Making the most of Materials

 Success

When you've managed to get the materials that suit you personally, success is only a few steps away, here's the formula 

1. Do something you love
2. Learn life long
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2

Finding the right materials can be a daunting task for the beginner in watercolour. There’s a growing world of variety out there to choose from in the form of papers, brushes and paints; nothing is singular or presents a straightforward choice.

Finding the materials that suits you as an artist is a personal journey that will take time and learning, being prepared to invest time into practicing any latest addition will enhance your watercolour long term, but in the here and now, introducing something new can present an unexpected challenge. This year I made the move to pure sable brushes and found they produced a totally different effect than I expected, I had to get used to the way they hold and discharge water differently than anything else I’ve used. So the influence and recommendations from other artist’s was a great starting point, but no substitute for spending time gaining experience myself.

With all of the above in mind  - Here’s my own list of materials, merely offered as a reference,   

Brushes - I’ve only recently made the move to pure Sable brushes, it was a good move and has had a definite benefit to my work. I’m able to spend more time with the brush now actually on the paper making those expressive movements. I use Pro Art No 12 round (series 3 Sable) for most of my work, (it’s a delight to work with) for the detail work I use a Winsor and Newton number 4 (Sable) pointed round, I’ve recently invested in a Da Vinci liner 5519 (No12) which is gradually becoming my brush of choice on the detail, it’s a mixture of squirrel and sable - what a great brush!

Palette – I've used just about anything and everything over the years, from the cheap plastic folding palette's (they work) to the reasonably priced and well designed Jason Skill, great for mixing and general use, I'm also the proud owner of 2 Craig Young palettes which I cherish, they only took 2 years to arrive :)

Paper - I’ve used Arches 300gms CP full imperial sheets for a long time and have great confidence in its qualities (this is my preferred brand) slower drying time and very useful for wet into wet. I also use  Bockingford 425gms rough, it’s a very versatile paper, keeps its integrity with large washes and has faster drying time than Arches, but you have to be in a more decisive mood :)

Paint - I mainly paint with the following, all Winsor & Newton.

Cotman range

Cadmium Yellow Hue 8ml tube

Cadmium Red Hue 8ml tube

Cadmium Red Deep Hue 8ml tube

Cobalt Blue Hue 8ml tube

Ultramarine 8ml tube

Burnt Sienna 8ml tube

Raw Umber 8ml tube

Artist range

Green Gold 5ml tube

Gold Ochre 5ml tube

Perylene Maroon 5ml tube

Perylene Green 5ml tube

Paynes Gray 5ml tube

I generally use a limited palette of 4 colours all from the Cotman Range, to try to keep the painting unified. A typical example is  Cadmium Yellow Hue (8ml tube) Cadmium Red Hue 8ml (tube) Cobalt Blue Hue (8ml tube) and Burnt Sienna (8ml tube). I generally use these colours as the basis for most of my work and find I can mix most things I need from them, I've not included a crimson but sometime use Rose Madder Genuine when needed. I introduce the artist quality paints to add tonal depth.

 

 Success - that formula again 

1. Define your own criteria
2. Dont live by someone else's
3. Remember...a  brush with an artist's name on it wont make you a better painter, time painting will.

Karl