The usual dilemma of artists starting to paint in watercolor is that it behaves differently from mediums like oil or acrylic. For one, oil and acrylic are opaque mediums whereas watercolor is transparent. It could heavily influence and flow to the color beside it if that is not the intention and if care is not taken. Unlike other mediums then, decisions at the start of the painting must be done where the whites are placed and apply the lightest of shades first. Common practices of watercolorists are to leave the white areas for later.
To paint in watercolor, observe the following.
Center of Interest
Creating the center of interest is the heart of an artwork. When you paint in watercolor, unless the theme is formal or static, avoid having the center of interest right in the middle of the painting. To solve this, break the vertical and the horizontal axis on a ratio of 1:2. Keeping the center of interest of the painting at an unequal distance between the sides will correct the subjects positioning.
Thumbnails sketches
When the subject of the painting is already determined, drawing thumbnail sketches will help manage the canvass and prevent you from making mistakes later. The thumbnail sketches will allow you to arrange and shuffle the subjects around. Having thumbnails sketches also provides you with a good idea on creating lights and shadows to have the maximum contrasts at the center of interest
Applying the color
Having the center of interest in mind, start the painting by applying the lightest washes in the background working towards the darker hues and details later on. Having too many colors in the palette often result into a work that looks muddy and discordant. When starting the painting, have your color palette limited to two or three colors working your way towards tight details later on as dictated by the subject and the atmosphere that you want to create. Introduction of intense colors could be done later in the work. When starting to color, cover large areas loosely but do not forget to leave the white areas blank. This will enable you to create very good detail and tonal contrasts.
Harmonizing the color
While coloring and the choice of colors to be applied basically rests with the artist, a color wheel is a good tool to use to get a better idea on how the watercolor painting will appear in the end. Harmonizing the color rests on tastes and preferences and so there are no rules to that. However, the one thing that is best avoided when unsure of which color to use is to avoid neutral darks. Watercolor painting will tend to have more character if the dark color choices are either warm or cool darks. If a discordant color appears in the painting (like for example a purple lily that seems to jump out of the canvass), apply the discordant color to other areas of the painting as well.
Finally, as with all artwork, when you paint in watercolor, do not overdo details. Creating too much detail in one single work will tire the eye. Create areas of relief as well.
Before the 1800's, watercolor painting is done on any paper that is available. Normally, it will be very difficult to paint on heavy paper that is colorfast. A wrapping paper, a white paper or even tourist guide papers are common since the manufacture of watercolor paper were to come later.
Today, watercolor paper is manufactured well with formulation for specific watercolor applications. These applications are divided into attributes such as weight, color, size, furnish, permanence, packaging, dimension and color.
Weight - Grams per square meter (GSM) determine the weight of the watercolor paper. Depending on its density and thickness, the weight of the watercolor paper ranges from 280 to 640 gsm. To judge whether the paper is good to your application without even looking at the weight is to hold it on one edge and shake it vigorously. Paper with less weight will give a rubbery sound when rattled while papers with heavier grades will tend to give off a more metallic sound. Generally, heavier papers are excellent for water based applications although it is much more expensive.
Color – Most watercolor papers are pure white although sometimes they come with a slight tinge of beige and sometimes slightly yellowish. There are also watercolor papers today that are tinted and are available in all colors.
Furnish – The furnish of the watercolor paper is determined by the content or material from which the paper is made. The papers are made of cellulose extracted from plants notably, wood pulp, linen, and cotton. After extraction, the pulps are wetted, macerated, chemically treated and filtered and rinsed and poured into paper making moulds. The watercolor paper making machines are large cylinders fixed with metal wire screen mesh that gives the paper the texture of a wove. The wire mesh determines the coarseness or the smoothness of the wove produced.
Size and Dimensions – The sizes that are commercially available are:
Emperor sheet (40"x60"), double elephant (30"x40"), full sheets (22"x30"), half sheets (15"x22") and the quarter sheets (15"x11"). Watercolor paper sizes are also available as watercolor blocks or pads containing 20 sheets. A watercolor block comes in different sizes with its dimensions glued on the edges for portability.
Permanence – Every paper deteriorates eventually however, the best watercolor paper are the archival papers. These papers are entirely from 100% cellulose fibers whether made from linen or cotton. Because of these, papers are free of lignen. Archival papers will last for more than 100 years without significant deterioration like discoloration and brittleness.
Finishes – When you buy a watercolor paper, the finish is printed on a corner that tells you it's texture. There are three basic finishes that tells you the texture of the paper. The HP (hard pressed), the CP (cold pressed) and R for rough. Each texture works for particular applications. Work with hard pressed papers for smoother applications and textures.
Packaging – the packaging of the watercolor paper will give information regarding the attributes mentioned above, and how those attributes will work for a particular painting.
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