Watery, Juicy and Pasty versions of my palette colours
Live Run Through of Liz’s Watercolour Course
Liz Steel is starting another run through of her watercolour course over the next seven weeks. I started this course a few years ago, but only finished about 70% of it. So this live run through is a good opportunity to revisit the material and concepts I’ve already done, and make my way through the 30% that I never got too.
It’s actually a very opportune time to do this class. When I first started this watercolour course I was confused about which was the best sketchbook to use, and which colours I should have in my watercolour palette. It’s so easy to get distracted by reading about what other urban sketchers are using, and then going off on a tangent of discovery. But I’m in a good place now. I’ve found my ideal watercolour sketchbook, and I’ve just finalised my watercolour palette.
Watercolour Sketchbook – Check
My preferred watercolour book is a Hahnemühle, and I use the 200gsm fine grained surface watercolour book.
This watercolour book is the ideal companion for artists who love to capture their holiday memories without delay. The natural white 200gsm paper features a fine grained surface structure on both sides. Making it ideal for creating full width panoramic paintings. With 60 pages / 30 sheets. With a durable cover and a rubber band to hold the cover together your art work is protected. Available in landscape and portrait format in A6, A5, A4, 14 x 14 cm and 19.5 x 19.5 cm.
https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/artist-papers/sketch-drawing/sketch-books/p/Product/show/19/800.html
100% Cotton Hahnemühle Sketchbook
I’ve been using this sketchbook consistently for a couple of years now, and although I experiment with other brands every now and then, the Hahnemühle brand is my preferred option.
I did just invest in a 100% cotton Hahnemühle sketchbook, which I like because it’s only 250gsm, rather than the usual 300gsm of a lot of the other watercolour books. I don’t need 300gsm paper for my urban sketches, so the 250gsm is a good option if I’m looking for a sketchbook that’s a little more robust than my usual 200gsm Hahnemühle watercolour book.
I may choose this watercolour course as an opportunity to experiment with both Hahnemühle books side by side and see which one I prefer.
Watercolour Palette – Check
I’ve spent the past few months finalising my watercolour palette, and now I can spent the seven weeks of this watercolour course exploring my palette and getting to know how to create all the textures and mixes I need for my urban sketching adventures.
The First Exercise in the Watercolour Course
I did the first exercise in the course tonight. The task was to take all the colours in your palette and mix three variations of a wash:
- a watery wash (lots of water)
- a juicy wash
- a pasty wash (mainly pigment)
I usually use a combination of a watery wash and a juicy wash, and very rarely have I used a pasty wash. Of course there’s lots of variations you can create in the gap between watery and juicy, and this course is going to explore the process for getting to know how each colour reacts with water, and how each colour reacts based on the size of their pigment.
