Watercolor Column

Paints

Adapted from article by Ken Austin, NWS, SWS

People who don’t paint in watercolor usually think it is the most difficult medium. These people are saying the technique is difficult. Creating is difficult but not the technique. The technique is learnable. Watercolor is not any harder than any other technique-dependent medium. But to work in watercolor you must be FEARLESS. If you use it like a wimp, your work will look wimpy. If you paint below your skill level, it looks amateurish. This shows more in watercolor than in most other mediums. But strength comes with assurance and assurance comes with experience. If you do meet artists in other mediums who think watercolor is tough, by all means agree with them. It will make our watercolors sell for more!

Watercolor paints come in several forms and many qualities. They range from those which won’t mix and will fade quickly to those that paint like a dream and last for hundreds of years. The main differences are two; the quality of the craftsmanship in the paint’s manufacturer and the cost. Many very good brands are on the market. Most of these come in two levels of quality: artist and student. The main differences to you are in the cost, the number of colors available in each type and how the paint acts as you apply it. Artist quality colors mix easily, maintain color evenly, go on the paper easily and are of reliable sameness from tube to tube. Student quality paints are made from the same ingredients but usually contain more filler or binding agent and seem to dry out in the tubes more quickly. They are much less costly. (Avoid using inexpensive watercolor in pans like they do in elementary school art classes, they are heavy in binders and white paint mixtures, therefore very opaque).

Some of the better brands of watercolor paints are, Winsor and Newton, Grumbacher, Sennelier, DaVinci, American Journey and Holbein. (I don’t recommend American Journey for beginners because the manufacture gives these paints unusual names that aren’t identified with the actual color in the tubes and mixes colors within the tubes. You need the manufactures color chart to know what you are buying)

Then to make things even more complicated, watercolors come in two types: transparent and opaque. Transparent is what we refer to in most cases. Opaque include gouache and tempera. Many opaque watercolors have the same names as the transparent ones and are made by the same companies so be sure you are buying what you intend to.

Colors also differ in their ability to stand light. Those which will fade are called “fugitive” colors. In general cheaper colors will fade faster, do not handle as well, and don't have the better intensity of color when you mix them.

In addition, colors can be staining or non-staining, more transparent or more opaque depending on how they are made, as well as granular or non-granular.

When you buy your paints you should have the true color as well as warms and cools of that color. You can start with a basic palette of the three primary colors, red, blue and yellow plus their warm and cool partners.

Paints contain natural organic materials. Therefore, they are susceptible to mold, especially in a warm, humid climate. You can let your paints dry on your palette and when ready to use them again give them a light spray of water. If you do see mold, remove the paint from the palette, throw them away, clean the palette and rinse it with Lysol. Don’t use them or your paintings may develop a strange growth on the paper when matted under glass.

Finally, be careful. Paint is not necessarily healthful. Don’t stick paint-laden brushes in you mouth or in your coffee! Don’t eat a sandwich or a cookie with your fingers loaded with fresh paint. In recent years, manufacturers have reduced the use of many toxic chemicals and minerals in their paints but you still need to be careful.