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 real cadmiums 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. 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. OPINION 1. I'd also add... 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, Windsor & Newton Cottman, Van Gogh and Dick Blick. 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 and Holbein 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).
The professional grade paints are usually made from one pigment. Cheaper paints mix cheaper pigments to get the same result. If the tube has the word "hue" after the color name, you can be pretty sure it's a blend and not the pure single pigment. I'd recommend getting cheap colors in the smallest quantity possible, 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
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