My Art Materials – Watercolor (Paint)

Over a period, I have explored many art materials concerning watercolor. I have used various brands in different phases. In this article, I am trying to give a broader view on my take on all these art materials. Depending on level of your interest & involvement you can consider some of the points & let me know if you find something new & exciting.

If you have the right paper, the next important element to decide is the paint.

Type of watercolour paint

Below are the elements which defines the characteristic of watercolor paint. Do not worry – all these information is always labelled in the color tibe/box/pan itself

• Pigmentation or Intensity or Brightness of color

  • The brightness of any color is defined by its pigment
  • If the paint is made up of single pigment, then it will be intense & bright
  • But if the paint is made up of more than one pigment then intensity will vary

• Transparency

  • Transparency is the ability of light to pass through the paint & reflect
  • If your paint is more transparent you can layer it on top of it and still be able to see it through ; Layering gives more depth to you a painting & helps to look it real
  • If your paint is not transparent & hence opaque then layering on top of it means you can not see the color below

• Granularity

  • Granularity is the residual of paint you see on paper when its dry
  • After drying some paints looks clear, seamless and even throughout the applied area
  • However some other paints are unevenly distributed & you can see the pigments on the paper

• Lightfastness

  • Paints always interact with environmental factors like light, humidity, moister
  • These factors impact the paints & how it looks over a period of time
  • Lightfastness is the ability of the paint to withstand exposure to light and humidity without fading or shifting color

Pro tip

• Single pigment & transparent always the balanced option if you are starting new because this gives intense & saturated color
• While mixing colors use single pigment & transparent color to avoid muddy color
• Unless otherwise you want to try different effect, choose the color with less granularity
• As we want our painting to last long, choose the “Very good” or “excellent” lightfastness
• If you combine the criteria mentioned above & look for the best color, it is going to be costly hence it is also important to consider the type of color as mentioned below
• If you are staring new with watercolor then it is always wise to start with student grade color & not artist grade color immediately
• If you have the primary color then practically you can mix & get every color you want, hence always buy the basic set & when you are experienced enough you can invest on others