Colors,
Media and Tools
The
paper
"The
paper I use is a 300 gsm (140-lb) with a minimum of tooth.
I almost always work
in A3 (11.7"x16.5"), a very convenient size.
Large enough to paint small details and an easy size for
me to scan. I tape the paper to a backingboard to prevent
it from curling before I start to paint.
Ink and
brush
Since I
sometimes use ink in my paintings I have a special brush
for that, because even if you clean it thoroughly it might
contaminate other colors. It is a mid-sized, mid-priced
pencil with a good point. I also use non-refillable
pencils for inking more detailed areas. The ink must be
waterresistant since that is the first step in my
paintings and the watercolors would cause any watersoluble
ink to bleed.
The
watercolors
Most of
the the time watercolors are involved in my paintings and
I use Winsor & Newtons Artists Watercolors. They are a
high quality paint with a high amount of pigment in it so a little paint goes a long way and has more
brilliance. They are more expensive than the Studio
Quality paints but will last you longer, give your
paintings a more radiant glow and be cheaper in the long
run.
The
colors in my palette is as follows:
| French
Ultramarine |
| Quinacridone
Magenta |
| Raw
Sienna |
| Charcoal
Grey |
| Quinacridone
Gold |
| Sepia |
| Rose
Doré |
| Raw
Umber |
| Burnt
Sienna |
| Burnt
Umber |
| Ivory
Black |
| Perylene
Maroon |
| Purple
Madder |
| Permanent
Sap Green |
| Hooker´s
Green |
| Cerulean
Blue |
| Cadmium
Yellow |
| Winsor
Red |
| Paynes
Grey |
| Terre
Verte |
| Lemon
Yellow |
| Indianthrene
Blue |
And
some more that I don´t use very often but couldn´t
resist buying...
Watercolor
Combinations
I have
some favourite combinations I´ve learned through the
years from books and
by trial and error.
French
Ultramarine+Burnt Sienna - This is the best
combination for shadowing there is when it comes to
watercoloring. The pigments in this blending will not mix
fully and will create a lively surface with just the right
amount of texture to it. Use more Burnt Sienna for warm
shadows, and add more blue for the cooler ones. Create dark
shadows by using less water and light shadows using more.
Glaze objects in your painting with a thin wash of this
combination to put on shadow, works on all colors, even
skin, and is supreme for shadowing on white.
Rose
Doré+Raw Umber - The perfect combination for painting
human skin, animal noses and ears.
The
brushes
I use the
sizes 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10. All of them are pointy brushes.
Since my images often are full of small details I have many
small brushes and it´s these I wear out first. My largest
one I use for painting large areas, no.10, I have had for
many years. I never use sable brushes because I think they
are too lose and soft to work with.
Gouache
I often
use gouache, a more opaque kind of watercolor, sometimes as
the sole medium in a whole painting and sometimes just a few
colors in combination with the watercolors. The one color I
use the most is White, then followed by Sap Green and Yellow.
I use the same brushes for my gouache as for my watercolors
and the brand I use is Windsor & Newton´s Designer´s Gouache.
Acrylics
Once I
also used acrylics in combination with the other media
mentioned, especially in my animalpaintings. I don´t do
that anymore since I developed my skills in another
direction and found other ways to work that gives equally
good result but is more convenient and faster for me.
However, I
am looking forward to use acrylics as the sole medium for
some of my paintings and intend to do that any time soon.
Colored
Pencils
The
pencils I am using is the Derwent´s Artist colored pencils.
They are high quality and waterresistant which I need since
I often paint over them with the watercolors in the last
stages of a painting. I have a wide range of colors,
probably over 120 but I don´t use them all.
Sketching
It can
vary a lot on how much time and effort I put down on
sketching before painting. Usually I do it quickly without
so much detail. I keep a journal where I put down all
my ideas and look through it if I think it´s hard to get
inspiration. My problem is more often very much the
opposite; there is so much I would like to paint that I
actually can´t manage to remember everything I´d like to
do and therefore I have to put it in words before I forget
the ideas!
Tracing
paper
Sometimes
I use graphite tracing paper for transferring my sketches onto the
watercolor paper. However, using a tracing paper can make it
difficult to change details before and during painting since
it can be hard to erase the trace from the graphite paper.
That´s why most of the time this is how I do it:
I tend to
sketch very small but when I paint I want to do it larger.
So I always scan my sketches and print them in the size I
feel appropriate. After that I cover the whole backside of
the print with an HB graphite pencil and use the print to
tranfer the sketch to the watercolor paper by following the
lines of my own sketch. And then I start painting."
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