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Two Women, by Despina Georgiadis,
watercolor, colored pencil, scratched
in paint
Chapter 1:
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES
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12 O N E WATERCOLOR A DAY
(Text)
Before you begin the exercises of this book, you’ll need a
few supplies.
PAINT Watercolor paint comes in tubes or in pans. The
tube paint squeezes out as pure color and can be mixed on a
palette or used straight from the tube for the most vibrancy
of hue. Pan colors are convenient for location work, and if
you wet them down enough, they can become almost as
vibrant as the tube paints. I recommend purchasing a set of
pan colors, at least twenty-four, and several tubes of paint.
You’ll want minimally all of the primary and secondary
colors, as well as a little tube of white for semiopacity. Pick
a few more colors based on your taste, for variety, if you can
afford to. You don’t need grays unless you want to buy them:
Mixing colors with their complements will gray them down
considerably. Paints come in student and professional grade:
Purchase the one that fits your budget. If you are on a budget,
purchase more colors of student-grade paint and fewer colors
of the professional. A small plastic palette that closes (good
on location) will be important as a surface to mix paints on.
You can squeeze your tube paints onto the palette, and rewet
them each time you work. A small spray bottle of water is
also helpful, to wet both your tube paints and pan paints
before you begin to work.
You will also need a few tubes of gouache, an opaque
water-based paint. Purchase the three primaries and
secondary colors for mixing, plus white, and a few other
colors by taste.
BRUS HES You’ll want several different sizes and types of
brushes to work with. Pure sable is the best; if that’s beyond
your budget, try a mixed sable and synthetic or a good
synthetic. I rely mainly on three round brushes: one small
(size 3 or 4), one medium (size 10 or 12), and one large (size
22). Look for brushes that have a sharp point and flexibility—
the shape should pop back easily when snapped. You’ll also
want two flat brushes, one large for color washes and one
small for blending or lifting off colors from the page. Pick up
a fan brush as well for blending if you’d like, for fun.
PAPER Watercolor paper comes in sheets, in pads, or in a
block. Try a few finishes in sheet form and then buy your
preference. Sheets give you a chance to buy one at a time,
pads can be convenient, and the block is nice for painting
with a lot of wet washes because it will hold the paper tight
and keep it from buckling. Heavier paper buckles less, too,
and stands up to a lot of scrubbing. You can also tape your
watercolor paper down to a board if you want to avoid
buckling: Let the painting dry before removing your work
from the board.
What You’ll Need
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(Text)
Watercolor paper comes in three finishes: hot press, which
has a smooth finish; cold press, which has a rough finish; and
rough, which has the roughest finish (twice as much as cold
press) and the most texture. The two studies above were done
in Arches Aquarelle Watercolor paper: The one on the left
was done on cold press, and the one on the right was done on
hot press. You can see the difference in the finish by looking.
Cold press will give you a more textured feel, and the paint
spreads easier, making brushstrokes less visible. Cold press
gives you that “watercolor paper” look. (The Aquarelle
Rough Grain paper will enhance that even more.) Hot press is
smoother, and the paint lies on the surface; less of it is
absorbed. The paint spreads less on hot press paper, and
brushstrokes can become more visible in a large area of color,
as you can see in the teal background of my little study at
right. You may prefer hot press when you plan to do a lot of
layering, or lifting off paints, or when you want more
vibrancy of color that comes with less absorption. You may
prefer cold press for a more spontaneous feel and textured
look. Get a few sheets of each paper finish, and do a few
studies to see what suits you best. Papers come in different
weights: The heavier weights are best for paintings with very
wet washes, with layers, or when you’ll be doing a lot of
lifting off and repainting of colors.
S OME E X T R AS Other art supplies you’ll need include a
few 2H pencils, an eraser, a handful of colored pencils (or
watercolor pencils), and a small jar of masking fluid.
Something fun, but not essential, would be a few bottles of
Dr. Martin’s concentrated dyes; these are brilliantly colored
dyes that you can add to your paints or use alone. You will
also need a razor-point pen or a small bottle of waterproof ink
and a dip pen for one or two exercises in this book. Last, a
small set of Caran d’Ache water-soluble crayons will be
needed for several of the exercises: Try to purchase a small
set of at least twelve crayons.
Study, watercolor on cold press paper Study 2, watercolor on hot press paper
Watercolor Paper
M ATERIALS A N D TECH N I QUES 1 3
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14 ONE WATERCO L O R A DAY
(Text)
The color wheel illustrates how colors mix to create other
colors. Creating color by mixing paint is known as the
subtractive color system. In the wheel below, you’ll see the
three primary colors marked with an (A): Yellow, Red, and
Blue. These colors are the basis for all the other colors on
the wheel.
Mix two primaries to get a secondary (B) color: Yellow +
Red = Orange; Red + Blue = Violet; and Blue + Yellow =
The Color Wheel breaks color down into three groups:
primary, secondary, and tertiary; watercolor
TIP
• Trymakingacolorwheelfor
yourselfbeforebeginningthe
exercisesinthisbook.
THE
COLOR
WHEEL
A
B
C
C
B
C
C
B
A
C
C
A
Let’s Talk Color
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