Jackson’s are excited to announce that we have the Royal Watercolour Society Watercolour Paper back in stock. Created in 2002 by John Purcell Paper in consultation with the President and Council of the Royal Watercolour Society, this exceptional paper was formerly a great favourite among our customers, and among watercolour painters more widely, who praised its suitability for wet-in-wet painting.

The paper comes in two weights (300 & 425gsm) and three finishes (Hot Pressed, Not & Rough). All sheets are of premium quality, and bear the stamp and watermark of the Royal Watercolour Society, which attest to the close involvement of the President and Council of the Society during the design and production processes, as the paper-maker John Purcell recalls.

‘At different times over many years, the President and Council of the Royal Watercolour Society have made commercial arrangements with paper manufacturers to make a paper carrying the RWS brand. This is seen as a good opportunity to add expertise to the paper maker and, by way of commission on sales, to provide funds for the society.

‘An earlier arrangement had been with the hand made paper maker Barcham Green. As stocks of the old handmade paper were getting low and Barcham Green were no longer trading, Francis Bowyer as president started to research doing a new version of the paper. John Purcell Paper were chosen as the paper supplier. Working closely with Francis Bowyer and David Gluck of the RWS, we tested many samples of existing papers and some laboratory samples of possible new papers in order to come up with a specification.

‘As a result of our testing process, we created the cylinder mould made RWS watercolour paper in 2002. The specification we chose was 80% cotton, 20% linen; surface sized with gelatine; deckle-edged. We chose the shade and we designed a watermark. The range we chose was to have 300 gsm and 425 gsm in HP, NOT and Rough surfaces.’

The former President of the Royal Watercolour Society, Francis Bowyer P.P.R.W.S., N.E.A.C. explains the rationale which lay behind the testing process: ‘It was a matter of making sure the paper is sized to allow the watercolour to strike a balance between the paint sitting on the surface of the paper and it being too absorbent. So often watercolour artists like to be able to move the watercolour around on the surface of the paper as they paint, but also need to feel that it settles more within the paper as it dries. I would like to think that is what we achieved in the RWS Paper.’

The Royal Watercolour Society Watercolour Paper is available in 300 and 425 gsm sheets, and in Hot Pressed, Not, and Rough surfaces. The paper can be bought by the sheet or in packs of ten sheets.

For more information about the wide range of different watercolour papers available and their qualities, see this post on the Jackson’s Blog, and our Visual Guide to Watercolour Paper.

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For several years, Jackson’s has been donating to Trees for Life, a Scottish Charity which is reforesting areas of the Highlands. We are pleased to announce that we recently passed a major milestone: we have now planted more than 500 native trees in the Scottish Highlands.

A mixture of heather and young forest at Glen Affric.

The original idea of giving to Trees for Life was to offset the environmental cost of producing our catalogues. As a result of the large number of customers that shop with us, we distribute many thousands of catalogues every year. Although we print our catalogues on FSC certified paper, we were also hoping to give a little bit back to the environment by planting trees and offsetting some of our carbon footprint.

Going forward, we also pledge to plant a tree for every Jackson’s watercolour set we sell. This seemed appropriate because many of our customers who paint in watercolours are inspired by the beauty of landscape and nature. This is reflected in the watercolours which are shared by our customers on social media and entered into our competitions.

The reforestation of the hillsides at Athnamulloch.

While the Highlands may look to our eyes like a pristine habitat, the reality is that landowners have for centuries encouraged the clearance of native mixed woodland in favour of heather moorland or Forestry Commission monoculture forest. This has lead to a decline in native species such as Scots pine, Birch, Willow, Aspen, Rowan, Juniper and Oak, as well as the fauna which depend on them.

The Trees for Life tree planting teams at Glen Affric Nature Reserve.

Our seedlings are grown from locally collected seed from these species. They are grown at the Trees for Life nursery at Dundreggan, near Loch Ness, before they are transported to Glen Affric National Nature Reserve, North West of the Loch. This spectacular and mountainous area contains a number of fragments of ancient forest. Here volunteers staying at the Athnamulloch Bothy plant the seedlings in fenced exclosures to ensure they are protected from grazing deer until they are established.

In time, these trees will connect the surviving fragments of Glen Affric’s ancient forest in order to establish a larger habitat area for species such as Red Deer, Capercaillie, Black Grouse and Red Squirrel. The aim is to spread this forested area towards the west coast.

A Trees for Life volunteer planting native seedlings in Glen Affric.

Jackson’s Watercolour Sets are available in 24, 18 and 12 pan sizes in a standard palette of colours. It is also possible for customers to pick their own selection of colours.

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‘The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration’ by Christabel King provides instruction on all aspects of botanical art. Over 128 densely-illustrated pages, King shows the reader how to paint flowers from life or from cuttings, how to make useful preparatory sketches and studies, and how to deal with the compositional challenges posed by different types of flowering plants.

Below, the book is reviewed by Jonny Bruce, a gardener and botanical artist who is currently working at a plant nursery in the Netherlands, following a stint as the Christopher Lloyd Scholar at Great Dixter House & Gardens in East Sussex. Before that, he was a horticultural apprentice at Aberglasney House & Gardens in Carmarthenshire. A detail of his painting ‘Crocosmia “Lucifer”‘ is shown above; ‘Cynara Cardunculus‘ is shown below.

‘Cynara Cardunculus’ (Watercolour on paper) by Jonny Bruce.

‘The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration’ by Christabel King: Review by Jonny Bruce.

A true master of her craft, Christabel King has been producing botanical illustrations for over forty years, primarily as the chief botanical artist at Kew Gardens. Her work has been reproduced in countless publications including regular contributions to the prestigious Curtis’s Botanical which, as she herself explains, “has provided inspiration to generations of botanical artists”. It may come as a surprise that this practical guide is her first authored book.

The book provides guidance which will be helpful for beginners: on the layout of a working space, on suitable subjects for beginners, and on appropriate materials for botanical painting in watercolour and gouache. It also provides advice which will be of use to more advanced botanical artists, on the collection, dissection and preservation of plant specimens, and on the use of a microscope and dividers.

The quality of King’s illustration is magnificent and it is really what sets this manual apart from more run of the mill publications. The format is well organised, if a little sterile, with only the necessary minimum of text as annotation to the high-resolution diagrams. As her illustrations are intended to convey as much information as possible about her subject, so too with her writing, which is both clear and concise. At points one might wish for more, as with the rather token historical introduction which is condensed into less than an A4 side. However, it is clear that this focus is true to King’s own nature and is appropriate to a manual whose primary intention is practical.

A page spread (pp.74-5) from ‘The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration’ by Christabel King, providing advice on the dissection of flowers for cross-sections.

Botanical illustration has to some extent struggled with a crisis of identity. Many claim its redundancy in face of high quality photography and digital imaging and even King admits that coloured illustrations can be seen as a luxury. In face of this there is arguably an increased pressure for botanical illustration to reinvent itself as botanical ‘Art’. Indeed the work of many fine illustrators transcends this pedantic categorisation such as Margret Mee’s mystical studies of the Amazon or the furious intensity of Rory McEwan. Thankfully King is less self-conscious and there is a calm confidence in her work which is obviously content with being an art “in the service of science”.

This is a book intended to instruct and it does so with the clarity of King’s own illustration. Of particular enjoyment is the section dedicated to Curtis’s Botanical for it gives the author an opportunity to escape from purely didactic diagrams and present some inspiring painting, so often lacking from those instruction manuals to which we have unfortunately become accustomed.

A page spread (pp.94-5) from ‘The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration’ by Chrisabel King, showing the evolution of a composite image from separate sketches and watercolour studies.

The image at the top of this article is a detail of ‘Crocosmia “Lucifer”‘ in watercolour by Jonny Bruce.

‘The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration’ by Christabel King is available at Jackson’s.

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We stumbled upon watercolourist Neelima Perni‘s amazing watercolour charts when searching for an image for the front cover of our latest Materials Guide. Beautifully and accurately painted, the colour charts are artworks in their own right! We thought it would be a great idea for Neelima to try out a few of Jackson’s Artist Watercolours  and a few of our Jackson’s Speciality Watercolour Brushes to see how she got on with them…

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A review of Jackson’s Artist Watercolours by Neelima Perni

“This is a colour chart that I have created using some 13 of the Jackson’s Artist Watercolours which looked interesting and useful to me. In general, I find them to be of a high quality artists grade of watercolours in an affordable price range. The paints are mostly of a buttery consistency and dissolve well in and activate quickly with water. The names of the pigments of which they consist of, transparency and lightfast ratings are clearly shown on the back of the tubes.

Colour wheel featuring 13 colours in Jackson’s Artist Watercolour range

The chart shows the paints going from high chroma (the saturation or brilliance of a colour) on the outside of the circle to lower chroma towards the inside. Warmer pigments typically have higher chroma than the cooler ones, so the yellows and reds appear to be bursting out of the wheel. I’ve also tried to show the value or lightness as going slightly lighter towards the inside though strictly speaking, all 3 dimensions hue, chroma and value can only be viewed in a 3-d format like the Munsell model. The remaining intermediate hues result from the mixtures of these main paints.

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The Warms:

Close up image of colour chart displaying warm colours

At the top of the wheel I’ve placed Jackson’s Yellow Light, which is a good primary medium yellow, neither too green nor too orange. It is a lovely, sunny, transparent and lightfast yellow made with the pigment PY 154. It mixes well with the reds as well as with the cooler paints yielding highly chromatic oranges or yellow greens. Moving in the clockwise direction, the hue in the orange section is French Vermilion, a highly chromatic orange red which packs quite a punch and has a good tinting strength. It’s hue is quite close to Quinacridone Red Orange, the colour next to it though they do not share the same properties. Quinacridone Red is a beautiful, warm red with an interesting flocculating texture. It mixes well with the transparent Permanent Magenta (a violet version of PV 19 which is also available in the rose shade) to make a nice magenta.

An example using warm colours

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The Earths:

Close up image of colour chart displaying earth colours

Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna and Raw Umber (the last two made with pigment PBr7) are lower chroma and darker yellows in the same hue space as the Permanent Yellow Light. Yellow Ochre and Raw Sienna are quite close to each other in hue, value and chroma though the Raw Sienna seems to lean slightly towards the orange side. Yellow Ochre (PY 43) is opaque, gooey and hard to rinse off the brush, it would work well in foundation washes. Raw Sienna is a lovely, transparent hue and works well in mixtures and glazes. Raw Umber is even more achromatic and dark-valued and I feel this hue is especially useful because yellows and orange yellows shift very quickly and are difficult to tone down with complementary colours or with blacks while still keeping them in the yellow region of the spectrum. Red Ochre is another earth colour in the orange space and useful for toning down hues in this region or to warm up and neutralise the blues across the spectrum. These colours suggest the colours of the earth, soil, dead vegetation, tree barks, bricks and tilework.

An example of painting with earth colours

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The Cools:

Close up image of colour chart displaying cool colours

French Ultramarine Light (PB 29) is a blue leaning towards the violet side of the spectrum with a very fine textural quality to it. Mixed with Permanent Magenta it gives a range of lovely, subtly textured, lower chroma violets and red violets. Cobalt Blue (PB 28) is a medium blue leaning neither towards violet nor green, the colour of blue skies. It shows a grainier finish in washes. Cerulean Blue, a cobalt tin oxide, is a greener, slightly opaque blue with an alluring granulation which accentuates the texture of the paper on which it is painted on. Cobalt Blue and Cerulean Blues are very useful for creating light valued and medium chroma mixtures without having to resort to using a lot of water for dilution. Also very useful for toning down the warms across the wheel and work very well when used as foundation washes as with any other semi-opaque paints. They mix with the transparent Viridian (PG18 + PG7) to form lovely, poetic, powdery washes of blue greens evocative of blue seas and oceans, the dusty wings of butterflies, ‘the Bläuling’ (Common Blue Butterfly) in particular comes to mind. I love the way they can be used with very little modification, very unlike their warm counterparts which can be quite screaming and have to be tempered down a lot while painting various kinds of subjects.

An example of the textural quality of French Ultramarine Light

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The In-Betweens:

Permanent Sap Green is a convenience mixture easily made by mixing PB 29 and PY 154 but it is great to have handy for the landscape or botanical artist as it is just at the right hue and chroma for a variety of foliage and vegetation. It can easily be modified to make a cooler and darker green for darker leaved trees like pine trees, or to a warmer and brighter green for fresher looking spring greens. Viridian can also be added to brighten and cool the Sap Green which I like better than a phthalo green(PG 7) by itself as this hue is very strident and has to be used carefully.

Trying out the blue/greens with Cerulean Blue and Viridian

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Jackson’s Watercolour Brushes

The Jackson’s Squirrel Mop Brush and Icon Quill Brush I have fallen in love with, they have a bigger belly than the round brushes and therefore can carry more paint mixture so that makes for fewer trips to the paint puddle. Also, unlike the round brush it keeps a nice point even with very watery mixtures, this is something I really like.

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Close up of the Jackson’s Squirrel Mop Watercolour Brush

Wisteria Violets painted with Jackson’s Artist Watercolour and Jackson’s Quill Brush

An example of magenta being used within a painting and Jackson’s Dagger and Comb Foliage Brush

The Dagger Brush is useful for pulling out long, sweeping lines for veins or thin branches and strokes of varying thickness. The Comb Foliage Brush and the Fan Brush, I imagine I will be using a lot of, they can create a spattering effect, a dry brush finish for soil and dirt, a lacy gossamer foliage appearance and merge uneven areas of washes together.

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Close up of Jackson’s Comb Foliage and Fan Brushes

The Comb Foliage Brush has both short and long slightly stiff hairs combined together so this results in these kinds of effects. The Fan Brush is used so that a part of the brush touches the paper at a time to make foliage clumps, laying down the whole of the brush creates the typical, fan-shaped stamp like effect. The half inch flat brush sable is beautifully made with fine sable hairs, useful for covering large areas quickly and making flat strokes for man made objects, such as buildings and the like.”

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Jackson’s Badger Fan Brush

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You can see more of Neelima’s watercolours on her Watercolor Journal blog

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.

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Chinese Brush Painting is the art of using simple and effortless brush strokes to depict the essence of a figure or scene, an ancient art that continues to fascinate contemporary artists. A distinguishing feature of Chinese Brush Painting is that each brush stroke is a defining move that is not changed or corrected.

The vivid and varied calligraphic style of Chinese brush work comes from the combination of three things: a soft absorbent brush, soaked in strong Chinese or Indian ink, and the permeability of Chinese (rice) paper. The Chinese do not differentiate between brushes that are used for calligraphy and those used for painting. Besides brush handling another important skill that comes with practice is knowing how much to dilute the ink and how wet your brush should be. A variation of Chinese Brush Painting can be painted on watercolour paper. You will use a lot more water, because the surface isn’t soaked the same way as rice paper.

Chinese brush painting set of brushes

Jackson’s stock a set of five brushes for Chinese brush painting that contain a variety of hairs so I thought it would be a good set to look at to show the different hairs.

Chinese Brush Set 5 Mixed Hair Brushes

This set of five brushes for Chinese brush painting is made with a variety of hairs so you have a range of ‘soft’, ‘medium’ and ‘stiff’ brushes. It is a range of softness, really, they are all rather soft. The brushes come in a 32x12cm coated wooden presentation box with a nice clasp, inside a fabric covered outer gift box.

The brushes are from 25 to 27 cm long overall and have a cord attached at the ends for hanging from a brush rack. All the brushes come with a protective cover for the bristles that can be used again. These brushes are very absorbent, they hold a lot of ink.

Chinese brushes are heavily starched to protect the hairs until they are purchased, so when they arrive the brush head is very rigid. Before use, the starch should be removed by soaking the brush head for a few minutes in room-temperature water and then washing the brush until the entire length of the brush hairs are fully loosened.

Left to right: goat, black rabbit, weasel, mixture of black rabbit and goat (in two lengths).

The set contains five brushes of different hairs:

(Be aware that the sizes I have measured are approximate and may vary slightly as brushes are handmade.)

Goat hair

(10mm hair diameter at the ferrule, 43mm hair length.)
The white hair brush is the widest one in this set with the fullest belly; it is a soft pure goat hair brush. Goat brushes are popular in China. Goat hair is long, at least 2 inches in length. It is very absorbent and can be shaped into a fine point when wet. Goat hair has a natural inclination to stay together when wet and will, therefore, make it possible to maintain excellent control (after some practice). Few types of hair will hold up well or make good control possible when the direction of a brush stroke is changed 180 degrees without stopping, or without lifting the tip of the brush off the working surface. Goat hair is very elastic and is one of the few hairs that will survive this type of treatment. They can be difficult for beginners to control but soft brushes used skillfully will deliver very interesting and unpredictable lines.

Black Rabbit hair

(8mm hair diameter at the ferrule. 45mm hair length.)
The longest brush is made of black rabbit hair. Called a ‘hard’ brush it is still absorbent and relatively soft but the hairs are stiffer. More absorbent than weasel hair.

Weasel hair

(7mm hair diameter at the ferrule, 37mm hair length.)
Then there are two medium-sized brushes. The brown one is made of weasel hair. Weasel hair is at the opposite end of the hardness spectrum in the Chinese brush scale from a goat hair brush. Called a ‘hard’ brush it is still absorbent and relatively soft but the hairs are stiffer and yet very flexible. Even if fully loaded with ink the brush’s tip will move fast and with accuracy.

A mixture of Black Rabbit and Goat hair

The other medium-sized brush (7mm hair diameter at the ferrule. 37mm hair length) and the small brush (6mm hair diameter at the ferrule. 20mm hair length) are made of a mixture of hairs: black rabbit hair in the centre and tip and goat hair on the outside. This makes them medium soft. The small brush is particularly useful for small calligraphic script because it is short.

Brushes wetted and bent to try to illustrate their relative softness/stiffness. You can see that they are all variations within the soft spectrum.
Left to right: goat, black rabbit, weasel, mixture of black rabbit and goat.

A little test on NOT-texture watercolour paper. The variations shown are more due to amount of water and amount of ink in the brush. But it does show that they can all make fine lines.
Left to right: goat, black rabbit, weasel, mixture of black rabbit and goat.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers in the Chinese 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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Schmincke Lift Off Medium for watercolour painting is brand-new and will be arriving at Jackson’s in the next week or two. We will announce it in our newsletter, so keep an eye out. (You can subscribe to the weekly art newsletter on our website.) You can also pre-order the medium and we will send it when it arrives.

Lifting colour is a technique that many watercolour painters employ to remove paint from a dried painting to create lighter areas. You can correct mistakes, lighten an area that has too much paint, modify your values, or create a pattern of lighter shapes. Sometimes values are hard to judge while the painting is wet because the colours lighten so much as they dry.

A new medium from Schmincke, Lift Off Medium, seals your watercolour paper a bit to make it easier to lift off colour either with your brush or absorbent paper. Some colours are already naturally easier to lift off because they are less staining. But painting this medium on your paper before you paint will make it easier to wipe away dried colour, even staining colours that normally don’t like to lift. It it then as easy to lift staining colours as non-staining colours. Many watercolour brands have colour charts that list the different attributes of each colour including whether it is a staining pigment in their brand. The Handprint website has a useful list of staining and non-staining pigments.

On the left side you can see a staining watercolour applied to paper without Lift-off Medium.
After it was dry the colour couldn’t be lifted completely.
On the right side you see the paper that was coated with Lift-off Medium first.
You can see that after it was dry the colour was lifted with water easily.

Apply the Schmincke Lift Off Medium directly to your paper and allow it to dry before you begin painting. It is recommended to coat the whole surface of the paper. If you are using very soft, textured paper like rag paper, the medium should to be applied neat; for papers that already have some sizing the medium should be thinned with water. Testing to see how you should use it on your paper is recommended. As the Lift-off Medium dries to a water-insoluble film, it must never be put into the pans or it will create a varnished barrier on top. Clean the brush you use with water and soap before the medium dries in the brush.

To lighten or remove colour that has dried, brush your damp brush on the area you wish to remove paint from. Wipe the colour onto a paper towel and repeat until the area is lightened to your requirements. If the colour is stubborn you may need to use a stiffer brush and a slight scrubbing motion. Rinse the brush as needed. You can control the shape and size of the lifted area by using different sizes of a round brush, a flat brush on the flat or on the edge and you can get a fine line by squeezing the flat brush into a chisel edge with your fingers.

Next week we will have a blog post about another new Schmincke watercolour medium – Granulation Medium.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers on the Schmincke Lift Off Medium 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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It is 125 years since the creation of Horadam Watercolours. The history of the Schmincke art materials company since then includes two world wars in Germany, many generations of family and some technological breakthroughs. This year they are celebrating their anniversary by adding 35 colours to the beautiful Horadam Watercolour range.

125 Years of Schmincke Horadam Watercolours

The Schmincke art materials company was founded in 1881 after the acquisition of the recipes of Cesare Mussini after he had died in Florence. Mussini was a painter in the tradition of the old masters and keeper of precious resin-oil-colour formulas. The first product they produced was the Mussini finest resin-oil colour. In 1892 Josef Horadam, one of the founders of the company, developed a breakthrough in watercolour technology and received the first patent for watercolours. With this, Schmincke were at the forefront of watercolour painting’s increasing popularity. Later Dr. Julius Hesse, nephew of Josef Horadam, became a partner in the business. By 1917 the company was run by Julius Hesse, the original owners H. Schmincke and J. Horadam having died. Four generations of the Hesse family ran Schmincke until 1971 and today it is still owned by the family.

During the First World War the Schmincke company buildings were used as a military hospital and suffered no damage. Julius Hesse served in the army as major of artillery, his wife Gerta Hesse and Louise Horadam work as Red Cross nurses. In 1926 German painter Otto Dix painted a portrait of Julius Hesse while living for some time in his house and today the painting is in the Museum of Art in Stuttgart. In 1932 reacting to a speech by Adolf Hitler in Dusseldorf, Ernst Oswald Hesse was sent to New York by his father Julius Hesse to build up the production of watercolours and oil colours in cooperation with their former sales partner Max Grumbacher. World War II brought production to a standstill as the factory was completely destroyed. Two years later the factory was rebuilt in Dusseldorf.

Over the years the company has updated the range as new technology was developed. During 1950 to 1956 they introduced the concept for Horadam watercolour boxes, in 1996 they revised all 110 Horadam watercolours, in 2007 they developed a wide range of watercolour mediums and now in 2017 on the occasion of the 125th anniversary, the Horadam colour range has been enlarged to 140 colours.

Schmincke have used an owl logo since their founding.
This shows the design changes made to the logo over the many years of the company.

The Special Characteristics of Horadam Watercolours

The performance of Schmincke Horadam Watercolours comes from the high-quality ingredients and the formula which includes the optimal amount of ox gall to ensure the artist has a high degree of control of the paint flow, even on lightly-sized, absorbent watercolour papers.

To this day the Schmincke method of filling their watercolour pans with the same watercolour formulation that is in their paint tubes differs to the production processes of other companies, many of whom extrude a solid watercolour for their pans using a different formula from the tubes. Schmincke’s method ensures that the tube paint is just as reusable after it has dried on a palette as the colour in a pan. Originally poured into ‘buttons’ and then later poured into pans, the production of Horadam watercolour pans takes four pours in a liquid state over a 3-5 month period, 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. The colours chosen for the Horadam watercolour boxes are selected based on colour mixing principles, considering aesthetic aspects as well as practical use.

Adding 35 New Colours

In response to many customer requests and much market analysis, changes in the raw material market, as well as wanting to take advantage of modern pigments, Schmincke decided to enlarge and optimise the Horadam Watercolour range. After many years of research by the Schmincke lab, 35 new colours are being added to fill the harmonic colour spectrum of the Horadam range. The 35 new colours include 32 single-pigment colours and an increased use of highly lightfast pigments such as Quinacridone and Perylene. The ultramarine range has been enlarged with the long-awaited colour French Ultramarine, probably the most used colour by watercolour painters.

The 35 new colours will be in the Jackson’s warehouse in about one week, but you can pre-order them now on the Jackson’s website.
Look for more information about the new colours coming in the next week in our newsletter and on this blog.
All colours in the full range of 140 colours are available in 5ml, 15ml, Half Pan & Full Pan sizes.
Here is a detailed colour chart of the new colours.

Read our earlier post about the new Schmincke Aqua Lift-Off Medium.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers on the full range of the 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 125 Year Jubilee of Schmincke Horadam Watercolours appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

On the occasion of the 125 year anniversary of Horadam Watercolours, Schmincke are celebrating by expanding the range to 140 brilliant colours. They have created a more complete and balanced spectrum of colours.

Read our earlier post about the 125-year history of the Schmincke Horadam brand

In response to many customer requests and much market analysis, changes in the raw material market, as well as wanting to take advantage of modern pigments, Schmincke decided to enlarge and optimise the Horadam Watercolour range. After many years of research by the Schmincke lab, 35 new colours are being added to fill the harmonic colour spectrum of the Horadam range. The 35 new colours include 32 single-pigment colours and an increased use of highly lightfast pigments such as Quinacridone and Perylene. The ultramarine range has been enlarged with the long-awaited colour French Ultramarine, probably the most used colour by watercolour painters.

The 35 new Horadam Watercolours have now arrived at Jackson’s!
All colours in the full range of 140 colours are available in 5ml, 15ml, Half Pan & Full Pan sizes.
Here is a detailed colour chart of the new colours. Full information about each colour is included: lightfastness, opacity, staining and granulation.

The Optimised Horadam Watercolour Range

The 35 new Horadam Watercolours added to the range include 32 single-pigment colours, ten new red colours, three new single-pigment violet colours, four new black tones and eight new semi-transparent brown colours including Transparent Ochre and Transparent Umber. The ultramarine range has been enlarged with the famous colour French Ultramarine, a more violet, granulating version of their already popular Finest Ultramarine.

100 trusted and traditional colours as well as ox gall (the wetting agent) were perfect as they are, so that there was no need for a change. A few changes were made to optimise the range- four colours were improved using the newest and best raw materials and six colours are omitted because the raw materials aren’t available anymore.

New colours using unique pigments were added to complete the colour spectrum.

Quinacridones: These highly lightfast pigments are used to complete the quinacridone range, increased from six to nine tones, which all have ‘Quinacridone’ in their names.

Perylenes: Using completely new, highly lightfast perylene pigments this range has been expanded; three new colours (Perylene green, Perylene red deep, Perylene violet).

Ultramarine: To this group of colours has been added the often-requested French Ultramarine, a single-pigment colour, a reddish, intense and granulating blue, situated in the spectrum between the three already existing Ultramarines.

Transparent Iron Oxides: The three new transparent colours Transparent Ochre, Transparent Sienna and Transparent Umber have been added to compliment the range of opaque brown colours. These transparent colours are rare due to the very hard and difficult to process consistency of these pigments.

Brilliant tones: The existing brilliant colours have been optimised due to changing on the raw material market. The new pigments have nearly the same place in the spectrum, but a better quality. The new brilliant tone Brilliant Opera Rose, perfect for painting flowers, has been added. All brilliant colours now contain a mixture of fluorescent and highly lightfast pigments. Due to the influence of light on the fluorescent components of the colours, the brilliant tones do not have an evaluation of lightfastness.

Black/Grey: Three new colours – Graphite Grey, Hematite Black and Mars Black enlarge the spectrum.

Potters Pink: This worldwide well-known colour, containing the special pigment PR 233, has been added to the range, as well.

Changes: A few colours have had their names changed without changing the colour: ‘Perylene Maroon’ is the former ‘Deep Red’ and ‘Schmincke Violet’ replaces the name ‘Mauve’, as the colour is more intense than the tone mauve which is thought to be pale. For chrome colours ‘hue’ replaces the addition ‘no lead’, ‘transparent’ replaces ‘translucent’ and ‘Anthracite’ is the new name of the former ‘Charcoal Grey’.

Colour Chart Dot Cards

A dot card is a colour chart made with actual dots of watercolour paint on watercolour paper, like small spots you would put on your palette. This allows you to experience the colour as you wet it and fill the square of the colour chart with fluid paint.

Schmincke have created four dot cards for the Horadam Watercolours featuring 12, 35, 80 & 140 Horadam watercolour dots on watercolour paper. With a wet brush the colours can be painted directly in the fields marked with name and number. A great way to guide you and help you choose your colours! The 12 colour dot card contains the colours in the Core Colours set, the 12 colours that will mix to create all the colours on the colour wheel. The 35-colour dot card has the new colours just launched. The 80 has the colours in the large set and the 140 has all the colours in the range.

While stocks last
The first 100 customers to purchase the new Horadam Watercolours will receive a dot card of the 35 brand new colours (you will need to be logged into your Jackson’s account in order to take advantage of this offer) You can also receive a free 12 colour dot card with any Schmincke purchase. These will be automatically added to your basket until we run out of them.

The Complete 140 Colour Schmincke Horadam Watercolour Range

The features of the new, enlarged 140 assortment include:

• 139 brilliant, intense colours plus an Ox Gall (the wetting agent): 100 unchanged tones, 35 new tones, 4 optimised tones in their usual highest quality
• 112 colours have the highest possible lightfastness (4 and 5 stars)
• 95 single-pigment colours, which allows the best mixing results
• Expanded section of the colour wheel that are made possible by modern pigments and include 20 new pigments, including quinacridone, perylene, and transparent iron oxides

Horadam continues to provide the same high quality with unique features:

• The pans are poured four times in a liquid state for highest yield
• Specially selected Gum Arabic as binding medium
• The paint formula contains the optimal amount of ox gall for dispersal which allows a high control of paint flow, even on soft watercolour papers.
• Schmincke uses the same colour recipes for pans and tubes, so the paint is fully reusable paint even when dried on a palette
• 139 colours in full and half pans and 5ml and 15ml tubes and great selection sets

Schmincke Aqua Watercolour Painting Mediums

Schmincke have also added three new mediums to their Aqua Mediums range: Granulation Spray, Transparent Ground and Lift-Off Medium. The Aqua mediums allow the artist more creative options.
Read our earlier post about the Schmincke Lift Off Medium. Look for posts about the Granulation Spray and Transparent Ground on the blog next week.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers on the full range of the 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 35 New Colours in Schmincke Horadam Watercolour appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Granulation within watercolour is a specific characteristic to certain pigments whereby the pigments clump into granules on the paper when applied as a wash. This is naturally occurring with some pigments and is not a sign of low quality paint. Watercolourists can use certain colours consciously to create this granulation effect within their work, however it has until now been limited to certain colours. As part of Schmincke’s 125 Year Anniversary since the creation of Horadam Watercolours, they have introduced a Aqua Granulation Medium Spray which when applied, creates a granulating effect even for non-granulating colours!

Most of the watercolours within Schmincke’s Horadam Watercolour range have an even paint flow, only 22 of the colours are naturally granulating. The Aqua Granulation Spray allows for versatility and gives greater control to the artist as when applied it will cause the granulation of colours which do not naturally granulate.

Artists often encourage granulation within watercolour if they want unpredictable, exciting visual effects within their work. Granulation is particularly useful when creating skies, clouds and landscape scenes.

The Aqua Granulation Spray is available in a 15ml atomizer – to use it is fairly simple, just press down on the top to release the spray onto watercolour that is still wet to the areas you want to granulate.

Ultramarine Finest (non-granulating) and
French Ultramarine (naturally granulating) shown with and without the Aqua granulation spray

As a watercolourist I am always intrigued by mediums and products which are created to help enhance your watercolour painting by either making certain processes easier or to produce exciting effects. Granulation is not something that I look for particularly when choosing colours but having the ability to choose to make a colour granulate is something which I wanted to test out. After trying out the 35 new colours within the Schmincke Horadam range, I thought it would be a great idea to try out the granulation spray with a couple of the new colours.

Quinacridone Magenta has more of a reddish tone than Quinacridone Violet, is a semi-transparent, semi-staining colour which has good lightfastness and is made from a single pigment. This colour is non-granulating.

Cobalt Violet Hue is a transparent, non-staining colour which has good lightfastness. Cobalt Violet Hue is a granulating colour.

Using the granulation spray with both granulating and non-granulating colours will allow me to see to what extent the already granulating colours will granulate further, and whether this is comparable to the colour which does not naturally granulate.

Schmincke Horadam Watercolour (Quinacridone Magenta) testing with Schmincke Aqua Granulation Spray

You can really see the difference between the two swatches, the bottom swatch (which had the Granulation Spray applied) has intensified the pigment and caused interesting patterns on the surface of the paper. As this was my first attempt, I may have been using the spray too close to the swatch as it has caused a circular shape to appear. The granulation has caused lighter areas also, because you have to apply the Granulation Spray when wet, the pigment disperses and concentrates in pools, causing areas to have less or more pigment. Using textured paper has also helped to intensify the granulation.

Schmincke Horadam Watercolour (Cobalt Violet Hue) testing with Schmincke Aqua Granulation Spray

Cobalt Violet Hue is a naturally granulating colour and this can be seen in the first swatch if compared to the Quinacridone Magenta. This was a much lighter wash I applied as I wanted to see how much pigment would be lifted once the granulation spray had been applied. The effect is not as intense as with the Quinacridone Magenta in that the pigment intensified and pools of pigment formed, however a lot more of the colour has been lifted out, causing subtle variations in tone and texture.

Conclusions from using the Schmincke Aqua Granulation Spray

After using the spray on both granulating and non-granulating colours, it seems that effect was more noticeable on the non-granulating colour. It is best used not with a thick application of colour but a watery wash as this will give the spray the opportunity to disperse and cause pools of pigment. Masking off your work is definitely a must if you do not want to spray to go on certain areas as it is quite difficult to control otherwise. It’s a great idea if you want to create texture within your work or like the unpredictability of granulating colours, it gives you the option to change smooth, non-granulating colours into exciting, textured unpredictable colours.

If you would like to find out more about Schmincke’s other mediums and also the 35 new colours added to range, click on one of the links below:

Read our post about the 125  Year History of Schmincke Art Materials
Read our post about Schmincke Horadam Watercolour’s 35 new colours
Read our post about the Schmincke Lift Off Medium

The post Schmincke Granulation Medium – A Special Effect appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Jackson’s Icon watercolour brushes are made from a blend of natural sable hairs, the traditional favourite of watercolour painters, and the new technology of a very special micro-synthetic fibre. This provides the artist with the combined benefits of great colour holding capacity, shape retention, and a longer-lasting brush. The frequent comments from artists praise their wonderful pointing ability, the balanced feel in the hand and the sensible price. These brushes consistently receive 5-star reviews.

Jackson’s Icon Sable and Synthetic Mix watercolour brushes

A mix of tradition and modern technology, Jackson’s Icon brushes represent the advancements of science combined with the classic needs of the traditional water colour artist. Natural sable hairs are mixed with a micro-synthetic fibre. The uniqueness of the micro-synthetic fibre is two fold. Firstly the fibres are treated to produce millions of tiny indentations. This increases the surface area of the hairs allowing a much greater colour holding capacity for the brush. The hairs are then treated with a special process that frees the micro-synthetic fibres of any static electricity which would make the brush fibres stick together. After which the hairs can smoothly and precisely react to any kind of stroke, either delicate or abrupt. The addition of the synthetic fibres to the sable creates a brush with the best of both: water and paint holding capacity, shape retention, durability and smoothness.

The Four Shapes of the Icon Brush

The Jackson’s Icon range of brushes using this special combination of sable and micro-synthetic fibres is made in four shapes. The Icon brushes have matt black, real wood handles – the mottler brushes have short flat handles and the other three series have short round handles.

Series 700 Round

The series 700 is the classic round brush, available in six sizes 2 to 12.

Series 702 Long Flat

The series 702 is a useful long flat brush, available in six sizes 3mm-25mm.

Series 702 Flat Jackson’s Icon brushes

Series 7776 Mottler

The newest addition to the Icon range is the series 7776 very large mottler brushes, great for covering large areas quickly, available in four sizes with flat handles 25mm-75mm. These are great wash brushes, holding a lot of colour.

Series 777 Quill Mop

A synthetic quill is used for the ferrule of the brush, instead of a natural feather quill which can rot if left in water, and then wires are bound around it to hold it to the handle. The quill brushes will give you precision control with a fine point but also have a very full belly that holds a lot of colour. This makes them great for both details and washes, they are versatile brushes. The softness of the hairs also makes for less streaks in broad washes.
Quill mops use a different sizing scale to other brushes, they are available in six sizes from size 10/0 (which stands for 0000000000) to size 6. These sizes are much larger than the same sizes in round brushes. The largest size – the size 6 – is similar to a 12 or 14 in a regular round watercolour brush. So it is similar to sizes 2 to 14 in a regular round brush range. The actual measurements for the brushes are listed on the description page of each brush.

What the Icon Brushes Can Do

Here are some of the different marks the different shapes of the brushes will make (click image for a closer view). The large amount of water and colour that the hairs will hold means all the Icon brushes will be able to draw out long strokes.

On the new Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour paper rough texture (coming soon) I have highlighted some of the ways these brushes can be used. Watercolours used: Blockx Cerulean Blue, Winsor & Newton Winsor Yellow Deep, Daniel Smith French Ultramarine and Quinacridone Deep Gold.

Customer Reviews of the Icon Brushes

Watercolour painters love these brushes and all the reviews have been 4 and 5-stars! It seems that many artists find out about them from other artists and teachers, they are often recommended. Some artists say they use them more than their sables!

• Excellent point and spring.
• I was completely surprised to find this brush worked well and carried colour well with a good point and could be described as the old artists used to call their brushes a “sable pencil”. The brush handle is comfortable in the handle and is well balance which is an important point.
• Very good for washes.
• I needed a big sable but couldn’t justify the price. This brush fulfills my need, it’s obviously not pure sable but is great to paint with. I have a couple of the large 777’s as well and they are just as nice to use. A great bang for your buck!
• Really nice to use. A well balanced brush.
• I first tried one belonging to my art tutor, after he had recommended them to me. I was so impressed that I bought a set of round brushes, 2,4 6,8,10, and 12, and have never looked back. They hold a generous amount of paint, are a pleasure to hold, and the bristles retain their shape, after cleaning. Because of the fine points on the brushes, painting intricate shapes is made easier. I have no hesitation in recommending these brushes to colleagues in my painting groups, and I know some of them have purchased a number of brushes. Real value for money.
• These brushes are very well made, and have a good feel to handle.
• I have this brush and love it. It feels comfortable in the hand and handles well with watercolour. Jackson’s Icon brushes are superb brushes and well worth having around when working. I use Jackson’s brushes. They are excellent value and a credit to the company.
• Fantastically precise point, well balanced handle and an absolute treat to use. I have two of these Jackson’s synthetic quills and will buy a couple more. I use them more than I use my sables.
• Excellent, holds bags of water.
• More springy than a pure squirrel quill, more floppy than a sable. Definitely an interesting brush with a needle point tip and a nice handle.
• These are really nice brushes, just the thing for watercolour painting.
• Superb, love it and have ordered more sizes to go with it.
• Just what i was looking for. Comes to a great point.
• It’s a great brush! It is no different from the brush of sable – the same soft, perfectly holds water and paint, multifunctional and incredibly easy to use!
• A really great brush, beautifully made and wonderful to use. Good snap and holds loads of paint. I use it more than my sables.
• Retains its shape so you’re able to make detailed strokes and spread the colors evenly. When loaded with large amount of water each strokes will have the wet in wet look – and I really love this effect! Great for loose techniques and also gives you more control when painting in wet-in-wet!
• I think a small selection of these brushes will immediately go to the top of my “only need these” list. The no. 4 is an absolute delight to use

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers on the Jackson’s Icon Sable and Synthetic Mix watercolour brushes on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.
Brush-only orders over £20 have free worldwide shipping.

The post The 5-Star Icon Watercolour Brush appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

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Projects

Each project identifies which colours and products you are going to need – almost as an ingredients list for a recipe. It is also nice to see Jane’s finished painting before you have started the project as it gives you some indication of the type of effect you can expect to achieve. Something which is really important and that Jane reiterates throughout the book is that although there are instructions on how you can achieve a particular effect, the techniques are intermixable with each other and there are no set ‘rules’ as such. The projects within the book are a great place for beginners to start out as they can follow Jane’s instructions exactly but the techniques and experiments are also great for artists that have been using watercolour for years and find they want to incorporate some of the techniques into their own practice.

The projects also not only include traditional watercolour techniques but also encourage the use of collage, shells, plastic wrap and cotton threads.

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Final thoughts on Watercolours Unleashed

One of the reasons why I think many watercolourists will find this book immensely useful, especially those that are just starting out with watercolour is Jane’s personal approach to the projects and watercolour as a medium. Many of the materials she recommends you use are things that you can find around the house, a small coin and kitchen paper being an example.

The tone in which the book is written actually feels like Jane is with you in a one-to-one tutorial, the language used is not the overcomplicated or stuffy which you can sometimes find with tutorials or books that explain a particular process or medium.

I also think it would make a great referral book to go back to from time to time, if you are suffering with a creative block or feel stifled with your own techniques or styles of painting.

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After reading and trying out a technique within the book, I wanted to find out more behind the author Jane Betteridge – where her inspiration for writing the book came from and how she has developed her own style of working with watercolours. I asked her a few questions about her practice and also her tips and advice for someone just starting out in watercolour:

Christine: What inspired you to write the book and what do you find the most rewarding aspect of teaching watercolours?

Jane: I’ve been teaching watercolour painting for nearly 20 years and my classes and workshops proved very popular. It was so rewarding to see people progress and master the intricacies of the medium and I thought it would be great to share my experience and methods of teaching far and wide.

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Snowdrop Magic Watercolour by Jane Betteridge, taken from page 55 of Watercolours Unleashed. By adding ink followed by granulation medium into the wet watercolour, Jane created a wintry atmosphere and textural effects that contrast with the pure, clean flower petals. A damp angled brush was used to lift out paint and create the suggestion of stems.

 

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Christine: Is there a particular landscape or area of the world that inspires you most?

Jane: Without doubt my favourite place to paint is St Ives in Cornwall. I’m lucky enough to have a cottage there and am never short of subject matter in this beautiful place. Just being there and soaking up the atmosphere, the sea, the smells, the very special light and the varied weather makes you want to get your brushes out. When at home walks in the countryside looking at the changing hedgerows and landscape throughout the seasons has been the main inspiration for my work.

Christine: You work quite freely with watercolour, what do you find about this way of working that is exciting/challenging?

Jane: Watercolour is very challenging but it is unlike any other painting medium. To me it has character, it can granulate, colours can mix freely on wet paper and create colours that you would never be able to mix in the palette. Watercolour has a mind of it’s own, you cannot really control it but when you get used to it, you can guide it and cajole it to do what you want it to.

Christine: You often incorporate mixed media elements into your painting – are there any materials you have tried and that have not worked as you hoped? Similarly, are there any materials that you were positively surprised by the outcome?

I usually add some mixed media elements to my work. It may be just a little salt or ink or it may be lots of texture making mediums and and collage. I am more interested in texture and special effects than anything and have never found the use of blending medium or ox gall or similar very dynamic. My favourite ingredient is granulation medium, I think it can add another dimension your work especially when added to a little acrylic ink. Also I use a lot of watercolour ground which enables me to paint watercolours on canvas which is great.

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Water’s Edge – A watercolour by Jane Betteridge taken from page 77 of Watercolours Unleashed. The less definition an object is given, the more it will recede into the background. In this painting, Jane has made only soft marks and shapes to represent the distant trees and foliage. For the foreground, the addition of collage pieces and extra detail draw the eye to the main subject matter.

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Christine: For anyone just starting out in watercolour, what would recommend as a basic colour palette?

Jane: I think for someone experimenting with watercolour for the first time, I would advise to buy good quality paper and artist quality paints. This may sound extravagant but the better the product the better results you will get. I recommend buying just 6 artists quality tubes of paint rather than 12 student quality paints. I would try and stick to the most translucent colours to help avoid getting a muddy painting as you tend to overwork a painting when you are a beginner. Something like Aureolin, Raw Sienna, Permanent Rose, French Ultramarine, Green Gold, Perylene Violet. When a little more experienced it’s nice to try different colours. I’m always eager to try anything new that comes out as some of the latest paints can do all sorts of unusual things like splitting into two colours or little bits of gold shine through – so exciting.

See more of Jane Betteridge’s work on her website

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Click the underlined link to go to Watercolours Unleashed Book by Jane Betteridge on Jackson’s Art Website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39 or more.

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The image at the top is ‘Autumn Gold’, watercolour and gouache by Jane Betteridge

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You would expect that Winsor & Newton, the makers of the most popular watercolour in the world, would also make an excellent watercolour paper and you would be right! Five artists with a variety of painting styles have tried the new papers from Winsor & Newton and the results are very positive.

Winsor and Newton Watercolour Papers
Winsor & Newton make two watercolour papers: the Professional and the Classic. They are hard to distinguish by the packaging because they don’t say ‘Professional’ or  ‘Classic’ on them, just the colour of cover is different: the Professional has a dark grey cover and the Classic has a light grey cover.

Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper

This luxury watercolour paper is made from 100% cotton and is naturally acid-free and archival.
It is cylinder mould made, 300gsm (140lb), acid-free, archival, contains no optical brighteners, both internally sized and externally sized.
This paper is available by the sheet, in a 5×7-inch spiral pad, and in blocks. It is available in Hot Pressed, Cold Pressed (Not) and Rough surface textures.
A block is different to a regular pad. A watercolour block is a pad of watercolour paper that has been glued on all 4 sides. The sheets of paper are bound while they are wet, which means that they dry flat, and when they are wetted with paint the binding keeps the paper flat regardless of how much fluid watercolour is applied to the surface. Watercolour blocks are therefore very practical because there is no need to stretch your paper before you work. Wait for your painting to dry before cutting the top sheet away from the block with a blunt knife such as a letter knife or a butter knife. Take care when running the knife around the edge to not slice into the paper.
Results from our testing show the Professional paper to be more absorbent than the Classic.

Winsor & Newton Classic Watercolour Paper

A more affordable yet still exceptionally high quality alternative to the Professional Watercolour Paper is the Classic Watercolour Paper which is made from premium archival grade cellulose wood pulp. The pulp has been treated to make it acid-free. It is cylinder mould made, 300gsm (140lb), acid-free, archival, contains no optical brighteners, both internally sized and externally sized.
This paper is available by the sheet, in gummed pads and spiral pads. It is available only in the most popular surface texture: Cold Pressed (Not).
Results from our testing show that the Classic paper is less absorbent than the Professional paper, this allows the watercolour paint to sit proud and bright on top of the paper.

The things both papers have in common:

• Both papers are cylinder mould made. In the mould making process, any impurities and acidity are extracted and then combined with natural spring water with neutral ph properties for a highly resilient, high performance paper that looks and feels handmade.
• Both papers are 300gsm (140lb) weight.
• Both papers are acid-free, archival and contain no optical brighteners, so will remain completely colour-stable over time if kept in the right conditions.
• They are both internally sized and externally sized to give exceptional strength, balanced absorbency, colour performance and resilience. This means that the size (a barrier layer which stops paint soaking into the surface, saturating the fibres and bleeding laterally) is added to the cotton pulp mixture before the sheets are formed in the mould, and again to the surface of the sheet. Paper which has been internally and externally sized will not warp when it is subjected to heavy washes or multiple paint layers.
• They can both be used with watercolour, gouache, ink and acrylic paints.

The things that make the two papers different:

• The paper material – the Professional is all cotton and the Classic is acid-free wood pulp.
• The formats they come in – the Professional is available in sheets, one spiral pad, and in blocks (glued on 4 sides); the Classic is available in sheets, gummed (glued) pads and spiral pads.
• The surface texture – the Professional is available in Hot Pressed, Cold Pressed (Not) and Rough surface textures; the Classic is available only in the most popular surface texture: Cold Pressed (Not).
• The amount of sizing – results from our testers show that they differ in the amount of sizing in the papers, the Professional is more absorbent than the Classic.
• The price – the Classic paper is more affordable.

Paper Testing by Artists

Peter Williams

Peter Williams is an artist and writer. In his art he specialises in intricate pencil drawings, pastels and dramatic watercolour paintings. He works from his studio on the Suffolk coast, having relocated there from Hertfordshire in 2005. Peter is inspired by his long-time interest in the natural world, a passion for wildlife, both British and the more exotic, and scenes inspired by people and places that have influenced him throughout his life. He has also produced two novels and is currently working on a third.

Peter tested the Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper Block in the Cold Pressed (Not) texture and 9×12-inch size.

“My first observation when I opened the pack was that the paper is quite a brilliant white. Not the brightest I’ve ever used but nonetheless white enough so that transparent washes are achievable and remain radiant. It also has a luxurious velvety finish to the surface, textured but not too rough. For my painting I chose a composition that involved several different techniques such as the use of masking fluid, wet-into-wet washes, intense darks, some fine detail and some lifting out.

“The first graduated wash for the sky, blue diffusing into gold, went on beautifully. I found that the paint wasn’t absorbed into the paper too quickly allowing the wash to dry slowly and evenly, giving time to add more colours or lift out areas as required. I felt instantly at home with this paper. Further into the painting the surface allowed me to pick out fine details easily even though there is enough texture to get some dry, ragged edges when wanted. In places I gave the paper a good scrubbing as I lifted out pigment but the surface was left completely undamaged. Likewise, the masking fluid was easily removed too. The block being firmly glued on all edges meant there was no warping or cockling although a very sharp blade was required to detach the sheet from the pad.

“I think this is a high quality, robust paper with good sizing and has a lovely surface to work on. In fact I think I prefer this to my usual Arches Aquarelle and will definitely be using it again in future.”

An Atlantic Puffin in foliage with daisies. Watercolour by Peter Williams on Winsor & Newton Professional paper in cold pressed texture.

Henry Jones

Working predominantly in watercolour, Henry Jones finds inspiration for painting in everyday experiences: landscapes, cities, street scenes, people, machines, and especially images from television and the media. Sketchbooks line the shelves of his self-built studio. Since leaving Winchester School of Art in 1987 he has filled sketchbooks on his travels through the US, the Far East and Australia, returning in more recent years to London. He says: “Whenever I look at a scene I subconsciously begin to work out how I can paint it – how I might capture light, movement and atmosphere, and I’ve always made a habit of using the best materials and equipment I consider necessary.”

Henry tested the Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper Block in the rough texture and 10×14-inch size.

“Loving the paper, excellent quality.”

“I was sent by Jackson’s, a regular source for me of paper, paint and brushes, a block of the new Winsor and Newton Professional rough watercolour paper for review. Winsor & Newton watercolour paint is one of the three brands I use so I expected a high quality paper for my test. First impression was that the paper felt thick and well constructed, its rough surface firm for the preliminary pencil sketch for the painting. Wetting the surface showed that the paper took the water with ease, and held the moisture for longer than my current brand allowing the pigment to mix nicely, perfect for wet into wet work. Even after ten minutes with the ambient temperature at around 20˚C, the paper allowed for progressive brushwork to blend into subtle mixes without being overworked. Blotting to remove wet paint for clouds and faces proved easy, with little or no evidence of non-staining paint left in the blotted area, leaving the white of the paper shining through. Once dry, the rough surface was perfect for dry brush, pushing the artist to be economical with the marks and avoid fiddling – the worst thing you can do with a watercolour painting. This is a premium paper, most similar in my experience to Arches, tough enough to resist palette knife scraping back and with a texture and surface inviting the artist to get painting and enjoy it.”

Watercolour by Henry Jones
on Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper

Watercolour by Henry Jones
on Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper

Watercolour by Henry Jones
on Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper

H Locke

Illustrator H Locke compared the Winsor & Newton Classic watercolour paper to the Professional range. H was very careful to make a mark on one and then the same mark on the other, working hard to make it a like-for-like test. H usually creates illustrations on smooth papers but the Classic is only available in cold pressed/not so the comparison was between both papers in cold pressed/not texture. H tested the Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper Block in the cold pressed (Not) texture in the 7×10-inch size and the Winsor & Newton Classic watercolour paper in the cold pressed (Not) texture in a spiral pad in size A4.

“I used Uni Pin fineliner pens, Holbein gouache, a Handover synthetic round brush and a DaVinci squirrel mop brush for the comparison test of the two papers. I really liked both of the papers but found them to be very different.

“The Classic paper was in a pad and the Professional was in a block. The Classic is acid-free wood pulp (or wood-free, a technical term meaning wood pulp that has had the lignen removed so it becomes acid-free wood pulp) and the professional is all cotton.

“I don’t know if it is the difference in fibres or format that made it much easier to draw on the Classic with the Uni Pins. The delicate tip of the pen seemed to catch a bit on the Professional but it moved smoothly on the Classico. I have found the same with Fabriano Artistico, also an all-cotton paper that I also used in a block, as compared to Bockingford, another wood-free paper that I used as a pad. I don’t know if it is the pad/block format or the type of fibre, or the student/professional quality that is the issue but the fineliner works better on the less expensive paper.

“It might also have something to do with the sizing, because they seem to be sized quite differently. They each took the gouache (opaque watercolour) very differently. I used the same amount of paint and water in the stokes on each paper, one-for-one, but the results were very different. The Classic acted as expected, the Professional was very surprising. The colour on the Classic is much stronger, it matches the paint that was on the palette, like the colour all stayed on the surface of the paper sitting proud. It took a lot longer to dry than the Professional. The paint colour on the Professional is much more pale like there is less sizing and the paper soaked some of the paint under the surface, which also explains it drying so fast.

“It might also be the sizing that caused the pigment in the rock/island shape to flow differently, that shape on the Classic has a hard edge and on the Professional doesn’t. Also perhaps because of puddling on top of the sizing, the paint on the Classic paper filled in all the cold pressed/not texture whereas the faster absorption of the Professional left some white sparkle of the textured paper, as if I had used a drier brush. (Click on the image below for a closer view.)

“Overall – I think for gouache and fineliner illustrations I would recommend the Classic as the brighter colours will allow a good scan for digital work. For framed watercolour artwork the Professional gives a more painterly look to the work and the block format reduces the cockling of the paper.”

H Locke illustration using Uni Pin and Holbein gouache, painted on Winsor & Newton cold press (Not) papers. Left is Professional paper and Right is Classic. (Click for larger image)

Same illustrations from a differently angle to help show the results.
H Locke illustration using Uni Pin and Holbein gouache, painted on Winsor & Newton cold press (Not) papers. Left is Professional paper and Right is Classic.

Sally Jane Thompson

Sally Jane Thompson is a freelance comic creator and illustrator. In addition to her website, you can also find Sally on Twitter.

Sally tested Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper Block in the Hot Pressed texture and 10×14-inch size.

“A chance to do some sketching from the deck of a moored boat seemed like the perfect time to test this paper out. It was the first time I’ve used a block format, and this one worked beautifully for outdoor work in a bit of a breeze, keeping the paper solidly in place, and not showing any buckling until near the end, several layers of paint in (and even that was minor, it was just the first time I’d noticed any. It dried totally flat.)

“Colours seemed to dry very true, with little loss in vibrancy, which certainly isn’t always the case. Colour also seemed to spread quite far on damp areas, so a light touch is probably needed – the darks in that one tree rather got away from me! (Though I’m fairly new to watercolour, so that’s likely just down to my technique, or more to the point, lack thereof!)

“Probably the biggest thing I noticed, for anyone also using pen & ink, is that it absorbed enough paint that it felt like drawing on paper, rather than the slightly chalky feel you sometimes get drawing on paint. Overall, an absolute treat to use – likely to be particularly good for illustration/drawing-based work, which I’ll definitely be testing it on further!”

Watercolour by Sally Jane Thompson
on Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper

Daniela Illing

Daniela Illing is an artist from Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. Her figurative drawings and paintings are inspired by history, science and current events.

Daniela tested the Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Paper Block in the Hot Pressed texture in the 10×14-inch size.

“Hot press paper has a reputation for being fickle and fragile. However, I prefer it to cold press because of its flexibility and opportunities to integrate other media. Winsor and Newton’s Professional paper doesn’t disappoint in that regard: watercolour, pencil, pens and gesso are easily combined on its smooth surface (see the ‘Marion’ painting below). It supports almost perfect blending with no visible brush strokes, if water is used modestly. The paper also suffers through quite a bit of scrubbing, more so than many cold press papers, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

“It’s also a great surface for wet on wet techniques, leaving enough time to push your colour around and still drying fast enough to add a second layer within an hour. This technique, however, comes at the typical price of backruns and edge darkening. Achieving large, even glazing layers is possible, but requires a bit of experience with this paper.
Personally, I often enjoy drying effects and was thrilled to see them develop quickly enough to be moulded and refined (see the ‘Impression’ painting below). Colours are as vibrant as you expect them to be on quality paper and do not appear dull after drying.

“All in all I’m more than satisfied. I actually have found my new favourite watercolour paper.”

‘Marion’ by Daniela Illing using Horadam watercolour and gesso on Winsor & Newton Professional Hot Press paper.

‘Impression’ by Daniela Illing using Horadam watercolour on Winsor & Newton Professional Hot Press paper.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers on the Winsor & Newton Watercolour Papers 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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We are pleased to announce that Elizabeth McCarten is the winner of the Jackson’s Young Artist Award in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition.

Elizabeth McCarten’s 76x56cm watercolour painting ‘The Boboli Gardens’ was selected by the judges from over 1,000 entries. The 2017 judging panel comprised Sarah Long, Director of Long and Ryle Gallery; Kathryn Maple, artist and 2016 First Prize Winner; Louis Wise, critic and writer for The Sunday Times and Andrew Wilton, Visiting Research Fellow at Tate Britain.

Royal Drawing School graduate Elizabeth McCarten says that “living in a complex and urban environment, my work often stems from a desire to find freedom, space and simplicity. Finding and connecting to places by creating emotive responses are central to my painting process.” The artist recently completed a residency at Borgo Pignano in Italy where she was able to travel to Florence and make a series of works, including her prizewinning watercolour painting.

Elizabeth McCarten, The Boboli Gardens, watercolour, 76 x 56 cm

Now in its 30th year, The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition is the largest and most prestigious showcase of contemporary watercolour painting in the UK. The competition aims to celebrate and reward excellence and originality in the medium of watercolour. Whether the work is abstract or figurative, contemporary or traditional, the competition aims to celebrate and redefine the beauty and diversity of watercolour and water-based media. It offers a First Prize of £10,000, the Jackson’s Young Artist Award of £500 worth of vouchers towards artist materials, and the St Cuthberts Mill Prize for an outstanding work on paper (worth £250).

The First Prize of £10,000, has this year been awarded to Richard Fowler, for Portishead, a vibrant painting which is part of a wider series of work exploring the effects of natural forces on man-made structures. The artist has utilised cut paper ‘masks’ with stencil brushes of various sizes to achieve the sharp edges and textures of corroding steel and decaying wood. Speaking of the work, Fowler says “…the sunlight falling on the rusting steel, contrasting with the intense blue of the sky gives the image a somewhat surreal and sinister quality whilst the stark outlines and rugged shapes are reminiscent of an ancient castle or coastal fortification.”

Richard Fowler, Portishead, acrylic on canvas board, 68x53cm

The St Cuthberts Mill prize for an outstanding work on paper, worth £250, was awarded to Annie Williams for her watercolour, Still Life with a Small Spanish Bowl. Abstraction meets representation in this dynamic work which is occupied by beautiful prussian blue, cerulean and ultramarine tones. Speaking of the subject matter, the artist said “most of my chosen objects are pots – I have a sister and friends who are potters, so have acquired quite a number over the years. I love their shapes and colours.”

Annie Williams, Still Life with a Small Spanish Bowl, watercolour, 58x67cm

The Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition

Seventy-eight works have been selected from a total of 1057 submissions. The shortlisted works will be shown in The Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition which runs from 19 – 24 September 2017 at Mall Galleries, London before touring to Trowbridge Arts (11 November – 23 December 2017) and Guildford House Gallery (13 January – 10 March 2018).

The shortlisted artists are: Alex Maczkowski, Alison Boult, Anastasia Shimshilashvili, Anne McAulay Edmond, Annie Williams, Camilla Dowse, Caroline Kent, Catherine Ducker, Chris Baker, Christopher Green, Claire Sparkes, Daphne Gradidge, David A Parfitt RI, David Brayne, David Greenwood, David Shuttleton, Debbie Ayles, Delia Cardnell, Dennis Roxby Bott, Doug Patterson, Elizabeth McCarten, Emma Haworth, Esme Dollow, Fay Brown, Frank Kiely, Gary Groucutt, Geoff Butterworth, Gertie Young, Greg Becker, Hannah Turner-Duffin, Hilary Rosen, Howard Flanagan, Ian Sidaway, Ingrid Greenfield, Irene Lafferty, Janet Kenyon, Janis Fry, John Hunt, Josh Crowe, Judith Logan, Karen Bowers, Kate Evans, Leo Davey, Lillias August, Louise de la Hey, Mark Elsmore, Mark Fielding, Martin Leman, Martin Spanyol, Max Boyla, Michael Williams, Michelle Cioccoloni, Patrick Shart, Paul Gadenne, Peter Quinn, Rachael Grimm, Rachel Ross, Rebecca Harper, Richard Fowler, Rika Newcombe, Robbie Wraith, Robert McKenzie, Robert Offord, Robin Storey, Roger Allen, Sally Lawson, Sarah Wimperis, Sophie Charalambous, Stephanie Tuckwell, Stephen Earl Rogers, Suman Kaur, Sylvia Alice Robertson, Teresa Lawler, Tom Caley, Varsha Bhatia, Victoria Dale, Vincent Spain, Ziling Wang.

You can see the shortlisted images from the last few years on The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition website.

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Botanical painting has been practised for hundreds of years and is still a popular painting style today, especially amongst watercolour painters. German artist Susanne Absolon shows us step by step how she creates a botanical painting – a yellow-red rose – in watercolour. Susanne uses the superb Schmincke Horadam watercolours.

Shown above are the colours of Schmincke Horadam Watercolours that Susanne uses for Watercolour Botanical Painting: Titanium Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Yellow Orange, Transparent Orange, Saturn Red, Quinacridone Red Light, Perylene Dark Red, Quinacridone Magenta, Manganese Violet, French Ultramarine, Green Earth, Viridian and Perylene Green.

Other supplies she uses:
• Hahnemühle watercolour paper, hot pressed, 300 gsm 30x45cm
• DaVinci watercolour brushes with a long tip
• Mijello airtight palette
• Pencil
• Printed photo of roses (colour or black and white)

Painting a Yellow-Red Rose in Watercolour with Susanne Absolon

I’ve chosen some good photos of roses, taken by me in full sunlight, where the blossom and the bud as well as some leaves can be seen in all their details.
With a pencil, I draw a sketch of all main forms of the rose, the bud and all leaves. As a guide, I use prints of my photos or the computer screen, where I can enlarge all details. For an easier recognition of the tonal value (light-dark-contrast) I use a black and white print.

Here you can see the whole composition with the first glazes of colour. The basic tint for all green mixtures is Green Earth, one of my favourite greens. It is a transparent colour and one of the most natural green shades one can find and use even straight from the tube.
For the red of the blossom/bud I used Quinacridone Red Light, Saturn Red and Perylene Dark Red. For the petals, I mainly used the very useful for botanical painting colours Titanium Yellow and Transparent Yellow Orange, which can be partially mixed with Transparent Orange and Cadmium Yellow Lemon.

For a more three-dimensional effect, where the bud seems to be more in the foreground, it gets the most intense colours. The white denticulated edges at the leaves of the bud will be left open. At first, I paint the red glaze with indicated smallest teeth. After drying, I paint the green glaze at the opposite side with small teeth, too.

For the middle petals, I use Quinacridone Red Light and Perylene Red Deep. I first wet the surface with plain water and mix the colours which I then add into the slightly wet parts.

Now I paint the first glaze of the leaf in a cooler Viridian to let the bud come forward. This leaf later will get more glazes in warmer green shades. The
denticulated edges are painted with the brush
tip in growing direction. The middle vein is left
open – it will be painted with a tender glaze only after
finishing the leaf.

Here, nearly all petals, leaves and stalks are painted. For the reddish shimmering edges of the leaves I add some Quinacridone Red Light and Transparent Orange into the still wet glaze. The green turned leaf underneath the blossom gets a first shadow glaze, while the saw-toothed edge remains free.

The blossom is nearly finished, painted with shadow parts, but nevertheless it needs some more glazing layers. If a colour becomes unintentionally too dark, you can re-wet this part with a small wet brush and take off the colour with a tissue. Then, you can paint on an even lighter glaze this time.
Into the green leaves I have already painted some details using several green mixtures to indicate the inner parts of the typical “pillow-like” forms between the secondary veins.

Here I have corrected the too-dark parts inside the blossom. The leaf at the right underneath the blossom got an attractive hard shadow, which shines through onto the underpart of the leaf.
For the soft shadows at the underpart of the red petals you will need several glazes, as otherwise it is not possible to paint convincing shadows on intense red parts. Thus, I glazed with an intense red, mixed to be darkened with a very small amount of Manganese Violet. This violet contains more red than blue. The delicate thorns at the stalks will be painted with the small No. 2 flat brush and get afterwards a shadow with the finest possible (No. 0 or 1) brush at the underpart.

After some final glazes and shadows onto the leaves, I add a final red glaze onto the foremost petal as well as an increasing yellow-green glaze onto the bud. Now the yellow-red rose is finished. I put my signature in my favourite colour Quinacridone Red Light onto this watercolour painting.

Susanne Absolon has taught and exhibited for many years. She has studied flower painting with Billy Showell, Anna Mason and the London Art College.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on the 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 or more.

The post Watercolour Botanical Painting with Susanne Absolon appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Use Molotow Masking Fluid Markers to save back the whites in your watercolour painting without ever tearing the paper when you remove it. Many masking fluids will remove some of the surface of your paper but Molotow (pronounced molotoff) doesn’t damage the paper at all. Molotow Masking Fluid rubs off in crumbs leaving little bits to brush away like a rubber eraser. And your sparkling white highlights are revealed! The refillable marker is available in two nib sizes, so you also don’t need to worry about ruining a brush anymore.

Molotow Masking Fluid will change the minds of those painters who won’t use masking fluid because they are afraid to tear their paper.

Six methods for application

Masking fluid is applied to dry paper so that it sits on top and doesn’t soak into the paper, then let dry itself and then watercolour or an acrylic wash can be painted over.

A common method for applying masking fluid is with a watercolour brush. Some artists save a brush just for this because it gets gunked up and can’t be used for much else afterwards, although I have found you can prevent ruining a brush by coating the hairs with some washing up liquid before you start using the brush. But if you prefer not to use a brush then as these are marker pens, you already have the applicator built in. There are two sizes of nib in the pump markers – 2mm and 4mm and you can change the 2mm nib out for a harder tipped 1.5mm nib that is a lot finer.

Molotow Masking Fluid Marker 4mm.
The white areas were masked and rubbed off.
The blue lines are masking fluid left on to show how it looks.
The crumbs show what the masking fluid looks like when you rub it off.
Blue paint is a watercolour wash.
Green paint is an acrylic wash.

Molotow Masking Fluid Marker 2mm.
I didn’t pump the marker after having used it a lot, so the nib was not full and so the masking was too thin and this one wasn’t fully masked. When I rubbed off the masking fluid the paint had got through the bare areas.

Molotow Masking Fluid Marker 2mm
with the 1.5 spare tip instead.
This gives you much finer lines.

The markers are easily refillable with the 30ml refill bottle, so it is economical and the refill bottle comes with a nozzle that could be used for application, though it comes out quite quickly, so it not very controllable. You can also squeeze some out and apply it using a brush. For this test I used a brush without first working a drop of washing up liquid into the hairs as I usually wood and after using it with the masking fluid I dropped it into my water pot right away and it cleaned up perfectly. You can also use the refill masking fluid to fill an empty Molotow brush marker if you’d like the thick-to-thin variation that you can get with a brush nib.

Applied directly from the Molotow Masking Fluid Refill bottle, which is not meant to be used this way, there is not much control.

Molotow Masking Fluid Refill
applied with a brush. The thick pool of masking liquid stained the paper, but you would never normally do this thick of an area.- it was were I poured it to dip the brush in.

Empty Brush Marker
filled with Molotow Masking Fluid refill. Good for thick and thin lines.

Quantity to apply

The markers lay the masking fluid down evenly and thinly, just as required. You will need to pump the marker occasionally to be sure the tip is filled, if the tip is a bit dry it will not lay down enough and the paint can seep through when it is applied. You pump the marker to fill the nib from the barrel by placing the nib on a scrap of paper on your table and pressing down a few times, you will see the blue fluid flow into the tip. If you are using the brush marker you also need to pump these but not on the table, instead you pump the Molotow Brush Markers by turning the cap around and pumping into the the slot on top. Using either a brush or the refill bottle as an applicator can mean areas of masking fluid that are too thick and in my testing those very thick areas left blue stains on the paper. So the key is to apply just enough but not too much!

Removing the Masking Fluid

The masking fluid is blue so you can see your marks while you are painting. I painted over the dried masking liquid with both a watercolour wash (Ultramarine Blue) and an acrylic wash (Phthalo Green). It worked equally well with the watercolour paint and the acrylic that was used like watercolour (with a lot of water). There was no bleed-through the masking liquid, it was bright white and it all removed completely in small crumbs. (I also tried it with light and heavy applications of acrylic paint, but as I expected it didn’t work because the masking fluid was sealed under the acrylic.) The bottle warns to remove the masking fluid from your dried painting within two days, this is standard practice for all masking fluids, they get harder to remove as they age.

Click on the underlined link to go to the current offer on the Molotow Masking Liquid on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39 or more.

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