CAT AIR [WATERCOLOR ]

Why paint watercolor?

For me, the unpredictability and uncontrollable nature of watercolor make it the most exciting and expressive medium of all. The opportunity to meander somewhere between mastery and complete lack of control during the course of a painting make it one of the most engaging mediums. This, plus the fact that it is quick, clean and portable, got me in thirty years ago and my enthusiasm has grown ever since.
Traditionally, watercolor employed only thin, transparent washes of pigment. Some beautiful, delicate paintings came from this school of thought. Contemporary watercolor, however, allows for much greater freedom of technique and material. The American Watercolor Society now accepts all aqua media (watercolor, acrylic, casein, gouache, egg tempera) but draws the line at collage and pastel.
Moving from the accepted definition of watercolor into the realm of mixed media can open up a huge new range of possibilities. The excitement of blending watercolor with ink, pastel, collage and other water based media is one of the most addictive forms of expression. The process of building up, altering, editing, destroying and rebuilding allows a painting to develop a life and momentum of its own. You, as the artist, become almost a spectator, watching, judging and coaxing as the painting slowly comes to life.
I am often asked if it's OK to step outside the bounds of traditional watercolor. Is it against the rules? or the wrong thing to do? My answer is, as long as what you paint is produced in a manner that guarantees the works permanence, fitting into a defined category is of little importance - unless you wish to enter the work in a show or competition where such definitions are enforced. Use lightfast artist quality pigments from reputable manufactures, choose a good quality acid free paper and be sure whatever you use on it is neutral pH. Following rules should be low on your list of priorities.
So gather up some pencils, paint and paper and what ever else you need to make some marks, then have some fun, run some risks and don't worry too much about what it is that constitutes a watercolor - if what you do falls outside the definition, be happy just to call it a painting or even a work of art!

Ancient Textures
taking risks with  mixed media

ALAT DAN BAHANpalette
paper
paint
pastels
ink
water
brushes
sketchbooks
art lesson plans

Palet( Tempat Pembancuh Warna)

Saya lebih suka palet dengan jumlah wajar ruang untuk pencampuran dan sisi miring pada telaga cat. Hal ini membolehkan cat kotor untuk lari ke dalam perigi, menjaga cat baru cukup bersih. Beberapa orang seperti anda mengosongkan semua balang cat ke masing-masing perigi. Saya lebih suka memerah cukup untuk lukisan saya bekerja pada - cat segar jauh lebih baik untuk digunakan.

 WATER COLOUR PAPER (Kertas Cat Air)
There are hundreds of excellent water colour papers on the market. I am always trying new paper - there are a few I constantly use, but experimenting with different papers is a good way to keep your work interesting and exciting.
Arches 300gsm rough is a good all round paper. It takes washes very well and can handle a fair amount of abuse. Saunders 300gram is also an excellent paper. Cotman 300gram is a cheaper paper with fairly heavy sizing. I use it for quick sketches and demonstrations. The paint tends to sit on the surface creating all sorts of interesting effects - it is not a good paper for large flat washes

 

stretching paper (meregangkan kertas)
Anything larger than a quarter sheet of 300 gsm paper should be stretched. The easiest way to do this is as follows... 

 

First spray both sides of the sheet then let it sit for a minute. You will notice the paper swell up

 

 

Next tape the paper to a *rigid board with gum paper tape (not masking tape). Once dry the paper will shrink back to its original size making a nice tight surface to work on.
When your work is finished and completely dry run a Stanley knife around the inside of the tape to remove it from the board

 

 

If you plan to work very wet, soak the paper in a tub of water for fifteen minutes and then stretch it over a soft rigid board, pinning or stapling it around the edge.
* To prevent acid leaching out of the board and ruining your paper, seal the board with a few heavy coats of gesso.

 

PAINT(Cat/Warna)

 

Listed below are the main water colours I use and the brands I prefer...
Ultramarine Blue (Art Spectrum )
Phthalo Blue ( Art Spectrum )
Burnt Sienna (Rowney or Art Spectrum )
Alizarin Crimson (W & N or Rowney)
Indian Yellow ( Rowney is the only real transparent one capable of mixing rich darks)
or...
Quinacridone Gold (Windsor & Newton) This is more permanent than Indian Yellow but a little less intense
Raw Sienna (Art Spectrum )
White Gouache
Used less frequently : Cobalt Blue, Indigo, Rose Madder

PASTELS (Oil Pastel)

When you decide to introduce pastel into your painting, don't treat it as a way of correcting mistakes made in water colour, or that's the effect you’ll get. Initial drawing with a pastel pencil in a colour relating to the subject will leave behind interesting lines after water colour washes have been applied. Pastel should become part of the whole painting and not appear as an after thought.
Blending areas of pastel into the water colour washes and tracing fine pastel lines throughout the work will help give the painting a unified appearance.
I use a mixture of hard and soft pastels, Schwan Stabillo pastel pencils and charcoal. A light spray of fixative over finished pastel helps protect work and stops dust settling after framing.

INK (Dakwat)

There are plenty of good artist quality inks on the market. I prefer art spectrum burnt sienna and a plain old post office nib. For black you can't beat the solid Chinese ink ground with water on a grindstone. The intensity can be controlled by the amount of water added. The Chinese ink bleeds and feathers beautifully when sprayed with a fine mist of water.

WATER (Air)

Unless I'm doing a high key wash with a saturated colour, I don't worry too much about having clean water. The odd occasion when a pure clear wash is needed, I spray some water into an empty well on the palette, spray the brush clean and mix the wash there.

WATER SPRAY (Semburan Air)

Probably one of the cheapest pieces of equipment you will buy! Find one that sprays a really fine mist. They're great for softening ink lines - a quick, light spray while the ink's still wet.
They are also handy for wetting paper and gum tape when stretching watercolour paper.

BRUSHES (Berus)

After 25 years painting this small handful of brushes produce most of my work.
Other than a couple of Chinese calligraphy brushes my three main brushes are:
1 inch flat Taklon
1/4 inch flat Taklon
#1 Taklon liner
The liner is great for fine delicate lines. The 1" flat is a good all purpose brush, great for washes and, because of the square end,capable making accurate geometric marks.
For more organic and calligraphic shapes I use either the Chinese brushes or a no.6 squirrel hair brush. On large paintings I often resort to an old 2" bristle house painting brush. It looks pretty rough but is fantastic on a large sheet of paper!
With water based painting it is very important to have complete control over the amount of water in your brush. I have found the best way to do this is to always have an old towel covering your work table. It's a simple matter then to wipe your brush as you work.

SKETCHBOOKS (Buku Lakaran)

Sketchbooks are a great way to record ideas. A tiny sketchbook and a small box of paint can capture atmosphere and character often missed with a camera. I always carry an old plastic slide box. The lid serves as a palette, the box holds five half empty tubes of paint and a tiny bottle of water. When there is water available the box makes a good container, otherwise the lid of the little bottle holds enough to do a small watercolour sketch.
It always helps to do small thumbnail sketches to manipulate a composition before starting to paint. Doing them in a sketch book helps keep a record of what you have done.