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Watercolor Basics

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Re: Watercolor Basics

#51

Post by JKCalhoun »

gilleain wrote: post #24
bradford wrote: post #17

On 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…

This all seems like sound(er) advice. On color : I recently realised (or read somewhere) about the simplest color wheel- if you divide a circle into 6 segments and paint the primaries : {R, Y, B} in non-neighbouring segments, then the ones in between are the secondaries: {R+Y=O, R+B=P, Y+B=G}. Then if you combine primaries and the 'opposite' secondary, you get brown/grey like colors. Also, I get quite good combinatio…

Is it Red/Yellow/Blue? I believe we were lied to in elementary school — Magenta/Yellow/Cyan are the real pigment primaries.

I always wondered why when we mixed blue and yellow it made for a really muddy green.

Re: Watercolor Basics

#52

Post by 22c »

Arcanum-XIII wrote: post #6

Those choices are bad: watercolor supplies need to have be of high quality to not frustrate the painter. Otherwise you'll have bad result (destroyed paper for example, oversaturated or muddy color) and will have to fight every bit. When I was studying illustration, our teacher would advise us to avoid those kind of kit and paper. I've tried the one from children: that's not a pleasant experience. Last thing: watercol…

I don't read this is a "watercoloring guide for experts" but more as a "so you've seen those children's watercoloring books at walmart and you want to take things a step further".

Re: Watercolor Basics

#53

Post by omegote »

Too opinionated advice on an even worse medium. Please do yourself and the rest of us a favor and open a blog. Reading an article about watercolor basics which is basically a wall of text without a single picture is a pita.

Also some of the advice is just plain wrong. Paper should be the number one thing you shouldn't skimp on and yet you recommend buying cheap/on sale.

Re: Watercolor Basics

#54

Post by naters »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #51
gilleain wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This all seems like sound(er) advice. On color : I recently realised (or read somewhere) about the simplest color wheel- if you divide a circle into 6 segments and paint the primaries : {R, Y, B} in non-neighbouring segments, then the ones in between are the secondaries: {R+Y=O, R+B=P, Y+B=G}. Then if you combine primaries and the 'opposite' secondary, you get brown/grey like colors. Also, I get quite good combinatio…

Is it Red/Yellow/Blue? I believe we were lied to in elementary school — Magenta/Yellow/Cyan are the real pigment primaries. I always wondered why when we mixed blue and yellow it made for a really muddy green.

RGB are the primary colors used in additive color mixing, CMYK are used as the primary colors for subtractive color mixing which is used in offset printing and similar processes.

Re: Watercolor Basics

#57

Post by panzagl »

mike_ivanov wrote: post #48
egypturnash wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience in physical media makes me want to add 1a: Keep your water reservoirs well away from your drinking water. This prevents drinking paint. :)

Cats will drink it - regardless

If by drink you mean 'knock over then lap at the mess', then yes.

Re: Watercolor Basics

#59

Post by cjohnson318 »

Hard disagree on cheap pigment. Windsor and Newton Cotman Colors are "student quality", so they're more affordable because they have less pigment. As a result, your paint seems thin and light.

Use Daniel Smith tubes, or M. Graham tubes. Twelve small tubes might cost you ~$100-120, but they'll last for about a year if you paint every week. These brands give you *very* rich colors.

Learning to draw, paint, and mix colors is time consuming. It's best to get started with medium quality brushes and paper, and then move on to expensive brushes and paper after a year or two, by then you should be able to appreciate the relative difference between serviceable and high quality materials.

Folks to follow on social media: Shari Blaukopf: https://shariblaukopf.com/ Marc Taro Holmes: https://citizensketcher.com/

I have some recommended products here: https://connor-johnson.com/2017/06/07/getting-started-with-w...

Re: Watercolor Basics

#60

Post by varikin »

themodelplumber wrote: post #2

It'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…

> 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.

My wife is an artist, and by the law of association, I have I many artist friends. I would say that starting out, the good advice that matches the bell curve is great for getting started. Learn the basics before you break the rules. That way you know you are breaking the rules and why.

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