RESOURCES

https://americanwatercolorsociety.org/

MODERN renaissance MAGAZINE
https://www.culturallyarts.com/modernrenaissance

SUPPLIERS
ST. LOUIS ART SUPPLY | https://shop.stlartsupply.com/collections/watercolor-paper
JERRY’S ART | https://www.jerrysartarama.com/paints-mediums/watercolors
MICHAELS | https://www.michaels.com/search?q=watercolor
GUIRY’s | https://www.guirys.com/paint-mediums
BLICK | https://www.dickblick.com/categories/painting/
CHEAP JOES | https://www.cheapjoes.com/painting-and-painting-accessories/watercolor-painting.html

CLASS SUPPLY LIST
Watercolor Tubes: Brand Names: Holbein, M. Graham, Sennilier, Dan Smith, Van Gogh and Winsor Newton
(no cheap pan watercolors with generic “blue”, “red”, “yellow” color names
(they ARE NOT substitutes for required supplies).

Yellows: Warm & Cool Yellow
Cool Yellows: Lemon or Bismuth Yellow
Warm Yellows: Yellow Medium | Hansa Yellow, Yellow Ochre
Reds: I tube of Warm Red & 1 Cool Red
Cool Reds: Permanent Alizarin or Quinacridone Red Warm | Cadmium Red or Permanent Red

Blues: Warm Blue & 1 Cool Blue
Warm Blues: Ultramarine Blue | French Ultra Blue
Cool Blues: Phthalo Blue | Winsor Blue
Prussian Blue | Cerulean Blue

Neutrals: Burnt Umber | Payne’s grey | White Gouache

Watercolor Tube Set:
Example : Winsor & Newton Cotman
Set of 12, 8ml Tubes

Brushes & other supplies: Princeton varied
Natural Brushes | Round 6 | Round 12
Good liner Brush | Flat Wash Brush

Gator foam Board (24”x32”, ½” thick) or piece of Masonite (HomeDepot or Lowe’s)

Watercolor Paper: Arches 1401b cold pressed (22”x 30”) or Fabriano brand (order w/ classmates to save)

Drawing Supplies: Pencils | Eraser | sharpener
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser | Sponges
Artist Masking Tape (white only)
Paper Towels | Kleenex Tissue

Sketchbooks: Watercolor – high quality paper only. For this class only.
Covered Palette: water media w/ painting wells (freezer paper for extra mixing areas)

Spray Bottle | Water Containers
24” Ruler metal corked back
Portfolio large enough for 22” x 30” paper

Optional Items: Frisket, Sumi Ink, India Ink, Pelikan (Brand name) Plaka paint (black, matte) Gouache Set

Supply carry cases – get creative!

COLOR MIXING CHART

WORKING WITH SHAPES

WASHES
https://littlecoffeefox.com/watercolor-washes-4-basic-techniques/

PAPERS EXPLAINED

STRETCHING PAPER

BRUSHES

MORE ON COLOR THEORY & MIXING
https://www.winsornewton.com/uk/education/guides/why-does-winsor-newton-refer-to-colour-bias-rather-than-munsell-ratings/

8fc930ac3a8f9514638ef6dc7209585c

COLOR CHOICES – Book by Stephen Quiller

WHAT IS COLOR BIAS?
https://sites.google.com/site/scienceofcolour/color-bias-of-artist-pigments?pli=1

WHAT IS THE MUNSELL RATINGS?
https://www.britannica.com/science/Munsell-color-system

| UNDERSTANDING WATER COLOR PAINT TUBE LABELS

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHICH PAINT TO USE?

Ignore the generic name | take a peek at the label!
There are a few characteristics you should look for:

The pigment number
The transparency rating
The lightfastness rating
The staining property of the paint

Pigment Numbers

To make pigment identification easier to remember, paints use a code known as the Color Index Name. This is a standardized list which is internationally recognized by all manufacturers. And it provides artists with the most trustworthy way to identify colors used in paint ingredients.

This color index avoids having to use the technical chemical names of pigments. It’s a pretty simple code and begins with the letter P (for pigment) followed by some letters to indicate a basic color category:

Y for Yellow
O for Orange
R for Red
V for Violet
B for Blue
G for Green
Br for Brown
Bk for Black
W for White

Pigment numbers tell you exactly which pigment was used in the ingredients. For example PB28 is traditionally used for Cobalt Blue. The “PB” means “pigment, blue”, and “28” means that it’s the 28th blue pigment listing in the color index. You also want to look at the quantity of pigments used in the formula. Paints with more than one pigment are generally known as “convenience” mixtures

Transparency

The transparency rating generally ranges from “transparent”, to “semi-transparent” to “opaque”. Yes… you’ve probably heard me jabbering about how “watercolors paints are transparent”, but different paint formulas can have varying degrees of transparency.

Lightfastness

Lightfastness is also known as permanency. This is a measure of how well a paint stands up to the strains of time, and whether it is likely to fade after a few years. If you intend to sell your paintings or want them to last several years, this is an important quality.

Staining Properties

Paints can also have low, moderate, or high staining properties. This is a measure of how well the paint fixes to the paper. For example, a low staining paint will easily “lift off” the paper (this kind of paint is known as fugitive). Conversely, a high staining paint remains stubbornly on the surface and is difficult to remove.

When choosing your first paint – go for single pigment paints which have the highest transparency rating possible. Also, if they have good staining properties then that can be a bonus.

Color mixing is an important skill to master and mixing with single pigment formulas is much easier than mixing convenience paints which contain multiple pigments.

It’s all about getting to know your paints, and mixing with the same single pigments is predictable, and easily reproduced. Different brands which use the same single pigment are likely to be very similar. However, convenience mixtures differ from brand to brand, and manufacturers sometimes use less expensive pigment combinations to match the color appearance of more expensive paint. You know what you’re getting with single pigment paints.

Fundamental techniques such as glazing work better with paints which are rated transparent. Glazing, or layering, relies on the idea that the underlying washes of paint remain visible. For me, this transparency is part of the beauty of watercolors. Similarly, if you paint in layers like this, good staining properties are useful. With staining paints the underlying layers of paint won’t lift and start mixing with each fresh glaze of paint.

Opaque, low-staining, multiple pigment paint mixes can result in muddy colors.

It can be difficult to unite all of the characteristics you seek into a useful palette of colors.

Each type of paint has its own advantages. As a beginner, mixing multiple types of paints with highly varying characteristics and trying to learn about them is tricky.

WATER MEDIA GLOSSARY

TECHNIQUES