Watercolor Know-How

Watercolor Know-How
By Susan L. Ruff
Watercolor is a very versatile medium for expression. The painting styles can range from quick & loose to detailed hyperrealism. Whatever style you want to pursue is entirely your choice.
The portability, speed and spontaneity of watercolors make it great for taking on vacations or walks in the woods. Watercolors make a nice addition to other art and craft mediums like calligraphy and rubber stamping. By investing in a few basic tools and learning some simple techniques you can develop a hobby that will give you a lifetime of enjoyment.

INTRODUCTION:
There are two watercolor types available, transparent and opaque. Opaque watercolor is also known as gouache. For the purist, no white paint is used with transparent watercolor. White is the paper showing through.
Gouache is more forgiving. If an error is made, the correct color can always be added on top and cover the mistake.

BASIC MATERIALS:
PAPER: Most watercolor is done on white paper, but color paper is also available.
Watercolor paper is described by its weight and texture: The actual texture of a paper will vary depending on the manufacturer.
Rough - Great for large, bold, expressive paintings and ones where texture is the main focus of the painting,
Cold-Pressed- (c.p.) Also known as "not". Has a nice texture (tooth) to it, but is still smooth enough to allow for small details.
Hot-pressed- (h.p.) A very smooth surface. This is difficult to work with for beginners.
The thicker the paper, the less likely it is buckle when you put large amounts of water on it. A lightweight paper is 90# (pounds). 550# paper is as thick as cardboard and doesn't have to b e stretched or mounted before use. A good all-around paper is 140#, cold-pressed. 9 x 12" is a good size for starting out.
Paper is available in individual sheets and as a "block". A block is a pad of paper that has glue on all 4 sides. This keeps the paper from buckling when using large amounts of water. Paper sold in sheets need to be prepared for use by mounting it onto a sturdier board. (Editor's Note: I can have this link to a section on a few different ways to mount paper or look to see if you have a mounting system in your product database.)
Experiment with different papers to find the ones that you like.
Watercolor boards have a paper surface mounted on a cardboard base. The raw edges have to be taped prior to use to avoid water damage to the inside of the board. Velour watercolor board is also fun for interesting effects. It's similar to regular watercolor board, but it has fuzzy velour paper as the painting surface.

PAINT:
Transparent watercolor paint is available in tubes and pans. Tubes are more versatile than the pans, you can put out as little or as much paint as you need and you can achieve denser dark colors because you don't have to add as much water to tube paint to make it usable.
The pans are full of semi-moist paint and are good for use in sketchboxes and for small paintings. They come in 2 sizes - full pan and half pan.
You only need a small selection of colors to create a wide range of colors: Please note that Black and White paint are NOT on the basic list.
Yellows: Cadmium Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre
Reds: Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red Light
Blue: Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt or Cerulean Blue
Green: Viridian
Browns: Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber
Nice, but not absolutely necessary, colors: Cobalt Violet, Payne's Gray, Cadmium Orange, Hooker's Green, White Gouache
(Note: If you can afford it, buy the professional grade of Cobalt Violet & Cobalt Blue. They are more transparent and brilliant.)

BRUSHES: Brushes come in many shapes, sizes and materials. The hairs can be synthetic, natural or a combination of both. Inexpensive synthetic brushes can yield good results. A starter set of brushes consists of: #8 round, 1" flat nylon brush. The round brush should come to a nice, sharp point. If you plan on doing larger paintings you will need to get larger brushes.

PALETTES: A large palette with a lid and large mixing areas is a good choice. Unlike oil and acrylic, it's OK to let your watercolor paint dry in the palette. It can be reactivated with water.

ADDITIONAL BASIC EQUIPMENT: Pencils- 2H & 2B, pencil erasers, paper towels and a water bowl.

NICE, BUT NOT ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, SUPPLIES:
o Tracing Paper- about the same size as your watercolor paper
o Small bristle oil painting brush - handy when removing color
o Sponges - natural & household, good for textures
o Bulb syringe (aspirator)- good for adding larger quantities of water to you paint without having to rinse your brush.
o Hair dryer - to speed up dry time in large areas

GETTING STARTED:
There are many books, videos and teachers who all have different theories about how and why to paint.
Here are a few simple rules to get you started:
1) Plan your painting.
2) Build your painting from light to dark in color and value. A color can always be made darker, but it is very difficult to lighten many watercolor pigments. You should also plan where you need pure white.
3) Build your painting from the background to foreground.
4) Details go on last - the exception to this rule is when you are painting a portrait of a person or animal. If you don't get the face correct, the eyes in particular, you may as well try again.
5) Practice! You can learn a lot by doodling and just playing with your paints and papers. It is just paper. If you mess up, start on another sheet. Look at a variety of watercolor paintings and mentally figure out how the artist did it.

Plan your painting-
Decide what you want to paint. For a beginner keep it simple like a single flower, a 2-3 item still life of simple shapes or a landscape with no buildings.
If you are confident of your drawing skills go right ahead and sketch it in lightly directly on the watercolor paper. If you are not so sure, do your drawing on tracing paper and then use graphite paper to transfer the basic outline of the drawing on to the watercolor paper. If you draw directly on the watercolor paper and then have to erase, you will mar the paper's surface and paint will not react to the erased area the same way as the untouched paper.
Put your paint on your palette:
Put in your palette only the amount of paint that you think you will need for your painting session. Use small blobs of paint, about the size of a dime. Arrange your colors so all the reds are in one area, all the greens in another, etc. it will make it easy to choose which color to use.
Painting techniques:
Wet into wet: Put plain water on the area that you to paint. Add paint to the wet surface. The paint will spread and give a soft look. Wet into wet washes, or glazes, can be applied on top of each other after the initial glaze has dried. (illus- digital photo)
Wet on dry: Apply paint onto a dry paper surface. The edges of the stroke will be sharp, not soft. (illus-scan)
Drybrush: Use a paintbrush that has a little paint on it, it should be almost dry. Particularly good for grasses, fur, hair and other textures (illus-scan)

Put your paint on your paper:
Colors can be mixed on the palette and then applied to the paper. Color can also be mixed on the paper by layering one color on top of another. For instance put down a light blue, let it dry and then glaze over it with yellow to create green. Whichever way you do it, don't overmix your colors. A patch of green is much more interesting when it has a variety of colors in it, including the original yellow and blue that combined to make the green.

Black & White:
White is usually just the paper showing through. To keep an area white, it's best to just not paint it. Other ways to keep or create a white:
1) Masking fluid is a liquid rubber that is painted on an area that you want to remain white. When the painting is finished and dry, rub a clean finger over the masked area to remove it.
2) Lift the color out with a brush.
3) Scratch the paper - After the painting is dry use a craft knife to scratch in small highlights. you can tear the paper.
4) Sometimes white paint is necessary to get a white highlight with a softer edge than the masking fluid allows. Use white gouache, not white watercolor. Gouache covers better. (illus-scan-toto)

Black that comes in a tube just isn't very interesting. It's better to think of black as a "dark" value. Mix a good black by using equal parts of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue for a "warm" black, and equal parts of Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue for a "cool black".

FINISHING UP:
Thoroughly clean your brushes after each painting session. Do not leave brushes standing in water, the hairs will curl and the brush will lose it's shape. After the painting dries remove it from the watercolor block or the mounting board.

Glossary:
Block- a pad of watercolor paper that is almost totally sealed on all four sides to prevent paper curl while painting.
Ferrule- is the metal part of a paintbrush that holds all the hairs together
Flat brush- paintbrush that has a squared off bottom. It is measured in inches wide.
Glaze- a layer of transparent color
Gouache- an opaque watercolor that has a little thickness to it.
Gradient- a gradual color transition, from one color to another or dark to light of the same color.
Graphite Paper- has graphite on one side and is used to transfer a sketch to paper or canvas by tracing.
Masking fluid- a rubbery liquid that is painted on areas that need to remain white.
Round Brush- paintbrush whose hairs taper to a sharp point
Tooth- the texture of a paper
Watercolor Palette- a flat, usually plastic, container that has different areas for keeping and mixing paint.

Bio
Susan L. Ruff is a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, fine artist and crafter. She has taught watercolor and drawing classes for both adults and children. Some of her watercolor paintings are available as limited edition prints. Susan's illustrations have appeared in clip art books for Dover Publications and Graphic Products Corporation. Her other book credits include writing, designing and illustrating the ScanBook series for machine embroidery. Susan lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, son and two terriers.
Susan can be reached by email

Illustrations

Brushstroke illustrations