Not an artist at all, but I loved the items on gum arabic.
Watercolor Basics
11–20 of 79 posts
Re: Watercolor Basics
#12It's kind of funny to read that. It's a sort of rationalist's advice in that it seeks to match a consensus bell curve. Much of it is good advice but there are lots of exceptions that ought to be tweaked through subjective practice. BTW here's a favorite little project. Go to your local craft store and buy some tube watercolors in the hues you like. Get an altoids tin and a lego flat base that fits inside of it. Flip…
Reminds me of a similar experience when first shooting street photos with a deceptively compact zoom lens. After capturing a close-up of a sign someone well out of frame berated me for allegedly taking photos of him. I suspect if I’d used a larger lens he wouldn’t have been confused.
Re: Watercolor Basics
#13Kudos for getting this page together. I've only ever had mediocre results with Cotman watercolours which can give muddy results and I absolutely disagree with buying cheap paper. When I started buying the most expensive watercolour paper I could afford (300 gsm) my watercolour practice got much better. Obviously that is just my experience and people have to work out what works for them. I'm on Instagram @chloegilbert…
Agreed. Good paper that can handle a extra water makes all the difference. It doesn't need to be super expensive... just not the cheap stuff.
Re: Watercolor Basics
#14It's kind of funny to read that. It's a sort of rationalist's advice in that it seeks to match a consensus bell curve. Much of it is good advice but there are lots of exceptions that ought to be tweaked through subjective practice. BTW here's a favorite little project. Go to your local craft store and buy some tube watercolors in the hues you like. Get an altoids tin and a lego flat base that fits inside of it. Flip…
Reminds me of a similar experience when first shooting street photos with a deceptively compact zoom lens. After capturing a close-up of a sign someone well out of frame berated me for allegedly taking photos of him. I suspect if I’d used a larger lens he wouldn’t have been confused.
Ah, that must have sucked. Photography can be _really_ bad for that kind of thing. Especially IMO since a lot of people think regular cameras are obsolete unless you are on Official Business. Just use your phone, etc.
You reminded me of one time when I was out walking with the idea of capturing some aircraft, so I had a superzoom with me. While walking into the hills I saw a house that was for sale, and I happened to be looking for a house, so I snapped a photo.
Some weeks later I greeted an acquaintance-neighbor on the street and they looked kind of conflicted while we spoke. After I crossed the street, post-greeting, they called out, "HEY, WHY ARE YOU TAKING PICTURES OF PEOPLES' HOUSES?" and I had no idea what to make of that...only to realize hours later that they lived across the street from the house that was for sale. Geez. I'll bet they absolutely hated the fact that the mysterious house photog greeted them like a normal person would!
Re: Watercolor Basics
#15It's kind of funny to read that. It's a sort of rationalist's advice in that it seeks to match a consensus bell curve. Much of it is good advice but there are lots of exceptions that ought to be tweaked through subjective practice. BTW here's a favorite little project. Go to your local craft store and buy some tube watercolors in the hues you like. Get an altoids tin and a lego flat base that fits inside of it. Flip…
Reminds me of a similar experience when first shooting street photos with a deceptively compact zoom lens. After capturing a close-up of a sign someone well out of frame berated me for allegedly taking photos of him. I suspect if I’d used a larger lens he wouldn’t have been confused.
Yes, IME if you walk around with a footlong telephoto lens they'll just get upset and/or confront you for slightly different reasons, though.
Re: Watercolor Basics
#16Highly recommend Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI watercolors.
Re: Watercolor Basics
#17On practical how to:
1. Keep two water reservoirs for cleaning your brushes. One for warm colors and one for cool. (This prevents muddiness in your palette).
2. Knowing when to let the layers on your paper dry before further progress is vital.
3. Carry pigment from the bricks to your palette, don't mix pigments in the bricks.
On technique:
1. Experiment adding water to a pigment on your palette (More water == thinner with less Saturation and vice-versa).
2. Experiment with how wet pigments interact with other wet pigments on the paper. (More water == better flow).
3. Experiment with the paper tilt direction (water flows under the force of gravity and this can be used to create a desired affect).
4. Know how to layer (i.e., 1st layer low saturation, broad areas with high water/flow, final layer is fine detail lines with low flow/higher saturation).
5. You must understand the color wheel and how pigments may mix.
I have beef with this guidance:
> let your palette and paint bricks get dirty
Keep your bricks clean: Let your palette get dirty (if you so choose).
Re: Watercolor Basics
#18On practical how to: 1. Keep two water reservoirs for cleaning your brushes. One for warm colors and one for cool. (This prevents muddiness in your palette). 2. Knowing when to let the layers on your paper dry before further progress is vital. 3. Carry pigment from the bricks to your palette, don't mix pigments in the bricks. On technique: 1. Experiment adding water to a pigment on your palette (More water == thinner…
Don't ruin your acid-free paper by using tap water, use bottled water for everything, including cleaning your brushes (valid for every water-based technic like acrylic, tempera, guache...).
Re: Watercolor Basics
#19Kudos for getting this page together. I've only ever had mediocre results with Cotman watercolours which can give muddy results and I absolutely disagree with buying cheap paper. When I started buying the most expensive watercolour paper I could afford (300 gsm) my watercolour practice got much better. Obviously that is just my experience and people have to work out what works for them. I'm on Instagram @chloegilbert…
Agreed. Good paper that can handle a extra water makes all the difference. It doesn't need to be super expensive... just not the cheap stuff.
I get Strathmore, the largest size I find then I cut it out smaller with the help of a cutting press (free for use at Fedex/Kinkos or Office Depot). It helps save a lot of money that way.
Re: Watercolor Basics
#20Neat, I haven't water colored since I was a child, maybe I should try it again.
Now to find a tutorial on how to art. Perhaps there is a book on it, like "How to Art with Watercolor" or "Teach yourself to Watercolor in 24 hours".