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Starting with Watercolour

03/03/2010

many of the paintings on my website are painted using watercolour. There are other works painted in acrylic - which is also a water-based medium. It is possible to use acrylic paints in a similar way to watercolour, though here is where the similarity ends. Watercolour as a medium is quite unique in the way it is applied (if applied properly) and a beautiful subtle and delicate effect can be achieved through the application of washes. Washes are passages of pigment (colour/paint) that are diluted with a fair amount of water, which carries or suspends the paint.
Now let's look at what materials and equipment we need to get started.

Getting Started

Watercolour paints come in two forms:  Tubes and small blocks of paint, known as 'pans.'  Tubes of watercolour may be the more suitable for the beginner. This is because the pan colours come in a box of 6 or 12 colours which are ideal for small scale outdoor painting 'on the spot' They require rubbing or lathering with a wet brush in order to get a pool of colour. With tube colour you can squeeze out as much paint as you require, and it can be mixed on a pallete or plate giving plenty of liquid pigment. As with all materials, it is best to get paints that are a worthy brand for serious artwork - this is important as cheap paints and brushes will not give the results and will only lead to disapointment and frustration.

Brushes needed for watercolour painting are ones that hold a fair amount of water, especialy for washes. You need at least one fairly large wash or 'mop'brush for washes covering a large area: say one that is a number 10 size. The other brushes you will need are sizes 1 to 8. you don't have to buy all of them at first, but as long as you have at least 3 sizes, it will do you untill you are sure you want to spend more money on this pastime. Sable brushes are good soft water-retaining brushes, but there are plenty of ranges of sable/ nylon mixtures available, which are also good, and cheaper.

Watercolour Paper comes in large loose sheets of different thicknesses, or you can buy pads of watercolour paper from A5 to A2 size. The thinest or lightest (w /c paper is classified by weight per ream)is 90lb. i recomend using 140 lb paper as it holds water better and doesn't cockle as easily. You can paint directly on a pad or secure a sheet of paper on a board using masking tape or gum-strip tape ( I will cover this area of 'stretching paper' next time).