New hobbies are an exhilarating part of the journey of life, but there is a bit of pain. And that is in finding out the hard way about the materials that suit you best for what you want to do. I hope to share today some of what I have learnt along this journey which may be of interest if you would like to paint like me.
So I have done a bit of research, and I am still finding out more about products that work for me. The painting I do is small-scale, on no bigger than A4 sheets of paper at my desk in my office. And I paint mainly florals, which I am learning to paint in a "loose" style, rather than a photorealistic style.
With this in mind, let us delve in!
PAPER
I love Arches watercolour paper, as reviewed by Steve Mitchell in the Mind of Watercolour. This paper is especially good for loose style painting as it gives a great result with "wet on wet" techniques that allow the different colours of paint to seep into one another. It is also great for more realistic painting as it gives a lovely shading, and brings the watercolour to life.
I have read comments that any paper can be used as long as it is 100% cotton. Each paper takes some getting used to, so I "practice" on Arches, and paint on Arches, instead of "practicing" on cheaper paper. Arches is available on special often at certain stores, or available in large sheets that can be cut down at a cheaper price. I find that at this stage I would just like to stick to the one paper and get to know it well, and beginning on a good quality paper is the kindest thing I can do for myself and my new hobby.
I use the "cold-pressed" paper, also called "medium". It's texture is not smooth, like "hot-pressed", and not rough, like "rough" paper and is the texture that most artists seem to work on, especially when they are starting out. I also buy 300 gsm paper. This is because the thinner the paper, the more it buckles when water is added to it. To prevent this, you are supposed to "stretch" the paper by wetting it first while stapling (yes, stapling) down the edges. And then waiting for it to dry before painting on it. Seriously too much work for me!
300 gsm paper does not need stretching, but when painting on it, it will warp a bit with the moisture. But it won't buckle (creating puddle areas in your painting). That is my understanding. I have only painted on 300 gsm paper. I did a bit of painting earlier on some left over cheap watercolour paper that was kicking around from my teenage years, and I did not find any buckling. But then I was just painting loose florals - mainly palm fronds at that stage, which is very easy, and does not put the paper to task.
So it does depend on what you are doing with your painting. Steve Mitchell says that, when painting watercolour, spend most of your money on the paper, then the brushes, then the paints. It's a bit counterintuitive as I would think the paints are where I would spend most of my money. But there you go.
PAINTS
So you also need paints to paint with. I love the M. Graham paints, because they do not dry out as much on the palette. Watercolour artists usually end up with a palette of paints that end up being left over from day to day. You are loathe to wash the palette and waste all that good paint, and you really don't need to, often. But the paint on the palette dries up and can be a bit hard to activate again. However, M. Graham paints have a traditional ingredient that was used in ancient times - honey! And I really do find that the paints are easier to activate, and still nice and moist, with a bit of water on a brush.
I also like Daniel Smith paints as they have a good range of colours particularly for florals. And I have a few others kicking around - but I won't delve into them. I find that I prefer tubes of paint to pans and refills (paint set), because I can choose my colours, place them on a palette, and mix the colours without muddying them, like I imagine would happen in a paint set.
As for the palette, just a short few words. I use a couple of ceramic plates, one for my reds, pinks and purples (the flower colours), and one for my browns and greens (the stem and leaf colours). I group similar colours that I want to mix together on the palette next to each other for ease of mixing.
BRUSHES
Finally, the brushes. I have tried the old brushes that I have collected over the years of painting with my children and other craft activities, but what I have learned is that a good brush for watercolour is one that holds the water really well. For this reason, squirrel hair was used traditionally, but this is the most expensive option, such as in the Black Velvet Silver range. I have tried, and been really impressed with the Princeton Neptune range, which is a synthetic squirrel fibre. This is probably a better option as there is no harming of squirrels!
The brush shapes and sizes can be a bit of a puzzle to figure out what works for you. I use the round brushes a lot, and I like the size 8, 4 and 0. I use the 8 for large petals. And I use the 0 for lettering - even with such a small brush the downstrokes can be quite thick. And another fave brush is the size 4, which is the size that suits most of the florals I paint.
I tried the dagger striper, as I was so impressed with some of the leaf paintings I have seen using this. But I messed up with the size, and it was an expensive mistake. I find the 1/4 size is best for small paintings like mine. the 3/8 was just too big. But on the whole I did not like the Princeton Neptune dagger striper, and I might try the Black Velvet one day.
The picture above shows the round brush sizes, from left to right, 0, 2, 4, and 8. In the picture below I show the brushes next to my A4 painting, so you can get an idea of scale:
So there you go, I hope this article helped. Go ahead, play around, and have fun with it! Be sure to leave a comment if you have anything to add - it will surely be helpful.
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