Beginners’ Watercolour

Jacky Gooding

Course Code: 4BW11A24

Start Date: 19/09/2024

Day of the Week:

Thursday

Session: Morning

Delivery method: Centre Only

Length in weeks: 11

Time: 10.00 - 12.00pm

Price: £

This course is suitable for anyone new to watercolour painting or those who wish to refresh their skills. Demonstrations, examples and individual help will introduce students to the core watercolour washes and colour mixing. These techniques will be put into practice in exercises and paintings starting from a variety of subject matter.

BASIC MATERIALS FOR WATERCOLOUR

A tear-off pad of watercolour paper 14” by 10″ or bigger. Daler Rowney’s 300gsm/140lbs “Langton” or Saunders “Bockingford” are good. Saunders “Waterford” and the heavier papers by Arches or Fabriano are even better.
Two smooth wooden boards min. size 17″ by 14″; at least 3” longer each way than your paper. A sheet of 6mm Medium Density Fiberboard, 3ft by 2ft makes1 large and 2 small boards. No need to buy expensive drawing boards.
Three good watercolour brushes. These should be soft but very springy. Size 12 or14 (large), round with a fine point. 1/4″ flat (square tip) is good for straight edges. Size 3 or 4, are good for details and mixing paint. Avoid cheap sets of brushes . It’s better to buy one good brush
A roll of “Gumstrip” tape from an art shop, and wallpaper paste are needed for stretching the paper on the board so it does not cockle. You will be shown how to do this.
Paint: Artists’ colours are the most intense and clearest. Cheap paint is chalky. The following, or similar, will make the whole spectrum including browns and greys.
2 reds: Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Vermilion Hue 2 yellows : Lemon Yellow or Gamboge and Raw Sienna or Yellow Ochre
2 blues: French Ultramarine and a rich greeny blue such as: pthalo blue, intense blue or winsor blue
Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Sap Green and Winsor Violet are useful, but not essential, extras for landscapes and flowers.
These colours can be bought as single tubes or as pans to fit in a box. Of the pre-packed boxes of pans Daler Rowney’s “Georgian” or Winsor and Newton’s “Cotman” are a reasonable quality and selection but their artist’s quality are even better; more intense so go further.
Pans versus Tubes-lots of pros and cons!
Tubes are ideal— buy one at a time, easy to mix large quantities easy to choose colours for a particular painting but—– must replace tops carefully or paint dries up and messier than pan
Pans are ideal-– -clean to use, don’t leak, no messy tops. All colours available at once, colours don’t dry up, but— usually pre-selected colours in the boxes, slow for mixing enough paint .
Palette: the round 10 cup style is good for organizing the colours but some people prefer a white plate.
2 small, shallow, stable water pots
A roll of kitchen paper is useful for lifting excess paint off the paper.
A rag is handy for cleaning up.
Drawing equipment: 2B and 3B pencil, ruler or set square,
A3 or A4 cartridge paper for planning compositions.