Sunday (Saturday?) Secrets #3

  This entry was originally posted on Sunday, February 5, 2012.

It is Sunday which means I get to answer another question that came into my email box this week.

The question this week is 

Do I ever mix brands of paint? 

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, I have all different brands of paint that I paint with.

My favorite brands are Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton.

I also have a couple of Graham and Holbein colors in my collection that I really like.

There is nothing wrong with mixing different brands of paint.

However, I try to stick to the brand that I start a painting with.

For instance, if I am using Daniel Smith's French Ultramarine Blue in one painting and I run out in the middle of it, I will try to continue to use the Daniel Smith brand until that painting is finished.

The reason for this is that there are differences in the brands of paint. Some are subtle but some are not.

If the difference is not subtle then my painting will look weird if half of it is painted with one brand and the other half with the other brand.

 

Color Chart

 This entry was originally posted on Thursday, January 26, 2012.

A color chart may seem tedious and boring, especially when you just can't wait to get to painting, but I find it extremely helpful. All you need to use is the colors in your limited palette. I like the mix up my colors in a mid value range (not too light and not too dark- it is the Goldilocks of watercolor) 

For the chart above, I put my colors in my palette across the top and down the left hand side. Then I will begin with pure New Gamboge then I mix New Gamboge with Winsor Yellow (it used to be Aureolin as you can see on my chart). Next I mixed the New Gamboge with Cadmium Red, then with Permanent Alizarin Crimson, and so on and so forth. It is just like a graph. The pure colors are on the diagonal. 

The reasons I suggest doing this chart are the following:

First of all, for those newbies out there, it will help you realize how much water you need to add to get a mid value. It is a common misunderstanding when beginning watercolor that it is to be used thickly and straight out of the tube, similar to acrylic or oil. It does need water added to it to get it moving and flowing.

Second, you will see by your mixes which ones you like better and will even find yourself referring to the chart for a certain color as you are learning your palette. 

Third, you will get to know your colors very well. You will even start to figure out some of the properties of your paints when you do this.

Finally, you might actually enjoy the meditative state of mixing colors.

Paint Properties

 This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

If you really want to know the properties of your paint, each manufacturer posts that information on their website.  Makes life so much easier having that information right in front of you.

My favorite brands are Winsor & Newton and Daniel Smith.

Winsor & Newton is consistently the best brand out there. It is well known for their watercolors and I like how clean their colors are. I don't feel like they are too heavy or chalky with pigment or filler.

 Just look for your color then the T/O on the chart. 

T = transparent

O = opaque

 The chart can be found by clicking Winsor & Newton Watercolors

 

My other favorite brand is Daniel Smith. Their colors are so rich and creamy right out of the tube. Plus they have the coolest names for their paint. Wouldn't that be a great job? They are like the OPI of watercolor. 

The quinacridones are especially wonderful to work with.

 Their chart is actually a color wheel. If you click on a color, it tells you not only its properties but what other colors it goes well with. Very helpful.

*Update:

Daniel Smith no longer has the color wheel that is mentioned above. However, they have another color wheel that can be found here. 

They also have some helpful color charts that explain the properties of all their wonderful colors. 

These charts can be found here. 

The Two Must Have Colors

 This entry was originally posted on Monday, January 16, 2012.

I know I said that you can choose your colors for your limited palette but I feel that there are 2 colors that are absolutely essential to any palette, especially if you are a beginner.

These colors are French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna.

I also call these 2 colors US for Ultramarine, Sienna.

They are extremely universal and versatile.

You will notice that these two colors are used by many of the great watercolorists, including John Singer Sargent.

 

There are many reasons why I use these colors but that will be discussed later.

Limited Palette

 This entry was originally posted on Sunday, January 15, 2012.

Are you one of those people that has a BAZILLION colors and don't ever remember which of your colors you used to get that perfect color? That is usually because you have a bazillion colors.

I highly recommend starting with a limited palette and get to know those colors really, really well before you add anymore. You will also discover that you don't need to add too many more colors. You'll know how to mix just about anything from the colors that you have.

My basic palette consists of 8 colors.

A warm and cool of each primary and 2 earth colors.

All the secondaries can be mixed (imagine that!)

 You may choose your own but I find that having a warm and cool of each color works really well.

This is just my list of basic colors:

New Gamboge (warm yellow)

Winsor Yellow (cool yellow)

Cadmium Scarlet/Red (warm red)

Permanent Alizarin Crimson (cool red)

French Ultramarine Blue (warm blue)

Winsor Blue (green shade) (cool blue)

Raw Sienna (earth)

Burnt Sienna (earth)

Every now and again I do use other colors but I find that I keep coming back to these 8.

Watercolor Poured

Watercolor Poured

Poured Watercolor

14x21"

I've been busy in the very small studio space that I have created for myself. I did another poured watercolor of my watercolor paint tubes. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen the photos of each pour. If not, you can see the step-by-step process below. 

I did 4 pours on this painting. The letters on some of the tubes were too small to try to mask around. So after I pulled off all the mask, I did paint in some of those smaller letters. 

The colors I uses were Winsor Yellow, Winsor Blue (green shade), and Quinacridone Rose. 

The Drawing

Pour 1

Pour 2

Pour 3

Fourth and Final Pour

The Big Reveal

Watercolor 365 illustrations- Masking Fluid

 Illustration of masking fluid

Part of my idea for illustrating Watercolor 365 was to start off with photographs of my supplies and painting tools. Then as the book progressed, my favorite supplies slowly turned into paintings.

One of these illustrations is of masking fluid. So, using my painting know how and my Photoshop skills, I combined a photo of masking fluid with a painting, creating the above image.

Here is the original photo:

And here is the painted version:

This illustration is an earlier image in the book, therefore it is more photograph. 

But can you tell which part is painted now that you know what I did?