News update:
Fabriano 5 paper has had a slight texture change.
This will be of interest to artists who choose it for its ultra smooth surface.

Fabriano 5 paper is designed for watercolour painting and lithography printing, but can also be used for tempera, charcoal, graphite, wax, pastel and calligraphy. It is immensely popular product with watercolour artists and printmakers alike.

Recently there has been a slight change to the texture of Fabriano 5 paper that might be noticed by artists who choose it for its exceptionally smooth surface, notably botanical watercolour painters. It is now slightly less smooth. Most artists will still find the surface texture very good for their work. The colour and composition has not changed.

The Fabriano paper mill in Italy uses the same machine to produce the paper used to make Euro notes. We have been told that the texture change of Fabriano 5 is the result of some changes to the machine, designed to make the production of banknotes more efficient.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on Fabriano 5 paper on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

The post Fabriano 5 Paper Texture Change appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Sunlight & Shadows in Watercolour

128-page hardcover book by Lucy Willis.

Perhaps not for beginners, this book has beautiful images and lots of useful information for any painter. The paintings are inspirational and excellent examples of what she is talking about. Lucy Willis gives expert advice on how to master tone, hue and shadow to create atmospheric paintings. The book features several step-by-step demonstrations throughout to help painters of all levels develop their skills.

Lucy encourages watercolour painters to explore the effect of natural light and shade in various themes and settings, including landscapes, gardens, interiors, still life and portraits. She gives the reader useful advice on how to paint cast shadows, curved shadows, soft- and hard-edged shadows and shadows in perspective. She also talks about the effects light has on objects and landscapes. There is a lot to learn from a very knowledgeable painter.

Lucy Willis

Lucy Willis RWA is a full time professional artist living in Bridgwater, Somerset. She trained at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford where she received a rigorous academic training which included drawing from life and studies of anatomy. She then set up her own workshop in Greece teaching etching and drawing to students attending the Aegean School of Fine Art. In 1981 she won a Bockingford International Watercolour Award and travelled to paint in Italy. Much of her work is inspired by her travels to India, Africa and Greece. She won the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 1992 for her portrait of prison inmates, ‘At Her Majesty’s Pleasure’, and was Artist in Residence at Shepton Mallet Prison in Somerset until 1993.

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition judge, and acclaimed watercolour artist, Lucy Willis exhibits regularly in London and at her studio. She has had many solo exhibitions including ten solo exhibitions at the Chris Beetles Gallery in London. She is renowned for her ability to capture light and atmosphere, as portrayed in her books Light in Watercolour and Travels in Watercolour.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on the book Sunlight & Shadows in Watercolour on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Image at the top:
‘Plane Tree Shadows, Crete, Greece’
Watercolour by Lucy Willis, from the book Sunlight & Shadows in Watercolour.

The post Sunlight & Shadows in Watercolour appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Jackson’s Pure Squirrel Mop is a professional, soft-hair watercolour brush.

Jackson’s Squirrel Mop Brushes

Squirrel Hair

Squirrel hair has an incredible holding capacity so you do not need to keep dipping your brush in the paint or water and if you squeeze it out it is great at lifting colour and water off the paper. The very soft hair has the ability to be moulded into a variety of shapes so you can make all sorts of marks and strokes. It is ideal for both broad areas of wash and fine detail with it fine point. Used in a variety of ways, wet-on-wet or hard-edge long-stroke painting, we think this brush will become one of your favourites.

Quill Brush

The Jackson’s Squirrel Mop is a quill brush. This means that instead of having a metal ferrule to hold the brush head to the handle it has a traditional natural quill, the hollow centre of a feather, wrapped around and held with wire. A natural quill will not tolerate being left in water for an extended period of time, but with proper care this brush will give you many years of reliably exciting service.

Sizing of the brushes

Jackson’s Squirrel Mop brushes are sized by the measurement across the ferrule, so a size 6 is 6mm across the ferrule.

Product reviews of the Squirrel Mops left on our website
by customer Alicia Hoang Sario

Jacksons Pure Squirrel Mop Brush Set series 828 size 6 and 10

“I was searching for a brush that would be really really soft and hold a lot of load… Something similar to traditional Chinese brushes… When I tried these two little darlings I was very pleasantly surprised and amazed. The softness of the brushes really surpasses all that I have used in the past, and for what I need to get done, these brushes really delivers and then some. I find myself reaching for these two brushes more as I tried them with different techniques. They’re giving me perfect skies, perfect clouds, perfect water, perfect waves… even foliage and rocks! They really give so much with wet into wet… And can really serve well at picking up too. And then lets me paint perfect trees! I haven’t tried painting people with them yet, but that’s my next challenge with these brushes. I also decided to get an even bigger one. That’s how happy I am with them!”

Jacksons Pure Squirrel Mop Brush series 828 size 14

“I ordered this big brush after being pleasantly surprised by the #6 and #10 squirrel mops I previously ordered. And true to its nature this brush absolutely amazes me. It is so easy to use and I can get really sharp point with it. So I get soft edges and hard edges easily, details are amazing… with this large brush I made skies and seas and land surfaces (backgrounds) organically and wicked fast and in the minimal amount of strokes. It is an incredibly friendly brush for many uses. I paint in many styles… from traditional, loose landscapes and seascapes, to portraits and illustrations and technically demanding Manga. And these squirrel mops glide through them without trouble. So, personally, I am totally convinced that they’re the best brushes for me.”

We’ve chosen these useful reviews to be the ‘Product Review of the Month‘ and sent Alicia a thank you voucher.

Alicia Hoang Sario

Alicia Hoang Sario painting a tutorial picture for her class.

Alicia explains the photo above:
“I am using Rembrandt artist watercolours and the squirrel mop brushes, then when it’s the finer details like the eyes I will use the smaller squirrel brushes.
I really love the mops because I can get sky and clouds done with the same brush… so, I don’t really need to fall back on kitchen rolls and the clouds are more billowy and soft edged.”

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers on Jackson’s Squirrel Mop Brushes on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

The post Jacksons Squirrel Mop Brush
glides through many styles of painting appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Watercolour Enigma: Science of the Medium

A 96-page paperback book by Stephen Coates.

This book is very different to most painting teaching books. It is not filled with images of the authors artwork. It focuses on teaching. It gives a simple, clear explanation of the basic foundation of watercolour painting. It is described as ‘A progressive home course revealing the secrets of watercolours’. It is designed to be followed from the beginning through each step to build up your understanding.

Stephen Coates is good at explaining his methods and his step-by-step lessons are easy to follow. Beginners have found this book to be very helpful and it has received excellent reviews.

click for larger image

click for larger image

Stephen Coates

Stephen Coates returned to painting in midlife and found people loved his work and that he could teach his skills to others. As Steven says: “I got cracking, practised hard, framed some of my efforts and hung them in my sandwich shop. I was stunned, people actually liked them and parted with their cash. One of my customers said to me, “I’ve been painting for years and I can’t paint sky like that.” I explained how it was done and she then asked me if I had considered teaching. That was the defining moment. I decided to run my own art classes.”

“I was so excited about what I had discovered and how I had progressed that I felt I could help other people achieve the same. I designed a six week watercolour course and set up a purpose built teaching studio and invited people to attend. I was stunned by the positive response. My art classes in Sheffield proved to be very popular and I have really enjoyed sharing my own enthusiasm with other people. I was invited to present at art society meetings and I am now an established art demonstrator. I also looked for commercial opportunities for my own work. There was plenty to go at.”

You can find out more about Stephen and sign up for his watercolour courses on his website.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on the book Watercolour Enigma: Science of the Medium on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Image at the top:

“Lake in the Snow” by Stephen Coates from the book.

The post The Science of Watercolour appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

This book is a complete course in watercolour painting, clearly explained and illustrated.

William Newton’s Complete Guide to Watercolour Painting

A 128-page hardcover book by William Newton.

Starting from first principles, this complete guide demonstrates the breadth and depth of William’s watercolour painting expertise. In addition to projects covering architecture, still life, landscape, seascape, and even a small section on portraiture, this book contains sections on colour and tone, the materials you will need, vital watercolour painting techniques as well as vital information on perspective and drawing; all explained and illustrated for ease of use.

A comprehensive book containing six easy to follow demonstrations with detailed pictures. Very useful for an artist at the beginner’s stage, but it also has techniques and tips to help as you progress.

(click for larger image)

William Newton

William Newton was born in Essex and is a full time professional artist working on gallery, exhibition and privately commissioned paintings. He has enjoyed a number of very successful ‘sell out’ one-man exhibitions and has exhibited at various London locations, including the Barbican, the Mall Galleries, the Guildhall and numerous commercial galleries.

Largely self-taught, he works in most mediums, on almost any subject-matter, notably marine painting and landscape etc. and is the author of the Leisure Arts book ‘Painting with Watercolours’. He is a member of various Art Societies, including the London Sketch Club and is also a busy demonstrator.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on the book William Newton’s Complete Guide to Watercolour Painting on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Image at the top:
‘Over the Hill’
a watercolour painting by William Newton from the book.

The post Watercolour Painting with William Newton appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Jackson’s Artist Watercolours  have been put to the test in the March edition of The Artist magazine by artist Charles Williams. Here are some extracts from the article describing his experience of using them:

‘I was keen to see whether or not the tubes were weaker in pigment than the pans. I am please to report that they are, generally, not.’

‘At half the price or less of many well-known manufacturers, these are astonishingly good value and that, coupled with the ‘professional’ size of the tubes and pans, makes this Jackson’s range an excellent thing all round. ‘

‘I believe in teaching the need to express, to push the medium, to slosh it on, to enjoy the activity, and the promise of these paints is that you can do that in a way you would find difficult with the traditional half pan and tiny tube.’

Taken from the February Issue of Leisure Painter – Take a look at Jackson’s Artist Watercolours with Becky Samuelson

‘I loved the consistency of the paint, and the take up and release were perfect in all colours, facilitating an easy wash.’

‘Most of the colours I tested here were as I expected and compared favourably with other brands. In some instances I felt the colours and release of paint performed better, particularly the lovely cerulean blue, which is slightly less green.’

Customer Review of Jackson’s Artist Watercolours:

Review posted by Alice Roberts Dunn:

‘I tried this colour out in the 50p 5ml sample pack and it was simply stunning. I really wasn’t expecting much because of the comparatively cheap price, but it was easily up to par with (if not better than!) my Winsor and Newton paints. It is incredibly bright and pigmented and flows wonderfully, and doesn’t fall out of mix with other colours as my Daniel Smith Ultramarine & French Ultramarine blues have a tendency to do. It also rewets very well which is a ‘must’ for me as I always decant my paints into pans to dry before use. I have yet to try out any of the other paints in the range but as soon as I need any more I will certainly will, and I can definitely recommend French Ultramarine Blue.’

Click on the underlined link to go to Jackson’s Artist Watercolours

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

The post Jackson’s Artist Watercolour Review appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

A beautifully illustrated, easy-to-navigate guide to creating contemporary watercolours, pairing paintings with insights and tips for artists.

Just Add Watercolour: Inspiration & Painting Techniques from Contemporary Artists

A small-format (13x18cm) 208 page flexibound plastic cover book by Helen Birch.

Just Add Watercolour is an unusual and accessible guide to contemporary uses of watercolour in fine art and illustration. It is really enjoyable to flip through and see all the gorgeous artwork. It is designed to dip in and out for practical information or flick through for fresh inspiration and ideas. Eighty eight paintings by contemporary artists cross a range of different styles and approaches, with a small piece of text for each examining the different techniques, qualities and effects relating to each piece. The styles range from sketching comic styles to finished landscapes.

The book is organized into chapters according to medium and materials (traditional watercolour, gouache, digital, mixed media, other water-based media, non-paper media). Each artwork is featured on the right page with text about the image on the facing page. Each page has a ‘tip’ based on the image and practical advice on topics such as tone, perspective, colour and more. The unique approach of accessing practical information via the images, focusing on the way subjects can be treated using a range of different watercolour techniques, makes it quite usable for artists.

A visual index with thumbnails of all the artworks is located at the front of the book and enables the reader to easily find a specific painting, style, colour or subject matter within the book. You can see the various ways in which similar subjects and styles are executed by different artists, while also being inspired to use the tips in the book as a way of building on your existing skills.

Click for a larger image

Click for a larger image

Click for a larger image

Helen Birch

Helen Birch is a journalist and prolific artist based in the UK. She is also the author of the highly popular blog DrawDrawDraw reaching more than half a million readers. Birch teaches courses in art and design, fine art, and illustration at Bradford College, UK.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on the book Just Add Watercolour: Inspiration & Painting Techniques from Contemporary Artists on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Image at the top:
Pool Day
Wet on wet gouache painting
by Jeannie Phan
from the book Just Add Watercolour by Helen Birch

The post Just Add Watercolour appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

If you find your watercolour painting is too tight or overworked then perhaps this technique will help you to paint looser, fresher watercolours!

German artist, teacher and author Sabine Hilscher creates beautiful watercolour landscape and cityscape paintings. Here she shows us a technique for using a palette knife instead of a brush for watercolour painting. Palette knives (painting knives or spatulas) are most often used in oil and acrylic painting techniques, using them for watercolour is very unusual. She uses Schmincke Horadam watercolours in tubes for this painting demonstration.

Artist, teacher, author Sabine Hilscher

Materials that Sabine Hilscher uses in this demonstration

Materials

Materials that Sabine Hilscher uses in this demonstration:

• Horadam watercolours in 5ml and 15ml tubes – (She uses Translucent Orange, Magenta, Delft Blue, Prussian Green).
• Watercolour paper – (she uses Hahnemühle Cornwall)
• Aero Color Professional Supra-White opaque
• Watercolour brushes in different sizes – (she uses daVinci brushes)
• Pencil – (she uses a Faber-Castell clutch pencil)
• Palette knife
• Spray bottle filled with water
• Palette

Reduced Colour Palette

To achieve a clean and fresh watercolour painting in spite of all the uncontrolled colour flow, Sabine Hilscher uses a reduced colour palette. This reduces the chances of creating muddy colours. She chose to use the complementary colours of orange and blue shades which allows for good colour contrast without the painting becoming too colourful. Horadam watercolours in 5ml and 15ml tubes in Translucent Orange, Magenta, Delft Blue, Prussian Green.

Watercolour Painting with a Palette Knife Demonstration

First she lightly draws a simplified sketch of a flower subject with a graphite pencil onto the watercolour paper.

Then she carefully applies Magenta and Translucent orange watercolours directly from the tubes onto the paper, tracing the half circles of the blossoms, which form the colour base of the flowers. She notes that is is better to apply the colours sparingly and leave sufficient space blank.

She lightly wets the watercolours carefully with the spray bottle, so that they begin to flow into each other in larger areas. They will spontaneously mix themselves and begin to bloom, which means they form irregular edges.

To fill out the blossoms and to work out their forms she spreads the colours using a palette knife. To create areas of intense, vivid colour and areas of light colour it is important to vary the intensity of application, so some areas are applications of pure, strong colour and some are diluted colour flows.

She then creates the greenery using cool colours, the blue and green watercolours, drawing loose stems and leaves directly from the tube. She notes that as always, less is more.

As before she then lightly wets the watercolours carefully with the spray bottle, so that they begin to flow in different directions. She then uses a brush and palette knife to create the forms by creating a separation of the flowing colours and determining colour areas. The more she works on it the more the subject becomes clear and visible.

To avoid the paint becoming too thick and to emphasise that it is a watercolour, she uses a big watercolour brush and applies a wash to the background. She uses a palette knife to give further effects. While doing this, she says you should pay attention to the colour flow as it helps to underline the character of the painting.

With a small brush she applies details, fine lines and contours, which enliven the painting and add structure at the same time. Using Aero Color Professional Supra-White and a larger wet brush she adds splashes of white, with a smaller brush she adds some fine lines. Finally she thins some of the colours she has used and applies splashes with a big and wet brush to finish this fresh and abstract watercolour painting.

The finished painting by Sabine Hilscher.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on Schmincke Horadam Watercolours on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

The post Watercolour Painting with a Palette Knife appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Schmincke have kindly explained how they chose the colours they include in their sets of Horadam watercolours.

Horadam is a favourite watercolour of many painters because of the beautiful pigments and a couple of special characteristics. The optimal amount of ox gall is added to the premium Schmincke Horadam Watercolours for controlled flow even on absorbent watercolour papers. Another of the unique characteristics of Horadam is that the tube paint is fully reusable after it has dried on a palette because Horadam use the same formulation for the paint in both tubes and pans. This is unusual as many other makes have a different formula for the pans that allows them to extrude the paint like clay and cut it into pieces to put in the pans. Horadam pans are poured four times in a liquid state allowing the colour to dry for some weeks in a drying chamber to a certain degree of residual moisture and to settle between each filling.

Horadam Watercolour is available in 110 colours in 5ml tubes, 15ml tubes, half pans, and full pans. It is also available in a selection of sets in metal boxes and wooden boxes.

Essential Mixing Colours in Horadam Watercolour

Horadam 12 core colours
Top row: (six primaries) 215 Lemon Yellow, 224 Cadmium Yellow Light, 349 Cadmium Red Light, 353 Permanent Carmine, 494 Ultramarine Blue, 492 Prussian Blue
Bottom row: (six earth and green colours) 519 Phthalo Green, 534 Permanent Green Olive, 655 Yellow Ochre, 649 English Venetian Red, 663 Sepia Brown, 780 Ivory Black

Schmincke Horadam recommends these 12 basic colours as a good core group of colours for watercolour painting- six primaries and six earth and green colours. The six primaries are the three primary colours in cool and warm variants. This allows clear and clean mixing with the respective neighbour tones (224 + 349 or 353 + 494 or 492 + 215). For all general uses the combinations from mixing these 12 most important colours allows the greatest possible creative space. Pre-mixed greens are useful to have on hand. A green hue can also be obtained by mixing yellow and blue, but its availability as a clean, predictable colour facilitates painting especially outdoors.

The combination of the basic colours in Schmincke Horadam watercolour boxes for 12 colours has been conceived with particular care since this represents the basic assortment of all sets. All the colours have high and highest lightfastness (4 and 5 stars) except for lemon yellow, which has sufficient lightfastness (3 stars) and which does not exist in a more lightfast version in this colour characteristic.

A colour chart showing how each principle set is built on the core set.

The position of the artists’ colours in the colour circle (here the 3 basic colours: yellow, red and blue, each in a cool and warm variant: Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Red Light, Permanent Carmine, Ultramarine Blue and Prussian Blue).

• Cadmium Yellow fulfils the function of primary yellow. Mixed with a little bit of red it will glow in the warmest tones.
• Lemon Yellow mixes clear greens.
• Cadmium Red Light is almost an orange hue. This corresponds to its mixing properties. In the colour circle Permanent Carmine is most close to primary red. To achieve clear violet shades we recommend mixing with Permanent Carmine.
• There are also 2 blues, a cooler one (Prussian Blue) and a warmer variant (Ultramarine Blue). They differ considerably even though they are very close to each other in the colour circle.
• Phthalo Green is a very interesting mixing colour. It increases the range of cool green mixing possibilities. It is also well suited to painting doors, windows and the ocean in the Mediterranean.
• Permanent Green Olive is also very useful for mixing. The addition of different earth colours produces lively and natural green shades.
• The earth colours were chosen based on their position in the colour circle: Yellow Ochre is a more yellow tone – also suited for sand and walls. English Venetian Red as a reddish tone is often used for roof tiles and red brick. Sepia Brown is a blackish dark brown with a lively character which very often can replace black at least in mixtures with blue.
• Ivory Black – like white, not everyone approves of using black watercolour. In mixtures it normally dirties other shades, mixed with blue it is often used to paint bad weather situations.

Related Articles

• Schmincke Watercolour Masking Fluid came in first place in the testing done for this article:
Comparing Masking Fluids

• Schmincke Aqua Bronze

• Using Schmincke Horadam Watercolour, Masking Fluid and Aqua Bronze

The post Essential Mixing Colours in Schmincke Horadam Watercolour appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

The Lascaux Water Resoluble Medium allows you to thin your watercolour and gouache paint to a creamy consistency, to control how much it flows and blossoms, to add body so it doesn’t run and you can make watercolours with it using pigment powders or even small amounts of acrylic.

I tested it with dry pigments to make watercolour paint and I used it as a medium in various ways with watercolour, I tried adding it to acrylic paint to see if it would make the acrylic resoluble and I tested it as a resist under acrylic. I really liked painting with it as I felt much more in control of the paint – it went where I wanted, I could easily push it around the paper or wipe it off. If you like loose painting you could use the medium for just the part of the painting that you need to be more controlled, perhaps the focal point. I also liked the creamy consistency rather than a watery consistency, but that will depend on your painting style. I also found that you can paint thickly and it won’t crack. My watercolour paint went much farther when using the Resoluble Medium instead of or in addition to water.

Properties of Lascaux Water Resoluble Medium

• Colourless
• Lightfast and age resistant
• Remains water-resoluble upon drying
• Easily mixed with dry pigments to make colour

Lascaux Water Resoluble Medium as a painting medium with watercolour

Unless otherwise stated I tested the watercolours with the same amount of Resoluble medium (shown at the top) as water (shown at the bottom)

Top row is watercolour paint with Lascaux Resoluble Medium.
Bottom row is the same amount of watercolour paint with an equivalent amount of water.
You can see the body of the paint that contains the medium. It allows for thick and thin areas if you wish.
(click for a larger image)

Watercolour
Left column: mixed with Resoluble Medium.
Centre column: mixed with water.
Right column: painted with a wet brush straight from the tube (so very little water).
Right side has 2 washes, left is with medium, right is with water.
(click for a larger image)

Paint goes much farther.
In these two wells I mixed the same amount of watercolour with the same amount of-
left: Resoluble Medium, right: water.
I then painted the same tests and there was much more left in the well with the medium.

Wet into Wet.
Left is a wet yellow watercolour square painted with water where the top row of dots are watercolour with water and the bottom row of dots is watercolour with Resoluble Medium.
The right yellow square is wet watercolour with Resoluble Medium where the top row of dots is watercolour with water and the bottom row of dots is watercolour with Resoluble Medium.
(click for a larger image)

All of these swatches are Lascaux Resoluble medium with watercolour paint. You can make a controlled wash and can create light and dark areas with one stroke.
(click for a larger image)

Lascaux Water Resoluble Medium as a resist under acrylic and for making acrylic into watercolour

I painted 4 small rectangles of the Resoluble Medium onto dry paper first. Then I painted on top with
Left : Resoluble Medium with a drop of fluid acrylic.
Right: a wash of watery fluid acrylic (with no medium).
Then after it was dry I wet them and rubbed the top paint off with a wet brush.

Yellow square on the left: Note that the tint of acrylic in the Resoluble Medium made a fully removable resoluble watercolour.

On the right note how the acrylic doesn’t stick well to the ‘resist’ and cracks but that the thicker areas of acrylic still get through, so it will only work as a resist under very thin washes of acrylic.
(click for a larger image)

Lifting colour from dried paint

Lifting colour from dried paint.
Ratios of medium to paint – left to right:
3 parts Resoluble Medium:1 part fluid acrylic
20 parts Resoluble Medium:1 part fluid acrylic (this ratio makes the acrylic resoluble, like a watercolour)
10 parts Resoluble Medium:1 part watercolour
5 parts Resoluble Medium:1 part watercolour
(click for a larger image)

Lascaux Water Resoluble Medium with dry pigments to make watercolour paint

The medium mixes quite easily with pigment and a bit of water to make watercolours. You can control the transparency without causing edges or granulation by adding more medium. After the paints have dried on your palette they can be rewetted, it takes a few minutes for the paint to fully penetrate and then stir it back to a creamy texture.

The medium mixes quite easily with pigment and a bit of water to make watercolours.

A quick painting to get the feel of the Resoluble Medium

Painted with four colours of watercolour I made from pigment powder and Resoluble Medium.
This is the view out of the upstairs window here in East London.
I did a 20 minute sketch and loved the creamy consistency and my ability to control the paint – it went where I wanted, I could easily push it around the paper or wipe it off. I spent most of the time messing about with the sky adding and subtracting.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers on Lascaux Water Resoluble Medium on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website. Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

The post Lascaux Water Resoluble Medium appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Artist Alison Brennan reviews Turner Artist’s Watercolours: intensely rich colours made with pure pigments and the finest gum arabic for exceptional lightfast ratings – ideal for permanent works of art

Inspired by the palette of legendary Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner, Turner Artist’s Watercolours is a superb choice for watercolour artists. Made with the expertise of the Turner brand, these superior grade, ultra-concentrated artists’ watercolours combine pure pigments with the finest gum arabic and wetting agents. The result is watercolour paints which deliver vibrant colours, incredible transparency and flow, and achieve excellent lightfastness.

The Turner Artist’s Watercolour range boasts 115 vivid professional watercolours ranging from transparent, semi-transparent and opaque, and with no fewer than 59 single-pigment colours. Available as sets or individual 15 ml tubes.

Artist Alison Brennan Reviews Turner Artist’s Watercolours

One of our customers, Alison Brennan, reviewed Turner Artist’s Watercolours on our website:
“I was favourably impressed by what I found in the Turner Artist’s Watercolour range – a high pigment concentration with high quality gum arabic and no fillers, with the majority of the paints single pigment”, says Alison.

Alison reviewed different colours from the Turner Artist’s Watercolours range, here are some of her impressions on specific colours:

Turner : Artist’s Watercolour : 15ml : Ultramarine Violet
“Turner Ultramarine Violet (PV15) is a lovely blue violet, displaying a reddish undertone. It is granulating and with good saturation. The colour retains its intensity when dry. I have compared it to my other Ultramarine Violet from one of the “top rated” brands and I would rate the Turner equally highly.”

Turner : Artist’s Watercolour : 15ml : Permanent Lemon
“I have not seen this particular pigment offered by any of the other top brands so I was keen to try it out. It is a pigment colour, which falls between PY108 and PY110. The Permanent Lemon PY109 is a lightfast, clear, bright yellow which is set on the warmer end of this pigment spectrum. It is a transparent pigment. As a slightly warmer single pigment lemon colour, this is a useful addition to a palette.”

Turner : Artist’s Watercolour : 15ml : Dioxazine Violet
“Turner Dioxazine Violet (PV23) is a dark violet (purple) pigment and is highly saturated. In full strength, it positively explodes onto your watercolour paper. Like other Turner Artists Watercolours, it retains its colour intensity when dry.”

Turner: Artist’s Watercolour : 15ml : Cadmium Lemon
“I have bought a lot of Turner Artists Watercolour paints at this stage from Jackson’s. The paint pigments are very concentrated and I love using them. Yes, their high concentration can also make the consistency somewhat thick but this is easily resolved by adding 3 or 4 drops of Ox Gall Liquid to your clean water container – resulting in a smooth, free-flowing paint.”

We’ve chosen this useful review to be the ‘Product Review of the Month’ and sent Alison a thank you voucher.

A look into Alison Brennan’s Watercolour Paintings

‘Dalkey Harbour, County Dublin’ by Alison Brennan. Watercolour on Whatman watercolour paper, 140 gsm, 12 x 16 inches, 2015

Based in Ireland, Brennan has been painting for several years alongside her other work. “Though technically more difficult to handle than other paint media, watercolour is always full of excitement. The beauty of the subject matter combines wonderfully with the fascinating intermingling of the watercolour pigments on the paper”, says Alison.

‘King John’s Castle, Limerick’ by Alison Brennan. Watercolour on St. Cuthbert’s Mill Bockingford paper, 140 gsm, 10 x 14 inches, 2016

“I am mostly drawn to seascapes and landscapes – they are an endless inspiration in form, light, colour and texture and I am lucky enough to be living in a rural location in central Ireland surrounded by beautiful landscape and lakes”, explains Alison.

Click on the underlined link to view Turner Artists Watercolours.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

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For this project artist Charles Evans combines Winsor & Newton Watercolour Markers, Watercolour Sticks and Professional Watercolours to create a painting of Venice. All of these mediums can be used seamlessly together, because although some are more suited for larger areas and some for finer details, they are still all watercolour.

Integrating Winsor & Newton Watercolour Sticks and Markers into your Watercolour Artwork

By Charles Evans

The Watercolour Markers are an extremely versatile medium. You can draw directly onto the paper and then wet it with a brush or you can use a wet brush to stroke the colour off the tip and paint directly on. Dip the end of the marker into water to achieve a lovely wet-into-wet effect or simply draw on and leave it as-is. There are two ends to each Watercolour Marker, providing both a fine point and a broad stroke.

The Watercolour Sticks are equally effective. Simply draw directly onto the paper, dip into water and paint on, or take the paint off the stick using a wet brush.

I’ve found both of these mediums extremely useful on courses, such as on painting holidays when you don’t want to take all of your kit with you. Instead, a handful of Markers or Sticks and one brush will do perfectly!

Follow this step-by-step guide to incorporating Sticks and Markers into your watercolour artwork.

Step 1
In this first image, I’ve drawn a simple outline and put the sky wash on. I pre-wet the sky area using my 38mm Cotman Flat Wash Brush, and then using Professional Water Colour, quickly dropped in some Yellow Ochre followed by Light Red and finally from the top, French Ultramarine mixed with Light Red. I repeated this last mix for a few sharper, darker clouds before washing my brush out and sucking out a few clouds. I then let this dry before starting on the buildings.

Step 2
Now it’s time for the Watercolour Markers. I very simply drew into the outline using my Payne’s Gray Marker and then watered it down on the paper to fill in the dome. Rather than blocking out the whole dome, I added a little colour and then spread it around with water.

Step 3
Next, I used the same process for the more decorative parts of the building using the Raw Sienna and Raw Umber Markers. I put one colour on top of the other and merged the colours together using a wet brush, giving that lovely stone colour.

Step 4
At this stage, I drew a fine line with the Burnt Red Marker, which is a great colour for terracotta roofs, and again loosened the colour with a wet brush.

Step 5
On the side of the building that is cast in shadow, I popped a little Payne’s Gray on top.

Step 6
I changed back to Professional Watercolour and with my 19mm Cotman Flat Brush, blocked in the main parts of the building with big strokes of Raw Umber mixed with Raw Sienna, and added more Raw Umber to the darker sides. Importantly, I let all of this dry before I continued with this area. While it was drying, I carried on with some of the background buildings using the same mix, but weaker.

Step 7
I went back to the main building with the Payne’s Gray Marker and added a few strokes for the windows and other detail. Then, I mixed Dioxazine Violet and Payne’s Gray on a brush. To do this, simply rub the nib of one marker with a wet brush and then repeat with the other marker, mixing the colour together directly onto the brush. With this mix, I created the shadows and darker sides of the building. I put some of this mix on the more distant buildings too, but again much weaker. At this point, I put any detail I needed into the distant buildings using Raw Umber and Burnt Red Markers. I didn’t fuss too much over with these, as they needed to stay in the distance and too much detail or strength of colour would bring them further forward.

Step 8
Then it was time to fill in the water, and I used the Watercolour Sticks for this. I peeled some of the wrapping away and used the stick on its side, rather like using a pastel stick. I drew on French Ultramarine, then a few strokes of Indian Red and a few strokes of Raw Sienna. Here, you can see the dry colours as I’ve stroked them on. With my 19mm Cotman Flat Brush and plenty of water, I then gently stroked over these colours to merge them, creating a very pleasing colour for the water.

Step 9
To finish the picture, I used a Payne’s Gray marker to fill in the gondola, and then left the colour as it came out of the marker instead of wetting it afterwards. I also did the same for the wooden posts, but popped a touch of Raw Umber onto these too. Finally, with a few darker strokes of French Ultramarine mixed with Light Red from the sticks, I added a few darker ripples on the water here and there.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on Winsor & Newton Watercolour Markers, Watercolour Sticks and Professional Watercolours on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website. Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

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Whether you are blending, adding texture or layering washes within your watercolour painting, using Winsor & Newton’s range of mediums to customise your paints gives you control of your painting, as well as allowing experimentation and new discoveries. This useful information about five key Winsor & Newton Watercolour Painting Mediums could transform the way you work with watercolour.

Granulation Medium

Blending Medium

Lifting Preparation Medium

Permanent Masking Medium

Texture Medium

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on the Winsor & Newton Watercolour Mediums on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website. Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

The post Five Key Winsor & Newton Watercolour Painting Mediums appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Some artists require ultra smooth watercolour paper for their work and are responding to recent changes in their favourite papers.

As a few artists have noticed recently, the surface texture of the Fabriano 5 and Fabriano Artisico Hot Pressed papers have changed slightly. We have been told that the Fabriano paper mill in Italy uses the same machine to produce other papers than just artists papers and that the texture change of Fabriano 5 and Artistico is the result of some changes to the machine, designed to make the production of a variety of papers more efficient. Both papers are now slightly less smooth. Most artists will still find the surface texture very good for their work. The colour and composition has not changed. But artists such as botanical watercolour painters who rely on these papers for their ultra smooth surface, have been asking about alternatives.

Fabriano 5 and alternatives

Fabriano 5 is a 50% cotton paper with a very white surface designed for watercolour painting and lithography printing, but can also be used for charcoal, graphite, wax, pastel and calligraphy. It is an immensely popular product with watercolour artists and printmakers alike. It is most popular with botanical watercolour painters who require a smooth surface to enable them to acheive the minute accuracy required for their style of painting. As an alternative many artists have been happy with a new paper from St Cuthbert’s Mill – Botanical Ultra Smooth Watercolour Paper.

Fabriano Artistico and alternatives

Fabriano Artistico is a 100% cotton paper in Traditional White and Extra White designed for watercolour artists. The Hot Press surface used to be super-smooth. We have had reports of the surface being less smooth and also acting a bit different as if the surface sizing has changed. If you find that Fabriano Artistico no longer works as you’d like you might wish to try Saunders Waterford Hot Press which is also a 100% cotton paper in two shades of white. The mill has made a few adjustments to their paper-making and has made the Saunders Waterford even smoother, so soon all the new stock will be extra smooth.

Click on the underlined link to go to the Paper Department on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

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Sav Scatola has an unconventional approach to watercolour painting. He is unafraid of stretching paper with blutac, adding more sizing to watercolour paper or making his own watercolours to achieve the effect he is after. Jackson’s sent Sav some Jackson’s Artist Watercolours and some artist-quality cotton watercolour papers to try out and along with other materials he created a lot of paintings and wrote a guest post for us about his journey of teaching himself to paint in watercolours.

Watercolours: Breaking Up, Making Up

By Sav Scatola

I never liked watercolours. Or perhaps they never liked me. We fought a lot, but ultimately my creative urges leaned more towards spontaneous marks, paint overs, scrubbing out, drying out, scraping back, finding shapes, losing edges, building countless layers of opaque texture until finally after days, weeks or months, another painting was born.

Oil painting was always a worthwhile struggle, a wild, unknowable adventure that left me wanting more. In contrast, I perceived the traditional view of watercolour painting as something which required a sensible, measured approach. Meticulous planning followed by sequential execution in exactly the right order at exactly the right time; a one-shot method which did produce stunning gem-like results, but only when the rules were obeyed and perfected without deviation. Mess up at any stage and the painting was ruined. I ruined a lot of paintings.

So I gave up before really starting, but still treasured my well-thumbed books on watercolour painting, not least ‘Discovering Watercolour’ by Jack Merriott which features work of spellbinding clarity. Likewise a tome on Walter Langley, member of the famous Newlyn School. Decades passed without the slightest desire to re-engage until a couple of years ago while painting an image called, ‘Folly’ in acrylics on watercolour paper.

‘Discovering Watercolour’ by Jack Merriott

Waiting for the Boats
by Walter Langley

Folly
Acrylic on Hahnemuhle Cornwall Paper
by Sav Scatola

I had intended starting with thin washes before building up thicker layers as the painting progressed, but the sky wash came out almost fully formed so there seemed little point in developing it further. This got me thinking, what then were the differences between acrylic and watercolour?

Well, this year I was finally inspired to investigate further after coming across master artist James Gurney’s excellent ‘Watercolour in the Wild’ video. I was determined to make a point of not only engaging the auld enemy, but persevering with the struggle until we finally became friends. Perhaps not best friends, but centuries of watercolour artists can’t all be wrong, so it must be me.

I considered a few things before my attempt:
1. Realism is not necessarily the goal but representational art is an infinite fascination to me in all its forms.
2. I want to allow each painting to dictate its own direction rather than simply aping long established formulas, though I am not intent on avoiding classic techniques where appropriate. This is a beginner’s exploration so you will no doubt see images littered with wrong technique, bad choices and overworked passages. That’s okay, these days I’ve learned an open, relaxed approach is simply more pleasurable, often turning ‘accidental deviations’ into an asset. Besides if things go belly up I can always turn them into opaque body colour paintings!
3. If you really want to get to the guts of a medium, there’s no point in using entry level materials. Yes, they’re cheaper but usually fall well short when compared to artist quality kit, so you’ll never get a true impression of how the medium performs. Always buy the best you can afford.

To begin at the beginning then. I have a sketchbook and an eighteen half-pan tin of Winsor & Newton Watercolour, but start with just one – black. Right from the off my negative preconceptions of watercolours are all but blown away. ‘Eurasian Eagle Owl’ demonstrates that sketching with just black paint can be spontaneous, versatile and dare I say it, fun! Add a Zig Water Brush to the mix and the process becomes even more fluid. ‘Castle Rock’ introduces a little colour. It is still fun.

Eurasian Eagle Owl
Watercolour
by Sav Scatola

Castle Rock
Watercolour
by Sav Scatola

So despite years of enmity, by the end of session one I’m already hooked. A few more sketchbook exercises help build confidence to the point where I am now itching to move to the next level.

Paper is a vital facet of watercolour painting and before long I’m drooling at high end offers online. Among the usual suspects I come across a top-of-the-line paper at a reasonable price, ‘Strathmore 500 Series Gemini,’ 300lb (638 g/m2.) The numbers mean it is thick enough to skip the soak and stretch stage and it shouldn’t cockle when applying washes. The weight of the paper is beautiful and it does ooze a traditional quality, accentuated by the deckled edges and embossed thistle watermark. The surface is fuzzy to touch, almost like a soft felt fabric rather than paper, which is not entirely surprising as it is a 100% cotton product. The creamy colour is darker than expected, which is confusing given that tradition strictly dictates our only use of white should be that of the paper. I wonder if this will be an issue.

While painting ‘Clouds Over Fife,’ the surface feels quite hard going and its creamy ground only exacerbates the problem. No doubt my inexperience is telling, but frustration builds until in desperation I add titanium white watercolour to the clouds and sky. Now the luminosity seems more pleasing, which is ironic really. Strathmore Gemini then, is a soft sized paper. It doesn’t appear to suit me (yet) but is superb all the same, so three adaptations immediately spring to mind: 1. An acid free PVA coating. I’m not entirely sure whether watercolour paint will be repelled by the PVA size. 2. While on Jacksons’ website I come across a product called ‘Watercolour Ground’ by Daniel Smith, a white ground for watercolour – just the ticket! 3. Opaque paints. Acrylic or gouache should turn that soft cotton surface into an asset and in the process enable such techniques as dark to light painting.

Clouds Over Fife
Watercolour on Gemini 500
by Sav Scatola

Strathmore 500 Series Gemini paper against a strip of white photo card

PVA Size
The Acid-free PVA is watered down so that it soaks into the paper rather than form a waterproof seal on its surface. Although no plein air painter, I venture out to try the new ‘hard sized’ Strathmore, eventually settling on a bench at Edinburgh’s botanic gardens. It is a flat, overcast day and using a simple palette I start painting, ‘Glass Houses.’ The paint is not repelled but doesn’t exactly perform like a classic paper either. I am happier with the firmer surface though.

Before long it becomes obvious the domes could be scaled up, so I scrub over the lines with clean water and to my great delight, find the pigment lifts completely. This is confirmed quite a few times along the way. Back home I scrub out and re-paint the spidery foreground branches a couple of times and significantly, lift out highlights along some branch edges to separate them from the background. Perhaps pigments like phthalo blue would have stained, but based on this performance, I can say the PVA size turned the paper into a versatile field sketching surface. Paint was easily and quickly scrubbed out with clean water and the paper’s weight meant no cockling occurred. Sweet.

Watercolour Ground
The Daniel Smith Watercolour Ground is thick and touch-dries quickly, so I water it down just enough to avoid impasto build up on application. Once dry, it makes an appreciable difference to the flow and brightness of the paper. It seems to encourage a rapid sketching style rather than carefully laid washes and again, aids the lifting of pigment nicely. I like this combination a lot.

‘Eilean Donan’ is painted from my own references using a limited palette of homemade watercolours (more on that later). As an afterthought, a few detail lines are added with dark watercolour pencils to sharpen structure edges here and there. I like this enough to warrant further investigation.

Glass Houses. Watercolour on PVA sized Strathmore Gemini
by Sav Scatola

Eilean Donan
Watercolour on Daniel Smith sized Strathmore Gemini
by Sav Scatola

Opaque Paint
I use Atelier Interactive acrylics by Chroma for the painting ‘Cake Stand.’ The scene is lightly sketched out with raw umber washes. As subsequent paint layers thicken, applying brush strokes becomes less fluid, so I instinctively switch to a stiffer bristle brush to force paint across the surface. It works well even in washes, so I make a note to try watercolours with bristles on this paper. The brush is old and frayed, which is good as it keeps the painting loose, but at the last pass I return to my Seawhite brush for detailing on the biscuits and other foreground elements thus bringing them into sharper focus. Interestingly, watercolour style washes still work nicely where necessary, especially in the less defined background. I like the mix of transparent and opaque. These acrylics perform well in washes and later I hope to do a simple like-for-like test dropping both watercolour and acrylic into wetted paper to see how they settle.

The sweet treats are absolutely delicious! This was a successful exercise. I don’t know how well regarded Strathmore Gemini paper is, but for me, some lateral adaptation has turned it into a very flexible surface I’d gladly use again. I found tips online by top watercolour painter Geoff Kersey and want to try some classic techniques such as lifting out paint for clouds and applying masking fluid to preserve the white paper.

Cake Stand
Acrylic on Strathmore Gemini
by Sav Scatola

Teepee on St Mary’s Loch
Watercolour on Langton Paper
by Sav Scatola

‘Teepee on St Mary’s Loch’ is painted on a Daler-Rowney Langton watercolour block with a sky wash made with Winsor and Newton cobalt and cerulean blues. I immediately dab out some clouds with a paper towel but hmm, they do say practice makes perfect! The teepee, foreground sheep and fence posts are masked out before applying some pre-mixed pools of colour over the rest of the scene. I paint a couple of further layers wet-on-dry, softening edges here and there. The masking fluid peels off perfectly and a few finishing details are applied.

As an aside, you may have noticed staple holes around the edges. I assumed the block would act like a stretcher but when first wet, the paper cockled severely. In a panic I tore it out and secured it to a board with the first thing to hand, not gummed tape but a staple gun. This worked really well, though I later learned paper in a watercolour block does flatten back out when completely dry.

By now some half pans are running low and as I’d read rave reviews on Jackson’s Artists Watercolours, purchase a few to try out. Artist quality materials aren’t usually so affordable so I’m not expecting much, but what a treat, these colours turn out to be laugh-out-loud brilliant.

Jackson’s paint handles beautifully. It is particularly intoxicating to watch the sky washes dance around each other before settling.

‘Fettes Clock Tower’ is painted to test four of the colours purchased – cobalt blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna and Naples yellow (cerulean blue not used here.) Jackson’s paint handles beautifully. I don’t yet have enough experience to expound on the technicalities, but can compare them to those I’ve already used, Winsor and Newton Artist and the budget Cotman ranges. Jackson’s paints are much more reactive than the Cotman and easily on a par with W&N’s Artist watercolours. They seem highly pigmented, well ground and extremely responsive. It is particularly intoxicating to watch the sky washes dance around each other before settling. Now I’m beginning to feel the hold watercolour has over many artists.

Fettes Clock Tower
Jacksons Artist Watercolours on Hahnemuhle Cornwall Paper
by Sav Scatola

Cotton Watercolour Papers
I try some different all cotton watercolour papers: Saunders Waterford High White, Fabriano Artistico Extra White and Arches Aquarelle , all rough, 140lb. I also try Jackson’s Icon sable and synthetic mix brushes, one round size 8, one 1/2 inch flat and one round quill, size 2. And I get some more colours: a twelve half pan tin and five further 21ml tubes of Jackson’s Artist Watercolours: Jackson’s Yellow Light (PY154), Yellow Ochre (PY43), Burnt Umber (PBR7), Quinacridone Red Orange (PR209), French Ultramarine (PB29) and Permanent Sap Green, which is a convenience mix of PB29 and PY154. According to the excellent online watercolour resource by Bruce McEvoy on handprint.com, yellow PY154 is very lightfast unlike those used in some convenience mixes.

I quickly sketch out a tugboat passing before Inchkeith Island on the Arches Aquarelle paper. I applied a wash and immediately the combination of paper and paint screams quality, but I bring proceedings back to earth with a bump by fluffing attempts at using the roughness of the paper to make a wake and white choppy peaks. I consider dragging opaque paint across the surface but prefer to leave it this time. Pencil marks still show through, which I love, but feel the tugboat lines could be bolder, maybe even black, so I finish with a Rotring pen.

Tugboat
Watercolours and Rotring Pen on Arches Aquarelle
by Sav Scatola

Museums are an infinite source of inspiration for the doodling classes. This collection of bovine bones is curiously situated in an alcove halfway up the entrance stairs to the National Museum of Scotland. It looks like an interesting exercise, I like the cast shadow. The piece is 1/8 imperial, 28 x 19cm. Instead of pre-stretching I simply blu-tack it to a board in twelve places along the edges. Some papers tear when the blu tack is removed but 100% cotton papers do not, or rather have not in my experience so far.

I want to try watercolour pencils but first take my new Icon Sable quill brush and give the whole surface a wash of quinacridone red orange, burnt umber and raw sienna. The brush performs great with just the right amount of spring for me. It holds lots of colour and does feel like natural hair. The centre of gravity is at the brush head. I may have preferred it a little higher up the handle but suspect this design deliberately helps keep the brush more upright. I adapt soon enough. Once dry the skeleton silhouette is lightly drawn in. Next a Faber-Castell Watercolour pencils in ivory is dipped in water and directly applied with the side of the lead rather than the point. Rolling the pencil as I draw deposits small impasto clumps of pigment. I like that the rough Fabriano surface creates really interesting ragged edges as I spread the colour. Umbers, ochres, siennas, turquoise, grey and white pencils are applied to the scene both wet and dry. In places a Zig water brush is used to activate and blend the pigment.

Fabriano Artistico is a superb paper. It handles the wash impeccably and though I didn’t make use of it, seems to keep the surface damp for longer than the Langton. I suspect colour lifting for clouds would have been more successful on this paper. I try a little sample and the pigment lifts really well quite long after the surface is soaked. It also handles rough pencil treatment well without falling apart, an asset of 100% cotton papers I guess.

Bovine Bones
Watercolour Paints and Pencils on Fabriano Artistico
by Sav Scatola

In ‘Posing and a Pouting’ my wife is just swinging round before striking a particularly silly pose that I photograph. Behind her sits a line of trees that leads to the Loch Lomond golf course at Rossdhu Mansion. Behind the tree line across the loch sits Ben Lomond in a haze. I use Jackson’s paints in naples yellow, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, quinacridone red orange, cobalt and cerulean blues and sap green. The paints are all exquisite and the other Icon Sables are just as good as the quill. For me Saunders Waterford’s high white surface only improves on what many consider the best watercolour paper available anywhere. I overdo a few passages but like those that only took one shot, which is ironic given where I started. Perhaps we can say after all these years, I’m finally getting to grips with watercolours.

Posing and a Pouting
Watercolour on Saunders Waterford
by Sav Scatola

Making your own paint is not so difficult these days. I used two tubs of Sennelier binding medium: watercolour and gouache. Jackson’s sell the binders and pigment powders. Some powders are fairly toxic, so it makes sense to wear Disposable gloves and a safety mask, but with a little care there’s not much danger in such small quantities. It is best not to consume food or drink while making paint. I prefer to first pour binder onto a glass plate and then gradually add pigment until the consistency is right. This traps powder quicker than doing it the other way round and ensures each small amount added is ground properly. For small quantities grinding with a palette knife works fine.

‘River Tweed from Abbotsford’ is painted with homemade watercolours on a lovely 250lb (535gsm) Not surface Bockingford paper. A little white gouache is used for highlights in the water and trees. Having never tried Sennelier watercolours, I can’t make a direct comparison, but if this is the very same vehicle they use, then my home made paints should be comparable. They do feel like the real deal in use, displaying all the properties one would expect in quality watercolours.

River Tweed from Abbotsford
Watercolour on Bockingford
by Sav Scatola

In this quick comparison test I smear a similar sized blob of watercolour, acrylic and gouache paint on some paper. Beneath them I brush a column of clean water before dragging a similar amount of each pigment into the water. The watercolour is Jacksons, the acrylic is Atelier Interactive and the gouache is my home made paint with Sennelier binder, all French Ultramarine PB29.

To me this small sample precisely shows some defining properties of each medium. The watercolour spreads rapidly and evenly. The Acrylic resists dragging, trying to stay in impasto clumps until it hits the water where it does spread, but not as vigorously as the watercolour. The gouache barely spreads at all and evenly retains its rich, opaque velvety appearance well into the water column. No one wants to irretrievably mess up a watercolour painting but part of me was hoping for just that, and the inevitable happens when I bite off more than I can chew in the painting, ‘Do Not Feed The Birds.

Some may still call this a messy failure. I won’t disagree, however the point was not necessarily to produce a finished image, but to use it as a comparison exercise. The painting begins with the background trees in watercolour. I’m already unhappy on completing the first pass and know things are not worth pursuing. After leaving it to dry out though, I decide to plough on with opaque paint rather than waste a perfectly good piece of paper. The paints are not mixed together but split into three sections. That watercolour tree line remains, but I choose to paint the path in acrylic and the water in gouache. Oddly, this feels like a very natural process, perhaps because they are all water based, yet each changes the way paint is applied. Acrylic does dry with a slight sheen but is easily turned into acrylic gouache with the application of matte medium or matte varnish.

I’ve learned a huge amount during all these exercises but know this is only the beginning of what can be achieved with mixing media: watercolours, acrylics, gouache, pencils and ink.

Do Not Feed The Birds
Watercolour, Acrylic and Gouache on Langton
by Sav Scatola

Sav Scatola’s website is boxy.co.uk

Some notes on the materials that Sav mentions in this article:

We stock other Strathmore Watercolour Paper but we don’t have the Gemini anymore.

We stock a wide range of heavyweight watercolour paper that, as Sav mentioned, there is no need to stretch.

Atelier Interactive acrylics are a new product for us and will be with us in the next few weeks.

Click on the underlined links to go to the current offers on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website. Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

The post Sav Scatola’s Experimental Approach to Watercolour appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Organic, rare and sustainably produced watercolours: this is a new vision in the world of fine art paints. Made using the finest pigments from natural raw materials, the Lutea Extra Fine Plant-Based Watercolour range is as unique as it is desirable. Available in 12 colours in 9ml tubes, visionary Belgian brand Lutea offers an amazing opportunity to rediscover rare and beautiful organic colours made from noble plant materials from around the world.

“Colour has been part of our heritage and our economy for many centuries”, says Anne-Sylvie Godeau, Founder of Lutea, who is pioneering what could one day become an organic paint revolution. With eyes firmly set on creating alternatives to traditional, non-natural paints, Lutea’s hallmark is the revival and celebration of precious materials and colours, which have little by little disappeared since the establishment of the industrial era. Since the artificial synthesis of alizarin (a red pigment present in the madder root) in 1869 by German chemists, plant cultures for pigments became largely extinguished by the turn of the last century.

Founder of Lutea Anne-Sylvie Godeau with organically grown Indigo in Belgium

The Lutea range offers vibrant watercolours, which achieve superb lightfastness (rated Good to Very Good (5-6) as certified by French laboratory Green’ing). From Madder to Indigo, these watercolours offer a unique opportunity to rediscover natural colours which have spanned the history of art.

Indigo

Before being filled into a 9ml tube by hand, the Lutea paints go through a lengthy adventure. The pigments in the Lutea range have been chosen for their high quality dyes and lightfastness, and are the result of extensive research and development into organic colours. After the pigments have been extracted from the plants under the care and expertise of artisan Anne-Sylvie Godeau, the grounded pigments are then meticulously incorporated with the highest quality binding agents (gum arabic, glycerine and honey), guided by Isabelle Roelof’s research. The full range of 12 colours includes natural raw materials sourced from cultivated plants, gleaned plants, recycled plants, international plants, and one insect, grown in parts of the world such as Iran, Canada and Lutea’s native Belgium.

The grinding of violet from logwood and its incorporation to binding agents takes place in Isabelle Roelof’s Isaro Lab, which is specialised in making oil and watercolour paints

Artisanal, sustainable production is a touchstone of Lutea. It’s also about innovation: using extraction techniques in order to celebrate new plants whose pigment family can achieve great quality paints. While more expensive than most watercolours, Lutea’s price tag reflects the organic origin of the materials used to create these sophisticated and totally unique watercolours, as well as the rigorous, hands-on process required to obtain the pigments.

The 12 unique colours offer the possibility to create mixtures which cannot be achieved with synthetic colours. For those looking to achieve a significant pigment spread, we recommend adding ox gall to your water when painting. These watercolour paints are compatible with synthetic and mineral watercolours.

We recommend storing Lutea : Extra Fine Plant-Based Watercolours at a temperature below 25° Celsius, as these organic and living watercolours are delicate and must be kept away from heat sources with tubes properly closed after usage.

Artist Christine Holland tests out Lutea : Extra Fine Plant-Based Watercolours

British artist Christine Holland experimented with some Lutea Watercolours and shares her experience:

“I decided on using a limited palette to challenge the depth and tonal qualities of the colours, using Dark Green, Yellow, Red and Orange. As one of the main unique points to the colours is that they are from organic and natural sources, I thought it might be interesting to paint whatever it is that the pigments are made from. The orange pigment is made from Cosmos Sulphureus, a plant native to Mexico and Central America and so I thought this would be a good starting point to test the colours out.

On first squeezing the colours out into the palette, I noticed how dense the pigment was. The pigment washes really well, a little goes a long way. I am used to working with thick, opaque watercolours and also using them quite dry, so this was a bit of a change as the pigments are quite transparent. They blended really easily with each other, they did dry fairly quickly and when rewetted they granulated slightly and were not as easy to mix together. I found the colour dries to quite a matt finish and loses a little bit of its vibrancy – this however is fairly normal with some watercolours. I mixed the Lutea Watercolours with a Winsor & Newton Opaque White, they blended together really well and I was able to stretch the tonal qualities of the pigments further.

I found that the pigments lift really well with minimal scrubbing, perfect for maintaining the integrity of the paper. Overall, I think they are a great range for those that are looking for a natural alternative for their pigments – they are intense, the pigments go a long way and so will last for a long time!”

Testing Some of the Characteristics of Lutea

The Lutea : Extra Fine Plant-Based Watercolours range is available in 12 colours in 9ml tubes.

Testing was done on Arches Aquarelle Paper and Bockingford paper in the rough texture.

The 12-colour range is a bit limited, with a good selection of warm colours but just one blue which is grayish. The greens are both brownish.

Lutea watercolours mix easily with water for smooth, even colour on your brush.

Left is the 12 colours wet. Right is 20 minutes later, after drying.
As expected because they are all plant-based, there is no granulation.

The colours layer very well, most colours don’t lift much after they are dry, the blue does a bit.

Lutea Blue was applied in a graded wash. Then when it was dry two strengths of Light Green were applied over the top.

You can mix a lovely brighter sap green using blue and light green.

Lutea paint flows well as it is but it flows even better if you add a few drops of ox gall to your water- a watercolour wash will go further and there will be fewer hard edges.

Lutea grey is a warm grey. You can mix a cool grey with rose pink and blue.

The rose pink is beautiful but not very strong. You can mix a whole range of gorgeous pinks, reds and violets with the Lutea colours.

Clouds lifted nicely out of the blue while it was wet.

Discover the full range of Lutea : Extra Fine Plant-Based Watercolour here.

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Vibrant and bold, British watercolourist Amanda Hamilton’s paintings are all at once playful and dreamy. It was in the early nineties that Hamilton first discovered her love of watercolours, while sailing in the Caribbean between the islands of St Lucia and Grenada. Since then, Hamilton has continued her exploration into watercolours, and her work has been exhibited internationally and featured in the likes of Vogue and World of Interiors. We sent Amanda a set of ShinHan Pass Watercolour & Gouache Hybrid to trial and hear her perspective on these premium and unique paints.

Experimenting with ShinHan Pass Watercolour & Gouache Hybrids

by Amanda Hamilton

Amanda’s palette with ShinHan Pass Watercolour and Gouache Paint Hybrid

During this year’s Forest and Valleys Open Studios, I decided to trial the ShinHan Pass Hybrids in a painting of the National Trust Monnow Bridge. I’ve painted it before as a full feature portrait painting [artwork below], but I thought I’d explore it this time in profile, including the bridge and River Monnow.

Left: Old Monnow Bridge in Monmouth, South Wales. Right: Artwork by Amanda Hamilton

I’ve decided to create the sky and reflection using Heliotrope, Blue Celeste and a dense Cobalt Blue wash. It spreads well and creates a solid background to raise other colours into. I’m not positioned near a power point today so my usual hairdryer to speed things up isn’t an option. That means working all over the painting, so the final effect may be a bit scatty. On the other hand, it may be perfect!

To build in a little foliage, I’ve stayed with the same three blues/purple and added Permanent Yellow and Lemon Yellow. I usually use Naples Yellow and Gamboge as my two favourite yellow mixes so this is a new colour schematic for me. I don’t mind the effect so far! Moving into the brickwork I’m going to introduce some Alizarin Crimson and Carmine. I don’t like how much water runs out of the tubes – when using a small ceramic mixing palette, it makes it hard to keep the colours separate.

Well that was scary! These hybrids have an intensely rich tone to them, so initially I needed to dab out in order to make the colours not too overpowering. That said, I think I like the effect and am beginning to look forward to the end result.

Painting in a hurry becomes exciting when working these “Quirky Quickies” as I can begin to see the basis of the painting now. I’m struggling with the fluidity and intensity of the colours but I’m getting very positive comments from the customers.

The cafe’s a little quieter now so I can get the hairdryer onto it before I go home. A few hours later: Developing the shadows and water reflections always brings the character of the painting through. I’m becoming less afraid of the intensity of the colours and adding more water to the mix, the painting is now beginning to take shape.

Untitled Monnow Bridge by Amanda Hamilton. 2016, Watercolour & Gouache Hybrid on paper, 46 x 32 cm

A few hours later and it’s time to step back from the piece and see what speaks to me. I still need to get the feel of the hybrids in a formal context. All in all, despite too many tubes offering mixtures of pigments which I’m not so keen on, and more browns than any self respecting artist would ever use (preferring to mix their own), I like the effect. It’s fresh, vital, filled with life and colour.

Comparing ShinHan Pass Watercolour and Gouache Paint Hybrid with Gouache

I then decided to experiment with a half pan of Carmine PR17 from the ShinHan Pass Watercolour and Gouache Paint Hybrid range, and compare it to Talens Gouache Carmine PR112 / PR23. Normally, I like working with pure pigment colours, but I wanted to do a comparison to get a feel for the hybrids and see how they move and behave with minimum water.

I am a bold watercolourist – most of my work is pretty vivid so I tend to favour gouache over solid half pans these days in order to capture the strong colours I like to use for commissions. I began by doing what I call in class a “50 Shades of Grey” exercise – but here it’s 5 shades of carmine. The right hand column is Talens Gouache Carmine, the left is the ShinHan Pass Hybrid Carmine.

My first observation is that the Talens Gouache spreads more readily. There is a smoothness and no water is needed for the first colour block. When I came to work with the ShinHan Pass Hybrid, it was very noticeable that there is not just fluid in the tube, but also something chalky, granular, dry. So it took a little experimenting to feel into how much more water would be needed to create an even saturation of the pigment. I think I did pretty well!

I then introduced two ShinHan Pass Hybrids: Lemon Yellow PY147 and Carmine to get a feel for how the two pigments mix without using any gouache at all. The Lemon Yellow had a lot of “ooze” before the actual pigment came out, which made the combination pretty runny. That said, it is lovely to paint with, if a little drier than I’m used to.

So I’ve been very abstract simply getting a feel for the texture and the blending properties of the paints. The colours are quick to blend, so mixing the paints on the paper worked better than in the pot.

Once again, the ShinHan Pass Hybrid shows its nature of having a hidden dryness in the moisture and needed more water than I expected. It will take a bit of getting used to but I’m sure in time I will become a dab hand at it! My other observation is different tubes have different consistencies – some are very liquid, others very dry.

I then waited for the ‘Danger Zone’: I tried to run a yellow border around the edge with the paper still damp and with the paint not quite dry, to see how the hybrid would behave. It worked really well. With my gouache paints, I simply wouldn’t bother trying to do this – the painting would be destroyed. However, with the hybrid I found that there was very little run-off, which I see as a good thing. In order to create a blending, I had to add more water to the paper and then for sure a little run off happened, but had I stayed reasonably dry on the paper I think the yellow would have held its own pretty admirably.

Painting the village and fishing port of Mousehole in Cornwall

So I thought I’d have another experiment using only ShinHan Hybrids. My blues are Cerulean for the sky with Heliotrope mixed for texture, then Cerulean and Ultramarine for the harbour water and some Permanent Yellow to begin the sand and harbour wall. As always, too much comes out of the tube but I’m now learning to dot just a whisper into my palette. If you’re on a budget, I’d suggest keeping the tubes upright and using a brush to decant a small quantity.

As I’m working quickly during this Forest and Valleys Open Studios week, I’m going right in there with deep shadows and boat shapes using Prussian Blue, Carmine Red and Vandyke Brown. I’m becoming more confident in the way the hybrids behave: you really do need to explore their intensity a lot to not overwhelm your work.

It’s fairly easy to loosen colours once dry with a damp brush and generally too much pigment can be lifted out with a wet brush and kitchen paper. I love this as I am not the kind of artist that pre-meditates too much, preferring the loose and unpredictable over planned and known.

The quantity of browns in the box that I have commented on before deserves some exploring, so I’ve dabbed a small amount of each in a palette and used these to generate my suggestion of Mousehole town and the harbour walls. I like the effect, although notice compared with pure gouache I do need to loosen the paste a little more even when seeking a dry textured took.

Mowzer of Mousehole by Amanda Hamilton. 2016, Watercolour & Gouache Hybrid on paper, 46 x 32 cm

In comparison to my Monnow Bridge painting where I only used 7 colours, I’ve decided to use the pre-mixed tones in this piece. Now it’s time to deepen things and I like the ease with which I can augment colours both in the water and out. I usually don’t rework water generally as I don’t like what I call tide marks, but the hybrids don’t seem to mind too much!

Would I recommend these hybrids? Yes, I would – it’s certainly less hassle squeezing paint out of a tube than wetting half pans and trying to achieve the same intensity of colour. I think you need a BIG palette with lots of little mixing wells so that the very runny hybrids don’t auto mix with other paints but the plastic tubes are fantastic because no matter how sediments and gritty the mouth of the tube, the lid still opens easily.

If I were to give these paints a mark out of ten, I would give a 6 or a 7. That’s a good mark for me!

Journaling with the ShinHan Hybrids

When I go on holiday, I like to take a journal, the kind that is robust enough to take paint, crayons, thick black markers and even collages and felt tips. I like to use the journal to help me express what’s going on as, like many artists, I’m fairly emotionally active!

For this background wash, I used Shell Pink and Carmine on one page and Jaune Brilliant with Permanent Yellow on the other, experimenting with direct application straight onto the paper and blending on the page. While the Jaune Brilliant and Permanent Yellow blended well in spite of the very absorbent paper, the Shell Pink and Carmine was a little more blotchy as you can see.

I’ve developed many journals using gouache and half pans, always trying to create vibrancy and while the more translucent paints can manage it, there is usually a dull granular effect. I’m really delighted though as it’s not at all dull with the hybrids!

I started by drawing the outline of my flowers straight onto the naturally dried background to see if the hybrids would cause the black marker to run. They didn’t – it was an epiphany moment as it meant not needing to be so meticulous with in-filling. I chose bold colours and multi pigments. Not a muddy effect in sight!

The Lilac hybrid paint had less natural moisture so after the first petal, I began to dip my brush in a little water to spread it further as it was too dry to move around. You can see where the paint is a little thinner.

The same happened with the Shell Pink so a touch of water again and the flow was delightful. No blobs, no grit, no granularness. Smooth and easy to apply. I began to add a little water after the first new pigment and like the soft contrasts in tone. I was in each instance painting direct from the tube onto the paper.

Blue Celeste has a lovely thick rich smooth and full covering capacity without added water.

Rather than mixing my own greens for the leaves, I decided to experiment with the big range greens in the box. By the end of my painting I did also use some mixtures – working with a little Red Violet, Carmine and Cobalt Blue.

Amanda Hamilton’s Website: www.amanda-hamilton.com

Amanda Hamilton’s work is currently on view at Woodys Arts Cafe (upstairs at Woods of Whitchurch) as part of the Forest & Valleys Open Studios this month until 24 July 2016.

Amanda Hamilton is also a tutor for Authentic Adventures, leading painting holiday to Málaga and Umbria in 2017. For more details or to make a booking, please email sarah@authenticadventures.co.uk.

Kiss from a Rose by Amanda Hamilton. 2016, Watercolour & Gouache Hybrid on paper, 46×32 cm

Read more about the ShinHan Pass Watercolour & Gouache Hybrids here.

Click here to view the full range of ShinHan Pass Watercolour & Gouache Hybrids available at Jackson’s.

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Choosing a good selection of colours for your basic palette means that you will be able to mix any colour you need from just eight to 12 colours. If your watercolour box has room for a few more colours then you might wish to add some extra colours that you mix often but for convenience are premixed, like some greens and browns.

In painting, the word ‘palette’ is used for both the group of colours an artist uses for a painting and the surface upon which you mix your paints. The Jackson’s Empty Watercolour Palette Box will hold 12 full pans or 24 half pans or a combination (you can actually fit two extra full pans of most brands). The frame inside has bendable edges that adjust to fit any make of watercolour as the standard sizes do vary a little bit. You might wish to choose full pans for the colours you use most often, half pans for the colours you use less often and you can even use a few empty pans that you fill from tubes for some custom mixtures that you want to make in advance or if the colour you want is only made in tubes but you’d like a pan. Inside are fold-out palette flaps for mixing paint on. There is also a thumb-ring on the bottom to help you hold it.

With the right eight colours you can mix most other colours. To get the most from a limited palette it is important to choose good mixing colours, this means being sure to choose from the warm and cool ends of each colour section in the spectrum: a warm and cool red, a warm and cool blue, and a warm and cool yellow. For example: a warm yellow is near the red end so when mixed with a warm red (near the yellow end) it makes a vibrant orange which is the colour between them. In addition to the six primaries, you can add burnt umber to mix with ultramarine blue for a near black; and a bright bluish-green (like phthalo green blue shade or viridian) for a pre-mixed green than can be easily altered to provide many shades of green.

Choosing your colours wisely allows you to mix the most vibrant colours if you wish, but you can also mix muted colours by mixing colours that are not near to each other – for example: a cool yellow (a yellow that is a bit green) and a cool red (a red that is a bit violet) will produce a less vibrant orange as there are now small bits of other colours mixed in to muddy it up somewhat.

Many watercolour brands at Jackson’s only come in tubes, but the good news is that if you wish to have a box of pans you can squeeze your tubes into pans. The formulae for tubes and pans are different in some brands but most artists find this isn’t a problem. You might also save money by buying tubes while still having the convenience and portability of a watercolour box of pans.

An Eight Colour Palette

This is a good colour selection for a wide range of watercolour painting purposes. You don’t have to choose these brands, you may have a brand whose texture you prefer or a certain pigment you like. You can choose variations of these colours depending on the subject matter or your preferences.

Cool yellow (greenish yellow) – Jackson’s Lemon Yellow
Warm yellow (reddish yellow) – Schmincke Horadam Indian Yellow. Another good warm yellow is Daniel Smith New Gamboge it comes in a tube so for this paint box wouold need to be squeezed into an empty pan.
Warm red (orange-ish red) – Jackson’s Cadmium Red Light
Cool red (blue-ish red) – Schmincke Horadam Permanent Carmine. Crimson also works well
Warm blue (reddish blue) – Jackson’s French Ultramarine
Cool blue (greenish blue) – Jackson’s Phthalocyanine Blue
Cool green (blue-ish green) – Sennelier Viridian Green. Phthalo Green blue shade also works well
Neutral brown – Schmincke Horadam Burnt Umber (to mix with Ultramarine Blue for a near black, more blue makes a cool black and more umber makes a warm black)

A Twelve Colour Palette

If you wish to expand your palette to 12 colours then adding these four colours could be helpful:
Sennelier Green Earth (a weak green, but I like it to tone down too red skin tones, if you are painting figures)
Winsor & Newton Perylene Maroon (helps mix darks)
Winsor & Newton Gold Ochre – this great colour does not come in the full pan size (or other earth yellow like Raw Sienna or Yellow Ochre)
Jackson’s Venetian Red (or other earth brown like Burnt Sienna)

Some Colour Mixing

When colour mixing be aware that each pigment has a different tinting strength. To get a colour that is visually halfway between two colours you will rarely mix half and half. Yellows are often poor tinters so I start with the yellow and add a little of the other colour at a time. To make a vibrant green for instance, you will need about 95% Lemon Yellow and 5% Phthalo Blue. Some brands show the tinting strength of a colour on the label.

Because you are mixing two colours to make a third colour you can alter the third colour by chaning the ratio of the two colours. Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber make a great black. By changing the ratio you can make a blue black or a brown black, you have control of the variations. Another advantage of mixing colours yourself over readymade is that you can control how well mixed the two colours are and if you mix only slightly there may be a slight separation or even a big separation of the two colours on the paper, giving a pleasing visual texture.

The basic idea to have in your head when mixing colours is that the more pigments that are added to the mix the darker and duller it becomes because each pigment absorbs light, so what is reflected to our eye becomes less and less. Mixing paint is called ‘subtractive mixing’ for this reason. Green pigment absorbs all colour but green, which it reflects back. Red absorbs all colour but red, which it reflects back. If you mix green and red, the green and red are both absorbed so neither is reflected back and you have a dark neutral colour. You can use this to dull down a colour that is too bright by adding a bit of a complementary colour (opposite on the colour wheel) a little at a time.

To know what colours you are mixing it helps to know what pigments are in your paint. The paint name isn’t enough information. You can find the pigment information on the tube in the format of PB15 for instance, meaning Pigment Blue 15, which is Phthalo Blue. If a tube of colour contains a single pigment and you mix it with another colour of a single pigment then you are only subtracting the reflection of two colours. If you mix a tube that has two or more colours already mixed together with another colour then you are subtracting three or more colours from your mix. So it is good to know what is in your tube of colour. If you’d like to learn more about pigments and colour mixing I highly recommend the great website Handprint where you can also find what pigment corresponds with the number codes on your paint tubes.

Mixing secondary colours and more from our 12-colour palette

Mixing more colours from our 12-colour palette

Mixing colours with Viridian to achieve a variety of greens.

Click on the underlined link to go to the Watercolour Painting Department on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website. Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

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