Mediapedia Watercolor

Mediapedia Watercolor, KSIĄŻKI RYSUNEK

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Mediapedia
■
By Birgit O’Connor
Autumn Sky
(watercolor
on 140-lb cold-pressed
paper, 12x10)
What is
Mediapedia?
Mediapedia is an encyclopedia of
art media.
e Artist’s Magazine
will profi le a diff erent medium
in each issue for the rest of 2009.
Next up: colored pencil.
(usually gum arabic). When mixed with water, the pigment particles
can spread out across the page. You control how the pigment blends and
ows by regulating how much water you use.
This medium has always been perceived as very unforgiving, offer-
ing the artist little control. However, the transparent effects and luminous
washes possible with watercolor are unrivaled.
Watercolors are much less toxic than many other media, and manufac-
turers are continually working on improving and producing nontoxic
substitutes for the cobalts, cadmiums and lead-based paints. When using
these colors, nd a way to dispose of your dirty water so as not to endanger
waterways.
■
is article is excerpted from
Watercolor
Essentials
© 2009 by artist
Birgit O’Connor
(
and is used with
permission of North Light Books, an imprint
com or your local bookseller, or call 800/448-
0915 to obtain a copy. O’Connor is also the
author of
Watercolor in Motion
(North Light
Books, 2008). e self-taught artist has shown
her luminous paintings all around the world.
W
atercolor is pigment suspended in a water-soluble vehicle or base
Paints
Watercolor is available in different grades and
a variety of forms. Experiment to nd out what
you like and what works in your paintings.
■
Cakes of color
usually have very little glycerin,
so the hues appear concentrated. If you do use
this type of paint, soften it by adding water to
each color before you begin.
■
Pans
are similar to cakes but have more glycerin,
making them semimoist and easier to use.
■
Highly concentrated colors in bottles
are striking;
however, since these liquid colors are so strong, a little
can go a long way. Also, these paints aren’t
usually lightfast and can fade over time.
■
Tub e c o l or s
, my personal favorite, have a moist, creamy texture that blends
beautifully when mixed on the palette or on paper.
My basic materials list
Palettes
■
brushes; No. 30 natural-hair round, Nos. 8, 14, 20 sable/
synthetic-blend rounds, Nos. 3, 8, 20 synthetic rounds, wash
brush (2½ -inch bamboo hake brush, sky fl ow or mop)
■
No. 2 pencil or B art pencil
■
vinyl eraser
■
plastic one-gallon or two-gallon water container
■
paper; 140-lb. Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper (for
exercises), 300-lb. Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper (for
paintings)
■
plastic palette with cover
■
paper towels (to lift out excess water and create texture)
■
hair dryer (to speed up the drying process and prevent
unwanted backwashes—be sure to apply heat evenly)
■
old terry cloth towel (to keep your painting surface clean
and remove excess water from brushes)
■
transparent watercolors
Make sure that you have a large enough palette with a
large mixing surface so that you have room to mix a cou-
ple of diff erent combinations at a time.
ere are several ways to set up your palette. You
can arrange your colors in groupings of lights and darks
or warm and cool colors, or you can create a color wheel
so that complementary colors are opposite each other.
Large, plastic-covered palettes work very well.
ey’re light for traveling and inexpensive
enough that you can keep several palettes with
a variety of colors for diff erent subjects. I prefer
medium-depth fl at wells. Water tends to accu-
mulate in the bottom of deeper wells, making
the color too diluted.
Here are some of the interesting strokes
you can create with fan, mop, cat’s tongue,
round, fl at, fi lbert and sword brushes (top to
bottom).
Brushes
Watercolor brushes can be expensive, but a few good
brushes can last almost a lifetime if you take care of
them. The
most common brush types
are the following:
■
Round
brushes are very versatile. Their brushstrokes
range from wide and rounded to thin and delicate.
Rounds create a soft, organic feel.
■
Flat
brushes are angular and stiff. They create a delib-
erate, hard-edged appearance. Flats are good for both
wide and thin strokes.
■
Filbert
brushes are at with a rounded point. They are
useful for blending edges.
■
Cat’s tongue
brushes are lbert-style brushes with a tip.
■
Fan
brushes have spread-out bristles in a fan shape.
■
Detail
brushes have tips that are short, pointed and
precise.
■
Line or liner
brushes have long thin tips and are good
for detail lines.
■
Sword/dagger
brushes create interesting brushstrokes,
ranging from wide to very thin. They work well for paint-
ing fence lines and ropes.
Different
brush fi bers
produce different results. Blends
and synthetics work well for more controlled paintings,
while natural brushes hold more water and color and are
softer, creating looser paintings.
■
Natural hair
brushes hold the most water and are soft
enough to easily layer color upon color without lifting
previous layers.
■
Synthetic
brushes spring back to form quickly and hold
much less water than blended or natural-hair brushes. Some higher quality
synthetic brushes are almost comparable to sable/synthetic blends.
■
Sable/synthetic blend
brushes are a nice balance between natural hair and
high quality synthetics. They can hold ample amounts of water and are soft
enough to layer without lifting.
Brush handling
and care
If you take care of your brushes, they
can last a long time.
■
First and foremost, never leave your
brushes tip down in a jar or water con-
tainer, even if only for a few moments.
is can permanently damage the tip.
■
Instead, keep an old terry cloth
towel next to your container.
■
Clean off your brush; then place it
on the towel.
■
Dip your brush in water before you
begin to prepare the tip.
■
Dip your brush in water before dip-
ping it into paint.
■
Avoid submerging the entire tip in
paint. Keep the color out near the
point, not by the ferrule.
■
Use watercolor brushes for water-
color only.
■
Use only old inexpensive brushes for
masking fl uid.
Paper
There is a wide variety of ne art paper available; each paper reacts with
watercolor paint differently (see examples below, at left).
■
e hot-pressed sheet
dries in the mold and then is run through heated
rollers. This paper is smooth, hard and not very absorbent. Hot-pressed
paper is ideal for drybrush techniques. It also works well for loose paintings
where backruns and blossoming can be used to your advantage.
■
e cold-pressed sheet
is removed from the mold before the paper is
quite dry, then pressed without heat. It’s semi-smooth and easily workable,
absorbing water and color well. It’s the most commonly used surface for
watercolor.
■
e rough sheet
is allowed to air-dry in the mold without any smoothing or
pressing. Color skips across the very rough, absorbent surface and settles in
the hollows, creating interesting effects. Rough paper is wonderful for bold
work.
In the scale for
paper weights
, the higher the number, the thicker and
stiffer the paper is. Lighter-weight papers such as a 90-lb or 140-lb tend to
buckle more and accept less water and handling. Heavier papers such as
300-lb are able to accept more water, lifting, reworking and general han-
dling. Standard watercolor paper weights include 90-lb,
140-lb and 300-lb, with some new additions now available
in 260-lb and 400-lb weights.
Paper is sold in various formats.
Blocks
are pads of
mold-made, 100-percent cotton paper with sealed adhesive
edges. Blocks come in a variety of sizes and eliminate the
need for stretching.
Sheets
are available in various sizes. A standard full
sheet is 22x30, a single elephant is 25¾ x40, a double ele-
phant is 30x40 and a triple elephant is 40x60.
Te n -y ard ro ll s
of 44½ -inch paper are a very economical
way to purchase paper. You can cut any length you want.
To remove the memory of the curl, cut your paper to the
desired length and soak it in a tub; then hang it on a line
with clothespins, or mount it to a board with staples.
Sizing
is a glaze applied to paper to make it more resis-
tant to moisture absorption. Paper with both internal and
external sizing is best.
Traditionally in
preparing the paper
, most watercolor
artists soak and stretch their paper before painting. This
prevents buckling and allows you to use lighter-weight
papers. Stretching paper removes the surface sizing,
which then changes the ow of color for the initial wash. I
prefer to work with heavier, 300-lb paper because no prep-
aration (soaking or stretching) is necessary. I do not attach
my paper to boards because I want my paper to be exible
and to bend if necessary.
Hot-Pressed
Cold-Pressed
Rough
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