Materials
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If you already have watercolor materials, bring those with you to the first class. Otherwise, you may want to bring just a pencil and pad for sketching, and decide on which materials to get before the next class.
Art materials can by mail ordered (Jerry's Artarama, or Cheap Joe's, for example), and there are a few good local stores such as Plaza Art on Nutley St. in Vienna, Va. Michaels also has watercolor materials, at a higher price (although weekly mail coupons and register receipt coupons are readily available for up to 50% discounts).
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Watercolor Paints: Good quality paint, i.e. Winsor and Newton Artist, Holbein, etc., is important, student quality paint (i.e. Cotman or Academy) costs less, but usually does not perform as well. I use Winsor & Newton because it is consistently good, and can be purchased in many local art stores.
Emphasis will be on use of a limited palette, i.e., no more than 3 or 4 tube colors per painting.
Get as many of these colors as you can (at least the complete basic palette). Otherwise, the list is not really prioritized, as so much depends upon personal color preference, although I have included only those pigments with which I have had the most success..
Some pigments are more expensive than others, due to manufacturing costs. For Winsor & Newton, for example, a series number, 1 thru 4 is assigned to each pigment, with series I being the lowest cost, and series 4 the highest.
Usually two tube sizes are available. If you are not familiar with the colors, get the smaller tube size until you decide on your favorites.
Note: The cadmium and cobalt pigments have health warnings - don't put your brush in your mouth, or eat while painting.
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Basic Palette (low-key):
burnt sienna (medium strength basic earth color)
raw sienna (warm yellow)
cobalt blue (medium strength middle blue, subtle mixes of useful blue-grays)
Extensions to the basic palette:
winsor blue green shade (high strength - for darker values, greens, gray mixes)
winsor yellow (medium yellow)
light red (similar to, but stronger and more opaque than Burnt Sienna)
quinacridone gold (warm brownish yellow for warmer greens and fall foliage)
Cadmiums: red medium,orange,yellow (all are opaque - use with care)
permanent rose (transparent skies, warm mixes)
alizarin crimson (transparent, for strength)
French Ultramarine (granulates, strong blue-gray mixes)
cerulean blue - summer skies, greens
winsor violet (dioxazine, transparent)
cobolt violet (lovely soft violet)
burnt umber (strong earth color, granulates)
Notice that there are no green tube colors on this list - a wide range of greens can be more effectively mixed from the full palette of other pigments.
Effective color schemes are often built on a triad of the three primaries, one yellow, one red and one blue pigment.
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Paper (I use Arches 90 to 300 lb. and/or Canson 140lb sheets or pads/blocks up to 18" X 24"). Note that watercolor papers come in smooth and rough surfaces (hot and cold press), and basically two materials - inexpensive wood pulp, and higher quality rag fibers. You may want to try some of each surface type and quality. There are many good quality papers out there, and you will notice the differences between them.
Brushes (synthetic/sable blends in square (up to 1") and round (up to #10). The sizes of the brushes that you will need will depend on the paper size, i.e., smaller paper size, smaller brushes. Always try to use the largest brush you can in order to get a bold result.
A small liner brush ("rigger") also comes in very handy for painting delicate twigs, branches, and other small details which will help to provide a sense of scale to your landscape.
Palette for Mixing color
Any clean, white plastic or enamel surface such as old or plastic plates can work well. Small bowls are easier to manage and prevent your basic color mixes from contaminating each other. A loaded palette with individual paint wells is convenient, but not necessary, as you can squeeze out individual colors from their tubes in preparation for painting.
Easel (not required but very helpful when painting outdoors) Indoors, it's easy to keep your painting tilted during the painting process.
Pencil A number 2 pencil is all you need to sketch before painting.
Masking Tape for securing the paper, but not necessary if you are using a watercolor block or pad. I will provide tape in class.
Spray Bottle and container for water (plant sprayer, empty plastic bottle with a wide opening, for example). Very handy for special effects, carrying water, wetting your palette, etc.
Masking Fluid for reserving small, critical highlights in your painting, but we won't use it much, so you can borrow some from me instead of buying a whole bottle.
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8 Week Fall Session
Fairfax and Eastern Loudoun Counties
Email rnevitte@verizon.net for more information
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What's so great about Watercolor?
Your definition of "Landscape"
 Class demonstrations
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What Materials are good to use?
How to pick a subject to paint
A short Intro to composition: Shapes + values + color
Think of your picture as big shapes within the frame
The landscape: Earth, Sky and Water - that doesn't sound too difficult...
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Introduction to Color
A "short" discussion of each of the following:
Color Theory
Color Harmony
Color Palettes
Color Mixing
The "Personality" of Watercolor
Transparency, Granulation, "Staining/Non-staining" attributes
The importance of letting Watercolor do what it wants to do
Traditional Watercolor Techniques
Washes: The building blocks of your painting
Wet in Wet, Dry brush, glazing
The #1 Question: How much water should I use?
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"Seeing" a Composition in your mind's eye: everybody's a designer
The formula: Shapes + Color + Values = Composition
Letting go of literal reality - it's ok
Exaggeration/Simplification - it's sometimes required
Interpreting a subject: let your imagination go free: you really can move that tree! |
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Other elements of composition and technique:
Temperature
Direction
Overlapping Objects
Soft and Hard edges
Using the white of the paper
Shadows and Reflections
Using Thumbnail sketches and Color Studies |
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Adding mood to your work:
Stronger skies and stronger palettes
Triads: Red,Yellow, and Blue
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Color Strategies: Complimentary and Analogous Palettes: Yellow/violet, blue/orange
Using Architecture and Figures to enhance your landscape |
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More techniques (it's all about water): Salt, resists, mediums, spattering, pouring
Outdoor Painting: How it's different from painting on the kitchen table
Use of Photography: It's recommended! A digital camera and a computer will open new worlds
Framing and presentation: Simple and complimentary is all you need
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Developing your style
Joining an Artists Club or Group
Review/Questions
Where to go from here |
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References:
Painting Your Vision in Watercolor, Robert Wade
Watercolor - The Wet Technique, Arthur Barbour
Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green, Wilcox Guide to Watercolor pigments
Making Color Sing, Jean Dobie, Chapters 1 - 5
Public Library
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