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Mediums and accessories

Gum Arabic - Gum Arabic, the binder for watercolour, can be added to the paint to allow for more transparency and gloss. This enhances the vividness of the colour as well as improving the flow of the paint. However, used to access, it will become jelly-like.

Masking fluid - This latex solution can be brushed onto areas that the artist wishes to stay white. Once dry, washes can be applied over it. When the painting is dry, the latex can be rubbed or pulled off revealing the clean paper.

Ox gall - Made from the gallbladders of cattle, this liquid improves the flow of the paint when added to the water, particularly for wet-in-wet painting. It can also be used to reduce the surface tension on very hard sized papers. Synthetic versions are available.

Glycerine/Blending medium - This will prolong the drying times of watercolour making it very useful in counteracting the drying effects of wind and warm temperatures when painting outside. Simply add a few drops to the water.

Alcohol - In contrast, alcohol will increase the drying times and is useful when plein air painting in damp weather conditions.

Gelatine size - Applied to the paper and left to dry prior to painting, this will reduce the absorbency of paper making it easier to apply washes.

Lifting preparation - This preparation coats the paper allowing paint to be more easily lifted when correcting an error. Good for beginners.

Texture medium - Containing fine particles, this will add texture to washes.

Sponges - for wetting paper or lifting off wet paint. Natural sponges are the best.

Palettes - palettes for watercolour come in porcelain, metal or plastic. The only rule is that they should be white in order to guage the colours of the paint.

Pencil - soft pencils (B to 8B) will leave too strong a mark on a surface and mix badly with the washes of watercolour applied over it. Therefore a harder pencil should be used but should not be pressed too heavily as this will cause indentations on the paper surface that can not be removed.

Water container - any container is fine for watercolour. However, it is useful to use a transparent one so that you can keep an eye on how dirty the water is getting and avoid muddying new colours that are being mixed. Many artists use two - one for cleaning brushes and a separate one with clean water for mixing.

 

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Paint

Red watercolour paint

As simple as it sounds - pigment bound in Gum Arabic and thinned with water - there can be a great deal of room for variation and it is always best to look for the very best quality you can afford. Watercolour comes in students and artists quality. (There are also very cheap versions that are so basic, as to be practically unusable and not generally found in good art shops.)

Student's quality watercolours are great for the beginner. As you would expect from a lower price product, they do not contain as much pure pigment as artists quality and, those colours that would normally contain an expensive pigment, instead contain substitutes and are therefore referred to as a 'hue' of the colour. They have more fillers and extenders in them and do not come in such a large range as the artists one but offer the beginner a good range at a uniform price.

Artists quality, on the other hand, contains the purest, best quality, permanent, very finely ground pigments. The availability and cost of the pigment is reflected in the 'series' in which the colour is placed, with series 5 pigments being the most costly and series 1, the least. All the colours have a good transparency and luminosity, mix well and there is a far more extensive selection.

Good quality paints will also have a higher permanency rating and, used on acid-free paper and kept out of direct sunlight, should last without fading for many generations. Watercolour should not be varnished as it will yellow and be impossible to clean off without taking some of the paper fibre.

Some watercolours are more transparent than others. The highly transparent colours allow the white refelctive surface of the paper to shine through and so are good for creating a light and airy feel to the painting. Colours in this category include French ultramarine, Cobalt blue, Rose madder and Raw sienna.

Watercolour half pans

There are other colours that are, although transparent, highly staining. These colours penetrate the paper fibres and can not be lifted off without colouring the paper. They tend to be earth colours, cadmiums and modern organic pigments such as Alizarin crimson, Viridian, Sap green and Prussian blue.

The remaining colours fall into the 'opaque' category which is a bit of a misnomer when talking about such a transparent medium. However, they are 'strong' colours that will dominate the colours they are mixed with or painted next to and will tend to override any colour that is washed over them. If used incorrectly, they can even create cloudy colours that loose all the brilliance and luminosity that watercolour should have. These colours include Yellow ochre, Indian red, Cerulean blue and Burnt umber.

samples of paint colours

Brushes

When choosing brushes, again, it is always better to invest in good quality. Cheaper brushes will wear out sooner and not perform nearly as well. The best brushes are Kolinsky sable, made from the tail of the Sable Marten of the Kolinsky region of Northern Siberia. The hair is strong and supple so keeps its shape, holds a lot of paint and has a flexibility that allows for controlled brush strokes. A cheaper alternative is red or pure sable although the water-holding and control properties are not quite so good . Synthetic brushes are available and, in the smaller sizes, are good for detailed work whilst squirrel hair is a good choice for mop brushes to apply washes over large areas.

Watercolour brushes

Round brushes - This is the most versatile of the brush types. Its round body can hold a good amount of paint to allow to make broad strokes whilst its tapered point is good for fine detail.
Spotters - These brushes have a short head and fine point giving extra control for precise detail.
Riggers - Originally used to paint rigging on maritime paintings, they are long and thin allowing for fine lines and tapering.
Mops or wash brushes - Used for laying down washes over large areas, the 'wash' is wide and flat whilst the 'mop' has a large round head.
Flat brushes - Not only can these be used to lay washes in one stroke, their chiselled end can be used for line work and working up to an edge.


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