Sunday Secrets #31

 This entry was originally posted on Sunday,  August 19, 2012

Another question from Jenny of California is:

What watercolor magazines would you recommend? 

That is a good question, Jenny.

Thank you for asking.

 

I have been a long time fan of American Artist's Watercolor magazine.

There are 4 issues each year and it features some of the best watercolorists out there.

American Artist (the parent magazine) is also worth the investment.

 

Watercolor Artist is another good magazine with some useful tips for beginners.*

 

This past year I was introduce to a really fabulous watercolor magazine from France.

It is The Art of Watercolour.

I was blown away by the work in the pages of this publication. 

It represents many international watercolor artists, 

some of whom I have never heard of.

There is a digital edition but I prefer perusing the hard copy.

It can be ordered by clicking here.

Update: American Artist and Watercolor Artist are no longer in publication. There are now other publications about art and watercolor that stemmed from these magazines. One is The Artists Network. More information can be found by clicking here. 

A wonderful online publication is American Watercolor Weekly. More information can be found here. 

 The Art of Watercolour  is still being published.

Breaking It Down

   This entry was originally posted on Friday,  August 17, 2012

If you feel overwhelmed and rushed when working wet-in-wet,

try breaking the painting down into sections and don't try to do it all at once.

For instance, in the above painting, I am doing the dress wet-in-wet.

I started with the top part and only worked on that area down to the sash.

The pocket wasn't done until the first area was dry.

Then I continued on breaking the dress down into sections, ending each section at folds or other lines that were already there in the painting.

Sunday Secrets #4

  This entry was originally posted on Sunday, February 12, 2012

I have two questions to answer this week.

These questions were asked as part of the comments posted on my YouTube video about pouring watercolor.

The first question was:

How do you wet your paper (while pouring)? 

Before I begin pouring paint, I wet my paper thoroughly.

I do this with a large hake brush. A hake brush is a wash brush with soft hairs. I prefer this over a regular wash brush because the bristles are softer and don't scratch or lift the layers of paint I have already put down.

I sometimes will pour water onto the painting and spread it all over the paper with the hake brush.
Then I pour the paint.


The second question was:
Do you use less water on the paper as you add darker layers?
No, I do not use less water on the paper but I do use less water in the paint.
For the darker layers, I wet the whole paper again with the hake brush. I will then shake off the water that is sitting on top of all the layers of masking fluid. While the paper is still wet, I pour the paint that is more concentrated in color.

Treatment of Brushes

 

This entry was originally posted on Friday,, January 13, 2012.

NEVER EVER LEAVE YOUR BRUSH IN WATER!

First of all, if you leave it in the water, the tip will bend or break.

Or the handle will become waterlogged and crack.

So you don't want to dry it standing up either.

The best way to dry your brush is to lay it flat and leave it flat in between washes.