watercolour question
Southern Crafter
I'm using the kid's watercolors and I know absolutely nothing about
watercolor.
I decided I was ready for a step up from Crayola, (don't laugh too
hard! LOL) - and it seems all I find are very expensive watercolours
for those probably much more sophisticated than I - (I don't even know
what the tubes are for, exactly!) - or kids watercolor sets.
Is there sort of a mid-range that would give me a bit higher quality,
maybe more depth and variety of color - without taking the big plunge?
I also think the stores I've visited are pretty limited.
Also, any suggestions about places I should look online?
Thanks! Any help is much appreciated!
SC
amig...@my-deja.com
colors [color tray], the difference is the manufacturer. This is also
true of watercolor pencils. However, most tube-based watercolor
pigments seem to give more vibrant colors, but I've seen paintings from
palette-based paints where I couldn't tell the difference. Whether tube
or Crayola, it also depends on how much water you use (brush wetness,
etc.). Hopefully we'll hear from an expert. However, I do have a
watercolor Web site listed in my other browser which I'll have to
search through.
[joe]
In article <7pt7go$ied$1...@news1.alltel.net>,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
PHeppnerjr
booklet that goes with the class... I discuss the various tools used in
watercolor.
You will have favorites in watercolor brands... just like in inks and stamp
companies...
My favorites? Two.... Old Holland (this is the best) and Holbein. Both of
those are the best in my eyes.
Why? Well, when you use them they have a wonderful concentration of pigment.
You do not have to apply many coats to achieve the look you desire. In the
long run, they last a lot longer than the less expensive brands.
In watercolor, the better your materials, the less your frustration.
Some brands that I have used, and are ok (you'll pay less money than the two
listed above, but those listed next won't give you the same richness in pigment
due to concentration): Winsor & Newton, Grumbacher, and Daniel Smith. These
will allow you to achieve a better quality painting than lesser brands on the
market.
There are tubes, cakes, pencils, and crayons. I don't know who makes the
crayons since no one sells them here.
Carol Heppner
Note: I will be teaching a watercolor class in Allentown at Happy to Inspire
this October. Contact: Holi...@aol.com
mik...@home.com
I am not a watercolour expert by any means, but I do use this medium
to color in my stamped images about 50% of the time and can share what
I know and the brand I like best. When I was a Fine Arts major in
school I used the expensive "artist-grade" watercoulors in tubes (keep
in mind, this was a loooong time ago and memories fade), tube colors
are very true, intense, vibrant colors that I feel can be matched
using one of the better "pan" sets (dry cakes of color). Expensive
tube colors, in my opinion, are just not necessary for stamping. I
would suggest going with a good-quality pan set. I use Staedtler
Karat Aquarell's basic pan set - 12 colors, I think I paid a bit over
$20 - well worth it. Nice portable case with a built-in mixing
palette in the lid - I use it constantly. They also have a 24 color
set for about $40 - I would go with the basic - you can mix any color
you want. I know there are other "better" brands of pan sets out there
- the quality all being just as good - just different price ranges.
You can pick up sets like these at any fine art supply store.
Also, there are some fairly good articles on watercouloring in a
recent issue of Somerset Studio and the Rubber Stamper (not sure which
issues). There may be some tips on choosing watercolours in these
articles.
Have fun!!
Nancy
Southern Crafter
I love this list! Talk about getting exactly, to the point what you
need!
I've received very blank, puzzled looks (at best! A bit
condescending, at worst! LOL) from art supply store employees as I
posed the same question.
Thanks so much for all your time!
SC
PHeppnerjr
would suggest going with a good-quality pan set.<
Depends on the person... I love tubes over pans.. And feel that you should
buy the best quality watercolors you can buy.
Yes, I use my very expensive brand of tubes for Rubber Stamping... I like the
way they look...but, I use them my watercolors, so I have them here.
A few of my cards were in the Rubber Stamper watercolor issue both in the
article and as a contributor. I used the Old Holland and Holbien on the cards
shown. It was the May/June issue of this year.
As you (the reader) can see.. there are many different thoughts about
watercolor pigments..... There are no right or wrong answers... it's really up
to you to decide what is best for you.
It's also very good to hear from people that differ in thoughts. Again... no
right or wrong thought... just what is best for them. Normally, it's basied
upon their experience. Then you get to make up your own mind.
But there is something that Nancy said that is MOST important. And that is to
have fun.
Art should be fun!
Carol Heppner
Tina Pendleton
brush art markers or tombows (any marker really), scribble onto a plastic
palette or anything plastic, then get your paint brush as wet as is desired,
pick up some of the scribbled color, and paint!!! Not a bad look, and you
have just as many colors as you do markers!!!
--
Tina Pendleton
<mik...@home.com> wrote in message
news:VAxw3.9379$ok3....@news.rdc1.il.home.com...
> Hi,
>
> I am not a watercolour expert by any means, but I do use this medium
> to color in my stamped images about 50% of the time and can share what
> I know and the brand I like best. When I was a Fine Arts major in
> school I used the expensive "artist-grade" watercoulors in tubes (keep
> in mind, this was a loooong time ago and memories fade), tube colors
> are very true, intense, vibrant colors that I feel can be matched
> using one of the better "pan" sets (dry cakes of color). Expensive
> tube colors, in my opinion, are just not necessary for stamping. I
mik...@home.com
money. Maybe should have worded my post differently - tube colors are
certainly not necessary, but are indeed the best.
Nancy
phepp...@aol.com (PHeppnerjr) wrote:
>>Expensive tube colors, in my opinion, are just not necessary for stamping. I
>would suggest going with a good-quality pan set.<
>Depends on the person... I love tubes over pans.. And feel that you should
Southern Crafter
considering all aspects of what I needed in your responses! Like the
value for the dollar in terms of what I really needed for what I was
trying to do; and yet not wasting money on junk either!
Tonight, my darlin' hubby came home with a package of tube colors made
by Georgia (?) - never heard of them. He was at Wal-Mart, and saw
them for $10; and thought for that price he'd take a chance and see if
it was something I could use.
It's way past my bedtime or I'd be in there right now taking a look at
just what mysteries those tubes hold!
I don't know how to mix them- just whatever consistency I like to work
with?
It was kind of comical how I turned the package around, like a cat
looking at a box of Tender Vittles- not sure just how to get started;
but knowing I need to get in there!
So far they look more like finger-paints! LOL (Can you tell I have
kids, or what)!
You can just send your tutoring fees to the email above! ;D
SC
Pat Kight
Southern Crafter <Sourther...@authorsvoices.mail22.com> wrote:
>I don't know how to mix them- just whatever consistency I like to work
>with?
Lots of water and not much paint. Remember, they're called *water* colors.
(-:
Seriously -- get yourself a plastic palette -- or use an old plastic
coffee can lid -- and squeeze just a *dab* of a few colors at various
places around the rim, then load up your brush with water and touch it to
the color; use the free part of the plastic to mix. If you use too much
pigment, it'll get muddy looking.
When you're painting stamped images, less really is more -- the colors
will stay surprisingly vibrant even when they're well diluted. You might
also get some good watercolor paper (it's kind of thick and quite
absorbent) and play around with what happens when you paint water on the
page and then add touches of color while it's still wet -- you can get
really wonderful effects.
Chances are that your local arts and crafts store has a cheap book on
basic watercoloring; it's worth the investment. Look for one with tips on
color mixing. And have a ball!
--Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
amig...@my-deja.com
at http://watercolor-online.com; however, the exact answer to your
question has been posted here by other ng readers. The answer is not at
watercolor-online (I checked before posting this).
I use the cake [pan] colors more often than I do the tubes (laziness).
My watercolor pencils are in my carrying case for emergencies.
Have fun with the tubes your husband bought home for you.
[joe]
In article <7pt7go$ied$1...@news1.alltel.net>,
"Southern Crafter" <Sourther...@authorsvoices.mail22.com> wrote:
> I just started using watercolors with my stamped images- and love it.
> I'm using the kid's watercolors and I know absolutely nothing about
> watercolor.
>
> I decided I was ready for a step up from Crayola, (don't laugh too
> hard! LOL) - and it seems all I find are very expensive watercolours
> for those probably much more sophisticated than I - (I don't even know
> what the tubes are for, exactly!) - or kids watercolor sets.
>
> Is there sort of a mid-range that would give me a bit higher quality,
> maybe more depth and variety of color - without taking the big plunge?
> I also think the stores I've visited are pretty limited.
>
> Also, any suggestions about places I should look online?
>
> Thanks! Any help is much appreciated!
>
> SC
>
>
Southern Crafter
Pat Kight wrote in message <7pvv44$q26$1...@news.NERO.NET>...
>In article <7pvueb$29i$1...@news1.alltel.net>,
>Southern Crafter <Sourther...@authorsvoices.mail22.com> wrote:
>
>>I don't know how to mix them- just whatever consistency I like to
work
>>with?
>
>Lots of water and not much paint. Remember, they're called *water*
colors.
>(-:
>
>Seriously -- get yourself a plastic palette -- or use an old plastic
>coffee can lid -- and squeeze just a *dab* of a few colors at various
>places around the rim,
I knew there was a reason I saved the inside of candy boxes! Alert to
spouses! Godiva boxes work best!
then load up your brush with water and touch it to
>the color;
OH! LOL! I got carried away on the water part- and came up with
something the texture of food coloring; with less pigment!
use the free part of the plastic to mix. If you use too much
>pigment, it'll get muddy looking.
THEN- I got the mud!
>
>When you're painting stamped images, less really is more -- the
colors
>will stay surprisingly vibrant even when they're well diluted. You
might
>also get some good watercolor paper (it's kind of thick and quite
>absorbent) and play around with what happens when you paint water on
the
>page and then add touches of color while it's still wet -- you can
get
>really wonderful effects.
THIS turned out some magic! Just when I was about to decide I really
wasn't ready to graduate from crayons!
>Chances are that your local arts and crafts store has a cheap book on
>basic watercoloring; it's worth the investment. Look for one with
tips on
>color mixing.
-OK- I thought these were just for artists!
Why don't we just save these newsgroup posts - and publish our own!
It would be the most effective information in the least amount of
space I think!!
And have a ball!
>
This happened after the "mud" episode!
>--Pat Kight
>kig...@peak.org
Thank you so much!!!!
SC
Southern Crafter
DDavisborg wrote in message
<19990825225517...@ng-fp1.aol.com>...
>You could try using watercolor pencils that you can purchase at any
Michael's
>or Hobby Lobby store in your area. You will also need to get a Zig
brand
>blender pen to use these. They are wonderful - you just color in the
image
>with the pencils and then when you are finished you use the blender
pen and
>they become water colors. You can do one color and let it dry then
if you need
>a different shade just add some more pencil and blend again.
I love my water color pencils very, very much! I haven't used a Zig
blender pen. Is that anything like the Dove blender pen I use with my
markers?
I have used it with my watercolor pencils, and occasionally even with
water colors for small areas, or to "neaten" things when I get color
over the embossed part of the image and it looks cloudy. I'd be
really interested in knowing if it's similar to the Dove pen; or if
this is something totally different that I'll have to go buy
tomorrow!! ;)
The pencils are harder for me to work with on the really detailed
stamps that I like so much. The tiny watercolor brushes make those so
much easier; or I probably would never have ventured from the pencils!
Tube Update:
The images with my tubes look like Looney Toons! We're talking Tweety
and Yosemite Sam in primary colors!
So far, my attempts to create subtle, spring garden-type shades result
in mud; or back to cartoons!
Fortunately, I'm working on a bunch of cards for kids (btw - from
someone's earlier post about the site who handles the cards for ill
children- and thanks whoever you are!) - soooo the tubes are pretty
nifty for that. But, uhm- I don't know if it's the brand!? More
likely it's the person behind the brush!
Better wait 'til I read one of the books before I try something for a
grown-up! Back to the pans for now, I guess. Sure would be nice to
make up my own colors, though! I'll keep trying!
SC
DDavisborg
amig...@my-deja.com
"Southern Crafter" <Sourther...@authorsvoices.mail22.com> wrote:
[snip]
> Better wait 'til I read one of the books before I try something for a
> grown-up! Back to the pans for now, I guess. Sure would be nice to
> make up my own colors, though! I'll keep trying!
> SC
A very good book on watercoloring and mixing your colors is a book
called "Watercolor" or "Watercolor Painting" (I forget which) by the
Anderson Brothers.
[joe]
amig...@my-deja.com
pencils. I've always used one or two of my paint brushes (large round
or flat for large areas and a smaller one for smaller areas).
[joe]
In article <19990825225517...@ng-fp1.aol.com>,
PHeppnerjr
talking Tweety and Yosemite Sam in primary colors!>
If that is the case than you have too much pigment in your mix. Water down
your mixture a bit more.
Ah..... mud! We knew it well. Only we now call it greys!
Mixing watercolor colors takes time to learn... at first, don't mix large
quanities. Experiment...
Do not mix more than two colors when you just start.
Go with a light hand. Yes, watercolors will lighten as they dry....
(example... your hair is darker when wet)... but you can always apply a second
coat.
Watercolors may look easy, but they are more difficult than they look.
Carol Heppner
sNJ
Pat Kight
Southern Crafter <Sourther...@authorsvoices.mail22.com> wrote:
>The images with my tubes look like Looney Toons! We're talking Tweety
>and Yosemite Sam in primary colors!
>
>So far, my attempts to create subtle, spring garden-type shades result
>in mud; or back to cartoons!
More water! more water!
(-:
Really: Use a wet brush and just *touch* it to the color. If you want to
mix colors to get a different hue, do it on the palette before you paint.
BTW, those of you who prefer pan colors to tube colors might see if you
can find a source for Asian art supplies. I have a set of Japanese
watercolors I inherited from my mother, who picked them up in the late
1950s when we lived in Japan. Despite the fact that they're nearly 40
years old, they colors remain are absolutely brilliant.
--Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
Eccentrici
(PHeppnerjr) writes:
> I don't know who makes the
>crayons since no one sells them here.
>
>
In my store, I carry the Lyra Aquacolor crayons. Mary Jo McGraw introduced me
to them, and I love them. I have to admit though that I use watercolor
crayons, pencils, pan and tube colors. It just depends on the project.
Darla (I'm not obsessive compulsive, I swear!)
Eccentricities
PHeppnerjr
I have seen these demonstrated at a convention (wasn't JudiKins... it was
someone else in Boston the year before JudiKins started using them) and thought
that they were wonderful.
As a watercolor artist that is use to paying an arm and leg for her pigments, I
was VERY impressed with the watercolor crayons! They would be wonderful for
those just starting out in watercolors.
So... if you read this and you are near this woman's store... check them
out!!!! If you live near an Art Supply store (look in your phone book) check
them out as well!!!
Carol Heppner