Watercolour Skills Block

Watercolour painting is the oldest form of painting and watercolour tins come in either pans and half pans. 

Watercolour is made with pigment and a binder called gum arabic made from North African tree sap.

It is ground with a muller and honey can be added to it. 

Muller

Water melts the gum arabic sap and disperses the pigment. Light then filters through the film of pigment onto the white paper and bounces back so the eye can see colour. 

Old watercolour kegs fit in a little thumb pot and were popularly used in old army to record locations.

Brushes:
Watercolour brushes are made from soft sable, sometimes nylon. 
Tuft = tip of the brush

Reservoire = bottom, which holds water a little longer
Sable hair has tiny hairs which also hold water a little longer. 
Watercolour brushes should really be moved at the top. 
Hog hair brushes are for wedging in paint, but sable brushes are for gentle use. You really only need two brushes for watercolour painting, which are the pencil brush (*tip it should be expensive)
and a wash brush (flat)

Note: Take the plastic sleeve off of brushes when they've been bought and keep them in a roll. Don't try and put the plastic sleeve back on or you'll destroy the brush. A plastic sleeve is only permissible with a travelling brush.

Paper: 
Paper is VERY IMPORTANT when it comes to watercolour painting.
It's made to make a painting look better.
Classic watercolour paper should be approximately 300gsm, with rough ridges as it makes the work look better. It's made from cotton and is thick and heavy. It comes in a knotted or rough surface, depending how it's been dried. Tinted paper, denim paper and sanderstead white paper are other papers which can be used for watercolour painting, but do remember, anything under a layer of pigment however, will bounce back.

Basic Watercolour painting - Charles Williams

To prep the paper, add a layer of rabbit skin glue which is transparent. You can also add oil paint over the top.

Do not wipe excess off the brush before use. Paint with a ridge and allow paint to travel down the paper. This is so that is all dries uniformed. Work at an angle and then allow it to dry flat. 
With watercolour painting, once you've applied paint you can only go darker so you have to work negatively/ in reverse. Work lighter to go darker with tone and background. A little goes a long way!



Stretching Paper:
When stretching paper, use gum tape as it's the only tape that doesn't move. When stretched, put it in a room and leave it for day to dry. You can work on the paper with the tape on or off.