Whether stretched, mounted to a board or a panel, or used in a pad, canvas is one of the most popular painting supports for artists. It is available unprimed, oil primed or universally primed, and in a choice of different weights and textures, from rough jute to fine linen. Its versatility makes canvas suitable for a range of different painting mediums and techniques, but it is not traditionally associated with watercolour painting. 

Universally primed canvas is prepared for oil and acrylic paint, but is not absorbent enough for watercolour. An effective watercolour surface, such as watercolour paper, needs to be absorbent enough to stabilise the paint, but not so porous that the paint sinks into the surface and becomes dull. Watercolour grounds are acrylic-based primers designed to provide the perfect amount of absorbency, and they can be used to adapt any universally primed canvas for watercolour painting. 

Painting with watercolour on canvas, instead of paper, can offer several advantages:

• Canvas is a very durable support.

  As a thin, soft material, even the highest quality watercolour papers are very easily damaged in storage or in transit if they aren’t properly protected. A stretched canvas or canvas board makes for a more rigid and durable art object which is less vulnerable to wear and tear. A painting on stretched canvas is also easier to conserve – if the stretcher bars are damaged or become warped over time, the painting can be removed and stretched across a new frame.

• An opportunity to work on a large scale.

  In most watercolour paper ranges, the largest sheet size available is full imperial (approximately 76cm x 56cm). To work on a larger scale, often the only option is to buy the paper on a roll. Stretched canvases are available in a number of different sizes, the largest ready-made size available from Jackson’s is 120cm x 150cm, but you can work even larger if you build your own stretcher and stretch the canvas yourself.

• There are options to hang the work without mounting or framing.

  To hang a painting made on watercolour paper without damaging the artwork, the paper should be mounted to a rigid support, such as a wooden panel, or framed. A stretched canvas can be hung without framing or mounting, as hanging hardware can be screwed straight into the wooden stretchers. Uncradled supports, like canvas boards, can be hung by glueing strips of wood to the back of the piece and attaching hanging hardware to the wood.

• With pre-stretched canvases, there is no need to stretch the surface.

  To avoid buckling, watercolour paper should be stretched before painting, especially if using a lot of water. If using a stretched canvas or a canvas board, there is no stretching needed. After applying the watercolour ground, you can get straight to painting.

Jackson’s Premium Cotton Canvas Art Boards in the studio

Comparing seven watercolour grounds on canvas

The comparisons were made on Jackson’s Premium Cotton Canvas Art Boards. They have a medium grain and are universally primed with white acrylic primer, so no further preparation was needed before applying the watercolour ground. Each watercolour ground was applied according to the recommendations given by the manufacturer. All grounds were applied in two thin layers, with the exception of Schmincke’s Aqua Primer Fine, for which it is recommended to use three layers.
Once the watercolour grounds were dry for at least 24 hours, the following tests were made:

• A granulating wash of equal parts Jackson’s Cerulean Blue Artist Watercolour (PB35) and Daniel Smith Cobalt Violet Watercolour (PV49)

  This test assesses how responsive the texture is to granulating paints. Granulation is a property specific to certain pigments with heavy or irregularly sized pigment particles. The particles separate and settle in the valleys of the surface, creating a textural effect.

• A lifting test with Jackson’s Permanent Sap Green Artist Watercolour

  Permanent Sap Green is a mixture of Ultramarine Blue (PB29) and Benzimidazolone Yellow (PY154) and it is a moderately staining colour. Lifting is a common technique used to correct mistakes or create highlights, but it is not essential for all watercolourists. Each Permanent Sap Green swatch was allowed to dry completely and then a wet, firm brush was used to re-work a section of the paint. The wet paint was blotted with a cloth to lift away the colour. Highly absorbent surfaces are usually harder to lift from.

• A soft pastel mark, using Jackson’s Handmade Soft Pastel Cool Grey VI

  This is to assess tooth, or the ‘grip’ that a surface has. An abrasive surface allows good adhesion of dry media like soft pastels and charcoal, an opportunity for mixed media artists.

• A swatch of Jackson’s Quinacridone Purple Artist Watercolour.

  This test is used on watercolour paper to assess how absorbent it is. The pigment, PR122, is prone to blossoming when used diluted. When the paint is not absorbed quickly, or is absorbed unevenly, a bead of paint might gather and then blossom outwards, creating an effect known as a backrun (or sometimes, more descriptively, as a ‘cauliflower’). Watercolour usually takes longer to dry on hot pressed watercolour paper than on rough watercolour paper, and therefore backruns are more likely on hot-pressed watercolour paper. It will be interesting to see if the same rules apply to watercolour grounds.

Schmincke : Aqua Watercolour Primer : Fine

Recommended application: Shake well before use. Apply at least 3 layers with a brush.

The ground produced a smooth surface that retained the texture of the canvas underneath. As a result, the granulating wash created a very interesting effect as the pigment settled along the canvas grain.

As the paint was drying, I noticed that it dried unevenly – in some parts the paint was absorbed into the ground quickly, while in others it remained wet for a long time. A backrun formed in the Quinacridone Purple where the paint was sitting on the surface without being absorbed. The effect can also be seen in the granulating wash where there are patches of darker colour lower down in the wash where the water had pooled and the pigment had gathered there.

The Permanent Sap Green lifted cleanly. Even though the ground underneath was stained yellow, it made a good highlight.

Aqua Primer Fine is abrasive, and it gave the canvas a wonderful tooth, producing a clean and dark pastel mark. This makes it ideal for artists who introduce dry mediums, such as pencil, charcoal or pastel, into their watercolour paintings.

Schmincke Aqua Fine Watercolour Ground

Schmincke : Aqua Watercolour Primer : Coarse

Recommended application: Apply undiluted with a palette knife

The palette knife application of this ground completely hid the canvas grain, creating a surface that was comparable to rough watercolour paper. The texture complemented the granulating wash, as the heavy pigment particles settled in the pits of the surface. You can see in the Permanent Sap Green swatch that the paint was caught within the surface texture, making it difficult to lift away the colour entirely. The ground is toothy and very rough, giving a broken soft pastel line.

Schmincke Aqua Primer, Coarse

This coarse ground can be applied flat, like above, to imitate the textural quality of rough watercolour paper, but it can also be applied impasto to create a structured surface to paint on. The sample below was made on a smaller canvas board, using the end of the palette knife to make impasto effects:

Using Schmincke Aqua Primer, Coarse, to establish texture, before painting with Jackson’s Cerulean Blue and Quinacridone Gold watercolour

Schmincke : Aqua Watercolour Primer : Transparent

Recommended application: Shake well before use, should be applied evenly with a brush. When applying more layers, the previous layer should be dry before the next coat is applied.

The primer dried to a satin, transparent finish which did not affect the texture or colour of the surface underneath. It seemed to be the least absorbent of all of the tested watercolour grounds – the dilute washes took a long time to dry, which would be useful for allowing longer periods of blending. The Permanent Sap Green could essentially be wiped completely away once re-wetted.

The Quinacridone Purple didn’t produce a backrun, which I was expecting on such a non-absorbent surface. Instead, the paint gathered in the corner of the swatch and the water eventually evaporated, leaving a shiny area of dried gum arabic binder on the surface. Glazing, a technique of building up transparent layers, would be hard to do effectively on this ground because the paint would be easily moved when new layers are applied. This characteristic means that the paint can be reworked and blended even after drying.

Schmincke Aqua Transparent Watercolour Ground

An interesting possibility with this ground is that it can be used on top of dry acrylic paintings, to allow overpainting with watercolours. It can also be used over clear-sized canvas, to keep the original colour of the canvas, as below:

Schmincke Transparent Watercolour Primer on Clear Primed Linen Canvas Board

Golden : White Absorbent Ground

Recommended application: For best results apply over regular gesso in two coats – the first coat neat, then wait until fully dry (8-12hrs). The second coat should be with some water (about 20%).

Looking at Golden’s Absorbent Ground in comparison with Schmincke’s Aqua Transparent Primer, the effect that absorbency has on colour vibrancy is clear. The highly porous nature of the Absorbent Ground gives the colours a muted effect, while the same colours on the less absorbent Transparent Primer are more vibrant.

While Schmincke’s Aqua Primer Transparent leaves the paint easily moved, Golden Absorbent ground makes a more stable watercolour surface which would be better suited to glazing. The paint was quickly drawn into the ground, and became very resistant to lifting once dry.

Golden Absorbent Ground has a gesso-like feel and gave a toothy finish. It makes a good ground for incorporating dry media into watercolour painting.

Golden Absorbent Ground

Golden Qor : Cold Press Ground

Recommended application: Apply two or more coats. Allow sufficient time (usually 24 hours or more) for the layers to fully dry before applying watercolor washes

Like Golden’s Absorbent Ground, Golden Qor Cold Pressed Ground absorbed the paint quickly. The difference is that the Qor ground contains a fibrous material (which looks and feels like paper pulp) to give it a watercolour paper-like texture. Note where the primer has been brushed over the edge of the canvas board, creating a deckled edge effect. I applied the ground with a brush, and you can see that there are horizontal brush marks remaining. The ground can also, like Schmincke’s coarse primer, be applied with a palette knife.

Lifting, which was difficult due to the highly absorbent surface, was made harder by the texture. Ultramarine blue, the heaviest pigment in Permanent Sap Green, was caught in the grooves of the surface.

Unlike watercolour paper, the texture feels ‘sharp’ and highly abrasive. The soft pastel crumbled as I drew it over the ground.

Golden QOR Cold Pressed Ground

Daniel Smith : Watercolour Paint Ground : Iridescent Gold

Recommended application: Allow 24-72 hours to cure before applying watercolour

All of the above watercolour grounds can be tinted with watercolour or acrylic paint, but Daniel Smith produces a range of coloured grounds for watercolour. Their Iridescent Gold ground is highly pigmented and opaque with the richness of real gold. A gold background completely changes the qualities of the colours, giving them a warm and luminous undertone.

The colours remained vibrant, and this can be attributed to the fact that the ground is relatively non-absorbent, so the pigment sits on the surface. This was indicated by the fact that the Permanent Sap Green swatch was very easily lifted and removed almost entirely from the ground.

Daniel Smith Watercolour Ground, Iridescent Gold

Daniel Smith : Watercolour Ground : Mars Black

Recommended application: Allow 24-72 hours to cure before applying watercolour

I hesitated before applying the same colours to the black ground, because I wasn’t sure if it was only suited to opaque or metallic paints. However, I was proven wrong as the colours glowed against the black background. The only exception was Quinacridone Purple which, being dilute and transparent, was slightly lost. While Daniel Smith’s Iridescent Gold ground gave the colours warmth, the black ground makes them appear cooler.

Like Daniel Smith’s Iridescent Gold watercolour ground, the surface was abrasive and excellent for soft pastel. The white soft pastel would be ideal for creating strong highlights.

Daniel Smith Watercolour Ground, Mars Black

As well as Mars Black and Iridescent Gold, Daniel Smith also produce Titanium White, Buff Titanium and Transparent watercolour grounds.

Protecting artworks on watercolour ground.

A finished work can be sprayed with a fixative, such as Schmincke’s Watercolour Fixative, which creates a thin, water-resistant barrier to protect from dust and humidity. For the samples I made for this post, a general fixative like Lascaux Fixative would be more effective at fixing both the watercolour and the soft pastel.

Watercolour paintings on paper are not commonly varnished, because the addition of an acrylic coating can alter the colour, texture and sheen of the watercolour. However, Golden recommend their Archival Varnish Aerosol, applied in several thin coats, for use as a varnish for watercolour on a watercolour ground. Once the watercolour is fixed with the spray varnish, a brush-on varnish could be applied but, like when varnishing any artwork, it’s best to test the application first before using it on a finished piece.

Brush-on varnishes are not suitable unless the watercolour is adequately fixed as it would reactivate the paint, causing it to streak.

Conclusion

The variation between the grounds allows for a range of different watercolour techniques and approaches. A non-absorbent ground, like Schmincke’s Transparent Primer, allows the paint to be easily lifted and reworked after drying. On the other hand, a more porous ground like Golden Absorbent Ground binds the watercolour more securely to the surface, making it better for glazing techniques. The canvas grain can be obscured entirely by applying Schmincke Coarse Primer or Golden Qor Cold Pressed Ground with a palette knife, or the canvas texture can become part of the painting by using Schmincke Fine Primer and allowing granulating washes to settle in the canvas weave.

Using a watercolour ground is not just a case of adapting a surface to accept watercolour. It is also a creative decision in itself, controlling absorbency and texture to determine how watercolour behaves.

Canvas supports from Jacksons:

A watercolour ground can be applied to any universally primed canvas surface, but would not be suitable for oil primed canvas.

• Universally Primed Premium Stretched Cotton Canvases
• Universally Primed Cotton Canvas Art Boards
• Jackson’s Handmade Linen Boards
• Bespoke canvas builder

More articles about watercolour painting surfaces:

• Black Watercolour Painting Comparison
• A Review of Yupo Paper
• Understanding Watercolour Paper Textures

The tests on watercolour grounds were inspired by Bruce MacEvoy’s method for testing watercolour paper.

The post Painting with Watercolour on Canvas: Choosing the best Watercolour Ground appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Da Vinci are considered to be one of the finest manufacturers of artist brushes in the world. Artist Anna Zadorozhnaya, an ambassador of the da Vinci brand, visited the company’s factory in Nuremberg, Germany, and shares what she learnt about the production of the brushes, as well as the characteristics of da Vinci’s most popular watercolour brushes.

By Anna Zadorozhnaya

The production cycle for da Vinci brushes is slightly different for natural and synthetic hair. Natural hair brushes can only by manufactured by hand and in no other way, while synthetic brushes can be produced by machines. In any case, the process starts with the formation of a brush bundle.

Synthetic brushes are usually done by a machine and in the case of natural hair, a master brush maker measures the necessary amount of hair (depending on the size) with the help of a jewellery scale or a special hair-portioning device. They then knock the bundle in a metal tool. The hair is then tied with a cotton thread, shaped, and inserted into the ferrule.

After that the glue is poured inside and the construction is planted on the handle, then crimped. The shape of the brush and its tip are additionally controlled, then the printing process of the series and numbers is carried out. After that the finished brushes are sent to the warehouse for packing.

Of course, in the case of different types of brushes, the process may be slightly different. For example, flat brushes go through an added stage called “the press”. In the case of quill brushes, there is an extra step involving wrapping the wire and so on. But, in general, the process is exactly as described above.

More than 6 million brushes are produced per year at the da Vinci factory, which are subsequently sold on five continents. The factory uses both manual labour and machine production. If we talk about automatic production and machines (their appearance and working principles are the strictest commercial secret, and they are not allowed to be photographed), the da Vinci staff consists of several engineers, whose main task is to monitor the working equipment and to develop new ones. By the way, I personally saw that most of the machines are electronically controlled, which means it’s a fully automatic process.

Each brush has its own “recipe” stored in a special book, which includes information about the series, type of hair, handle length, size range, and other features. Surprisingly, this is just a notebook (though red!) and all the information is written down by hand. And it exists in a single copy.

In total, the factory employs about 130 people. In order to receive the title “brush maker”, an employee of the company must undergo intensive three-year training, and only after these three years they can work for da Vinci as an independent brush maker.

The most famous and popular series of da Vinci watercolour brushes is Maestro, made with Siberian kolinsky sable. The best kolinsky brushes only use male winter tail hair – the hair of the female is not as thick and of lower quality. In addition, their origin should be only in Manchuria or Siberia. Due to the extremely low temperatures and Siberian frosts, the hair gets the unique characteristics needed.

Finally, in the kolinsky brush, the length of visible hair should correspond to the length of the hair inside the ferrule – if they are not identical, the brush does not hold the necessary amount of water. Da Vinci purchases raw materials at auctions and the company strictly complies with international legal norms for the protection of natural resources – certificates of conformity are issued for all natural hair. The natural hair process also takes time: the hair needs to be treated, degreased, and left for several months to be lathered. There is a special room for storing natural raw materials in the basement of the factory.

A common misconception is that the gumir, a special solution used to process brushes for transportation, somehow affects the shape of the brush. This is not true: it is necessary to protect the hair and to simply show the brush shape to the buyer. The shape and properties of a brush are affected only in the very first stages when the hair is tucked into a bundle and dressed.

In the company hall on the wall there is an interesting brush exposition, which is a kind of unique historical artefact. The wife of the owner of the company, Marianne Defet, spun in circles of artists and made friends with many of them. She invented an interesting ritual: when she visited her friends she gave them a new brush, and in return asked for a brush that was used by the artist. Now these used brushes hang on the wall of the factory, clearly demonstrating the connection between the company and its customers.

Da Vinci is very proud of the fact that the brushes are produced only in Germany and under strict control. After each stage there is mandatory quality control (i.e. after each operation, a person sits down and manually checks if everything is correct), and in most modern production lines this is more of an exception than a rule. This is probably why da Vinci regularly wins prestigious awards, such as ‘German Brand of the Century’, and why their brushes are famous all over the world for their quality.

Overview of watercolour brushes by da Vinci

There is a common name for the series of each brush, which relates to the family of hair. For example, Casaneo will use synthetic hair, Maestro series use kolinsky, Petit Gris use natural squirrel, and Cosmotop-Spin and Nova-Synthetics are synthetic.

Da Vinci brush sizes are different from the usual sizes, and I would say that the size of da Vinci is smaller than normal. The difference in size ranges between manufacturers is due to the fact that the European brush industry has no agreement on a single size designation and standard. So, before ordering a brush, you should check the dimensions specified directly by the manufacturer.

Let’s have a brief look on the most popular da Vinci artist brush series.

Maestro

Maestro is made with selected Siberian natural kolinsky and is one of da Vinci’s most famous and popular ranges of watercolour brush. Kolinsky brushes are appreciated among watercolourists because they hold the perfect amount of water and are very elastic. They also have a sharp, long-lasting tip which does not wear down.

Da Vinci kolinsky brushes are labelled in three variants: Harbin-Kolinsky – a kolinsky found in Manchuria, and Tobolsky-Kolinsky and Ussiri-Kolisnky – from Siberia in the Ob, Lena, Amur, and Ussuri regions.

The Maestro line includes round brushes, flat brushes, a special series of riggers, and a travel series. Maestro brushes have black handles with gold embossing and a metal ferrule. All the brushes in this line are made exclusively by hand.

Casaneo

Casaneo brushes have earned the watercolourists’ love because of its very interesting hair: it is a very soft synthetic squirrel imitation, and the hair is slightly more elastic than natural squirrel. It also holds quite a lot of water and the tip is perfectly sharp, allowing you to paint very fine details.

The Casaneo line has all kinds and types of brushes: round, flat, filbert shape, angle, liners, and a complete line of pocket brushes. In addition, these brushes are presented not only with a standard ferrule, but also in the traditional quill version, which has an even greater water holding capacity due to the length of the hair.

Cosmotop-Mix B

The Cosmotop-Mix B series is an interesting option for watercolourists. The hair of these brushes consists of a mix of synthetic and natural hair, which holds a large amount of water and has a sharp tip. It has a very stable behaviour with different types of washes. In addition, the brushes in this series are slightly more elastic and resilient than natural squirrel.

Petit Gris

Da Vinci Petit Gris series are brushes made of natural squirrel hair. Petit Gris Pur is pure squirrel with 100% natural hair, while Petit Gris Mix is a mix of natural squirrel and imitation squirrel. These brushes have a sharp tip and retain their snap for a long time. They absorb a lot of water and are ideal for large washes. I would say that the da Vinci squirrel are the best on the market.

This series also comes in different versions (flat, round, liner brush), but the most interesting is the traditional quill version.

Cosmotop-Spin

Cosmotop-Spin brushes use a fully synthetic hair with a light brown colour. It is very thin and smooth, and due to the mix of hair of different lengths and thicknesses it has a high absorption capacity.

This series has red hexagonal handles which use a technology patented by da Vinci. The thickest part of the handle is designed to reduce fatigue in your hands when painting, and also to prevent the brush from rolling off the table.

Vario-Tip

As the name suggests, Vario-Top are a unique range of brushes that feature varied synthetic hair lengths. Made from a blend of Nova and Top-Acryl fibres mixed in different lengths, these brushes are ideal for textures and effects, be it drawing trees or leaves, landscapes, foliage, and more.

Browse da Vinci brushes at Jackson’s

• Maestro
• Casaneo
• Cosmotop-Mix B
• Petit Gris
• Cosmotop-Spin
• Vario-Tip

About Anna

Anna Zadorozhnaya was born and lives in Moscow, Russia. Anna has an MA in Art from Oxford Brookes University and is a da Vinci and Schmincke ambassador. Anna is also a member of the International Federation of Aquarellists.

She shares her watercolour paintings on her Instagram page, @draw_better.

Read how Anna painted a mountain scene in the Austrian village of St Anton am Arlberg using Schminke Horadam paints.

Art supplies that are cruelty-free or made without the use of animal products are an important concern for many artists. We stock a wide range of cruelty-free art supplies and work hard to support the preferences and needs of all of our customers. We encourage and support the development of synthetic fibre brushes but offer natural hair to those that want it.

Care should be taken in the maintenance of brushes to ensure their longevity. This helps to reduce the number of brushes that are bought and therefore made, and as a result this can help minimise the use of animal hair. The same applies to synthetic brushes, whereby reducing use helps to minimise the amount of plastic that needs to be produced (which generates both pollution and microplastics).

The post How Da Vinci Watercolour Brushes are Made appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Canvas has been the most popular painting surface for hundreds of years and has a range of benefits – it’s lightweight and has excellent absorbency, as well as a woven texture which artists love. For some painters, however, the rigidity of a board or panel offers the perfect surface.

Aluminium panels have a number of great benefits, namely that they are very strong and are less susceptible to shifts in the surrounding environment than MDF, for example. Jackson’s aluminium panels have a smooth and archival anodised aluminium surface, which is widely considered the best process for preparing an aluminium surface for the application of paint.

We recently interviewed British artist Michael Sheldon, who mentioned he almost exclusively paints his portraits on our aluminium panels. We thought it would be insightful if he expanded on this and shared his thoughts about the panels.

By Michael Sheldon

I first started taking painting seriously at the start of 2018 when I received a box of artist quality oil paints as a Christmas present. I was fascinated by the Old Masters painting techniques, particularly glazing, and decided I would give it a go myself. I began to paint on canvas like most artists, but I quickly realised that due to the way I paint I wasn’t a fan of the canvas texture. I was looking for a canvas substitute and came across Jackson’s Aluminium Panels, and I’ve not looked back since.

In this article I’ll talk about the advantages and disadvantages I’ve found using aluminium panels, and a little insight into my painting practice showing you how I prepare, use, and hang the panels.

One of the benefits of using aluminium panels is that there is no priming required, you can paint straight onto the surface! The archival properties are far greater than canvas or wood and the surface is super smooth. I also found the paint drying time to be slightly quicker than using canvas. You can find out more about the panels by looking on the Jackson’s shop website – it goes more in-depth about how the surface is treated and the archival properties.

As with most of my paintings, I start with a sketch and outline the basic composition. For the purpose of demonstration, I have drawn a quick sketch using charcoal and graphite. Although the image appears permanent (and possibly will be as long as you don’t touch it) you can rub out the pencil marks using a basic/putty eraser and leave no visible trace. This helps me to refine a sketch into a more basic outline for when I start to paint, or if I change things during the painting process.

Preliminary drawing on the aluminium panel

The majority of the time I would then paint straight onto the surface without any priming, especially if I’m glazing layers. If you would like to lock in the underdrawing and you are worried about the theory of graphite eventually finding its way to the surface of the painting (I’m not convinced), then you can use a clear gesso over the top of the pencil marks or use a fixative. I would advise you use a brush to wipe down any excess graphite/charcoal dust on the surface as this will blend in with the gesso and ruin your sketch. Charcoal has a tendency to smudge on aluminium and is more likely to blend in with the gesso, so another option is using a fixative.

After the gesso is dry you can then sand it down and repeat if necessary. An advantage of this method is that the first paint layer sticks better to the surface, which is useful when, for example, painting alla prima.

Applying a layer of clear gesso over the top of the pencil marks

Over the next few images I have drawn a basic outline of two eyes with a pencil. The right eye I have painted a basic grisaille directly onto the surface and the left eye I have primed with a couple layers of clear gesso, sanding in between layers. You can see how the first paint layer takes to the gesso a lot easier.

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Another great advantage I have found is that when I’m glazing layers over the aluminium, because the surface is so smooth I don’t tend to use a medium. This has a faster drying time and feels more pigment-rich, and as I mentioned earlier I’ve found that the paint seems to dry quicker on aluminium than canvas. If you would like your paint to dry even quicker then you can always mix some fast-drying pigments i.e. raw umber into your paint. The dry brush technique also works really well when using the paint from the tube.

When glazing over a grisaille using a medium, you would need to be more exact with the underpainting and many layers are glazed over the top to produce a more luminous quality, similar to the Old Masters. It’s a very time-consuming process, as each layer needs to be dry before you add the next layer.

Consideration needs to be taken for choosing transparent colours and mixing the colour through layers of different colour to get the final colour you require, rather than pre-mix the colour you want then glaze. I would also do some research on lightfast pigments as some can fade over time, there are a lot of fancy paint names out there too that can be made from basic colours.

Towards the later stages of a painting I may use the fat over lean rule and add some medium to the paint on the final layer to fix some hue, value or chroma problems. In the next image I am adding a glaze to both eyes, without using a medium. You can see how smooth the glaze is when applied on the right eye, however, on the left eye the tooth of the gesso holds onto the paint and I have had to scrub the brush into the surface.

Adding a glaze to both eyes

Below is a shot of the grisaille of my latest self-portrait work in progress. I have decided to go for a more painterly approach so I can shave some time on my progress and hopefully show, in my opinion, the benefits of using aluminium panels.

It can be quite interesting to leave bits of the panel unpainted and let the natural reflective properties come through. I have purposely chosen not to paint the background and it looks really effective in this one.

Similar to when I explained about the pencil being easily rubbed out, the same applies to wet paint on the panel. You can easily erase it with mineral spirits/turpentine and it leaves no trace or stain. Once the paint becomes dry it is then bonded to the surface.

Grisaille of my latest self-portrait work in progress

You can also see the progress shots of a detail section from a grisaille, through the smooth layering to the finished work. I often use a grisaille, using titanium white and ivory black mixed with a bit of liquin to speed up the drying process. Some use a brunaille as umber is a fast drier, while a verdaille is meant to help with painting skin tones.

Progress shots, from a detail section of a grisaille to the finished painting

I paint in very thin layers and the aluminium panel is perfect for this method. In these images I am slowly building the layers up. With the jeans I used one thin glaze consisting mainly of ultramarine blue. It’s hard to show on a photo but it really brings out a luminous quality. I believe it has something to do with the glare of the aluminium, which is more effective than canvas.

Glazing technique on aluminium panel

On the arm I am building up the skin tone, which will take many more layers. You can see its slowly getting towards flesh colour. On the ear I am adding some highlights and after painting all the layers I will then do some scumbling, as you can see with the highlight on the nose.

Scumbling technique on aluminium panel

One disadvantage that I have experienced is that when the panel arrives sometimes there are slight imperfections on the surface. I have only ever witnessed this on one side of the panel so the other side is perfectly useable. I believe this may be from the factory where it was cut.

The other thing is that once painted you need to be careful not to lean anything against it and scratch the paint off it, which can happen if it’s sharp, like a screw. I handed my painting into the BP Portrait Award last year for the second round of judging and when it came back it had a scratch where another painting had lent on it, so I would advise getting it framed straight away.

Self Portrait 2 (In Progress)
Michael Sheldon
Oil on aluminium panel, 51 x 41 cm

That brings me on to hanging. A cost-effective way of hanging is to use two pieces of MDF (or any suitable wood). I use gorilla glue to stick them to the back of the panel and put weights on top until it dries and then screw on framing hooks and a attach cord. It almost gives it a 3D look on the wall.

Mounting and hanging

Below is the painting I’ve been working on. It’s about halfway complete at the moment and requires more layers and scumbling. If you have not tried painting on the super-smooth surface of aluminium then I urge you to give it a go.

One thing I have not quite mastered is taking a photograph of the finished painting. The panel gives off a bit of glare so my paintings always look better in the flesh. If you would like to see how this painting ends up then you can follow me on Instagram where I am most active.

Work in Progress

About Michael Sheldon

Michael Sheldon is a British artist and former Royal Marines Commando who paints in oil and pastel. Michael won the Oil Prize in Jackson’s Amateur Artist Prize in 2018, and in the same competition won two People’s Choice Awards for his pastel drawings, Reflection and Milo. In 2019, his work was commended by the judges at the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize Exhibition and his painting Pain or Relief was shortlisted for the Jackson’s Painting Prize 2019. To find out more about Michael, visit his website or read our interview about his painting practice.

Michael is also a member of The Royal Marines Arts Society, which is set up with the view of helping artists to connect within the military and to use the power of creativity to overcome adversity.

You can view all the products mentioned in this review below:

Jackson’s Aluminium Panels

Akoya Synthetic Brushes

Shinku Synthetic Brushes

The post Portrait Painting on Jackson’s Aluminium Panels appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Schmincke have added 15 limited edition super-granulating colours to their Horadam watercolour range. Each colour contains a combination of granulating pigments which separate and settle into the paper surface for textural watercolour effects. Artist, Anna Zadorozhnaya, shares her thoughts on the new series.

By Anna Zadorozhnaya

German brand Schmincke, who produces paints and mediums, has released a new limited edition series: super-granulating watercolours.

What is granulation? Briefly, it is the process of paint particles falling out into visible flakes which creates additional texture on the paint surface.

Granulating watercolours on paper, showing how the pigment settles into the paper dimples.

The new special edition of Schmincke super-granulating watercolours is part of the Horadam professional range. It includes 15 colours in 15 ml tubes, which are grouped into three series: ‘Deep Sea’, ‘Glacier’ and ‘Galaxy’. There are five shades in each series, which best reflect the colours of similar scenes. All series’ have blue and black shades, and then they are distributed according to the name of the series: ‘Galaxy’ has purple and pink shades, ‘Glacier’ has cold blue and blue shades, and ‘Deep Sea’ contains greenish and blue colours. The whole new line consists of blue, green, brown, pinkish-violet and black.

The ‘galaxy’ series of super-granulating watercolours.

Among the notable features of the new special edition are the principle of selection of pigments. All of the colours are based on at least two pigments that have been used in Schmincke watercolour paints before. But in this series these pigments are specially selected/combined to give super-granulation. Granulation is often achieved simply by mixing paint with the highly granulating black pigment PBk11, but Schmincke used the principle of combining two different pigments which are highly granulating by themselves and also look harmonious together. This is a unique solution that no other paint manufacturer has. In addition, some of the paints in this series beautifully fall apart into several pigments, such as Glacier Green, which uses two pigments, green and brown.

All paints in the series are highly lightfast (4**** and 5*****) and are predominantly semi-opaque/semi-transparent.

An overview of Schmincke’s super-granulating colours

Glacier series

Glacier Turquoise

Pigments: PG50, PV16
A shade more gentle and less vivid than the usual Cobalt Turquoise: a cold green-blue.

Glacier Blue

Pigments: PB29, PG50
A bright blue based on ultramarine, deep and saturated.

Glacier Green

Pigments: PR233, PG50
An incredibly beautiful colour, combining green and brown.

Glacier Brown

Pigments: Br6, PG26
A warm saturated brown, where greenish specks can be seen.

Glacier Black

Pigments: PBk11, PB35
Black, based on mars black with cobalt blue pigment.

Galaxy series

Galaxy Pink

Pigments: PV16, PBr33
A very beautiful pure cold pink.

Galaxy Violet

Pigments: PR233, PB29
A violet hue breaking down into particles of blue and purple. In my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful colours of the entire special edition.

Galaxy Blue

Pigments: PG50, PB29.
A cold blue with a distinct greenish undertone.

Galaxy Brown

Pigments: PV62, PBr6
Brown going into an orange undertone, warmer than brown in the Glacier series.

Galaxy Black

Pigments: PBk11, PB29
Black with a mixture of ultramarine; the coldest black of all three.

Deep Sea series

Deep Sea Green

Pigments: PG18, PB29
A cold green, a shade most like malachite.

Deep Sea Violet

Pigments: PB29, PBr33
Denser and more intense than in the Galaxy series, the purple also disintegrates into blue and purple particles.

Deep Sea Blue

Pigments: PG50, PV16, PB29
A warm and soft shade with a velvety paint effect.

Deep Sea Indigo

Pigments: PV62, PG18
A saturated dark blue, green particles can be seen in the granulation.

Deep Sea Black

Pigments: PBk11, PB74, PB35
Black with a blue undertone, but the colour is warm rather than cold.

Painting with Schmincke super-granulating watercolours

My core palette as a practicing watercolour artist (with only 30 colours at the moment) includes 5 new colours which I actively use. These are:

• Deep Sea Blue – a dim, dusty blue to create texture and granulation in mountain washes.
• Glacier Green – divinely falling apart into two shades of red-brown and green, creating interest in trees/grass painting, good in both pure and mixtures.
• Glacier Black – a cool granulating black for creating texture in the shade
• Galaxy Pink – a very beautiful colour, creates incredible washes and also brilliant in pure form.
• Galaxy Violet – differs from the similar colour in the Deep Sea series only by the brown pigment, both colours are incredible both in pure form and in mixtures, they can make a very beautiful picture by themselves.

Painting with the galaxy series of super-granulating colours

Painting with the glacier series of super-granulating colours

Conclusion

To sum it up: the new Schmincke granulating colours, which are very lightfast and using the natural nature of the pigment, are really worth a try. They allow to differ and create more interesting watercolour washes, are very beautiful in pure form and in mixtures and create an incredible texture on the surface of the paper. And it’s impossible not to fall in love with these colours: when you watch this watercolour paints flowing and granulating your heart freezes with delight.

Schmincke Horadam Watercolours on jacksonsart.com:

Schmincke Horadam watercolours are available here, the super-granulating Deep Sea, Glacier and Galaxy colours can be found at the bottom of the colour chart.

The super-granulating colours are limited edition and will be available until Christmas.

About Anna

Anna Zadorozhnaya was born and lives in Moscow, Russia. Anna has an MA in Art from Oxford Brookes University and is a da Vinci and Schmincke ambassador. Anna is also a member of the International Federation of Aquarellists.

Her watercolour paintings can be found on her instagram page

More articles by Anna Zadorozhnaya:

• What is Watercolour Granulation?
• How Da Vinci Watercolour Brushes are Made
• Review of Jackson’s Artist Watercolours
• Painting a Mountatin Landscape in Watercolour

More articles about watercolour painting:

• Why Schmincke Horadam has 20 Different Green Watercolours
• Which Colours Are on Your Palette? Five Watercolour Landscape Painters Respond.
• Schmincke Aqua Drop: Liquid Watercolour That Can Be Used Undiluted

The post Painting with Schmincke’s Super-Granulating Watercolours appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Paul Lewis is a watercolour painter known for his colourful, exotic and loose landscapes. In this article Paul shares his thoughts on colour and how he goes about selecting his palette.

Athens Balcony, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 150 gsm medium Khadi paper, 21 x 15 cm

by Paul Lewis

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this blog… it has caused me to think about some things which have become an almost automatic, subconscious process.

Familiarity with Pigments

When I began painting with watercolour, having been through no formal training, one of the most important things I did was to paint hundreds of ‘boxes’; empty rectangles I drew out on watercolour paper, and fill them with various colour mixes. I was so excited at the time to see all these possibilities and started to feel the emotional power of colours and their juxtapositions.

Less is More

I quickly became aware of the danger of watercolour sets containing too many colours…jangly disharmony is easy to create. It may be a cliché but it is so true: quality over quantity.

The Value of Genuine Pigments

On that note I am not too keen on ‘hues’, preferring genuine pigments which all have their own qualities and different properties. I love granulation where pigments separate and often mix my colours on the paper with as little fiddling as possible so that if you look carefully you can see traces of each colour in its pure state.

Storm Passing Nas’ Ikaria Island, 2018
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 320gsm rough Khadi paper, 30 x 42 cm

Process

Often I begin a painting by laying areas out with light washes in two colours, for example Cobalt Violet and Raw Sienna.

Usually then comes a big sky wash, using that to create the ‘negative space’ for the landscape or seascape.

Blue skies I often underlay especially towards the horizon with Cobalt Violet, or a pink such as Rose Doré. I have become fond of Horizon Blue, which I tend to use more now than Cerulean Blue. I sometimes use Cobalt Turquoise, especially in evening skies and then usually Cobalt Blue, sometimes Ultramarine Blue.

Clouds often have an underbelly of pink and shadows of Burnt Umber and Cobalt Blue.

In sunset scenes there will usually be Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Yellow, Alizarin Crimson… Cobalt Turquoise and Cobalt Violet in the sky.

I am very conscious of leaving space and need to form negative shapes as I build up a painting. The ‘gap’ is so important… creating light and mystery and facilitating a dynamic relationship between viewer and artwork…. perhaps the most important colour is no colour!

That’s particularly true for rough seas where I used to use masking fluid to leave the white for waves and sea foam. Now I prefer to do it with light brushwork on dry paper.

Water and Colour (into the light), Ikaria Island, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 320gsm rough Khadi paper, 30 x 42 cm

Mixing Greens

For a long time now there is rarely green in my palette, although there is a lot of green in my paintings (I love painting trees for example)… if the greens are formed with yellows and blues present elsewhere in the painting the consequence is greater harmony.

Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Pale and occasionally Aureolin as the yellows, with Cobalt Blue, Cerulean or Horizon Blue, sometimes Phthalo Blue. Another mix I love for deep dark greens is Cadmium Orange with Ultramarine.

Midsummer Painting, Ikaria Island, 2018
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 200gsm extra rough Jackson’s Eco handmade paper, 28 x 38 cm

Favourite Pigment

My most favourite pigment is Cobalt Violet, I often paint in places where I can’t easily replenish supplies and this one is one I’m unhappy to see running out. If I’m painting a seascape and there is Violet in the sky it will also be present in the sea and usually in the rocks or beach.

The Tree, Ikaria Island, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 320gsm rough Khadi paper, 30 x 30 cm

When painting beach scenes I throw a handful of sand onto the wet paper before lightly dropping heavily pigmented colours… Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Naples Yellow, Cobalt Violet, Shell Pink, Blue Grey… and allowing them to dry undisturbed until the sand dries and (mostly) falls off.

If there is a figure or figures in the sea or on the beach I usually use the same pigments, having made sure the light ‘space’ is there first.

I also love Cobalt Turquoise and sometimes use the more intense Phthalo Turquoise.

Dark Mixes

Darks I often mix with Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. Rarely I use Indigo… and I used to love Viridian and Alizarin Crimson for the almost-black that they make. I sometimes finish off a watercolour with some lines made with a bamboo pen and sepia ink.

Conversation, Ikaria Island, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on rough 300gsm Arches paper, 23 x 32

White

I don’t use white though I do use colours containing white: Naples Yellow which I love, particularly softened with Cobalt Violet or Shell Pink (also containing white) and Blue Grey… these last two together I love for the gentle grey of rocks… tinted sometimes with Raw Sienna… ah I could go on…!

Since we’re (technically) in summer and for several years I’ve been painting at this time of year on the beautiful Aegean island of Ikaria, I’ve presented some work from the last couple of years from there. Additionally some works from Westonbirt Arboretum, another favourite spot in recent years.

Acropolis, Athens, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 300 gsm rough Arches paper, 36 x 26 cm

Notes on Paints and Paper

For many years I only used Winsor and Newton Artists watercolour paints although more recently I have added Schmincke, Holbein, Old Holland and Jackson’s Artist Watercolour. I do like to experiment and explore.

My favourite paper has always been Arches, although I have also enjoyed Saunders Waterford and recently a lot of my watercolours have been on Khadi handmade paper which I love.

To view more work by Paul Lewis, visit:

paullewispaintings.com

Facebook: @PaulLewisArt

Instagram: @PaulLewisArt

Lime Avenue, Westonbirt 2017
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 300gsm rough Arches paper, 38 x 28cm

Materials:

Winsor and Newton Professional Watercolour

Schmincke Horadam Watercolour

Holbein Watercolour

Old Holland Watercolour

Jackson’s Artist Watercolour

Arches Aquarelle Paper

Saunders Waterford Paper

Khadi Paper

Folding plastic palette

Read Which colours are on your palette? Five watercolour landscape painters respond

The post Paul Lewis’ Thoughts on Watercolour landscape palettes appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Written for the Jackson’s Art Blog by Jeff Williams

I have experimented with a variety of different brands of watercolour paint, but have generally settled on Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolours for now. I particularly like their moistness as well as the fact that they are easily remoistened on the palette.

I am an architect by background, and consequently feel comfortable with my drawing and compositional skills as well as my understanding of value. I certainly enjoy the urban landscape but have particularly enjoyed the freedom of painting rural landscapes, most often en plein air (which often requires very little preparatory drawing prior to beginning the painting process). I often lean toward neutral colour schemes in an attempt to create overall colour harmony and mood/atmosphere in the scene.

Years ago I was introduced to the traditional triad of ultramarine blue, yellow ochre and burnt sienna. As I have explored watercolour painting I began with that triad, gradually introducing other colours as needed for particular types of conditions. From this triad I can mix a broad range of greys, blues and warm tones, which are the core of most any painting that I do. Typically I use 3-4 colours in a painting, and rarely more than 5-6. I find that by mixing colours like this I can maintain colour harmony in the painting more easily.

I currently work with what I consider to be a limited palette (the basic colours are Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna; additional colors that are used for particular situations are Cobalt Turquoise and Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue, which are particularly useful when mixing a wide variety of greens, and earth colors Raw Umber, Burnt Umber and Sepia, which are helpful if a particular dark or warm tone is necessary; Sometimes a red is necessary as well, so I keep Cadmium Red Medium Hue, Cadmium Orange Hue and Permanent Alizarin Crimson nearby. Neutral Tint is available for value studies but I rarely use it in a painting ― I find that I can mix my grays easily and they coordinate better with the other colors in the painting this way. Finally, I also keep a white watercolour or gouache available for those instances when I need to make a colour more opaque or a highlight is lost, however, I try very hard not to do this.

The painting Rockin’ Bass Rocks (2019) was painted en plein air on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, USA, while competing in the Cape Ann Plein Air event. The season’s first Nor’easter was blowing very strongly, the waves had built up to a crescendo and by the time the painting was complete (this was a very quick painting for me, taking less than an hour, with little drawing required) the rain was pouring down and I had retreated to completing the painting from my car. This painting was done almost solely with Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna. Very limited Cobalt Turquoise may have been used in the water (I cannot remember!), and the whites were 98% preserved white of the paper. I work holding the paper (taped to a support board) at an angle and generally the paint was applied from top to bottom in 2 layers (the humidity did not allow more than this or drying time would be too long), followed by minor value adjustments and darker highlights.

I think of myself as a realist painter in that I paint from life, and most people would look at my paintings and think that they represent reality. However, I should qualify this by saying that my paintings begin with the reality of the scene in front of me but I think of this primarily as my starting point. From there, depending on the mood that I am interested in creating as well as the reactions of paint on paper, I respond to the painting itself as I progress through the process. As a result, while the general qualities of the reality that I began with are still present, the scene may look very different than the real scene by the time that I am finished with the painting. This can best be understood via the painting Morning at the Docks.

Morning at the Docks, 2019
Jeff Williams
Watercolour, 17.8 x 35.6 cm

Morning at the Docks was also painted en plein air on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, USA, while competing in the Cape Ann Plein Air event. I began the painting at dawn, and this scene of waterfront activity required some detailed drawing of the boats and context. By the time the drawing was completed the sun had risen and the boats were gone, necessitating the painting be done en plein air but from my memory of the colours and light conditions. My original vision for the painting was of the morning light rising from behind the peninsula beyond and the interplay between the two backlit boats. I also liked the powerful orange contrast to the low light levels of the scene. As these oranges were applied (later in the painting), it became apparent that they needed to harmonize better with the neutrals of the scene. Consequently, a light Cadmium Orange Hue wash was introduced over most of the painting, particularly emphasizing this in the sky and water reflections. If someone looked at the painting as I was finishing they certainly would see something quite different from the reality in front of them. (see in-process photos below)

Here are a couple of in process photographs from Morning at the Docks:

Morning at the Docks in progress

The view of the docks

Jeff Williams at work

Finally, during the quarantined pandemic time I have been doing some study of colour. I have been researching the colours of my palette in terms of transparency, opacity, permanence, lightfastness, staining qualities and granulation. I have also been experimenting with other colours. The colours I have been experimenting with are yellows – Cadmium Yellow Light Hue, Lemon Yellow and Naples Yellow (I am trying to find my preferred yellow for mixing greens as well as for use in morning and evening skies); Quinacridone Sienna and Quinacridone Burnt Orange (a very interesting warm tone that I cannot really duplicate by mixing); grays – Joseph Z’s Cool Grey, Joseph Z’s Neutral Grey and Joseph Z’s Warm Grey (because I succumbed to the advertisements highlighting this amazing painter!); and Lavender (because I have friends that use this often and suggested I try it). I have yet to decide whether I will add or change out one of these colours to my palette…

Bridge at Cypremort Point, 2019
Jeff Williams
Watercolour, 17.8 x 35.6 cm

To view more work by Jeff Williams:

www.jeffwilliamswatercolor.com
Jeff Williams’ Facebook page
Jeff Williams on Instagram

the in-process painting that shows both my palette/painting in process as well as the view that I was painting from (note, this painting used my triad palette as well as New Gamboge and a few Cadmium Red Medium Hue highlights (all Daniel Smith paints)

The post Watercolour Plein Air Painter Jeff Williams on his favourite colours appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Before the introduction of commercially-made paints, artists or their apprentices would make paint from scratch using pigment and a binder. The first mass-produced watercolours were introduced in 1780 and were sold as hard cakes that needed to be dipped in water and rubbed to release the colour. At the beginning of the 19th Century, moist watercolours became available in porcelain pans and in 1846, tubes of watercolour paint entered the market (following the introduction of tubed oil paints in 1841). These advances were revolutionary and played a direct role in the development of the impressionist movement, as well as opening up new possibilities for plein air painting. Today, it can be difficult to imagine a time when artist colours were not available to buy readymade.

Some artists still choose to make their paints by hand which, while more time-consuming than picking up a tube from an art supplies store, is a great way of getting in touch with the properties of different pigments.
 

What are Watercolour Paints Made From?

Watercolour is made up of finely ground pigment suspended in a binder made of gum Arabic, distilled water, and other additives to preserve and stabilise the paint. Every watercolour manufacturer has a unique formula and method of production, which is why there can be such a difference in consistency and handling qualities between brands. Manufacturers of professional quality watercolours will also adjust the formula to account for the characteristics of each pigment in their range.

Artists who make their own paints have their own recipes which they will have fine-tuned over time. The following is a list of ingredients that I used to make handmade watercolours in the Jackson’s studio, some are available from jacksonsart.com, and others can be found in a supermarket or pharmacy.
 

Gum Arabic solution

Gum Arabic is a watersoluble gum which is extracted from the acacia tree, and it acts as the glue that binds the pigment. Some artists make their own by dissolving gum Arabic pieces in distilled water, but we also stock gum Arabic solution which is ready to use.
 

Honey

Honey is an ingredient in many ranges of watercolour, including our own Jackson’s Artist Watercolours. It is a humectant which helps the paint retain moisture and re-wet after drying. Honey is also a natural preservative and a plasticiser, meaning that it increases the flexibility of gum Arabic (a naturally brittle binder) and prevent cracking in the pan after drying. Runny honey is best, rather than the harder variety.
 

Glycerin

Like honey, glycerin is a humectant and a plasticiser which can be bought at a pharmacy (it is a common ingredient in skincare products). I used both honey and glycerin in my binder because I find too much honey to be very sticky, but either glycerin or honey would work on its own.
 

Clove oil

A natural antibacterial and antifungal agent, clove oil is an excellent preservative which stops the paint going mouldy.
 

Dry pigment

Our new range of Artist Pigments consists of 100 colours, all of which are suitable for making handmade watercolours. 10g is enough to make around 1-2 full pans of watercolour (depending on the pigment), so it is an ideal size if you are trying out a new colour. For larger volumes of paint, they are also available in pots of 100g.

Some pigments, like Cadmium and Cobalt pigments, are toxic and known to be hazardous when inhaled or ingested. Other pigments, like natural earth pigments, are considered less toxic, but no matter what pigment you are using, avoid breathing in the dust by wearing a face mask over your mouth and nose. Latex gloves should be worn to protect your hands, as pigment can easily get under your nails. Avoid eating and drinking around dry pigments and keep out of reach of children and pets.
 

Making Watercolour Paint

60ml of gum Arabic solution, one teaspoon of glycerin, one teaspoon of honey, and one drop of clove oil was decanted into a glass bottle and stirred well.
 

One tablespoon of dry pigment was placed in the middle of a tempered glass palette. Many artists who make their own paint prefer the grinding surface to have a fine tooth, and this can be created by making a paste with medium grit carborundum powder and water, and grinding it into the surface with a muller until the surface is frosted. This helps you mill the pigment extremely finely.

The pigment I used was Cobalt Cerulean Blue (PB36), one of my favourite pigments in watercolour because of its softly granulating properties. Using a palette knife, I made a well in the middle of the mound of pigment. With a pipette, I dropped 5ml of the pre-mixed binder into the well.
 

Using the palette knife, I gently folded the pigment into the binder, mixing as much as I could before adding more binder incrementally until all of the pigment was incorporated and the mixture had a yoghurt-like consistency. The amount of binder needed varies greatly depending on the pigment used, as some pigments are more ‘thirsty’ than others.
 

With a glass muller, I slowly ground the pigment/binder mixture in a circular motion, spreading it across the glass palette in a thin layer in order to grind the pigment as finely as possible. At this point, if the paint is too stiff to mill smoothly, more of the binding mixture should be added.
 

How long the paint should be milled depends on the pigment. Some pigments, like the natural earth pigments, have larger pigment particles and need more time to mill finely than those with smaller particles. I tested the paint along the way by taking a sample on the edge of the palette knife and swatching it. There are a couple of things to look out for when testing handmade watercolours.

• If the dried paint is dusty and smudges when you run your finger over it, it suggests that there is not enough binder in it, so it needs a little more binding mixture and more milling.
• If the paint is very shiny or cracks when you bend the paper, there is too much gum Arabic in the mixture and more pigment should be added.

Swatching is the most reliable way to know when to stop milling. The consistency is not so much of a good indicator, as some pigments make more fluid paint, while others make a heavier-bodied paint.
 

After around 30 minutes of milling, I was happy with the result. My first tests were a little chalky and very granulating, but as it was milled more and more, the Cobalt Cerulean Blue developed a slightly greener hue and had more clarity. Using a palette knife, I scraped the watercolour paint from the glass palette, and dispensed it into a full pan.
 

From left to right, watercolours made with Quinacridone Magenta (PR122), Natural Sienna Monte Amiata (Pbr7), and Cobalt Cerulean Blue (PB36)

Handmade watercolours aren’t as smooth and creamy as shop-bought colours which are milled with a machine, but each has its own character! In the above image are three handmade watercolour pans with very different consistencies – Quinacridone Magenta and Natural Sienna Monte Amiata made heavier-bodied paints, as they have a higher pigment to binder ratio. Cobalt Cerulean Blue turned out more fluid and self-levelling. Regardless of consistency, each re-wetted well after drying.

For larger volumes of paint, watercolour can be stored in a tube. To find out more about filling paint tubes, read our blog post on the subject. It focusses on oil paint, but the same principle applies and we stock 14ml empty aluminium tubes which are a good size for watercolour.
 

Watch our film to see watercolours being made in the studio:

Visit jacksonsart.com to find the materials used in the article:

• Jackson’s Artist Pigments
• Gum Arabic Solution
• Glass Palette
• Glass Mullers
• Palette Knives
• Pipettes
• Empty watercolour pans

You can find other products related to watercolour painting, such as brushes, paper, and paints, in our watercolour category.
 

More articles about paintmaking and pigments on our blog:

• The Secrets of Making Jackson’s Professional Oil Paint
• David Coles on Colour, Pigments, and Paintmaking
• The Story of Ultramarine Blue and French Ultramarine

The post Making Handmade Watercolours with Jackson’s Artist Pigments appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Schmincke’s Super Granulation watercolours contain a combination of naturally granulating pigments which separate and settle into the paper surface for textural effects. After the popularity of the Galaxy, Glacier, and Deep Sea colours, Forest and Tundra colours have been added to the Super Granulation range. Artist Anna Zadorozhnaya was one of the first to try the new colours, and she shares her findings with us.

An overview of Schmincke’s new super granulation colours

by Anna Zadorozhnaya

In July, Schmincke launched a new range of super granulating watercolour paints from their professional Horadam range. It consists of three colour groups (Galaxy, Glacier, and Deep Sea), with five colours in each group. The principle of combining at least two pigments with a natural tendency to granulate was used as the basis for the limited edition. Read more about the colours included in the range in this article.

Now the Schmincke super-granulation watercolour range has been extended and 10 new colours within two new ranges have been produced- Forest and Tundra.
 

Forest series

No wonder the series is named ‘Forest’: all of the colours have a green main tone or component.
 

Forest Olive

Pigments: PY43, PG18, PBr7
A warm, transparent colour with an olive yellow main tone, with greenish-brown highlights, perfect for rendering light.
 

Forest Green

Pigments: PG19, PBr33
A dense, saturated and the only fully opaque colour in the Forest range. In granulation, it splits into shades of green and brown, but the base colour is a neutral cool green close to the classic cobalt green.
 

Forest Blue

Pigments: PB36, PBk11
A very beautiful pure blue-green colour, unambiguously cool. The strong granulation characteristics of all colours in this range is shown here in the form of streaks like the texture of green marble.
 

Forest Brown

Pigments: PY43, PG26, PBr7
A neutral brown-green, which splits into brown and green pigments. The shade of green in this colour is warmer than in the Forest Green, and the green shows up more in the granulation than the brown.
 

Forest Grey

Pigments: PG50, PBr7, PBk11
A warm grey-brown colour consisting of three pigments, of which the green one is the least and the brown one the most visible.
 

Anna’s painting using the Forest series of Super Granulation Watercolours

Tundra series

The name Tundra reflects the subjects best suited for painting in this range, which are dusty and hard landscapes, as well as very natural paintings with subtle and complex multi-component shades.
 

Tundra Orange

Pigments: PY43, PR233, PBr7
Oranges belong to the colours that are the hardest to make to granulate, and this orange is a stunning shade similar to burnt bricks, but not as bright. Tundra Orange is a dusty red-orange, very beautiful and warm in pure form. In addition, an important feature is that it mixes very well with the blue shades into a very complex, unusual and rich grey colour.
 

Tundra Pink

Pigments:PB29, PR233
This is the second pink in the super-granulating range – and it is much cooler than the same colour from the Galaxy range. By the use of different pigments (PV16 PBr33 in Galaxy vs PB29 PR233 in Tundra), they differ not only in colour temperature, but also in opacity: Tundra Pink is totally transparent, while Galaxy Pink is semi-transparent.
 

Tundra Violet

Pigments: PB29, PBr6
Tundra Violet breaks up into stunning shades of blue-brown. Up close, you can see that this colour is made up of blue and brown pigments, but looking a little further away, the illusion of purple is created. Magic!
 

Tundra Blue

Pigments: PB29, PBr7
There are blue colours in all five super granulation series, and they are all different. In Tundra, the blue is darker and cooler, and goes more into a shade of purple. Like the whole Tundra
series, it is the most dusty and dim colour, and it has the calm, stark beauty of a dusky sky.
 

Tundra Green

Pigments: PG19, PBr6
A hue that splits into green and brown, and the brown is slightly more visible than the green one. At the same time, the colour itself is warm.
 

Anna’s painting using the Tundra series of Super Granulation watercolours

Schmincke Horadam Watercolours on jacksonsart.com:

Schmincke Horadam watercolours are available here, Forest, Tundra, Deep Sea, Glacier, and Galaxy Super Granulation colours can be found at the bottom of the colour chart.

There are also sets of Deep Sea, Glacier, and Galaxy Super Granulation watercolours available.

About Anna

Anna Zadorozhnaya was born and lives in Moscow, Russia. Anna has an MA in Art from Oxford Brookes University and is a da Vinci and Schmincke ambassador. Anna is also a member of the International Federation of Aquarellists.

Her watercolour paintings can be found on her instagram page

More articles by Anna Zadorozhnaya:

• What is Watercolour Granulation?
• How Da Vinci Watercolour Brushes are Made
• Review of Jackson’s Artist Watercolours
• Painting a Mountatin Landscape in Watercolour

More articles about watercolour painting:

• Why Schmincke Horadam has 20 Different Green Watercolours
• Which Colours Are on Your Palette? Five Watercolour Landscape Painters Respond.
• Schmincke Aqua Drop: Liquid Watercolour That Can Be Used Undiluted

The post First Look at the New Colours in Schmincke’s Super Granulation Watercolour Range appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

The charcoal pigments in Schmincke’s new Liquid Charcoal range are made by charring peach stones, cherry pits, and grape seeds. These pigments are combined with gum arabic, and the result is a dust-free paint for artists who work with charcoal. Liquid Charcoal can also make an interesting addition to a watercolour palette. Artist Anna Zadorozhnaya was one of the first to try the new paints, and she shares her findings with us.
 

A review of Schmincke’s new Liquid Charcoal paints

by Anna Zadorozhnaya

How is charcoal used in drawing? There are two main ways to use it:

• As an independent drawing material, ideal for line drawing, grisaille and tonal sketches.
• As an underdrawing for oil or acrylic painting.

The main difficulty in painting with traditional dry charcoal is that it dirties your hands, the table, and everything around you. Of course, it can be washed off with water, but it is very easy to accidentally smudge the drawing on the paper with your hand while using it.

In coming up with a solution to this problem, Schmincke have produced a very convenient format for this material. Liquid Charcoal is available in 35ml tubes, and its consistency is very similar to gouache. To start working, you can squeeze a little bit of Liquid Charcoal on the palette, take a brush, and start painting. In doing so, all surfaces around are easier to keep clean.
 

Textures made with Liquid Charcoal

Schmincke’s Liquid Charcoal is available in three colour variations. The difference in colour temperature is made possible by the way the pigment is made- the seeds of the different fruits (collected in Europe) are charred in barrels. Grape Seed Black gives a cold black-grey tint with blue undertone, Cherry Pit Black has a very warm brown tint, and Peach Stone Black gives a tint that ranges from neutral black to neutral grey depending on the thickness of the layer. These shades may slightly vary from batch to batch because natural pigments are used in the production.
 

From left to right: Grape Seed Black, Cherry Pit Black, Peach Stone Black.

Like in gouache and watercolour, gum arabic is the main binder, so Liquid Charcoal can be diluted with water. The water solubility of the material has undeniable advantages – you can easily control its tone and saturation, which is indispensable in tonal drawing, and it can also be used very quickly and effectively to cover large surfaces.
 

Because the charcoal is bound with gum arabic, Liquid Charcoal smudges much less than charcoal in its traditional dry form, but some of the characteristics of the traditional material also remain true. Depending on the thickness of the layer and the texture of the paper, it can be wiped off to a greater or lesser extent: in the case of smooth paper and a thick layer of paint, it can easily be smudged, but if the paper is textured and the paint is heavily diluted with water, there is almost no smudging.

It is possible to achieve different tonal gradation not only by diluting charcoal with water, but also by lifting it from the paper surface, which can be done in two ways – with an eraser, or a brush with pure water. According to the results of my tests, the brush with water easily wipes the charcoal down to white paper, the eraser gives a softer edge and a gentler outline, without washing the material off completely.
 

In each swatch the top line was lifted with water, and underneath with an eraser.

Using Liquid Charcoal as a base and underpainting with oil or acrylic, subsequent paints do not become muddied due to higher adhesion of the bound carbon pigments. Liquid Charcoal is more firmly fixed to the canvas than traditional charcoal, and stays in place after fairly intense brush movements on top.

In conclusion, Schmincke Liquid Charcoal offers excellent possibilities for painting both as a stand-alone material and as a base for acrylic and oil paint. It is much less messy, while retaining the specific characteristics of the material – matte texture on the surface, the possibility of variety of smooth tonal transitions, and ease of covering large areas.
 

A detail of Anna’s painting using Liquid Charcoal.

Schmincke Liquid Charcoal can be found here.
 

About Anna

Anna Zadorozhnaya was born and lives in Moscow, Russia. Anna has an MA in Art from Oxford Brookes University and is a da Vinci and Schmincke ambassador. Anna is also a member of the International Federation of Aquarellists.

Her watercolour paintings can be found on her instagram page

More articles by Anna Zadorozhnaya:

• What is Watercolour Granulation?
• How Da Vinci Watercolour Brushes are Made
• Review of Jackson’s Artist Watercolours
• Painting with Schmincke Super Granulating Watercolours

More articles about watercolour painting:

• Why Schmincke Horadam has 20 Different Green Watercolours
• Which Colours Are on Your Palette? Five Watercolour Landscape Painters Respond.
• Schmincke Aqua Drop: Liquid Watercolour That Can Be Used Undiluted

The post How Schmincke Liquid Charcoal Compares With Traditional Charcoal appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Historically, watercolour paintings have been displayed framed behind glass because they are on paper which can be stained by dirt and dust, can’t be cleaned with water and wrinkles with humidity. In addition, the watercolour paint itself is vulnerable to being re-dissolved with water. What if you wanted to paint a watercolour on a surface other than paper, one that is less sensitive to water like canvas, is there a way to make the watercolour paint permanent so it can be framed without glazing like an oil painting?

Acrylic was used for this wet-in-wet painting that has the look of a watercolour. If you choose transparent colours and paint in thin layers you can use acrylics in a manner similar to watercolour.

Use Acrylics like Watercolour

One solution artists have successfully used is to paint with acrylic in washy, transparent layers or wet-into-wet, that looks like watercolour but is water-resistant when dry. (Some open-submission watercolour competitions allow acrylics painted in this manner.) The only real drawbacks are that the paint won’t re-dissolve after it’s dry, if you wish to do that as part of your painting method and you can’t re-dissolve the paint that has dried on your palette. It also doesn’t come in pans.
 

Fluid acrylics or acrylic inks like Golden High Flow are the best viscosity of acrylics to use if you wish to paint in a washy manner and still have the painting dry with a water-resistant finish.

If you wish to use acrylics in the manner of a watercolour, be aware that a very dilute acrylic may not have enough binder to make the paint waterproof. You can remedy this by using a fluid acrylic or an acrylic ink (a very fluid acrylic) to ensure that you can get a washy consistency and still have enough binder for it to dry waterproof, because you won’t need to add as much water to create a wash. Using Airbrush Medium instead of water to make the paint more fluid without thinning it of acrylic binder, works very well. The very fluid acrylics are just as concentrated in colour as the heavy body paints but don’t have thickeners added, so you don’t need to dilute them as much to get a liquid wash. You may wish to add a flow release agent to the acrylic mixture or to the paper to allow even washes (it prevents beading up) and you may wish to apply an All Watercolour Grounds if you are painting on canvas (this will be more like painting on paper).

Use Aqua-Fix

Another solution is to use Schmincke Aqua-Fix, a liquid which when mixed with watercolour paint will make it dry water-resistant. This can also be useful for painting layers in any regular watercolour painting. Be aware that if you mix it with the paint in the pan the paint will harden and be ruined, so the idea is to use the Aqua-Fix instead of water on your brush and palette. It makes it a bit more like acrylic.

Use a Varnish or Fixative

Another option to make your watercolour painting less vulnerable to moisture is to use a varnish or fixative on the finished painting. I know that a brush-on, water-based varnish is not a good idea as it would smear the painting. But a spray-on fixative or a brush-on varnish that is not water-based will not re-wet the paint. I wanted to see which ones work best.

We have two products specifically for sealing watercolour: Schmincke Watercolour Fixative which is an aerosol and Daler-Rowney Watercolour Varnish which is a thick liquid applied with a brush. I wanted to see how well they work and if other solvent-based varnishes would work, also. Some artists use wax to seal their paintings so I wanted to try that as well.

I tested the following fixatives and varnishes in 1, 2 and 3 coats:

• Schmincke Watercolour Fixative (spray)
• Jackson’s Pastel Fixative (spray)
• Golden Archival Varnish Matt (spray)
• Daler-Rowney Watercolour Varnish (brush-on)
• Roberson Picture Varnish Matt (brush-on)
• Roberson Beeswax Picture Varnish (rub-on)
• Gamblin Cold Wax medium (rub-on)

These are the questions I wanted to answer:

• Do they disturb the paint when applied?
• Do they change the matt sheen of the painting?
• Do they darken or lighten the colours?
• How waterproof are they?
• How many coats do you need to apply to make it waterproof?
• Do they behave differently when applied to work on paper and to work on canvas that has a coating of absorbent ground?
• Daler-Rowney varnish is alcohol-based. What alcohol do you clean brushes with and can you thin it with that also?
• Is Schmincke Watercolour Fixative any different to a Pastel Fixative?
• Is Daler-Rowney Watercolour Varnish any different to a solvent-based varnish like Picture Varnish?
• Would a spray varnish that is solvent-based like Golden MSA Varnish work?

Some Things to Consider Before You Try This

There are a few things to be aware of when you are considering varnishing your watercolour painting.

• The addition of varnish to a watercolour painting will change the look and feel of the work, some more than others.
• The varnishing of a watercolour painting is a non-reversible process so as with all new techniques you are trying, practice it first on a test piece.
• You will not be able to add any more watercolour paint to the surface after it’s varnished.
• Because paper is highly absorbent, any varnish applied to the surface will soak into it and become a permanent, non-removable addition to the piece. This could re-categorise the watercolour as a mixed media piece and potentially exclude it from being considered a watercolour by some societies, museums and conservators.
• You have a choice of sheens to consider. Some artists love the effect of a gloss varnish but others think that it begins to look like decoupage, and so they use a matt varnish which changes the look of the the original painting less.

Varnishing a Watercolour – the Testing Results

Skip to a summary of the test results.

The Test Charts

I made up charts with watercolour painted in two thicknesses – a diluted wash and two layers of thicker paint – in four colours, on two surfaces – Canson Moulin du Roi hotpress watercolour paper and Schmincke fine watercolour primer on a cotton canvas panel. I used Jackson’s Artist Watercolours in Phthalo Green Deep, French Ultramarine Light, Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Red.

I prepared the canvas surface with three light coats of Schmincke Aqua Primer fine, the last smoothed with a palette knife, on a Jackson’s Premium Cotton Canvas Art Board. I let it become touch dry between layers and let it cure for four days, but overnight should be enough. It was lovely to work on. It was very absorbent so the colours dried a bit lighter than on the paper, but it dried very evenly, without streaks and of course, it was a very flat surface without the need for paper stretching! You could see a hint of the canvas texture still and the surface felt slightly like smooth suede.

I then applied the fixative or varnish in columns of 0, 1, 2, 3 coats. When it was dry I ran a wet paintbrush over the colours trying to re-wet them. All colours with zero fixative re-wetted easily, though the watercolour painted onto the absorbent ground on canvas panel was harder to re-wet than those on watercolour paper. It was more absorbed into the surface and better adhered. This was especially true of the single light wash layers. As more layers of thicker paint were applied, the top layers of unvarnished watercolours were more re-wettable.

Since photographing sheen requires a tilting of the work to see it and in photographs it often looks like it is white rather than shiny, my description of the results may give more information than the photos.

In the results below I have grouped the seven varnishes into three groups: spray, brush-on and rub-on.

The Spray Varnishes and Fixatives

By applying a few coats these can be used alone or you can apply just one or two coats to stop smearing and then carefully brush on a water-based varnish.

A matt varnish creates the least change in the appearance of the painting. If you wish to apply a few coats of matt varnish it is best to begin with gloss in order to retain clarity and only use matt for the last coat. If you were to apply all the coats in matt the result could be a dusty look from the many layers of matting solids. The dusty lightening is most visible on dark colours, so you may also wish to use a gloss varnish on a dark painting and only use matt on a lighter painting.
For theses tests I sprayed the coats lightly and evenly from about 25cm distance.

Schmincke Watercolour Fixative (spray)

Fixing
To seal the paint from moisture more fixative is required on paint on paper than on the watercolour ground applied to canvas. On the treated canvas, a watercolour wash requires two coats for all the colours I tested, but that more thickly applied paint requires two coats for some of the colours I tested (Cadmium Red and Burnt Sienna) and three or even four coats for some of the colours I tested (Phthalo Green Deep, French Ultramarine Light). So it would make sense to use three or four coats across most paintings for complete fixing. On paper you need at least four coats for a heavier application of paint. Except for Phthalo Green which was a big problem, it wouldn’t fix on paper in a wash or thicker. I tried the same colour in another brand, Daniel Smith, and it had the same problem.

Surface Sheen and Colour Change
The surface became more glossy with each coating. Two coats is matt or satin depending on the colour of paint and three coats is satin to glossy depending on the colour of the paint. It did not darken or alter the colours in any application. Although Schmincke say that after a few coats the colours may darken, I did not find this to happen.

Jackson’s Pastel Fixative (spray)

Because pastel fixative is a matt, spray resin, basically a light varnish, I thought I’d add it to the testing.

Fixing
Two coats for most colours and 3 coats for phthalo green. So it would need three coats for most paintings. Same on both light and heavy applications of paint on paper.

Surface Sheen and Colour Change
No colour change. Each application made it a bit more glossy but in a speckled way, so it was more subtle.

Golden Archival MSA Varnish Matt (spray)

This is an extremely well-thought of varnish. But it has a strong odour that lingers, so you will want to spray it outside and let it air for at least a day before wrapping it up. And the solvent smell may still linger on the work.

Fixing
On absorbent ground it took one coat for the washy paint and two coats for the thicker paint. On paper it took one more coat for each.

Surface Sheen and Colour Change
On the washy paint on paper there was no change of colour or sheen. On the thick paint on paper all the colours except ultramarine became deeper, but the blue became lighter. There was very little change to the colour of the paint on the absorbent ground. There was no change to the sheen on either.

Shaking the Can
Spray varnish settles in the can and the nozzle tube reaches down to the thick stuff in the bottom. You need to shake it fully to incorporate the thick with the thin or it could come out in a spitting fashion and if it’s matt you will want to mix in the matting agent or the varnish will be glossy, or streaky. This means you need to shake it for a full two minutes. This can seem like ages, so pick a song or something or watch the video that Golden made to entertain you for two minutes while you shake your can.

The Brush-on Solvent Varnishes

These are mineral spirit or alcohol based so they won’t re-activate the dried watercolour like a water-based varnish would.

Daler-Rowney Watercolour Varnish (brush-on)

It has a mild, surgical spirits odour that goes away quickly. It is thick like honey and a bit hard to spread thinly. So I thinned it a bit with methylated spirits for the first coat. Coats two and three were not thinned. It is pretty fast-drying, if you keep brushing the varnish as it starts to dry it is a bit more matt, so I did that to the second coat. Then the third coat was applied quickly and without thinners and left to dry without disturbing it.

This is tilted to show the gloss level of this varnish, used neat from the bottle.

Fixing
Thinned, or brushed while it was drying, or applied thickly – all three methods worked to seal the watercolour with just one coat on both paper and on watercolour ground.

Surface Sheen and Colour Change
All three application methods darkened the colours on both paper and canvas, it was even more visible on the dark colours. The sheen was the thing that was affected by the application method. The thinned varnish and the brushed-while-drying varnish were less glossy, but not in a very even way. Applying it straight from the bottle gives a very glossy, wet-look finish.

Daler-Rowney Watercolour Varnish is very thick so I wanted to see what could be used to thin it a bit and also be used to wash the brush.

Solvents for the Daler-Rowney Watercolour Varnish
I tested four alcohol-based fluids to see if they would work to thin the Daler-Rowney varnish and clean the brush after: Liquitex Pen Cleaner, Pinata Cleaner, Pinata Extender and Methylated spirits. The Liquitex didn’t work for this purpose, the others worked well. We don’t stock methylated spirits, as they now require a special licence, so you will need to purchase that from your local DIY shop if you wish to use it. The Pinata products come in very small bottles so if you can get a hold of the methylated spirits that would be the best choice. I also tested Gamsol, pretty sure it wouldn’t work and I was right. Oil paint solvents will not thin this varnish. Oil paint solvent will cause the varnish on your brush to turn gummy and will not clean the brush.

Roberson Picture Varnish Matt (brush-on)

Because it is matt you need to shake it fully to incorporate the matting agent or the varnish will be streaky. The matting agent used is microcrystalline wax.

Fixing
Two coats are required to seal the surface on both paper and canvas. The surface was slightly waxy and the water beaded up on it when I ran a wet brush over it.

Surface Sheen and Colour Change
I tested it twice and in one there was no change to the colour, in the second test the dark colours were significantly lightened, so I think I must have applied thicker coats. If you wish to keep your colours saturated then apply thin layers or as with other varnishes, only use matt as the final coat.
There was no change to sheen of the painting, it looked the same as unvarnished.

The Beeswax Varnishes

These two beeswax ones – the Roberson Beeswax varnish and Gamblin medium – are very similar. Their is a difference in the odour when applying – the Roberson smells like white spirit, the Gamblin doesn’t smell much at all. When the solvent has evaporated both leave the artwork smelling faintly of beeswax, it’s quite pleasant.

Neither of these products is described as a watercolour varnish and neither manufacturer mentions that you can use it on paper. But artists have been using these waxes and similar wax mediums to seal watercolours for at least the last eight years with no noticeable problems and it has become very popular in the last few years. Beeswax has been used as a painting medium and preservative for thousands of years. It is a stable and long-lasting finish on wood, canvas, paint and paper.

The cold wax and the beeswax varnish buffed up the same. This is tilted to show the satin gleam on the two buffed areas: green with 1 coat and blue with 2 coats. The paint isn’t lighter there it is glossier. Photographed straight on the varnish is hard to see.
Note the cloth above – buffing the green area with 1 coat of varnish took off some colour, buffing the blue area with 2 coats of varnish did not.

These varnishes are thick pastes and can be difficult to apply with a brush so are usually rubbed on like shoe polish. I have seen many artists using their finger to rub it on, but if you don’t want to get solvent on your bare skin you can use a lint-free cloth or gloves to apply the wax in a circular rubbing motion to cover the whole painting. I used a sandwich bag with my finger in the corner to rub it on. Wipe off any excess. 24 hours later when it is dry you can buff it with a lint-free cloth for a satin sheen. I waited an hour between each coat. For both brands the results showed that only one coat was needed to make the paint water-resistant. However when I buffed the single coat to give it a satin shine my cloth came away with colour on it. With two coats it did not. So it takes two coats to be fully sealed.

The only difference between these seems to be that the Gamblin stays a bit more tacky, even more so when it is buffed. It is an oil painting medium and perhaps has less resin than a product designed to be a varnish. A tacky surface is a drawback. The Roberson Beeswax was slightly tacky but not as much and when buffed went away almost entirely.

Roberson Beeswax Picture Varnish (rub-on)

The dried surface is not as sticky as the Gamblin, perhaps because it is designed for the purpose of varnishing. The instructions on the jar say that it may remain tacky if not polished. I found the unbuffed parts were slightly tacky, but far less tacky than the Gamblin. And after it was buffed it was not tacky, but it then had a satin sheen.

Fixing
Two coats are required for the paint to be fully sealed.

Surface Sheen and Colour Change
No change in colour and has a waxy matt finish unless you buff it and then it becomes satin.

Gamblin Cold Wax Medium (rub on)

The surface stays slightly tacky, even more so when it is buffed. It is an oil painting medium and perhaps has less resin than a product designed to be a varnish.

Fixing
Two coats are required for the paint to be fully sealed.

Surface Sheen and Colour Change
No change in colour and has a waxy matt finish unless you buff it and then it becomes satin.

Non-water-based varnishes and fixatives all work to make watercolour waterproof, whether they are mineral spirit or alcohol based, but some require more coats and some alter the sheen of the painting or the colour of the paint.

If you paint on a surface of primed wood or primed canvas that has three coats of watercolour ground (absorbent ground) applied then you are one step ahead because the paint it better adhered to the surface and requires one fewer coats of varnish than a painting on paper.

Sprays:
The sprays apply the thinnest layer so required at least three or four coats. Some colours were harder to seal than others. Some varnishes got more glossy with more coats. Some lightened the colour with more coats of matt.

Brush-on:
The brush-on varnishes worked very well. The Daler-Rowney alcohol-based varnish was very glossy. Since they are all similar to the Roberson’s picture varnish, any oil painting picture varnish should work – if you want it matt then choose a matt picture varnish.

Rub-on wax varnishes:
The rub-on wax varnishes and mediums worked very well. They only made a small change to the artwork, only needed two coats, and were low odour. Some are a bit tacky and some need to be buffed the next day to remove any tackiness. Other brands should work just as well as the ones tested here.

Mounting a Sealed Watercolour Painting onto a Wooden Panel

Framing works on paper behind glass works well for most artists, but unless you use museum glass there is the problem of reflections and if you paint large watercolours it can be expensive or difficult to frame them. While nothing protects a watercolour painting on paper as well as being properly framed, can it be treated so it could be displayed without a frame?

If you wish to seal your watercolour painting on paper and then mount it onto a panel, this blog post about mounting canvas onto panel will help as the technique is the same.
Making a Canvas Painting Panel. The only difference will be centering the finished artwork on the panel. If you need to crop the paper a bit, do it leaving a few millimetres evenly all around, lay it face down on the table, place the panel with adhesive facing down on top insuring you have the same amount of paper all round. Then when you have smoothed it, weighted it and it is dry, you can trim the edges even with a knife.

Try your first one with a less precious artwork and see if you like the effect.

Longevity

All of these products have a good longevity (sometimes called being archival) when used with oil and acrylic on canvas and paper. There should be no difference when used with watercolour. They are artist-quality materials and when the solvents have evaporated you are left with just resin or wax. Some are specifically labelled for use with watercolour, but they are all sound for use with watercolour.

Related Blog Articles to Read

• Watercolour Grounds: Painting with Watercolour on Canvas
• Preparing Circular Painting Panels

Links to the Supplies Mentioned

• Schmincke Watercolour Fixative
• Jackson’s Pastel Fixative
• Golden Archival Varnish Matt
• Golden Archival Varnish Gloss
• Daler-Rowney Watercolour Varnish
• Roberson Picture Varnish Matt
• Roberson Beeswax Picture Varnish
• Gamblin Cold Wax medium
• Michael Harding Matt Varnish
• Pinata Cleaner and Extender
• Moulin du Roi Watercolour Paper
• Jackson’s Premium Cotton Canvas Art Boards
• Schmincke Aqua Primer
• All Watercolour Grounds
• Jackson’s Artist Watercolours
• Acrylic Inks
• Airbrush Medium
• Acrylic Flow Release
• Schmincke Aqua-Fix
• Disposable Nitrile Gloves
• Smooth Wooden Painting Panels
• Snap Knives

The post Watercolour Varnish: Can You Make Watercolour Waterproof? appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

So you want to try watercolour painting for the first time, but you’re not sure what you need to get started? Here we list all the watercolour painting essentials you will need, including brushes, paints and paper, as well as some additional extras that will help you get the best from your painting experience.

Tubes or pans? Watercolour paint is available in dry cakes, known as pans, or in liquid form, stored in metal tubes. The formulation of both types of watercolour paint is the same.

Watercolour Paint

Watercolour paint is available in tubes and dry, solid watercolour pans that become fluid paint on contact with a wet brush. I would recommend a set of pans for a beginner as they are easier to use, allowing you to apply colour lightly and build it up in layers (there is a greater risk with using tubes of watercolour paint that you may apply too much colour too soon, which can be hard to control). As with all paint, as you gain experience you will inevitably develop preferences for certain pigments, but to start with, invest in a general set of watercolours so that you can explore a whole spectrum of colour.

An eight pan set of watercolours is considered small but will offer enough colours to get started painting any subject matter, from still life, landscape, figure paintings or abstract. However most will have 12 or 24 colours.

Colours with the same colour name, and even the same pigment code, can appear differently when offered by different brands, thanks to differences in the manufacturing processes. Illustrated is the difference between Daniel Smith Phthalo Blue to Daler Rowney’s version of the same colour.

Student grade paints will have a lower concentration of pigment in the colour, which is the most expensive ingredient in paint, and is the provider of its colour. Paints with a greater proportion of pigment will also benefit from other characteristics of the specific pigment, such as texture or how much influence the pigment has in colour mixes. In a student grade paint where pigment concentration is less, how each colour behaves from pan to pan will be more consistent, which simplifies the painting process. A set of student colours can cost under £20, while the same amount of paint in an artist or professional grade set can cost over £50. When starting out, I would recommend a student set as the quality is still good and offers an economical introduction to the medium. This article by amateur artist Ann Cahill explains her experiences of working with both student and artist grade watercolours.

from L-R: Jackson’s Ceramic 28 well palette , Etchr Mini-palette, Jackson’s Ceramic Five Well (7in. diameter), Jackson’s Ceramic palette with lid.

Why are my paints beading up on the palette when I mix my colours?

As an aside, watercolour paints do have a tendency to bead up (gather in pools and possess a resistance to the surface) on metal or plastic surfaces. However this effect wears away the more you use the palette for colour mixing. Scrubbing the palette with a brillo pad prior to use, and rinsing thoroughly to remove any traces of soap will stop the beading. Alternatively you can invest in a porcelain palette on which watercolour paints do not bead.

from L-R: Size 12 Jackson’s Kolinsky-Tajmyr Sable Round brush, Size 4 Jackson’s Icon Sable Synthetic mix Quill brush, 3/4 in. Icon Sable Synthetic mix Flat brush, 3/4 in. Jackson’s Studio Synthetic Flat brush, 3/8 in. Jackson’s Kite Synthetic Kolinsky Dagger brush, 1 1/2 in. Jackson’s Studio Synthetic Flat brush

Brushes

Brushes for watercolour painting are shorter handled than oil and acrylic brushes, and available in flat, round and filbert shapes. Small brushes are useful when painting detail and other intricate marks while large brushes will hold more liquid and work well for broader brush strokes, including washes for skies. Traditionally sable hair is often used because it holds lots of liquid, but today there are plenty of synthetic alternatives, as well as brushes that have a blend of natural and synthetic hair (this article shows a comparison between sable and synthetic sable brushes by Jackson’s). For a watercolour beginner I recommend a brush set with a variety of shapes and sizes. This will get you started and as you paint more you will begin to discover which brushes are your favourites. You can then build on your collection of watercolour brushes with the right shapes and sizes for your way of working. I would start with a set of at least three brushes to begin with. The price of brush sets vary wildly. They start at under £10 and can go up to hundreds of pounds. The highest quality natural hair brushes (such as sable or squirrel) are the most expensive, while synthetic brushes offer a hardwearing alternative. To read more about how brushes for watercolour are made, click here.

from L-R: Hot pressed, NOT and rough watercolour paper

Paper

Watercolour paper is usually available in three different textures. Completely smooth paper is known as Hot Press and allows for the finest lines and crisp details to show. Cold-pressed paper has a slight texture and is also known as NOT surface paper. It is the surface that most artists try to begin with. The texture is made with sheets of felt, so has an irregular, naturally dimpled quality. Rough paper has a more pronounced texture, which acutely changes the quality of brush strokes, often making them appear more broken and expressive than on smooth paper.

A watercolour pad is bound on one edge and is ideal for sketches. Watercolour pads are either spiral or glue bound, and would be a good source of paper for a beginner. Another option would be watercolour blocks, which are glued on all four sides, which keeps the paper taut as you paint on it. When your painting is finished and dry, simply slice off the top sheet with a craft knife, and your painting will be on a flat piece of paper, free from natural buckling caused by water saturation. If you know you want to paint large, then full sheets of imperial watercolour paper, which measure 22 x 30 in. may well be of interest, or if you want to try painting in watercolour on an even bigger scale, then a watercolour paper roll might be what you’re after, most are 10 metres long, which of course you can cut down to whatever size you need. To read more about the sizes and formats of paper click here.

With paper, paints and brushes, you have enough to make a watercolour painting. Simply add a jar of water and away you go! However there are also some other supplies you could invest in.

Pencils

Often, a set of artist pencils are worth having by your watercolour painting equipment as preparatory sketches can help to develop your ideas before you set brush to paper, allowing you to have more confidence during the painting process. A hard pencil can be useful in lightly drawing your composition on your paper before you apply colour. Graphite or coloured pencils won’t smudge, but it might be best to avoid charcoal pencils for this reason.

from L-R: Jackson’s H-Frame Table Easel, Aluminium Sketching Field Easel, Jackson’s Book Stand Table Easel, Jackson’s Small Sketching Easel

Easel

An easel is by no means essential. If you work standing up you could tape your watercolour paper to a wall, or you could work at a table. However, the right easel could allow you to move your work easily to better lighting conditions, or help you to work with a healthy posture, avoiding unnecessary aches and pains during a long painting session. When choosing an easel you have to ask yourself a set of questions.

• Will you be painting at a table? If you will be, then a table easel is a compact device that will hold your paper upright. Many have a drawer in which you can store your paints and brushes. They are easy to store.

• Will you need to have a portable easel? (perhaps for painting out of doors) – If you will be then a sketching easel is what you’ll need. Sketching easels are usually made from aluminium or wood. An easy to carry sketching easel will be lightweight with telescopic legs allowing it to fold into a compact portable size. However if you are likely to paint in bracing wind conditions it may be at risk from falling over. Some string and tent pegs can be a great way to get around this.

• Do you need an easel that will tilt to horizontal? (will you be painting with lots of dilute watercolour which might run?) Some studio and sketching easels will tilt fully to a horizontal working position, which can be really useful if you need to ensure your paint does not run.

• Do you need an easel that will hold very large work? The largest studio easels are H-frame and solidly stable for paintings up to 235cm, but they will take up space and be heavy to move around. Crank handle easels make it easier to adjust the height of your painting.

from L-R: Daniel Smith Masking Fluid, Jackson’s Empty Masking Fluid Applicator, Jackson’s Blue Masking Fluid, Ruling Pen

Masking Fluid

Masking fluid feels a little like craft glue, and can be painted on to dry paper, and left to dry so that it forms a hard-to-move mask in areas on your painting. It can be useful when you want to have very fine lines, such as the rigging on boats, or highlights in foliage. One you’ve painted your work and it’s dry, you can delicately peel the masking fluid away to reveal the white of the paper. Masking fluid can be applied with a brush, a fine point such as a colour shaper, or a ruling pen.

Sponge

A sponge can be used to lift wet colour from a painting, to either reduce the colour saturation of the brush mark, to lighten its tone, or to remove it completely. Watercolour is rewettable so applying clean water to a passage of making will allow you to remove some of the paint if you then dab the area with a clean sponge. A sponge is also useful for blotting a loaded brush (to reduce how much paint will be deposited with your brush mark), and also if you get into stretching your own paper, it can be really useful for removing excess water from the gumstripped edges of your paper.

Palettes

An extra palette will offer more room for colour mixing, on top of the palette area offered in most watercolour paint boxes. If you’re going to want your colour mixes on another day, or if you need to transport your colours, a palette with a lid will protect your mixed paint as well as offer even more palette space. All watercolour palettes have at least some wells – these are for squeezing tubes of colour out into and ensuring that the colours do not run into one another. Palettes are offered in plastic and ceramic.

from L-R: Faber Castell Clic and go Foldable Water pot, Water pot with No Spill lid, Studio Essentials Plastic Brush Washer and Water Pot, Studio Essentials Brush Pot and Reservoir

Pots

You will need a pot of water in which to rinse brushes when changing colours, or at the end of a session. While a glass jar is perfectly usable at home, you might like to reduce the weight of your load if going elsewhere to paint. There are a number of collapsible water pots available, that fold compactly back into your kit bag at the end of your painting session.

Watercolour Supplies available at Jackson’s

Watercolour pan sets

Student watercolour pan sets

Metal watercolour pan sets

Plastic watercolour pan sets

Sable watercolour brush sets

Synthetic watercolour brush sets

Watercolour paper pads

Watercolour paper blocks

Graphite pencil sets

Table easels

Sketching easels

Tilting easels (sketching and studio varieties)

Studio easels

Masking fluid

Natural sponges

Watercolour palettes

Water pots

Further Reading on the Jackson’s Art Blog

What colours are on your palette? Five Watercolour landscape painters respond

Anna Zadorozhnaya reviews Jackson’s Watercolour paints, brushes and paper

Ultimate Easel Guide

Four artists experiment with Jackson’s watercolour paper

On location at the Two Rivers Paper Mill

The post Watercolour Painting for Beginners: What you need to get started appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Throughout March, we asked four fluid artists to try Jackson’s Alcohol Inks. Here, they share their thoughts on drying times and consistency of the inks as well as their favourite colours, bottle sizes and how the inks blend.

Above image: Work in progress by Rachael Monks

Jenna Ferguson

When I try new inks for the first time I like to play around with the colours on small bits of Yupo first and see how the colours interact and merge with each other. One of the things I love about using inks are the beautiful undertone variations that come out from certain ink colours. Jackson’s Aubergine Purple is brilliant for that and so was a definite choice to include in my painting.

You can see that the colours blended together really beautifully, and I love the almost mermaid-like effect when the undertones of green emerged from the aubergine ink. It’s amazing when you look at my finished art and see the gorgeous pops of green coming through in the ocean, when I didn’t use any green ink!

I felt some of the ink colours are slightly different from other alcohol ink brands I’ve used, in that they felt heavier and thicker; almost like a blend of using alcohol ink together with acrylic paint. The colour became a little bit more solid and matte, as you can see from the Storm Grey I used in the sky of my painting. So my personal preference were the more translucent, vibrant inks like midnight blue and aubergine purple, but it was fun seeing new effects created by blending the matte-like colours with the more vibrant inks.

Another difference I noticed with these inks in comparison to others I’ve used is that the drying time is slightly longer. Sometimes I find with alcohol inks you need to work really quickly to achieve certain styles and effects, so it was great to have a bit more working time – especially for creating an abstract seascape style like this.

There’s a brilliant colour range of Jackson’s inks to choose from and they’re really reasonably priced. With great sized 50 ml bottles. And I really like the style of the bottles too, with good precision tips for pouring.

About Jenna Ferguson

Jenna Ferguson is a contemporary fluid artist living in Scotland near the banks of Loch Lomond. She creates unique original art that reflects the beauty of the natural world around her, rich with the colours of the ocean, the land and the sky. She specialises in fluid art mediums including alcohol inks and epoxy resin, with work that is vibrant, soothing, and luxurious. Her work is sold independently and belongs to art lovers all over the world.

jennafergusonart.com

jenna@jennafergusonart.com

@jennafergusonart

Rachael Monks

Whenever I get new inks, I always start off by making swatches just to see how the colours really are, as sometimes you can’t actually tell from their bottles or online colour images. I’d say the colours do match up pretty well to their online images for the ones I’ve tried out!

The colours are all very rich and vibrant, though I’m generally much more of a darker/moodier colour palette kinda girl so I played with mixing the inks to create some different versions. They mixed beautifully together! Their ‘deep black’ helps to create much moodier toned colours, while not completely taking over!

I found the inks themselves to actually be very silky when applied to the Yupo paper and they start to spread as soon as I placed a drop on the paper, even without adding alcohol. I did find some inks to dry to a chalky consistency, so needed to be mindful about handling the piece before varnishing as I did scratch a little bit of the ink away after photographing. This could be down to the isopropyl alcohol I use; more testing would be needed to confirm this!

The particular inks I was most intrigued about were the metallics – Iridescent Gold, Silver & Copper. Finding a metallic ink which clumps up or breaks apart in the way that I like can be challenging, and Jackson’s metallic inks tick all the right boxes for me! I’ve already purchased the metallics in larger bottles myself!

Speaking of bottle sizes, there’s three (10 ml, 30 ml & 50 ml) and this really appealed to me. It means you can test out colours in the smallest bottle then go larger if you find one you like. And the prices are so reasonable as well.

Rachael Monks

Rachael Monks is a self-taught artist based in South-East London who has been working with alcohol inks since June 2019 but has had love of creating from an early age. She works with alcohol inks for their unpredictable nature, which makes no two pieces the same, but in which both beauty and uniqueness can always be found.

When not immersed in her artwork, she is an undergraduate studying psychology. Much like her inks, she finds the human mind fascinating and unpredictable and believes that creativity can be a great way to help if your mental health is suffering. Not only does she find the experience of abstract fluid painting soothing, but the viewer also doesn’t have to try to make sense of the piece and they can just be with it. Rachael draws a parallel between mental health disorders and abstract expressions because of their intensity and difficulty to always define.

@rachaelmonks_art

Emily McSevich

I like to custom blend my inks to create new shades and Jackson’s inks blend perfectly together, taking their colour range of 40 to a limitless rainbow of choices.

My favourite aspect of the Jackson’s inks is that they remain very true to colour. Some alcohol inks on the market tend to show their undertones when blended out with alcohol. For instance a blue ink will often bleed tones of pink or orange. The Jackson’s inks keep their true colour beautifully.

I was able to blend them seamlessly and create so much texture and depth. Alcohol ink artists seem to be on an endless quest for the “perfect metallic” that floats and creates veins of shining details. Jackson’s have nailed it! These metallics float weightlessly on the surface of the Alcohol creating multifaceted details.

Something that Jackson’s have done that I’m yet to see from another brand is to give three size choices when buying the inks. 10 ml, 30 ml & 50 ml starting at £1.30. This makes the inks accessible to everyone that would like to give them a try and I love that about this brand. Art should be about experimentation and I feel like Jackson’s really considered that.

About Emily McSevich

Emily McSevich is an alcohol ink and mixed media artist. Originally from Cornwall, a lot of her art inspiration comes from the Cornish coastline and the ocean. She now lives in Hampshire so never far from the sea if she’s in need of some inspiration. She loves the unpredictability of inks in her and the way it gives her a chance to really let go creatively. She has been working with alcohol inks since 2017, before which time she worked with watercolours.

emilymcsevichart.com

@emily_mcsevich_art

Katie Simpson

The new Jackson’s Alcohol Inks are what I’ve been waiting for. Alcohol inks can be expensive for small amounts but Jackson’s has hit the price sweet spot with these inks. And they also don’t skimp on quality for the price; the inks are so vibrant, perfect consistency and the effects you can get are incredible, whether you use the inks on Yupo, ceramic, glass or primed board, the effects are consistent.

Their range of colours is amazing. One of the best ranges I’ve ever seen for the amount of colours available, one of my personal favourites is Aubergine Purple, a beautifully complex deep purple which blends beautifully creating different tones.

Their pastel colour alcohol inks are also stunning, the colours stay vibrant and retain the pastel look. I have already bought more inks! As a professional artist, these inks work so well, and they are great for beginners too.

About Katie Simpson

Katie Alice Simpson is the artist behind The Fluid Fox. She uses many different mediums such as resin, ink, textures, powders, acrylic paints to create carefully curated layered abstract artworks which take inspiration from all sorts of wonderful things, from skies to oceans, to sushi and ice cream. She loves finding colour inspiration from all kinds of places and interpreting them in her own abstract way.

@thefluidfox

 
See the full range of Jackson’s Alcohol Inks colours in our online shop

Use or search the Instagram tag #jacksonsmaterials to see more.

The post Fluid Painting with Jackson’s Alcohol Inks appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Da Vinci are considered to be one of the finest manufacturers of artist brushes in the world. Artist Anna Zadorozhnaya, an ambassador of the da Vinci brand, visited the company’s factory in Nuremberg, Germany, and shares what she learnt about the production of the brushes, as well as the characteristics of da Vinci’s most popular watercolour brushes.

By Anna Zadorozhnaya

The production cycle for da Vinci brushes is slightly different for natural and synthetic hair. Natural hair brushes can only by manufactured by hand and in no other way, while synthetic brushes can be produced by machines. In any case, the process starts with the formation of a brush bundle.

Synthetic brushes are usually done by a machine and in the case of natural hair, a master brush maker measures the necessary amount of hair (depending on the size) with the help of a jewellery scale or a special hair-portioning device. They then knock the bundle in a metal tool. The hair is then tied with a cotton thread, shaped, and inserted into the ferrule.

After that the glue is poured inside and the construction is planted on the handle, then crimped. The shape of the brush and its tip are additionally controlled, then the printing process of the series and numbers is carried out. After that the finished brushes are sent to the warehouse for packing.

Of course, in the case of different types of brushes, the process may be slightly different. For example, flat brushes go through an added stage called “the press”. In the case of quill brushes, there is an extra step involving wrapping the wire and so on. But, in general, the process is exactly as described above.

More than 6 million brushes are produced per year at the da Vinci factory, which are subsequently sold on five continents. The factory uses both manual labour and machine production. If we talk about automatic production and machines (their appearance and working principles are the strictest commercial secret, and they are not allowed to be photographed), the da Vinci staff consists of several engineers, whose main task is to monitor the working equipment and to develop new ones. By the way, I personally saw that most of the machines are electronically controlled, which means it’s a fully automatic process.

Each brush has its own “recipe” stored in a special book, which includes information about the series, type of hair, handle length, size range, and other features. Surprisingly, this is just a notebook (though red!) and all the information is written down by hand. And it exists in a single copy.

In total, the factory employs about 130 people. In order to receive the title “brush maker”, an employee of the company must undergo intensive three-year training, and only after these three years they can work for da Vinci as an independent brush maker.

The most famous and popular series of da Vinci watercolour brushes is Maestro, made with Siberian kolinsky sable. The best kolinsky brushes only use male winter tail hair – the hair of the female is not as thick and of lower quality. In addition, their origin should be only in Manchuria or Siberia. Due to the extremely low temperatures and Siberian frosts, the hair gets the unique characteristics needed.

Finally, in the kolinsky brush, the length of visible hair should correspond to the length of the hair inside the ferrule – if they are not identical, the brush does not hold the necessary amount of water. Da Vinci purchases raw materials at auctions and the company strictly complies with international legal norms for the protection of natural resources – certificates of conformity are issued for all natural hair. The natural hair process also takes time: the hair needs to be treated, degreased, and left for several months to be lathered. There is a special room for storing natural raw materials in the basement of the factory.

A common misconception is that the gumir, a special solution used to process brushes for transportation, somehow affects the shape of the brush. This is not true: it is necessary to protect the hair and to simply show the brush shape to the buyer. The shape and properties of a brush are affected only in the very first stages when the hair is tucked into a bundle and dressed.

In the company hall on the wall there is an interesting brush exposition, which is a kind of unique historical artefact. The wife of the owner of the company, Marianne Defet, spun in circles of artists and made friends with many of them. She invented an interesting ritual: when she visited her friends she gave them a new brush, and in return asked for a brush that was used by the artist. Now these used brushes hang on the wall of the factory, clearly demonstrating the connection between the company and its customers.

Da Vinci is very proud of the fact that the brushes are produced only in Germany and under strict control. After each stage there is mandatory quality control (i.e. after each operation, a person sits down and manually checks if everything is correct), and in most modern production lines this is more of an exception than a rule. This is probably why da Vinci regularly wins prestigious awards, such as ‘German Brand of the Century’, and why their brushes are famous all over the world for their quality.

Overview of watercolour brushes by da Vinci

There is a common name for the series of each brush, which relates to the family of hair. For example, Casaneo will use synthetic hair, Maestro series use kolinsky, Petit Gris use natural squirrel, and Cosmotop-Spin and Nova-Synthetics are synthetic.

Da Vinci brush sizes are different from the usual sizes, and I would say that the size of da Vinci is smaller than normal. The difference in size ranges between manufacturers is due to the fact that the European brush industry has no agreement on a single size designation and standard. So, before ordering a brush, you should check the dimensions specified directly by the manufacturer.

Let’s have a brief look on the most popular da Vinci artist brush series.

Maestro

Maestro is made with selected Siberian natural kolinsky and is one of da Vinci’s most famous and popular ranges of watercolour brush. Kolinsky brushes are appreciated among watercolourists because they hold the perfect amount of water and are very elastic. They also have a sharp, long-lasting tip which does not wear down.

Da Vinci kolinsky brushes are labelled in three variants: Harbin-Kolinsky – a kolinsky found in Manchuria, and Tobolsky-Kolinsky and Ussiri-Kolisnky – from Siberia in the Ob, Lena, Amur, and Ussuri regions.

The Maestro line includes round brushes, flat brushes, a special series of riggers, and a travel series. Maestro brushes have black handles with gold embossing and a metal ferrule. All the brushes in this line are made exclusively by hand.

Casaneo

Casaneo brushes have earned the watercolourists’ love because of its very interesting hair: it is a very soft synthetic squirrel imitation, and the hair is slightly more elastic than natural squirrel. It also holds quite a lot of water and the tip is perfectly sharp, allowing you to paint very fine details.

The Casaneo line has all kinds and types of brushes: round, flat, filbert shape, angle, liners, and a complete line of pocket brushes. In addition, these brushes are presented not only with a standard ferrule, but also in the traditional quill version, which has an even greater water holding capacity due to the length of the hair.

Cosmotop-Mix B

The Cosmotop-Mix B series is an interesting option for watercolourists. The hair of these brushes consists of a mix of synthetic and natural hair, which holds a large amount of water and has a sharp tip. It has a very stable behaviour with different types of washes. In addition, the brushes in this series are slightly more elastic and resilient than natural squirrel.

Petit Gris

Da Vinci Petit Gris series are brushes made of natural squirrel hair. Petit Gris Pur is pure squirrel with 100% natural hair, while Petit Gris Mix is a mix of natural squirrel and imitation squirrel. These brushes have a sharp tip and retain their snap for a long time. They absorb a lot of water and are ideal for large washes. I would say that the da Vinci squirrel are the best on the market.

This series also comes in different versions (flat, round, liner brush), but the most interesting is the traditional quill version.

Cosmotop-Spin

Cosmotop-Spin brushes use a fully synthetic hair with a light brown colour. It is very thin and smooth, and due to the mix of hair of different lengths and thicknesses it has a high absorption capacity.

This series has red hexagonal handles which use a technology patented by da Vinci. The thickest part of the handle is designed to reduce fatigue in your hands when painting, and also to prevent the brush from rolling off the table.

Vario-Tip

As the name suggests, Vario-Top are a unique range of brushes that feature varied synthetic hair lengths. Made from a blend of Nova and Top-Acryl fibres mixed in different lengths, these brushes are ideal for textures and effects, be it drawing trees or leaves, landscapes, foliage, and more.

Browse da Vinci brushes at Jackson’s

• Maestro
• Casaneo
• Cosmotop-Mix B
• Petit Gris
• Cosmotop-Spin
• Vario-Tip

About Anna

Anna Zadorozhnaya was born and lives in Moscow, Russia. Anna has an MA in Art from Oxford Brookes University and is a da Vinci and Schmincke ambassador. Anna is also a member of the International Federation of Aquarellists.

She shares her watercolour paintings on her Instagram page, @draw_better.

Read how Anna painted a mountain scene in the Austrian village of St Anton am Arlberg using Schminke Horadam paints.

Art supplies that are cruelty-free or made without the use of animal products are an important concern for many artists. We stock a wide range of cruelty-free art supplies and work hard to support the preferences and needs of all of our customers. We encourage and support the development of synthetic fibre brushes but offer natural hair to those that want it.

Care should be taken in the maintenance of brushes to ensure their longevity. This helps to reduce the number of brushes that are bought and therefore made, and as a result this can help minimise the use of animal hair. The same applies to synthetic brushes, whereby reducing use helps to minimise the amount of plastic that needs to be produced (which generates both pollution and microplastics).

The post How Da Vinci Watercolour Brushes are Made appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Throughout March, we asked four fluid artists to try Jackson’s Alcohol Inks. Here, they share their thoughts on drying times and consistency of the inks as well as their favourite colours, bottle sizes and how the inks blend.

Above image: Work in progress by Rachael Monks

Jenna Ferguson

When I try new inks for the first time I like to play around with the colours on small bits of Yupo first and see how the colours interact and merge with each other. One of the things I love about using inks are the beautiful undertone variations that come out from certain ink colours. Jackson’s Aubergine Purple is brilliant for that and so was a definite choice to include in my painting.

You can see that the colours blended together really beautifully, and I love the almost mermaid-like effect when the undertones of green emerged from the aubergine ink. It’s amazing when you look at my finished art and see the gorgeous pops of green coming through in the ocean, when I didn’t use any green ink!

I felt some of the ink colours are slightly different from other alcohol ink brands I’ve used, in that they felt heavier and thicker; almost like a blend of using alcohol ink together with acrylic paint. The colour became a little bit more solid and matte, as you can see from the Storm Grey I used in the sky of my painting. So my personal preference were the more translucent, vibrant inks like midnight blue and aubergine purple, but it was fun seeing new effects created by blending the matte-like colours with the more vibrant inks.

Another difference I noticed with these inks in comparison to others I’ve used is that the drying time is slightly longer. Sometimes I find with alcohol inks you need to work really quickly to achieve certain styles and effects, so it was great to have a bit more working time – especially for creating an abstract seascape style like this.

There’s a brilliant colour range of Jackson’s inks to choose from and they’re really reasonably priced. With great sized 50 ml bottles. And I really like the style of the bottles too, with good precision tips for pouring.

About Jenna Ferguson

Jenna Ferguson is a contemporary fluid artist living in Scotland near the banks of Loch Lomond. She creates unique original art that reflects the beauty of the natural world around her, rich with the colours of the ocean, the land and the sky. She specialises in fluid art mediums including alcohol inks and epoxy resin, with work that is vibrant, soothing, and luxurious. Her work is sold independently and belongs to art lovers all over the world.

jennafergusonart.com

jenna@jennafergusonart.com

@jennafergusonart

Rachael Monks

Whenever I get new inks, I always start off by making swatches just to see how the colours really are, as sometimes you can’t actually tell from their bottles or online colour images. I’d say the colours do match up pretty well to their online images for the ones I’ve tried out!

The colours are all very rich and vibrant, though I’m generally much more of a darker/moodier colour palette kinda girl so I played with mixing the inks to create some different versions. They mixed beautifully together! Their ‘deep black’ helps to create much moodier toned colours, while not completely taking over!

I found the inks themselves to actually be very silky when applied to the Yupo paper and they start to spread as soon as I placed a drop on the paper, even without adding alcohol. I did find some inks to dry to a chalky consistency, so needed to be mindful about handling the piece before varnishing as I did scratch a little bit of the ink away after photographing. This could be down to the isopropyl alcohol I use; more testing would be needed to confirm this!

The particular inks I was most intrigued about were the metallics – Iridescent Gold, Silver & Copper. Finding a metallic ink which clumps up or breaks apart in the way that I like can be challenging, and Jackson’s metallic inks tick all the right boxes for me! I’ve already purchased the metallics in larger bottles myself!

Speaking of bottle sizes, there’s three (10 ml, 30 ml & 50 ml) and this really appealed to me. It means you can test out colours in the smallest bottle then go larger if you find one you like. And the prices are so reasonable as well.

Rachael Monks

Rachael Monks is a self-taught artist based in South-East London who has been working with alcohol inks since June 2019 but has had love of creating from an early age. She works with alcohol inks for their unpredictable nature, which makes no two pieces the same, but in which both beauty and uniqueness can always be found.

When not immersed in her artwork, she is an undergraduate studying psychology. Much like her inks, she finds the human mind fascinating and unpredictable and believes that creativity can be a great way to help if your mental health is suffering. Not only does she find the experience of abstract fluid painting soothing, but the viewer also doesn’t have to try to make sense of the piece and they can just be with it. Rachael draws a parallel between mental health disorders and abstract expressions because of their intensity and difficulty to always define.

@rachaelmonks_art

Emily McSevich

I like to custom blend my inks to create new shades and Jackson’s inks blend perfectly together, taking their colour range of 40 to a limitless rainbow of choices.

My favourite aspect of the Jackson’s inks is that they remain very true to colour. Some alcohol inks on the market tend to show their undertones when blended out with alcohol. For instance a blue ink will often bleed tones of pink or orange. The Jackson’s inks keep their true colour beautifully.

I was able to blend them seamlessly and create so much texture and depth. Alcohol ink artists seem to be on an endless quest for the “perfect metallic” that floats and creates veins of shining details. Jackson’s have nailed it! These metallics float weightlessly on the surface of the Alcohol creating multifaceted details.

Something that Jackson’s have done that I’m yet to see from another brand is to give three size choices when buying the inks. 10 ml, 30 ml & 50 ml starting at £1.30. This makes the inks accessible to everyone that would like to give them a try and I love that about this brand. Art should be about experimentation and I feel like Jackson’s really considered that.

About Emily McSevich

Emily McSevich is an alcohol ink and mixed media artist. Originally from Cornwall, a lot of her art inspiration comes from the Cornish coastline and the ocean. She now lives in Hampshire so never far from the sea if she’s in need of some inspiration. She loves the unpredictability of inks in her and the way it gives her a chance to really let go creatively. She has been working with alcohol inks since 2017, before which time she worked with watercolours.

emilymcsevichart.com

@emily_mcsevich_art

Katie Simpson

The new Jackson’s Alcohol Inks are what I’ve been waiting for. Alcohol inks can be expensive for small amounts but Jackson’s has hit the price sweet spot with these inks. And they also don’t skimp on quality for the price; the inks are so vibrant, perfect consistency and the effects you can get are incredible, whether you use the inks on Yupo, ceramic, glass or primed board, the effects are consistent.

Their range of colours is amazing. One of the best ranges I’ve ever seen for the amount of colours available, one of my personal favourites is Aubergine Purple, a beautifully complex deep purple which blends beautifully creating different tones.

Their pastel colour alcohol inks are also stunning, the colours stay vibrant and retain the pastel look. I have already bought more inks! As a professional artist, these inks work so well, and they are great for beginners too.

About Katie Simpson

Katie Alice Simpson is the artist behind The Fluid Fox. She uses many different mediums such as resin, ink, textures, powders, acrylic paints to create carefully curated layered abstract artworks which take inspiration from all sorts of wonderful things, from skies to oceans, to sushi and ice cream. She loves finding colour inspiration from all kinds of places and interpreting them in her own abstract way.

@thefluidfox

 
See the full range of Jackson’s Alcohol Inks colours in our online shop

Use or search the Instagram tag #jacksonsmaterials to see more.

The post Fluid Painting with Jackson’s Alcohol Inks appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

One of the great advantages of watercolour is its simplicity. All you need to start painting is water, a brush, and some pans or tubes of colour. But what if you want to take watercolour a little further? Watercolour mediums can help you control how watercolour paint behaves – including its texture, how it flows, how it lifts from the paper, and how fast it dries. In this article I look at some of the many watercolour mediums available, and explore how they could be used in watercolour painting.
 
 

I have used two blue watercolours- Phthalo Blue and Cerulean Blue. I chose these because they represent two very different pigment characteristics. Phthalo Blue (PB15) is staining and doesn’t granulate, while Cerulean Blue (PB35) doesn’t stain is highly granulating. The paper used throughout is Jackson’s Watercolour Paper, cold pressed.
 

Adding Texture

Naturally granulating watercolours, like Ultramarine Blue, Viridian Green, and certain earth pigments, have large pigment particles which separate and settle into the paper, creating a textural effect. Texture mediums are designed to add or enhance the texture of watercolour, and I wanted to see if they could be used to mimic the effect of granulation in pigments which are not naturally granulating. Here I tried them with Phthalo Blue:
 

Top to Bottom:
Phthalo Blue wash with water and no medium
Phthalo Blue wash diluted with Winsor and Newton Granulation Medium
Phthalo Blue wash sprayed with Schmincke Aqua Watercolour Effect Spray

Top to Bottom:
Phthalo Blue wash sprayed with Schmincke Aqua Granulation Spray
Phthalo Blue wash diluted with Winsor and Newton Texture Medium
Phthalo Blue wash sprinkled with salt

Sprinkling salt onto wet watercolour and brushing it off when the paint is dry is a popular way to add texture to watercolour, and with the Phthalo Blue it seemed to be the most effective in mimicking granulation. The other mediums created some textural effects that could be interesting and useful in their own right. Schmincke Aqua Granulation spray is particularly dramatic.

I found that the texture mediums works nicely with Cerulean Blue, a pigment that already granulates. It enhances the natural textural quality of the paint:
 

Top to Bottom:
Cerulean Blue wash with water and no medium
Cerulean Blue wash diluted with Winsor and Newton Granulation Medium
Cerulean Blue wash sprayed with Schmincke Aqua Watercolour Effect Spray

Top to Bottom:
Cerulean Blue wash sprayed with Schmincke Aqua Granulation Spray
Cerulean Blue wash diluted with Winsor and Newton Texture Medium
Cerulean Blue wash sprinkled with salt

Creating Impasto Effects

Impasto (or the technique of applying paint thickly) is not usually associated with watercolour. Neat watercolour is brittle and prone to cracking if it is applied undiluted in a thick layer, but modelling paste can add another textural dimension to watercolour painting. Modelling paste can be applied under the paint to prepare an impasto ground, or mixed directly with the paint. When mixed with watercolour, it tints it white and increases its opacity, creating a gouache-like effect.
 

Top:Phthalo Blue wash on dry Schmincke Aqua Modelling Paste (fine), applied with a palette knife
Bottom: Phthalo Blue mixed with Schmincke Aqua Modelling Paste (fine), applied with a brush

For working on top of an impasto ground, I’d also recommend trying textured watercolour grounds – take a look at this post to find out more.
 
 

Lifting

As watercolour remains soluble in water even after it’s dry, it can be reactivated with a wet brush and lifted from the surface with a rag. It is a great way to bring out highlights or rectify mistakes. Staining pigments, like Phthalo and Quinacridone pigments, penetrate the paper fibres and are difficult to lift, but this can be made easier by applying a lifting preparation to the paper before painting. Non-staining pigments like Cerulean Blue (below right) don’t need a lifting preparation to lift away cleanly. I found that it didn’t work well with Phthalo Blue (left), but it felt unfair to judge it with such an extremely staining pigment.
 

The top half of the paper has been treated with Winsor and Newton Lifting Preparation, the bottom half is unprepared. Washes of Phthalo Blue (left) and Cerulean Blue (right) were applied and allowed to dry before lifting.

It worked better with Hookers Green and Ultramarine Blue – two pigments with an average staining ability.
 

The top half of the paper has been treated with Winsor and Newton Lifting Preparation, the bottom half is unprepared. Washes of Hooker’s Green (left) and Ultramarine Blue (right) were applied and allowed to dry before lifting.

Lifting with Gum Arabic Solution

A wash of diluted gum Arabic on paper before painting on it forms a barrier between the pigment and the paper reducing the staining effect of pigment, making them easier to lift.
 

The top half of the paper has been treated with Jackson’s Gum Arabic Solution, the bottom half is unprepared. Washes of Phthalo Blue (left) and Cerulean Blue (right) were applied and allowed to dry before lifting.

While gum Arabic solution makes an excellent lifting preparation, it is a brittle medium that is prone to cracking if applied thickly. You can see in the swatch above that it changes the colour of the paper slightly, and it also adds a slight sheen:
 

Increasing Flow with Ox Gall Medium

Ox gall is an additive rather than a medium, because it is added to the painting water rather than the paint itself. It is a surfactant that breaks the surface tension of the water, allowing pigments to disperse more easily.
 

Top: Cerulean Blue wash without ox gall
Bottom: Cerulean Blue wash with MaimeriBlu Natural Ox Gall

The difference might look subtle, but it was much easier to achieve a smooth graduation of colour with the ox gall medium, while without it the Cerulean Blue clumped together. Synthetic versions of ox gall are available, and work just as well.
 

Decreasing Flow

An impasto medium like Winsor and Newton’s Aquapasto adds body to the colour without adding opacity, retaining brushstrokes and making the watercolour behave more like oil or acrylic. It does, however, add a slight yellowish tint to certain colours, like the Cerulean Blue below:
 

Top: Cerulean Blue wash with water and no medium
Bottom: Cerulean Blue with Winsor and Newton Aquapasto

Increasing Drying Time

Watercolour is a fast-drying medium, but there are ways that this can be slowed down. One way is choosing a hard-sized watercolour paper that is relatively unabsorbent, increasing the time that the paint sits on the surface before being absorbed. Another way is to add gum Arabic. Gum Arabic is the binder in watercolours, so by adding it to the paint you are extending it without diluting the binder, increasing transparency and slowing the drying of the paint. You could also use watercolour blending medium, designed to give more time for reworking the paint before it dries. To find out how they slow drying, I painted out three swatches of watercolour diluted with water, gum Arabic solution, and Winsor and Newton Blending Medium. I ran a dry brush over each swatch after one, five, and ten minutes to see how fast they dried. The swatch without any medium dried completely within five minutes. Gum Arabic solution extended the drying time by a few more minutes. At the ten minute mark, only the Blending Medium remained wet enough to rework.
 

Top to Bottom: Cerulean Blue wash with water and no medium
Cerulean Blue diluted with Jackson’s Gum Arabic Solution, Cerulean Blue with Winsor and Newton Blending Medium

You can find all watercolour mediums here.

More Articles about Watercolour Painting:

• Watercolour Painting for Beginners: What you Need to Get Started
• Watercolour Varnish: Can you Make Watercolour Waterproof?
• Which Colours are on Your Palette? Five Watercolour Landscape Painters Respond
• Painting with Watercolour on Canvas: Choosing the Best Watercolour Ground

The post A Guide To Watercolour Mediums appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Recently seen on a watercolour painting group on social media, the watercolourist K. Lee shared her advice for fellow beginners who have just begun painting with watercolour. With her permission we present her advice below. Do you agree, or have any other advice you would add to this list? Please comment with your suggestions below.

by K. Lee

L-R: Sennelier Greenish Umber, Sennelier Phthalo Green light, Winsor and Newton Potters Pink, Jackson’s French Vermillion, Winsor and Newton Cotman Hooker’s Green

After a year of watercolour painting – here are a couple of things I wish I had known from the beginning. Take this for what it’s worth!

• Buy the best paint/brushes/paper you can afford – I wasted so much time, money, and paper on cheap paint – my paintings never looked acceptable until I switched to the good stuff. If possible, stick with tubes – pans are okay but a tiny bit of tube paint will give you richer colours.
• Paint something every day. Doesn’t matter what – just try to paint on a regular basis. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube that will keep you busy.
• LID (Let it Dry!). It took me the longest time to figure out that walking away and letting a section dry was the key to bright, pure colours.
• Be kind to yourself – quit comparing your work to those painters on the internet – you know it took them 3-4 attempts to get a painting good enough to show.

L-R: English Red Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Sepia Daniel Smith watercolours

I always recommend Daniel Smith tubes – even to beginners; it is the best paint ever. I have stacks of old pan set – expensive and cheap – that I never use.
I use Daniel Smith or Winsor and Newton tube paint, Arches Paper, and Princeton brushes almost exclusively. I’m still not a very good painter, but I have definitely improved from where I started a year ago.

Princeton Aqua Elite Synthetic Kolinksy sable brushes

More Articles about Watercolour Painting:

• Watercolour Painting for Beginners: What you Need to Get Started
• A Guide to Watercolour Mediums
• Making Handmade Watercolours with Jackson’s Artist Pigments
• Granulation in Watercolours: What is it and how to use it?

View Watercolour at Jacksonsart.com

The post A beginner’s advice after a year of watercolour painting appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

The story of the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette box began with one artist’s goal to make a watercolour box that suited his requirements. In doing this, he created about a design that chimed with the needs of artists around the world. While working as a journalist, Tony Frazer Price found time to sketch in the countries he visited, but was frustrated by the palette options available for travelling watercolourists at the time. In response, he designed a lacquered brass palette box which included mixing trays, water wells, and a water bottle. Between 1985 and 1994, over 5000 of the boxes were made and sold.

Until this year, the only Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Boxes available were from this original run. In partnership with Tony Frazer Price, Jackson’s are releasing a new edition of the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box, made to the original specifications. I was excited to be one of the first to try this new edition, and find out why the palette has been so popular.
 

The palette box held in the left hand. It is suitable for both right and left-handed artists.

At around 300g, the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box is heavier than the watercolour boxes I usually use for plein air sketching (my 12 pan Jackson’s watercolour tin, for example, weighs just over 100g). Nevertheless, it feels perfectly balanced when you hold it. The thumb goes through one of the fold-out mixing palettes, and the palm comfortably supports the underside of the box. This design is much more comfortable than the metal thumb-ring you find on the underside of many watercolour boxes.

When closed, the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box measures 111 x 67 mm, with a depth of 45 mm – a compact size for a box that can hold your paints, palette, and painting water. A sturdy clasp holds it together, and when opened two enamelled mixing surfaces each measuring 50 x 100 mm are unfolded from both sides of the paint wells.

The other half of the box holds the water wells and a water bottle, made from lightweight white plastic. Two water wells are very useful feature – you can keep one for rinsing the brush, and the other can be kept clean to avoid muddying your colours. The water bottle has two wells on one side, doubling as another mixing surface.

The water wells and bottle, removed from the box

The palette box fits 18 half pans or 9 full pans of watercolour. The pans are easily slid in and out of the palette, useful for changing your selection of colours, but I did find that there was extra space left around the pans and they moved around while I was using them. I would probably fix the pans in place with blu-tack to avoid this.

Filling an empty half pan straight from the tube.

Upon its first use, the paint beaded up on the mixing surface, making it hard to see the colour I was made. This is quite normal with new palettes, and it takes a few uses to ‘break in’ a mixing surface. After using it a few times, I found the enamelled mixing areas are great for smooth colour mixing. They are an off-white colour, as opposed to pure white, similar to watercolour paper.

While it is an ideal travelling palette for holding in one hand, the clasp also folds down to stabilise the box, allowing it to be used freestanding on a table or desk.

Its mirror-like brass finish makes the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box a truly luxurious watercolour accessory, but it is as functional as it is beautiful. With its ergonomic and comfortable design, ideal for both working in the studio and en plein air, it’s no surprise that it is so highly sought after by artists.
 

Watch our unboxing film to see the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box in action:

The Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box, including 12 half pans of Jackson’s Artist Watercolour and 6 empty half pans, will be available to order from jacksonsart.com very soon. Sign up to be notified when it arrives in stock here.
 

The post Reintroducing the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

Paul Lewis is a watercolour painter known for his colourful, exotic and loose landscapes. In this article Paul shares his thoughts on colour and how he goes about selecting his palette.

Athens Balcony, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 150 gsm medium Khadi paper, 21 x 15 cm

by Paul Lewis

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this blog… it has caused me to think about some things which have become an almost automatic, subconscious process.

Familiarity with Pigments

When I began painting with watercolour, having been through no formal training, one of the most important things I did was to paint hundreds of ‘boxes’; empty rectangles I drew out on watercolour paper, and fill them with various colour mixes. I was so excited at the time to see all these possibilities and started to feel the emotional power of colours and their juxtapositions.

Less is More

I quickly became aware of the danger of watercolour sets containing too many colours…jangly disharmony is easy to create. It may be a cliché but it is so true: quality over quantity.

The Value of Genuine Pigments

On that note I am not too keen on ‘hues’, preferring genuine pigments which all have their own qualities and different properties. I love granulation where pigments separate and often mix my colours on the paper with as little fiddling as possible so that if you look carefully you can see traces of each colour in its pure state.

Storm Passing Nas’ Ikaria Island, 2018
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 320gsm rough Khadi paper, 30 x 42 cm

Process

Often I begin a painting by laying areas out with light washes in two colours, for example Cobalt Violet and Raw Sienna.

Usually then comes a big sky wash, using that to create the ‘negative space’ for the landscape or seascape.

Blue skies I often underlay especially towards the horizon with Cobalt Violet, or a pink such as Rose Doré. I have become fond of Horizon Blue, which I tend to use more now than Cerulean Blue. I sometimes use Cobalt Turquoise, especially in evening skies and then usually Cobalt Blue, sometimes Ultramarine Blue.

Clouds often have an underbelly of pink and shadows of Burnt Umber and Cobalt Blue.

In sunset scenes there will usually be Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Yellow, Alizarin Crimson… Cobalt Turquoise and Cobalt Violet in the sky.

I am very conscious of leaving space and need to form negative shapes as I build up a painting. The ‘gap’ is so important… creating light and mystery and facilitating a dynamic relationship between viewer and artwork…. perhaps the most important colour is no colour!

That’s particularly true for rough seas where I used to use masking fluid to leave the white for waves and sea foam. Now I prefer to do it with light brushwork on dry paper.

Water and Colour (into the light), Ikaria Island, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 320gsm rough Khadi paper, 30 x 42 cm

Mixing Greens

For a long time now there is rarely green in my palette, although there is a lot of green in my paintings (I love painting trees for example)… if the greens are formed with yellows and blues present elsewhere in the painting the consequence is greater harmony.

Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Pale and occasionally Aureolin as the yellows, with Cobalt Blue, Cerulean or Horizon Blue, sometimes Phthalo Blue. Another mix I love for deep dark greens is Cadmium Orange with Ultramarine.

Midsummer Painting, Ikaria Island, 2018
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 200gsm extra rough Jackson’s Eco handmade paper, 28 x 38 cm

Favourite Pigment

My most favourite pigment is Cobalt Violet, I often paint in places where I can’t easily replenish supplies and this one is one I’m unhappy to see running out. If I’m painting a seascape and there is Violet in the sky it will also be present in the sea and usually in the rocks or beach.

The Tree, Ikaria Island, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 320gsm rough Khadi paper, 30 x 30 cm

When painting beach scenes I throw a handful of sand onto the wet paper before lightly dropping heavily pigmented colours… Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Naples Yellow, Cobalt Violet, Shell Pink, Blue Grey… and allowing them to dry undisturbed until the sand dries and (mostly) falls off.

If there is a figure or figures in the sea or on the beach I usually use the same pigments, having made sure the light ‘space’ is there first.

I also love Cobalt Turquoise and sometimes use the more intense Phthalo Turquoise.

Dark Mixes

Darks I often mix with Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. Rarely I use Indigo… and I used to love Viridian and Alizarin Crimson for the almost-black that they make. I sometimes finish off a watercolour with some lines made with a bamboo pen and sepia ink.

Conversation, Ikaria Island, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on rough 300gsm Arches paper, 23 x 32

White

I don’t use white though I do use colours containing white: Naples Yellow which I love, particularly softened with Cobalt Violet or Shell Pink (also containing white) and Blue Grey… these last two together I love for the gentle grey of rocks… tinted sometimes with Raw Sienna… ah I could go on…!

Since we’re (technically) in summer and for several years I’ve been painting at this time of year on the beautiful Aegean island of Ikaria, I’ve presented some work from the last couple of years from there. Additionally some works from Westonbirt Arboretum, another favourite spot in recent years.

Acropolis, Athens, 2019
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 300 gsm rough Arches paper, 36 x 26 cm

Notes on Paints and Paper

For many years I only used Winsor and Newton Artists watercolour paints although more recently I have added Schmincke, Holbein, Old Holland and Jackson’s Artist Watercolour. I do like to experiment and explore.

My favourite paper has always been Arches, although I have also enjoyed Saunders Waterford and recently a lot of my watercolours have been on Khadi handmade paper which I love.

To view more work by Paul Lewis, visit:

paullewispaintings.com

Facebook: @PaulLewisArt

Instagram: @PaulLewisArt

Lime Avenue, Westonbirt 2017
Paul Lewis
Watercolour on 300gsm rough Arches paper, 38 x 28cm

Materials:

Winsor and Newton Professional Watercolour

Schmincke Horadam Watercolour

Holbein Watercolour

Old Holland Watercolour

Jackson’s Artist Watercolour

Arches Aquarelle Paper

Saunders Waterford Paper

Khadi Paper

Folding plastic palette

Read Which colours are on your palette? Five watercolour landscape painters respond

The post Paul Lewis’ Thoughts on Watercolour landscape palettes appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

The story of the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette box began with one artist’s goal to make a watercolour box that suited his requirements. In doing this, he created about a design that chimed with the needs of artists around the world. While working as a journalist, Tony Frazer Price found time to sketch in the countries he visited, but was frustrated by the palette options available for travelling watercolourists at the time. In response, he designed a lacquered brass palette box which included mixing trays, water wells, and a water bottle. Between 1985 and 1994, over 5000 of the boxes were made and sold.

Until this year, the only Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Boxes available were from this original run. In partnership with Tony Frazer Price, Jackson’s are releasing a new edition of the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box, made to the original specifications. I was excited to be one of the first to try this new edition, and find out why the palette has been so popular.
 

The palette box held in the left hand. It is suitable for both right and left-handed artists.

At around 300g, the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box is heavier than the watercolour boxes I usually use for plein air sketching (my 12 pan Jackson’s watercolour tin, for example, weighs just over 100g). Nevertheless, it feels perfectly balanced when you hold it. The thumb goes through one of the fold-out mixing palettes, and the palm comfortably supports the underside of the box. This design is much more comfortable than the metal thumb-ring you find on the underside of many watercolour boxes.

When closed, the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box measures 111 x 67 mm, with a depth of 45 mm – a compact size for a box that can hold your paints, palette, and painting water. A sturdy clasp holds it together, and when opened two enamelled mixing surfaces each measuring 50 x 100 mm are unfolded from both sides of the paint wells.

The other half of the box holds the water wells and a water bottle, made from lightweight white plastic. Two water wells are very useful feature – you can keep one for rinsing the brush, and the other can be kept clean to avoid muddying your colours. The water bottle has two wells on one side, doubling as another mixing surface.

The water wells and bottle, removed from the box

The palette box fits 18 half pans or 9 full pans of watercolour. The pans are easily slid in and out of the palette, useful for changing your selection of colours, but I did find that there was extra space left around the pans and they moved around while I was using them. I would probably fix the pans in place with blu-tack to avoid this.

Filling an empty half pan straight from the tube.

Upon its first use, the paint beaded up on the mixing surface, making it hard to see the colour I was made. This is quite normal with new palettes, and it takes a few uses to ‘break in’ a mixing surface. After using it a few times, I found the enamelled mixing areas are great for smooth colour mixing. They are an off-white colour, as opposed to pure white, similar to watercolour paper.

While it is an ideal travelling palette for holding in one hand, the clasp also folds down to stabilise the box, allowing it to be used freestanding on a table or desk.

Its mirror-like brass finish makes the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box a truly luxurious watercolour accessory, but it is as functional as it is beautiful. With its ergonomic and comfortable design, ideal for both working in the studio and en plein air, it’s no surprise that it is so highly sought after by artists.
 

Watch our unboxing film to see the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box in action:

The Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box, including 12 half pans of Jackson’s Artist Watercolour and 6 empty half pans, will be available to order from jacksonsart.com very soon. Sign up to be notified when it arrives in stock here.
 

The post Reintroducing the Frazer Price Watercolour Palette Box appeared first on Jackson's Art Blog.

This June we asked three watercolour painters to try out Jackson’s Artist Watercolours. Lois Davidson, Benjamin Sullivan, and Ella Beech tell us about their experiences.

Above image: Lois Davidson’s painting Wildflower Wastelands in progress.

Lois Davidson

I was thrilled when Jackson’s asked me to try out their own brand of Jackson’s Artist Watercolour tubes, I love paint almost as much as I love painting and am fascinated to see the tiny differences between brands. I selected some of my favourite colours and began by swatching them out with one of the sable/synthetic mix flat brushes they sent, they were creamy and rich with a good pigment load, I knew straight away that I would enjoy using them.

Jackson’s Icon brush was excellent too, comfortable to hold and giving even brushstrokes, as well as holding a large amount of water and paint. I decided to paint one of my Edgelands and Outskirts paintings to try them out, and made some sketches and colour tests in my sketchbook. Now to paint! I used a limited palette of Paynes Grey, Indigo, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber and Warm Sepia on cold pressed Millford paper. I began with a quick wash of Paynes Grey and Indigo and added a sprinkle of salt to the foreground to start off the flowers, then spattered in Burnt Sienna and Paynes Grey and Indigo for the flowers. Once dry the flat brushes made short work of the buildings and railings in the industrial estate, followed by trees and more flower details with a small Chinese calligraphy brush. Once dry, I added a few white highlights to the trees with a gel pen.

I loved using Jackson’s paint, especially the Paynes Grey which is slightly darker but bluer than my current brand, but I was less keen on the Indigo as it was slightly greener than I expected it to be, but once I got used to it I enjoyed painting with it. All in all I’m very happy with the paint and would recommend it as it is really good value as well as high quality.

Wildflower Wastelands

About Lois Davidson

Lois Davidson began her journey into watercolour painting in the Spring of 2018 and has never looked back. With a strong background in illustration and photography, she has since amassed a considerable following on YouTube and other creative platforms where she demonstrates experimental watercolour techniques for beginners. She sells her work both locally and internationally through her Etsy shop Owls And Flowers Art.

Her recent painting Edgelands was shortlisted for the Jackson’s Painting Prize 2021. Her style is predominantly loose watercolour rural and urban landscapes that explore the haunting ethereal beauty of the English countryside and neglected parts of the urban environment that are often overlooked.

@loisdavidsonart

Benjamin Sullivan

I was pleased to be asked by Jackson’s to test their range of their Jackson’s Artist Watercolour. For this I worked on a watercolour version of my oil painting of the art collector, Michel Strauss. I always use tube colours, nowadays, and was pleased to find that the Jackson’s range include a large size of 21 ml which is bigger than most of their rivals. It’s a substantial amount of paint and is considerably cheaper than other brands.

I’m using 300 lb Saunders Waterford Hot Press stretched and stapled to a board. I squeeze the paints into a Jackson’s Porcelain Palette 19 Well (these are wonderful), the night before so that the colours are semi-hard when I come to use them. The colours themselves are a good consistency with an even buttery look that one would expect. I’m using my normal colour range (Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cad Yellow Orange, Raw Sienna, Cadmium Red Light, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Deep, Viridian, Sap Green, Burnt Umber, Ivory Black), which is mostly as I’d expect although the Alizarin and Sap Green look on the light side and the Cerulean Blue looks a tad dark to my mind.

On top of my underdrawing, I use masking fluid and a homemade solution of gum arabic dissolved in water to reserve areas of white paper depending on whether I want a hard edged of diffuse area (gum arabic producing the latter). I used Jackson’s Masking Fluid initially but found it hard to control with my mapping pen so returned to my usual brand, Pebeo.

I like to start by using large washes of colour to approximate areas I will define later. I use Jackson’s Hake Brushes 1 inch and 3 inch and Jackson’s Pure Squirrel Mop Brushes. The latter are simply wonderful brushes that I use regularly. They are, at least, as good as the more expensive options.

I move next to add some definition to the face. I mix a number of thin glazes but find I struggle to achieve many of the subtle colours I would expect. The yellows are okay but the many delicate pinks and magentas aren’t apparent. I think the problem seems to be with the Alizarin which appears muddy but the Cadmium Red also loses its character in a thin wash. For darker washes, I am also finding problems when mixing; A common combination for shadows might be Alizarin with Viridian or Sap Green, but these tend to mix into a muddy brown whereas they normally keep their character – justified toward one or the other.

At this stage, I find much of the colouring to be unsatisfactory, so move on to some large washes on the rest of the painting. These go on fairly well but not with the consistency that I would like. I develop these further adding darker tones to the clothing and chair but the paint is not behaving as I would expect it to.

As a comparison, I use my normal set of paints (a combination of Winsor & Newton, Schmincke and Daniel Smith), to start adding some definition to the hands. The difference is immediately apparent with many beautiful pinks and yellows and greens and no unwanted muddiness. I decide to complete the work using my usual paints for obvious reasons. I remove the masked areas and add many of the delicate tones to the face that were missing, before finishing off the clothes and the chair.

About Benjamin Sullivan

Benjamin Sullivan was born in Grimsby in 1977. He studied painting and drawing at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 2000. He lives and works in Suffolk. His work has been widely exhibited, including at the Royal Academy and National Portrait Gallery. Among other distinctions, he has received a Carrol Foundation Award, the Kinross Scholarship, and a grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. In 2007 he won the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize.

He was elected a member of the New English Art Club and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2001 and 2003 respectively, becoming the youngest person to be elected to those institutions. In 2009, he was made a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers.

His work is to be found in numerous public and private collections, including the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Scottish Academy, Parliament House, Edinburgh, and several Oxford and Cambridge Colleges.

In 2009 he became artist in residence at All Souls College where he undertook a large commission depicting the College staff. The resulting work, The All Souls Triptych, was displayed at the Ashmolean Museum in 2012 and now sits in one of Hawksmoor’s twin towers at All Souls College. In 2014 Sullivan was appointed Artist in Residence at the Reform Club. 

In 2016, Sullivan won third prize in the BP Portrait Awards before winning first prize in 2017 for ‘Breech!’, a painting of his wife breastfeeding their infant daughter.

benjaminsullivan.co.uk/

@benjaminsullivanrp

Ella Beech

I’m currently studying for an MA in Children’s Book Illustration, and we are encouraged to experiment, explore materials, make mistakes and ultimately play! So, over the last two years of the course (which I am doing part-time) I have played around with a lot of materials, and I often come back to watercolour, as it’s such a great way to lay down paint. But oddly, I had never tried watercolour paint from the tube! So, when Jackson’s Art suggested I try their own brand watercolour tubes, I was intrigued. They also kindly supplied a mixture of paintbrushes, sponges, watercolour blocks, and masking fluid and ruling pen to try apply it with.

So, I have spent the last week or so playing around, and here is what I found…

Firstly, the paper – Jackson’s supplied large (12 x 16”) and small (6 x 8”) watercolour blocks. They are cold-pressed, 300gsm, with 15 sheets a piece. They are ‘blocks’, meaning they are gummed down — each sheet is firmly stuck down — so every piece you make is effectively automatically stretched. I saw the benefit of this when I was out painting one day. Somebody stopped me and asked if I sell my paintings, and because it was on the thick, stretched paper, I would be able to sell it if I wanted to. I gave her my website details, so maybe she will look me up and find the piece and buy it – I hope so! I tend to work with quite a few layers, and lots of water, and I was impressed with how the paper held up to my working methods without tearing, wearing away or bobbling up, which some paper can tend to do.

Interestingly, I found myself automatically making more “traditional” watercolour pieces when working on the block, and I would like to challenge myself to make some more experimental pieces on the paper block too. I also found that to make a more “traditional” watercolour piece, you need lots of time and patience, which I found I was lacking in both – I tend to make pieces in a more energetic burst, but with watercolour, I felt it left them feeling a bit unfinished. But overall, I really loved making watercolour paintings with these paints, the colour payoff is so great, but they also thin down to a very subtle finish, and they bleed out beautifully.

“I painted this one in the rain under a tree, so it is an especially watery one! But I was impressed with how flat it dried out! I experimented quite a lot with this using the sponges for texture. I used the masking fluid on the fence, and it came off really easily with no tearing, and I really enjoyed applying with the ruling pen, which I had never used before. I added some detail with pen and ink.”

In order to test the paints out in a more day-to-day way, I also worked in my sketchbooks. I like to use the Royal Talens Art Creation sketchbooks — they are good value, the paper is thick enough to take the soaking I regularly give them, and although it buckles, I feel it holds up pretty well.

Working in my sketchbooks, the paints really came into their own and I found myself relaxing into them a bit more. I used them as I would with any location painting, layering them with whatever art materials I had to hand, mainly coloured pencils, soft pastels and ink, which is how I tend to work in my typical location paintings.

So, onto the stars of the show – the paint. Jackson’s supplied me with a small but mighty range of colours: Indigo (I am in love with this colour!!), Ultramarine, Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Permanent Magenta, French Vermillion (a lovely bright red), Quinacridone Purple, and Viridian (a bright, cool green). I say, ‘small but mighty’, because I reckon, I could get by pretty happily with just these colours. Perhaps a cool blue, such as a Cobalt Blue would have been useful, but I used the Indigo as my cool blue, and it mixed to a beautiful vibrant green with the Lemon Yellow. All the colours are super pigmented, and I love the rich deep colours you can get, without spending hours warming your watercolour pans up. The Cadmium Yellow felt particularly opaque and powerful, so you just needed a tiny drop to get a big payoff. I used the tiniest amounts in the painting of the fading peonies to add a bit of a brownish warmth to the dying petals.

Finally, to the brushes and additional tools. I really love Hake brushes — I already have a 45mm one — and having a smaller 30mm one is really great for watercolour painting. I love that you can get a lovely flat wash, but if you blot a lot on a tissue after loading with paint, you can get loads of different textures. I also love the Chinese Painting Brush, which works similarly, but with the ability to get a nice point to the brush too. I loved the two synthetic wash brushes I tried, the Icon Quill No.2, and the Raven No. 0. I’m very impressed they are synthetic – the fibres are so soft, and I never would have known they weren’t sable if I hadn’t been told. The smaller brushes I tried were great too, they stayed together with no fraying after use, but were firm enough to add small details too. I used Onyx size 0 and 6, which are both synthetic, and Icon size 8, which is a synthetic mix. I am including a selection of marks I made with my various brushes and sponges at the end of this post.

I’m so glad I had the chance to re-familiarise myself with watercolour paint, and to try them in tubes. I am excited by all the mark-making and textural possibilities, and I fully intend to make further experiments with them. Here are a few pictures showing some delicious details.

About Ella Beech

Ella Beech lives in Cambridge, UK, with her husband and fourteen year old son. Ella worked in publishing for 20 years until she left in 2019 to pursue her passion for drawing and painting. She is currently doing an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art, which she will complete in December 2021.

Ella runs art workshops, creative mentoring, and is a creator on Patreon. Here she describes what these can offer:

“I love my new life, living and working creatively. As well as the MA, I run art workshops with my side business Happy Sun Arts (@happysun_arts on Instagram). I do Creative Mentoring, and I am a Patreon Creator. My Patreon is ‘pay what you can afford’ in solidarity with struggling creatives after the Pandemic. You can join for as little as £1 per month, going up to £20 per month, for people who would like to support me with a higher pledge. I post several times a month, with sketchbook tours, art materials ‘Deep Dives’ (a bit like this review in video form!) and process videos. I have just started a #100dayproject on my Instagram, where I have committed to draw/create every day for 100 days, and post on my Instagram feed no matter what, even if I am not happy with what I have done. I believe that regularly making work keeps you fluent and more free in your art making, and it’s a great cure for stopping you over thinking your Instagram posts!”

@ellamorella
www.ellabeech.com

Use or search the Instagram tag #jacksonsmaterials to see more.

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