Watercolor for newbie?
Sean Dougherty
A question for the masters out there... or at the least the far more
experienced.
I have a fair background in painting and drawing. A long time ago, I
experimented with water colors, and I was quite very disappointed with
the results (probably because it was the cheap, cheap stuff)... however,
after recently using various watersoluble media, my interest has
been resparked.
I've read previous posts here as to the merits of student quality versus
artists quality... however, as a student my wallet doesn't like the look
of the artists paint.
My question amounts to, as a nearly notal newbie to watercolor painting,
but not a newbie to painting in general, will I be impairing myself
greatly by using less expensive paints at first? In other words, is real
Cobalt Blue going to revolutionize/make-or-break my waterpainting
experience?
I've found a good palette of 15 colors will run around $70-$170 (depending
on brand) in the artists color, and as low as $30 in the student. Granted,
I'm getting more than double the paint in the artists tubes... which can
even out the difference, but that's still quite a bit of money.
Finally, does anyone have any words about Maimeriblu watercolors in
comparison to other brands?
Thanks in advance...
--
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zi...@interport.net
Quite a few years back I was offered the water color course at my
school. The teacher who taught it had retired. I chose to teach it as
a small painted sketching course [direct fromthe motif] in opaque
acrylic. Students who preferred were alllowed to use commercial egg
tempera or casein .
Watercolor is a wonderful medium but most unforgiving. It is
technically the most difficult of all water base media. True
watercolor uses the white color ofthe paper to determine the value
[light and shade] of each tone. This means you have to be a master
draftsman to determine where each tone will go and then keep from
forgetting where the whites are and the subsequebt values go. If you
are an amateur it twists the whole activity out of learning art into
learning a technique. I am against it. That does not mean I don;t love
the medium, but it seems quixotic to attempt it with all the easier
and more controllabkle water base mediacommerciallt available.
You failed before not because you used poor quality paint, but because
the whole process is too hard.
I think teachers who teach it first are like those who teach dry point
first in intaglio. The physically simplest but most difficult of all
media to produce a plate in and to print.
Gabriel
Charles Eicher
In article <seandEJ...@netcom.com>, se...@netcom.com (Sean Dougherty)
wrote:
> I have a fair background in painting and drawing. A long time ago, I
> experimented with water colors, and I was quite very disappointed with
> the results (probably because it was the cheap, cheap stuff)... however,
> after recently using various watersoluble media, my interest has
> been resparked.
It would help if you described exactly what it was about water media that
rekindled your interest. I rarely find two artists who feel the same way
about a medium. I can only guess at your interests.
> I've read previous posts here as to the merits of student quality versus
> artists quality... however, as a student my wallet doesn't like the look
> of the artists paint.
I probably wrote some of those posts describing the virtues of higher grade
materials.. Fortunately, not all high-quality pigments are expensive, just
certain colors. Also, very high quality pigments have higher tinting power,
and go farther. One thing I did for many years was buy little tiny 3ml
tubes of Holbein extra-fine grade watercolors. Even the expensive colors
are affordable, when you are only buying a tiny amount of them. Then, I'd
work in a small watercolor sketchbook (actually, it helps to have several
notebooks, so one can be drying while you are working on another).. You
don't have to cover huge square footage of paper to experiment and get a
sense of what you want to do. Sketching small worked well for me, and as a
bonus, small brushes aren't as expensive, you can probably afford better
sable brushes at small sizes.. I use some nice archival paper 5x7
notebooks. Hey, even paper is cheap, if you work on small! One other good
tip, you can buy the little ceramic "rosette" to hold your watercolors.
These are ceramic trays that have 6 or 7 compartments, you can put a tiny
dab of liquid watercolor in each pan. If it dries out, you can stil reuse
it next session (its like cake watercolor). I have a nice portable
watercolor pallette by Sakura, it works like that, but has a little niches
for the colors, around a large flat mixing area. You can just drag out
little tiny amounts of pigment out of the wells, into the mixing area. It
helps conserve paint.
However, it isn't really necessary to be a purist, and work exclusively
with high-end materials. For example, I do a lot of work in Sumi ink. One
day I ran out, and the art store was out of sumi, so I bought some cheapo
black Tempera (you know, cheap poster paint). It has some really bad
qualities, which I discovered I loved. Now I do a LOT of work in Tempera,
exploiting exactly those "bad" qualities.
> My question amounts to, as a nearly notal newbie to watercolor painting,
> but not a newbie to painting in general, will I be impairing myself
> greatly by using less expensive paints at first? In other words, is real
> Cobalt Blue going to revolutionize/make-or-break my waterpainting
> experience?
Probably not. But then, if you're working with a $1.95 8-color set of Prang
pan watercolors (like they use in kindergarden arts & crafts) you WILL
notice the difference.
> I've found a good palette of 15 colors will run around $70-$170 (depending
> on brand) in the artists color, and as low as $30 in the student. Granted,
> I'm getting more than double the paint in the artists tubes... which can
> even out the difference, but that's still quite a bit of money.
I can't find a good catalog that lists my favorite brands, but you could
probably buy a few good colors and work with those. In the Daniel Smith
catalog, I saw one small 10-color watercolor kit from Windsor & Newton
(artists grade, not Cotman student grade) for around $30. But its only 5ml
tubes. You could get a 12 color set of 15ml tubes from Van Gogh for just
under $30. Might be worth experimenting with the good stuff, especially if
you are working small (size equals money!)
Also, don't forget, there's other water based media out there. I like to
mix media, like gouache and watercolor. There are colored Sumi inks, they
have a rabbit-skin glue as a binder instead of Gum Arabic, it works quite
differently than watercolor or gouache. I even know one woman who works on
paper using acrylic paint so thin that it looks like watercolor. In fact,
she was the one who really got me working in water media.. I discovered a
lot of interesting things, looking over her shoulder..
Explore, and enjoy. Try a lot of different things, you'll gradually develop
your own preferences. But don't get discouraged if things don't turn out as
you expect at first. Practice, practice. If it was easy, hell, ANYone could
do it!
| Charles Eicher |
| -=- |
| cei...@inav.net |
sch...@lookingglass.net
In article <63k338$hrt$2...@broadway.interport.net>,
zi...@interport.net wrote:
>>I think teachers who teach it first are like those who teach dry point
first in intaglio. The physically simplest but most difficult of all
media to produce a plate in and to print.<<
I don't disagree with your statement regarding watercolor. But when
teaching intaglio nowadays, the opposite is true IF -- and note I
say IF -- one uses acrylic plastic for the plate... When I first
tried this superb material for drypoint, it amazed me how many
good prints I could get from each plate. And the transparency of
the plate allows one to scribe directly OVER -- trace if you will --
any preliminary drawing (considering the print will be in reverse,
of course). Working with acrylic is so much easier than using
metal plates -- from ease of rounding the edges to not having the
scribe 'jump' when gouging. I use a sharp etcher's needle for most
of my 'drawing' (scribing). T'bird.
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Sean Dougherty
cei...@inav.net (Charles Eicher) writes:
>It would help if you described exactly what it was about water media that
>rekindled your interest. I rarely find two artists who feel the same way
>about a medium. I can only guess at your interests.
Most of my work is mixed... not any one material alone, and the look of
the watercolor makes a wonderful contrast against pastels, or marker, or
even with pen. The "semi-hard" pastels I work with (Sakura Carre) are
mildly water soluable, but they don't make a good base really, and lack
transparency (which is good in many respects!).
When I started playing around with watercolor pencil, I was getting the
effect that I wanted, and gradually I've found myself bloting areas of
color on another sheet and transfering color by brush to the work...
basically using them as water color. And the results I'm seeing as far,
far better than anything I was ever doing beforehand with watercolor.
Undoubtedly this is in part because of my greater experience, but I have
a hunch it's in part better materials (colors, paper, & brushes).
> [.. many good points ..]
>tubes. You could get a 12 color set of 15ml tubes from Van Gogh for just
>under $30. Might be worth experimenting with the good stuff, especially if
>you are working small (size equals money!)
I've always seen Van Gogh advertised as student grade? Of course, if it
works as well as artist's paint, it doesn't matter to me what the label says.
> [.. even more good points ..]
>Explore, and enjoy. Try a lot of different things, you'll gradually develop
>your own preferences. But don't get discouraged if things don't turn out as
>you expect at first. Practice, practice. If it was easy, hell, ANYone could
>do it!
Quite true. Thanks for the advice from everyone so far!
h...@webtv.net
> experienced.
>
> experimented with water colors, and I was quite very disappointed with
> the results (probably because it was the cheap, cheap stuff)... however,
> after recently using various watersoluble media, my interest has
> been resparked.
>
> artists quality... however, as a student my wallet doesn't like the look
> of the artists paint.
>
> but not a newbie to painting in general, will I be impairing myself
> greatly by using less expensive paints at first? In other words, is real
> Cobalt Blue going to revolutionize/make-or-break my waterpainting
> experience?
>
> on brand) in the artists color, and as low as $30 in the student. Granted,
> I'm getting more than double the paint in the artists tubes... which can
> even out the difference, but that's still quite a bit of money.
>
> comparison to other brands?
>
> Thanks in advance...
> ____ ___ _ __ ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ _________ _ _
> ( __| __|/ \| \ | | | | | _| | | __| \_ _| \ / | se...@netcom.com
> _\ \ | _|| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | _|| | / | | \ ' / finger for PGP
> ____)|___|_|_|_|_| |__/|___|___|___|_|_|___|_|_| |_| |_| and homepage
> note to unscrupulous business people: unsolicited commercial email not wanted
Well, you're a newbie at watercolor--I'm a
newbie at this www and making all kinds
of mistakes "posting"!
This is my second try to reply to your
question.
I've worked in watercolors for about ten
years and understand the complexities and
frustrations that a new artist deals with
regarding supplies.
Check your local library for The Wilcox Guide To The Best Watercolor
Paints. You will find that sometimes the student and professional grades
are equal in quality in some of the brands. It never pays to buy cheap
paints--what if you accidently paint a "masterpiece" on cheap paper using
inferior paints?
Also, most of my supplies come from a
Seattle, Wa. art store, Daniel Smith.
They have an outstanding inventory with
a knowledgable staff. Their catalog is
free and their mail order is dependable.
Hopefully, you won't get discouraged. I
teach a small private class in watercolor
and drawing and the only thing I insist
on with my students is quality supplies--
if you plan to paint alot, you'll never
notice the difference cost wise over time.
Watercolor requires alot of practice but
the learning process is so exciting and
the media lends itself to alot of satisfaction in that it offers alot of
surprises.
Remember, a good palette is not necessarily a large one---you should be
able to produce all you want with ten
or twelve colors of good quality.
Good luck......hope ths helps a little.
hbg
LARSPAINTR
Watercolor by its nature takes on an experimental feel, so mistakes are simply
part of the process. And for every successful finished painting U will end up
with 10 to 20 that collect dust under your bed.
As with anything else, if you dont make mistakes you wont make anything at all.
Suggest beginning class a local college so U will have some structure to the
color mixing process, laying in washes evenly, stain vs. pigmented colors,
paper weights and finishes, and so on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lars
Master of Arts in art, emphasis in watercolor,
Western Michigan University.
itsalar...@aol.com Delete 'itsa' if sending E mail.
Nita Leland
If you want to be able to mix every color of the spectrum, you need just
six colors. These are the ones I use: New Gamboge and Winsor Red to mix
yellow-orange, orange and red-orange; Alizarin Crimson and French
Ultramarine to mix red-violet, violet and blue-violet; Winsor Lemon and
Winsor Blue (Red or Green Shade) to mix blue-green, green and yellow-green.
The mixtures are clean and bright. To make earth colors and neutrals, mix
opposites on the color wheel or add a little burnt sienna to your colors. I
call my color mixing system the Split Primaries and it is described and
demonstrated on my video, "Basic Color Mixing."
-- Nita Leland
nle...@erinet.com