Materials List for
Landscape Painting in Watercolor
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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. |
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Watercolor Paints:
Good
quality paint, i.e. Winsor and Newton Artist, Holbein, DaVinci, Maimeri
Blu, etc., makes a big difference, although student quality paint (i.e.
Cotman or Academy) costs less, and 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.
Note
that the term "winsor", as in "winsor red" refers to Winsor &
Newton, while 'thalo" refers to Grumbacher. Other manufacturers may
use their own names for the primary and secondary colors in their lines.
Get as many of these colors as you can afford (at least the complete muted or alternate palette).
The list is prioritized, as much as possible, with the most important listed first.
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
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Muted (basic) Palette:
burnt sienna (red substitute, medium strength basic earth color)
cobalt blue (medium strength, mixes well with siennas)
raw sienna (yellow substitute, good complement to burnt sienna)
Add the following colors to extend the range ot the basic palette:
Yellows
Aureolin (cool yellow)
New Gamboge (warm yellow)
Blues
thalo (or winsor) blue (green shade) transparent
Ultramarine blue or French Ultramarine (granulates)
Reds and Oranges
winsor red
quinacridone gold
and/or
cadmium red medium
cadmium orange
Staining pigments, useful for mixing and adding dark values to your work:
alizarin crimson (transparent)
violet (dioxazine) (transparent)
Other Useful Colors (stronger skies and earth)
thioindigo violet (good for complementing most primaries) cerulean blue - summer skies, granulating mixes
burnt umber (stronger earth color, use sparingly, granulates)
Light red (granulates, opaque earth color)
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Paper (Arches 300 lb. and/or Canson 140lb sheets or pads/blocks up to 18" X 24")
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 handy for painting delicate twigs and branches.
Palette for Mixing color
I
like the John Pike palette. Any clean, white plastic or enamel surface
such as old or plastic plates can work well. For outdoor painting,
small bowls are easier to manage.
A loaded palette with
individual paint wells is convenient, but not necessary, as you can
squeeze out individual colors from their tubes in preparation of
painting.
Wooden canvas stretchers (2" larger than your paper size) for stapling paper to, or sturdy board for support. These will not be needed if you are using a watercolor block of paper, which prevents the paper from wrinkling, buckling, etc.
Easel (not
required but very helpful when painting outdoors) Indoors, it's
important to have some way to keep your painting tilted during the
painting process.
Pencil/Sketchbook A
number 2 and number 6 drawing pencil will give you the range necessary
to develop a value sketch (thumbnail). Alternatively, two or three
gray felt-tip pens (light, medium and dark values), such as those from
Prismacolor, can be used in an expressive way for this purpose.
Light duty stapler w/ 1/4" staples (Masking Tape can be used in lieu of stapling). These will not be needed if you are using a watercolor block of paper.
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
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Syllabus for
Landscape Painting in Watercolor
The
Winter session will be starting Wednesday, January 16th. Classes will
be an extra half hour longer than the fall session, from 1 to 3 pm.
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NOTE:
Due to icy conditions on February 13th, and the resulting cancellation
of class that day, there will be a make-up class held on Wednesday,
March 12th.
Winter, 2007, 8 Weeks
The following topics will be discussed, roughly in the order shown below. Important topics will be revisited often.
There will be time to paint in each class, and, if desired, the class can suggest ways to improve the results.
Demonstrations on the use of Watercolor will be frequent.
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Week 1 January 16
Definition of "Landscape"
Look at some successful watercolor works
Materials
Introduction to Composition
Value Patterns
Format (size and shape of the picture)
Arrangement of shapes within the format
Earth, Sky and Water: Components of a classic landscape
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Week 2 January 23
Introduction to Color
Color Theory
Color Harmony
Color Palettes
Color Mixing
Other Attributes of Watercolor paints
Transparency, Granulation, "Staining"
Traditional Watercolor Techniques
Washes, Wet in Wet, Dry brush, glazing
The importance of letting Watercolor do what it wants to do
Demonstration: "Earth, Sky and Water" using the muted palette on cold pressed paper
More Landscape Composition
- "Seeing" a Composition in your mind's eye
- Shapes + Color + Values = Composition
- Letting go of literal reality
Exaggeration/Simplification
- Interpreting a subject: Imagination
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Week 3 January 30
Review Weeks 1 and 2
Attributes of Watercolor Paper
Weight, surface, content
Outdoor (Plein Air) Painting and Indoor Painting
High/Low Contrast and High/Low Key
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Week 4 February 6
* Earth, Sky and Water Review
* Other elements of composition and technique
- Temperature
- Direction
- Overlapping objects
- Soft and hard edges
- Using the white of the paper
- Shadows
- Reflections
Using Thumbnail sketches and Color Studies
Demonstration: Painting on smooth paper (Canson Montvale) |
Week 5 February 13
Adding mood to your work:
Demonstration: stronger skies and stronger palettes
Triads: Ultramarine, Burnt Umber, Light red
Analogous Palettes: violets/blues |
Week 6 February 20
Complimentary Palettes: Yellow/violet, blue/orange
Using Architecture and Figures to enhance your landscape
Demonstration: Limiting the palette for lifelike architectural subjects |
Week 7 February 27
More techniques: Salt, resists, mediums, spattering, pouring techniques
Outdoor Painting: simplify,edit
Use of Photography
Framing and presentation |
Week 8 March 5
Developing your style
Joining an Artists Club or League
Review/Questions
Where to go from here |
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
Internet
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