Monthly Watercolour Tip - July 2005

How did you get on with recognising the colours used to mix those four greens I showed you last month? Hopefully it wasn't too difficult, but here's the answer anyway.

From the left - Prussian Blue/Lemon Yellow, Prussian Blue/Raw Sienna, Ultramarine Blue/Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Blue/Raw Sienna. Notice how the two greens containing Raw Sienna look much duller than the greens made with Lemon Yellow. That's because Raw Sienna has lots of red in it, so that even with a blue like Prussian that has a yellow bias it still makes a pretty dull green. However, that's often very useful in landscape painting where bright vibrant greens are often only seen during the springtime. Infact I usually use Cadmium Yellow rather than Lemon Yellow, because it has just a slight red bias which makes greens just a bit less acid.

So far we've just talked about mixing greens, because that seems to be the colour that many artists find difficult. The same principals of mixing apply to other colours too of course, so that if we want to mix a nice clean orange we must use a red with a yellow bias (and no blue in it) and a yellow with a red bias. Try Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow.

From all of the above we can begin to get a feel for the colours that would form a useful palette of watercolour paints. If we choose a couple of blues, one with a red bias and one with a blue bias. A couple of yellows, one with a red bias and one with a blue bias, and a couple of reds, one with a yellow bias and one with a blue bias, we should be able to mix a huge range of colours just from six tubes of paint. Here are my suggestions - from the top, Prussian Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson. More next month!

Prussian Blue

Ultramarine Blue

Raw Sienna

Lemon Yellow

Burnt Sienna

Alizarin Crimson

Monthly Watercolour Tip - June 2005

Sorry that the June tip is a bit late, but I've tried to make up for it by putting the July tip on-line at the same time. This month I'm going to continue with the principals of colour mixing that are so important to get the right sense of harmony and balance in your paintings.

In May I showed you two blues - a warm blue with a red bias, Ultramarine Blue, and a cool blue with a yellow bias, Prussian Blue. Below are two yellows that continue that theme - one is a warm yellow with a red bias, Raw Sienna, and one is a cool yellow with a blue bias, Lemon Yellow. It's important to choose the right blue and the right yellow to mix together to make a green, and it's even more important to understand why the colours react as they do.

 Let's have some examples. If we wanted to mix a really dull grey-green we could use Ultramarine Blue and Raw Sienna. Why? Because both of those colours have a red bias, so that we're actually mixing blue, yellow and red together - remember that those three colours mixed together make black. Mixing a blue with a red bias and a yellow with a red bias is going to give us a green that's on it's way to being a black, in other words a very dull grey-green.

If we want to make a brighter green, then we can substitute one or both colours for ones that do not contain any red. So we could use Ultramarine Blue with Lemon Yellow, or Raw Sienna with Prussian Blue. For a really bright spring green then Prussian Blue and Lemon Yellow would do the trick. Here are four greens mixed from combinations of the two blues and two yellows I've been showing you. See if you can work out which green was mixed with which colour.

Monthly Watercolour Tip - May 2005

This time we're going to look at the principals of colour mixing so that we can choose the right colours to use in our palette.

If we think about it, most of us will remember the basic theory of colour mixing from our school days. There are three primary colours, red, yellow and blue. Red and yellow together make orange, yellow and blue together make green, and blue and red together make purple. Mix all three primaries together in the right proportions and you'll end up with black.

Here are two common watercolour pigments from the blue spectrum. On the left is Prussian Blue and on the right Ultramarine Blue. I'm sure you can see that Prussian Blue is much cooler looking than Ultramarine Blue. Prussian already has an almost green tinge to it, whereas Ultramarine is distinctly veering towards purple or violet. This is because Prussian Blue has a yellow bias, some small amount of yellow in it. Remember - blue and yellow make green. Ultramarine Blue has a red bias, blue and red make purple or violet.

Nearly all artists pigments have a bias towards another colour. If we can see that bias then it's easy to predict what the result of mixing one pigment with another will be.

Let's imagine we want to mix a green. Remember blue and yellow make green. Which of the two blues above when mixed with a yellow would give the cleanest most vibrant green?

I hope you said Prussian Blue. It's already on the way to green because it's got a yellow bias. If we use Ultramarine with it's hint of red, we'll effectively be mixing blue, red, and yellow together - on the way to black. Greens mixed with Ultramarine will be more muted, not as spring like. Of course, that might be quite useful for painting the landscape, the most vibrant greens are not always the most realistic.

I'll talk more about colour mixing next time. Happy painting!

Monthly Watercolour Tip - April 2005

In March I talked about the design of a painting and how to work out the position, shape and tone of objects by making a small pencil sketch to try-out the design before you start to paint. This time we're going to look at colour. How do we decide what colours to use in a painting, out of the huge range of different paints available from any manufacturer?

I'm a great fan of the so-called limited palette, in other words reducing the number of different colours used to a minimum. If we keep to just a few colours, and obtain variations by mixing, the painting will be bound to have a feeling of harmony within it. Also, by reducing the number of colours used we can move away from merely copying the colours we see and create something more atmospheric. We can give an impression of the scene and what we feel about it.

Lastly, using a limited palette makes life easier for us as artists. For example, if we are only using one blue in a painting, then any green will contain that blue plus a yellow. We may be using more than one yellow to give a wide range of greens, but there will be no confusion about our starting point because we're limiting ourselves to one blue. 

Here's a typical Norfolk landscape, the windmill at Burnham Overy, which I've painted using a limited palette of just four colours. The blue which is used throughout is Ultramarine Blue. The greens, of which there are many, are obtained by mixing Ultramarine with Raw Sienna for the muted greens, and Cadmium Yellow Pale for the brighter greens. The tiled roofs are Burnt Sienna with a touch of Raw Sienna, while the same Burnt Sienna mixed with Ultramarine gives the dark greys used for the tower of the mill and the shadows.

It's quite a colourful looking painting, but by carefully selecting the colours for my palette I was able to achieve a wide variety of hues by simple colour mixing.

Next month I'll look at the principals of colour mixing in more detail, so that you'll find it easy to choose the right colours for your own palette.

Monthly Watercolour Tip - March 2005

Last month I promised to show you more about composition and design. It's not enough to just take a photograph and slavishly copy it, we need to use our skills as designers to create an interesting and effective composition which will turn our painting into a true work of art.

The easiest way to try out various designs is by doing small pencil sketches first, concentrating on the positioning of the elements of the composition, and on the light and dark tones. Here's a sketch which I did in the planning stage of the paintings of winter trees which I showed you last month.

 If you compare the sketch with the photograph of the scene (which is in last month's tip) you can see that I've made changes both to the composition and to the lighting.

I've simplified the trees and allowed the church to become the focal point of the painting. I've also enlarged the dark area of grasses on the right in the foreground, to encourage the eye towards the focal point.

 In the original photo, it was a very dull day and there is no obvious source of light. Here I've used shading on the church to give a feeling of quite strong light coming in from the right. Lighting the church enables it's form to be much more easily seen. It has a round tower, a common feature in Norfolk, which is really not visible in the original photo. Use of graduated shading across the face of the tower gives an impression of roundness.

All the light and dark tones in the painting are indicated in this simple sketch. Nothing in nature has a line drawn round it, we see shapes by differences of tone, light against dark, so by trying out our tones before starting to paint we can easily see if the picture is going to work. 

These sketches should be small, about postcard size, and done with a soft pencil, say a 4B, so that you can shade in. Do several of them if you like, until you find the ideal design for your painting. At this point the only remaining decisions will be about colour, everything else has been worked out at this stage.

I shall be back next month with more watercolour tips. Enjoy your painting!

Monthly Watercolour Tip - February 2005

At this time of the year it's the perfect moment to tackle TREES. Trees in winter are one of the most popular painting subjects, but also one that many artists find tricky. The secret is to SIMPLIFY them, and let the eye of the viewer fill in all the detail that you've left out. Let's look at how to go about doing that.

Here's a photo I took recently at Burnham Norton near the North Norfolk coast. Notice that the trees actually have hundreds of fine branches and twigs - far too many to paint successfully.

The key to painting a subject like this is to reduce the detail to a manageable amount, and let the eye of the viewer fill in the rest. Just by putting in a few branches and some simple washes an impression will be created of a mass of detail.

A good watercolour painting gives an impression of the scene. Not just how it looks, but how it feels to the artist.

Below are two paintings of this scene, one in colour and one a sepia monochrome. Notice in both paintings how few of the branches and twigs I've actually painted, and how the application of a loose watery wash of paint over the top of those branches just gives an impression of the mass of detail that you, the viewer, know in your mind to be there. If you simplify detail your work will have an interesting, impressionistic feel.

By the way, the colours I used in the painting are Prussian Blue, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow Pale and Burnt Sienna. The monochrome was painted in a sepia mixed from French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna.

Winter sunshine - Burnham  Norton Church.

Watercolour 15in x 22in on Waterford 140lb Rough

 Winter Trees at Burnham Norton

Sepia monochrome 15in x 22in on Waterford 140lb Rough

As you can see, I've made several other changes to the composition and lighting of the scene compared to the original photograph. I'll talk about those in next month's tip.

Monthly Watercolour Tip - January 2005

Sorry that the monthly tips have been a bit erratic, but I hope to have them back on track from now on.

This month's tip is about saving money on your materials - something we all like to do! Firstly, always buy the best quality materials you can afford, because they will give your work an automatic boost. Result - more successful paintings with less wastage - so money is actually saved. I use good quality cotton rag paper, such as Waterford or Arches at a minimum weight of 140lb, because the quality is high enough that you can use both sides. If the first painting doesn't work out, just turn the paper over and have another go. More money saved.

With watercolour paints it may seem economical to use student's quality colours, such as Cotman or Aquafine, but if you use artist's quality paints the pigment concentration is much higher so you don't need so much. The colours are more vibrant too, giving your work greater appeal. To save the most money, buy colours that you use all the time in large 14ml tubes - not only is it cheaper, but it saves running out.

Lastly, make sure you buy your materials at the right price, you can save loads at a specialist mail order supplier such as Ken Bromley. Visit www.artsupplies.co.uk

Monthly Watercolour Tips - October 2004

This month's tip is about your workspace. It's very important to have somewhere to set out your equipment in a manner that allows you to work freely and easily.

For watercolour painting I feel it's essential to have an area with a waterproof surface, and preferably one which will contain any spills. A floor covering that will not be damaged by either water or staining pigments is also important. Lastly, a constant source of clean water, to easily replenish your water pots or rinse out any large brushes.

If you have a purpose built studio to achieve all this then you are lucky indeed. I find the ideal working area is the kitchen. I set out my palette, paintbox and water pots on top of the washing machine, which is conveniently next to the kitchen sink, as you can see below.

 If I want, I can set up my easel in the kitchen, but most of the time I have my watercolour paper on a board which I either place on the worktop, or rest on the edge of the sink. This gives me constant control over the angle of the board, and if I need I can even rinse off a wash under the kitchen tap.

The kitchen floor is vinyl, so I don't have to worry about spills. This is essential, because I use a lot of water for wet into wet skies etc. The lip round the top of the washing machine contains any spillage in this area, and stops my brushes rolling away.

Why not take a few minutes to think about your own watercolour working area. If you can't work freely without worrying about mess and spills, your work will not be free either.

Enjoy your painting! There will be another tip next month, when I will be showing you how to save money on your art materials without compromising quality.

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