest printing of the book)
For raw creativity improvement (using drawing to help visualize
problems, etc) I recomend book 1. (I've got both).
3. Blue and Yellow DON'T MAKE GREEN
by Michael Wilcox
This book does the best job (in my opinion) of explaining color
and how to avoid MUD(i.e. brown/black) when mixing colors. He
performed a study of the physics of light and pigments/dyes
and has helped me (a partially color-blind old fart) in my
understanding of and ability to consistantly blend/mix colors.
His final palette consists of 26 colors (you don't need all of them
or even most of them at first). He starts out with 6 colors and grows
from there.
I don't recommend mixing colors on a palette/mixing well and then
applying them. I layer ('course I'm using an airbrush and applying minute
quantities). As far as paper is concerned, I can't really say, as I'm
exploring alternatives right now (I've use Strathmore 140lb watercolor paper,
Strathmore/Bienfang Hot press & Cold press Bristol board, and even xerox
paper (for an extreemly smooth surface wich can take very little water and
almost NO rough handling, xerox paper and use the clay coated side [the side
which is supposed to be loaded into the copier face-up!]).
As far as paint goes, I use Windsor & Newton (both Cotman & Artist)
tube colors. My wife loves the Cotman half-pan watercolors (which have been
discontinued by W&N according to our local art supply store). I have also
used LeFranc & Bourgeois Artists' Watercolor. In Gouache, I use W&N and
Holbein Acryla Designers Gouache. The Holbein is a gouache with some acrylic
binders in it. It goes on like W&N and, until about 45min after it dries, can
be worked just like W&N. After the 45min period it's permanent.
--
=============================================================================
Stephen F.(Steve) Combs GE Industrial Sales & Services
Work E-Mail: Com...@Salem.GE.COM 1501 Roanoke Blvd.
Home E-Mail: CombsS...@Salem.GE.COM Salem, VA 24153
============================================================================
Loyd
that i'm having some nice results with at the end
>Hi! Recently, I've been interested in doing watercolor. Right now, I have
>a not-so-good brush, three tubes of color (red, yellow & blue), a palette,
>but it's rather small and has six little holding areas for the H2Ocolor.
> Does anyone:
> 1) Know of a good mail order place I can get stuff
i've had good experiences with the daniel smith people but
as watercolor supplies aren't very difficult to find it would
be just as easy to get them locally, although the daniel smith
people do offer pretty quick delivery(something like 2 days)
2) Have any recommendations for equipment (I know cheap = lousy, but I'm
no professional either)
3) Exactly what equipment do I need to start. I think I might like to
do outdoor stuff (but not in this weather!)
* a little box to put your tubes of paint in
* something to protect your brushes and keep them from getting
bent(you can get little bamboo thingies that you roll your brushes
up in fairly cheaply)
* a few brushes, not too small and not too large(this of course
depends on which direction you would like to go as far as handling
the medium, i.e. tight&detailed as in dry brush or fast and loose,
wet in wet, etc.) you also might like to buy a wash brush-which
looks like a miniature house-painting brush, ie. wide and flat.
* paper-there are all kinds of weights(thickness) and surface finishes(smooth
to rough) to choose from. popular weights for water color paper range
from 140lb to 300lb(which is supposed to be how much 144 sheets of the paper
will weigh, as i recall). the lighter sheets will buckle more when wet
and so may require being soaked and then taped(while wet) to a stiff support,
usually particle board. you can also buy water color blocks, which is a bunch
of sheets stacked one on top of the other and glued at the edges. as a
beginner it's probably best to pick up some pads of spiral bound watercolor
pads. they're not very good quality, but they're fairly cheap and good to
practice on.
* paper towels, to dry your brush in case you want to pick up some of the
color you laid down, and in cases of the inevitable knocking over of the water
jar.
* water containers
* palette box. the big white plastic ones are fairly cheap and hold plenty
different colors and have lots of space to make puddles of color. but
if you're not traveling about, an old dinner plate will work fine.
> 4) Should I use pans or tubes of H2Ocolor?
my personal preference is tubes.
> 5) What good books are there on doing H2Ocolor (even though I work in a
>bookstore, I don't know which books are good...and I can't even get a lot of
>the books in print even then) I'd prefer something for the novice, of
>course. I have something by Parramon/Fresquet called "How to Paint in
>Watercolor" (I think) which doesn't seem all that bad. At least they're not
>jumping from doing cubes to the female nude like a lot of books.
hmmm. well for me, a well done watercolor is wonderful, while a bad one
drives me up the wall like nothing else can. and i think there are a lot
of bad watercolor books out there. but if you come across a book and you
like the paintings in it, then buy it. let your personal preference be
the guide. for me, i like the books by charles reid, because i like the
way he handles the medium. i also look for books containing the stuff
of 'the masters'(homer,eakins,wyeth-your mileage and taste may vary).
my view being, if you're going to seek inspiration, seek it from the best.
also, if at all possible, try to find a class to join. doing something
in the company of other people who share your interests is an inspiration
and encouragement in itself.
also practice drawing
> 6) What's a fun thing for a novice to paint?
anything and everything. as someone said 'practice is the means
whereby we invite the perfection desired'.
----------------------------------------------
i noticed mention in the thread of arches and various other
water color papers, which most people are fairly familiar with.
currently, i'm doing some watercolor sketches on a paper called
guttenberg laid(available from 'bookmakers' outside wash d.c.)
daniel smith sells a laid paper that looks similiar from what
i can tell from the catalog, although d. smith's is bright white,
while the guttenberg laid is off-white.
it's also an excellent drawing paper. i coat the sheets with
a neutral/warmish watercolor wash, then with berol verithin
terra cotta pencils and kneaded erasers, drawings in the manner of
old master sanguine chalk drawings can be produced/attempted(for those that
like that sort of thing...real sanquine chalk not being commercially
available, and sanguine conte being a broader medium)
with the addition of berol verithin black pencils the trois-crayon
technique can be attempted(holbein, rubens, etc).
a thick wash of chinese white with a color tint provides an
excellent ground for silverpoint drawings. i've tried these
techniques with other papers but haven't found them to be
as strong as the laid. and none of these ideas were mine, by
the way. i'm taking a figure study class devoted to 'old master'
materials/techniques.
loyd