Watercolour as a media, is now in a wave of popularity among artists around the world.
Various communities, unions, and associations in every possible way support the activities of watercolour painters by creating many festivals, exhibitions, Plein-airs, and multiple events.
The opportunity to communicate and exchange experiences during these events created ideal conditions for the growing popularity of watercolour painting techniques.
Interactive material that gives incredible effects is, at the same time, the most unpredictable art material in the art world. And very often, creating watercolours using a la prima technique, the artist gives free rein to this unique material, and it is at such moments, he gets impressive results.
Studying the history of the development of watercolour as a media, I realized that a whole book would not be enough to describe all the facets of this unique material. I will try to highlight the top and most important points that should be considered when choosing watercolours.
Watercolours are produced by mixing ground colour pigments, gum arabic, and some additional components. Every watercolour paint manufacturer has its own «secret kitchen». But the gold standard is considered to be watercolour paints, which include a coloured pigment, gum arabic and honey, or, often in a modern version, glycerine. Manufacturers began to add glycerine in watercolours relatively recently until the 19th-century – before honey or sugar occupied this place in the composition.
Currently, on the market for art goods, some manufacturers are faithful to the ancient recipe and continue to use honey to produce paints. It is added to increase the watercolours plasticity or avoid the effect of surface cracking when drying. Without going into complex compositional analysis - these are three main components. But there are additional ones that are responsible for various necessary properties of paints.
The quality of watercolours depends on the proportions and quality of all these components.
The composition of the watercolour is individually indicated on the packaging of each cuvette or tube, and more often, this information contains:
- pigments in a specific colour
- lightfastness
- hiding power of paint or transparency
- the brightness of the paint
- additional properties such as granulation or limited edition.
There are special symbols to denote all these properties.
Pigments
Pigments are of organic, inorganic, natural, and chemical origin. An alphanumeric code designates pigments. Without delving into the chemical composition of the pigment, you can highlight the most important point for yourself: By the name of the pigment, it is easy to understand what colour composition the paint has and what effects can be expected from it when used or mixed.
It should note that the composition of watercolour is mono-pigment and composite.
Mono pigment - such paint interacts well with others since it contains only one pigment, and you will always get a clean, transparent paint layer when using this colour.
Composite colour - by the name, you can understand what contains two or more pigments—not recommended for mixing with other colours.
The first letter in the pigment designation is always the letter P - which means the word pigment; the second is the pigment group. And there are several groups:
P.W.-pigment white (white pigment)
P.Y.-pigment yellow
P.O.-pigment orange
P.R.-pigment red (red)
P.V.-pigment violet (purple)
P.B.-pigment blue
P.G.-pigment green (green)
P.Br.-pigment brown
P.Bk.-pigment black (black)
Thus, knowing the composition of the paint, I quickly select a palette for myself to create new works. For example, when I write the northern sunset sky and rainy autumn clouds, I take the colours that seem the same at first point of view. Among others, for the first, I use the Indigo from DS, and for the second, I use the Indigo from W&N. What's the difference? And the difference is precisely in the pigment composition of the colour. In Indigo from DS - as part of PB60 and P.Bk.6 and as part of Indigo from W&N - P.Bk.6, PV19, PB15 looking at these designations, I can easily understand that the composition of one painting is blue and black pigment, and in the composition another black, purple and blue. When these colours are mixed with my traditional Cerulean and Lemon Yellow, each gives a different effect and colour.
To summarize, under the topic of pigment, we can say that knowledge is power. Knowing the composition of the paint that you plan to purchase or use in your work and the rules for mixing colours and pigments, you can easily choose the ideal palette for yourself with minimal costs for your wallet and nervous system - you will not get unpredictable effects. 😊
It's important to know! The same colours (colour names) of watercolours may differ from different manufacturers. This difference usually lies in the brightness and saturation of the colour and, of course, in the pigment composition.
Lightfastness
The following property that all manufacturers indicate on paints is Lightfastness, and stars indicate it (sometimes, these are letters or dots, Roman numerals are also used, it all depends on the manufacturer).
- not lightfast (not lightfast)
* less lightfast (weak light fastness)
** limited lightfastness (limited, small)
*** lightfast (lightfast)
**** good lightfastness
***** extremely lightfast (excellent light fastness)
The Lightfastness of paint is a property responsible for preserving the original color of pigments under the influence of UV and light. The higher the Lightfastness, the better. But taking into account modern technologies that are used to create ordinary window glasses, and even more so special glasses for decorating paintings, with a reflective effect and with UV protection at a level of 35 to 90%, I think you can not panic by purchasing paint with two stars and more.
If you disassemble the designation in Roman numerals, which some manufacturers indicate, you can even understand the time intervals during which the paint will not lose its properties.
I - Excellent - guaranteed Lightfastness for 100+ years
II - very good 100 years
III - normal - 50-70 years
IV - unstable - 15-20 years
Transparency/Opacity
This is a property that manufacturers indicate on the packaging with squares of varying degrees of shading.
□ White square - transparent - that is, not opaque. Perfect for transparent fills.
□ / □ white square with a diagonal line - semi-transparent
□ / ▪ half white / half black - semi-opaque
▪ black square - opaque - that is, it will easily paint over the previous layer of paint.
Everything is simple here - the more transparent the square, the more transparent the property of the paint.
This property must be taken into account regardless of the technique in which you work.
Staining
It is indicated on the package by triangles of various shading degrees.
White triangle - non-staining paint
Black and white triangle - semi-coloring paint
Black triangle - coloring.
This property is responsible for the degree of interaction of pigment with paper. It is also essential to understand the possibility of wiping or removing a given color from the paper after applying it. The white triangle indicates that the paint can be easily washed off the sheet and, accordingly, the black triangle indicates the opposite property.
Granulation
It is marked on the package with the capital letter G or the inscription Yes / No opposite this letter.
When used, particles of undissolved pigment settle on the paper in a very painterly non-uniform layer while creating additional volume.
From my point of view, granulation is a separate branch of art in the world of watercolour. There are a whole series of granulating paints, and you can spend more than one month studying them, discovering new facets of this striking effect.
In general, all the essential properties have been sorted out. Knowing all of the above information, it will be much easier for an artist to choose a palette of colours and paints to create his masterpieces.
It should note that recently many manufacturers have begun to expand their lines of watercolours with new limited editions. For example, a series of luminescent paints are now widely used. Gold and silver shades have long appeared in most major manufacturers.
And of course, limited series of paints, with a unique pigment composition and new colors, which are often produced in small batches and are appreciated among artists "worth their weight in gold" 😊
Release form
Watercolours produced in several forms and consistencies:
- in hard tiles (cuvettes)
- in tubes of various sizes (usually from 5 to 15 ml.)
- in jars (liquid watercolour)
- watercolor rods
- watercolor pencils.
The most common are the first two forms.
Choose cuvettes or tubes - each artist decides for himself. It all depends on the purpose and technique in which the master works. The difference is that the watercolour in the cuvettes is dry or semi-dry, while the watercolour in the tubes is semi-liquid or pasty. Working with watercolours in tubes is much easier and faster, you can achieve the desired color intensity; besides, the amount of paint in tubes allows you to work on large formats without worrying that the paint may suddenly run out.
Cuvettes also have many advantages—first, mobility. The set of 48 colours in cuvettes differs from the same set-in tubes in both weight and volume. This factor is essential when working in the open air or if the artist often has to travel. Secondly, even if the watercolour in the cuvettes is very dry,
you can easily soak it and continue working. With dried tubes, it is more complicated - and in this case, it is problematic to remove the paint and use it after drying in the same way. But it is worth noting that this trouble does not happen often, so in my opinion, it's a draw.
Package
Sets of watercolours differ in the number of colours in the composition, the material of the package, the line of the paints themselves and, of course, the form in which the watercolours are contained in the set (cuvettes, tubes, solid stacks, etc.)
Sets for Plein airs are produced in small sizes, contain a small amount of basic or (if we are talking about an author's series) author's colours, and these are almost always cuvettes. Kits for Plein airs are usually plastic or metal; in more expensive series, there is a special mount at the bottom of the package to make it easier to hold the paint with your thumb.
Watercolour sets in paper packaging are more affordable in price, but packaging becomes unusable very quickly (except paint sets in tubes); for this reason, I prefer metal packaging. Firstly, there is a duplicate compartment cover (often divided into 2-4 parts) - this is a palette. Secondly, in such sets, you can place both whole cuvettes and a half of the cuvette, having assembled the set at your discretion.
Slightly cheaper and lighter in weight - plastic kits. It also often contains a compartment-palette and usually more than one. But, almost always, they are limited by a slot for cuvettes of specific sizes, which makes it difficult to use to collect a personal palette. Sometimes manufacturers use plastic of not the highest quality. After the first use, the white color of the packaging changes and is not completely washed off. This is probably more an aesthetic property. Practicality is not affected in any way. But, of course, the light weight of plastic packaging is an important detail when choosing a watercolour set for yourself.
Wooden sets are the most expensive and volumes in terms of the number of components.
Often, such kits contain paints and brushes, pencils, sponges, palettes, masking fluid, and other auxiliary materials. Wooden kits come in a variety of sizes and always include the highest quality paints and materials. Of course, a great home or workroom variant, and probably its only drawback is that it is not very suitable for Plein air and travel, due to its large weight and size.
As you can see, the kits are produced for every taste and wallet. You should think carefully before making a final decision. After all, the abundance of offers can make your head spin. There is never a lot of paint. But it would be best if you still made purchases based on your needs and practicality. That would not have to put the newly acquired colours in the compartment "for later"...
Conclusion
The approach to choosing your palette and buying new colours should be wise and deliberate. I hope the information you received will be helpful to you.
Experiment, look for your colours, life hacks, and unique combinations.
The main thing is to get your Ideal watercolour palette as a result.
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