Dana Eker Beginner's Easel: Watercolors

As originally seen in the Red Bluff Daily News

Painting with watercolors is exciting because several colors may converge to create the unknown. A color may be lifted off the paper with a wet brush providing highlights and implying depth. Or just to change a color. It’s easy to travel with watercolors and clean up with water is so simple. Drying time is often as fast as it takes me to pack up my gear. Good matting and framing is the expense.

The great results you hoped for won’t happen with just any watercolor paint. If you were to touch the paint from a tube, it should feel sticky. The key ingredient is gum arabic which allows the paint to adhere to the paper. Name brands like Winsor-Newton make an affordable student grade, such as the Cotman brand. Tubes of color come wet and pans of color are dry, ready for water to be introduced to it. I use 6 basic colors and mix the hues I need. A subject for a future article.

Palettes (pa’lits) are available in numerous sizes. Choose one with a cover to keep the paints clean. Palettes have little wells around the edge to hold the tube colors. There are also larger areas for mixing color. Even though the color dries in the well or in the mixing area, it can be reconstituted with a little water. Large palettes aren’t necessary. Really, you don’t need every color on the shelf.

Watercolor papers come in three types. Hot-pressed has a smooth surface, cold-pressed gives a slightly textured surface, and rough offers a heavily textured surface. I like texture because it gives a sense of depth to a painting. When you purchase paper ask to see different samples before you buy. Assorted papers available use between 25 - 100% cotton rag fibers for strength unlike wood fibers used for newsprint. The weights of watercolor papers are: 90 lb (flimsy), 140 lb, 260 lb, and 300 lb (like cardboard). Paper less than 260 lb must be taped down to a surface before use, or it warps and tears when it is wet or over worked. Warping of paper creates huge puddles of water and color that distorts your work. Paper towels are useful in this case. Twist the corner of a paper towel into a “tail” and lightly touch it to the edge of a puddle to soak up the excess moisture. Applying pressure on the paper with a clean paper towel will remove wet color in larger areas. Watercolor paper sold in blocks help to avoid this disaster because each sheet is held down very tight. After your painting is dry, the top sheet is removed from the block with a palette knife. It’s pretty slick.

Watercolor brushes are generally used to apply the paint to the paper. A 1” flat brush for washing large areas of color onto the paper’s surface. I like a #8 or #10 round for most things, and a #1 for details. Brushes can be your biggest expense, if you get good ones they give wonderful results and last for years. A brush left to sit in a container of water is not allowed! The bristles will bend. I caution you to wash brushes out when finishing a painting or OOPS, the paint left in the brush will affect the next painting. Buy the best paints and paper that you can afford. Materials of lesser quality give disappointing results and waste your money. Just wait until you try sponges, salt, and plastic wrap for creating textures.

Other necessities are a board and masking tape to tape the paper onto the board. I like foam core covered with white contact paper for this purpose, it is light weight and easily cut to fit the size of the paper I’m using. Also, have nearby several water containers such as small yogurt tubs - one for rinsing color out of the brush, a second one for dipping the brush into clean water to wet the paint before it is applied to the paper.

Allow your painting to dry before tilting it or I guarantee that the paint will run across the surface. You don’t want that to happen, even paper towels may not help to save it. Ways to dry your painting quickly include; a blow dryer set on low, sunshine for a few minutes, or a warm area and wait until the surface shine is gone to safely move it. Your masterpiece will be dry to touch in a short time.

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Dana Eker is a watercolorist living in Red Bluff. She is a member of the Red Bluff Art Gallery, with artwork displayed around town. E-mail Dana at danaeker@hotmail.com.

This article originally ran in the Red Bluff Daily News and is reprinted with their kind permission. Click here to read more Red Bluff Daily News features and get the latest local news.

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