A Word About Pigments
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Rule 1. No two watercolorists agree on palette colors. Some have fall,
winter, spring and summer pallettes, some think greens are sinful, etc., so
what I say here is personal opinion as regards colors.
Rule 2. Some watercolors are toxic, especially the cads and cobalts. Don't stick
your brush in your mouth to bring it to a point.
Rule 3. Know the characteristics of your pigment before you use it, so you
won't be surprised at the results.
Rule 4. Transparent Watercolors come in three types - transparent, staining
and opaque.
Some colors, notable the thalos, siennas and payne's grey, tend to absorb into
the paper, and are considered staining colors. They are hard to remove from
the paper, therefore, think before applying. Other colors are very transparent.
Lemon yellows, rose, alizarin crimson, and ultramarine are good examples.
Some colors are rather opaque and will tend to cover up other colors.
Cobalt blue, olive green, and many of the earth tones fit here. Cobalt blue, olive green, and
many of the earth tones fit here.
Why is it important to know this? Because you need to know which colors
make good glazes, and which tend to hide others. Mixing opaques with
transparents give different results than mixing like kind pigments.
(If you want to really study this, get a book at the library, such as one of the
inexpensive Walter Foster books. Or you can do Like I do, and haunt the used and
book stores for good deals. You really need a book with charts and
stuff to figure this out. No email letter or online lesson is really fully adequate.)
One thing you will want to do is make your own color charts with the pigments
you choose. Mix each color with every other color you have so you can see the
results. You will find that not only do blue and yellow make green, but other
colors do, also! I won't say which other ones do - you'll have to figure it out <G>.
Rule 5. You will need at least 6 colors, with one warm and one cool in each of the
primaries.
- Cad red = warm red (opaque)
- Alizarin crimson = cool red (transparent)
- Lemon yellow = cool yellow (transparent)
- Cad Yellow or New Gamboge = warm yellow (opaque)
- Cerulean Blue = cool blue (opaque)
- Thalo Blue or Ultramarine = slightly warm (in my opinion, transparent) = slightly warm (in my opinion, transparent)
OPINION 1. I'd also add...
- Raw sienna - Great for making greens and for landscapes.
- Payne's Grey - you can mix this, but why bother? A transparent neutral tint.
- Sepia or Raw Umber - nice dark browns, and they make nice olive greens.
- Hooker's Green - Your basic all-around green green.
My palette includes the above, plus Thalo Green, olive green, ivory black, Raw
sienna, transparent ochre, cad orange, permanent rose, & cobalt blue.
OPIONION 2. Do you need expensive paints? NO! Will expensive paints give
better results? YES, USUALLY. What are good cheap brands? Grumbacher
Academy™ and Windsor & Newton Cottman. What are good middle brands? Davinci. What are good expensive brands? Rembrant, Windsor & Newton, Holbien? What do
I use? Davinci in the earth colors, Windsor & Newton & Rembrant for other
colors.
There is not all that much difference in the earth tone pigments and Thalo
colors, but in the cad and cobalt colors there is a BIG difference. Cerulean blue is much better in the high grade, but it ain't cheap (neither is cobalt blue! Just spent 15 dollars on a tube, of course it lasts a long long time).
I'd recommend getting cheap colors in the smallest quantity possible, and
experiment. Once you've determined , and
experiment. Once you've determined what your pallette will be, get better
quality paints as you run out of the cheap ones.
OPINION 3.
Remember - SUCCESSFULL WATERCOLORS ARE DONE WITH LESS THAN 6 COLORS AT THE
MOST - you don't need every color on the rack!
Now, make sure your palette has an adequate area to mix and muck around in, and go
for it!
Good luck!
Windspinner
©1998 John Beckwith