Watercolor Flat Tip

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Painting a Flat Wash in Watercolor

Tips for someone starting out with watercolours?

Today I went out and bought a huuuge set of watercolours, it has 45 half pans, i also bought paper especially for watercolours, a round pointy size 6 brush and a flat big size 20 brush.

Any thing i should or should not do?
How do i take care of my watercolours and brushes?
What does Half Pan mean? Whats Full Pan?

Really apprietiate and help! Thankyou in advance!!!
pali@yahoo.com > none of the links work

My suggestion is that you first make a color chart using your paints, on your new paper. Make a strong stroke of saturated color first, then rinse your brush (leave it somewhat wet) and draw another stroke right next to and touching the first, which should pull some of the color in a graduated wash, and continue pulling that stroke away from the strong paint until it is very pale. Do this with each of the colors. That way you will know what each can do, what it looks like when dry, and whether the color is warm or cool. (Label them when done, and it helps to do them in the order you have them in the palette.)

Next paint a long line of each color vertically across your paper (medium strength of color, not too wet(pale) or too dry(dark)) . . . and let them dry completely. Now do the same in the other direction. This will give you a grid that tells you how each color affects the others when you layer them. Watercolors are painted using multiple layers of thin washes until you have built up the colors you want. See how the colors can become completely different when layered. . . and you thought you only had 45 colors!)

Next pick one shade of each color and make a puddle (a puddle is just a wet spot of color, and it is not deep, just wet!) on your paper with that color. Then begin picking random colors and drop them into the puddle . . . and see what happens. If the color you drop in runs wildly into the other color, this is called charging. . . and it is one of watercolor's most wonderful techniques. You will eventually want to know which colors charge into which other colors well, so you can use this in your artwork. You also want to know which to avoid in case you don't want this effect.

Even though you might be anxious to jump right in and paint a picture, practicing just a few exercises and techniques first will help you greatly when you do finally compose and paint your first painting. But how can you expect success when you don't know what your colors look like, what they will do for you, and how to handle a brush???

I would suggest adding a #8 or #10 round brush to your set, as the #6 is really too small. Always. . . ALWAYS. . . use the biggest brush you can use for what you are painting. . . it prevents your work from becoming tight, fussy, and overworked.

Other things to do after you get started. . . . practice mixing your own colors, especially greens (yellow and blue with tiny touches of red or orange) using all your combinations of colors. Cerulean blue and yellow makes a completely different green than ultramarine blue and new gamboge!

Never paint things a solid color. Watercolor is the medium of wonderful color mixing RIGHT ON THE PAPER! Learn what happens when you paint wet into wet and when you paint with a relatively dry brush. Learn how to use thin washes of color (called glazing) over dry paint to warm or cool the color, add shadows, and create deeper color interest.

And remember the white of your paper is the white in your paintings. You must learn to "save your whites" which means paint around areas where you want white or very pale color. If your watercolor pans included a white, don't use it when you want sparkly white. . . use the white of your paper!

good luck.

Watercolor Flat Tip

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Tips on Creating a Halloween Collage Art

Collage art is method in art that includes cutting and pasting natural or processed materials to a painted or unpainted work surface. It is primarily in the visual arts, created from an assemblage of different kinds put together to create a different whole art. A collage can include newspapers clippings, ribbons, pieces of tinted or hand-made papers, parts of other artworks, photos together with other found materials that are clued to a piece of paper, construction paper or canvas.

Making collage art helps you change common elements like paper and found objects into a work of art. Since it is the month of October it is suitable to create a Halloween collage art, it's particularly enjoyable to create because you can easily establish a feeling of spookiness or humor with old-fashioned Halloween cards, cutout words, and altered images.

Listed here are suggestions on how to start a Halloween collage art:

First be inspired by looking at the Internet to get ideas for Halloween collage art. There are a lot of images online with vibrant images with ghosts, pumpkins and witches. If you're creating a collage art with small children it would be advisable to view the pictures to make sure the images to be kid safe.

Second buy some card stock that has a Halloween, autumn, or spooky concept. Use it as the backdrop, or color a canvas stretcher board dark or midnight blue. You can also make it more artistic by having your own or the kids drawing on the collage art. It'll give a hint of your individuality.

Third is look for pictures again you could find various online. Several art collage designers use Victorian photos, but you may use family pictures or cutouts from magazines and books. Good sources for pictures are thrift outlets and yard sales. Some graphic artists advertise collage sheets for download and printed out or delivered in the mail. Photos from Halloween greeting cards are also available in this format.

Forth attach the background to a support with clear tacky glue or a glue stick. Any kind of flat, solid surface that will not twist is appropriate. Use a board, a canvas stretcher, a paper mache or wood plaque, a playing card, or even a tag. You can also produce a shadow box through an empty candy jar or shallow box.

Fifth cut out photos. Cut witch hats from black paper, designed paper, or newsprint. Stick photo to the background and affix the witch hat. Clip words and phrases with a Halloween or spooky theme from worn out textbooks or magazines. Insert them to the collage.

Sixth add some extra in your collage art, such as cut outs from vintage or modern Halloween greeting cards, worn out jewelry and buttons, scrabble tiles, container caps with words stamped on them, fibers, and beads. Use chalks, watercolors, distressing inks or rubber stamps to focus on or add more features. Be as creative as you could be.

Seventh punch holes in the item and fix wire to hold it or maybe you may tape the Halloween collage art on the wall.

Collage art is really a fun pastime for you and your whole family members particularly if have small ones having wild imagination or creativity. It's actually an art that you can preserve and show them when they grow older.
About the Author

Samantha Hill is a big fan of Clara Berta who is a world renowned
collage art
artist that focuses on painting lessons and everything else. Interior designers simply adore this modern art and she is also in demand for her popular art in Los Angeles and her wonderful
mixed media artwork
. For anyone who loves art, she definitely does not disappoint!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 12th, 2011 at 4:03 am and is filed under Artists Paints. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.