{"id":1133,"date":"2015-06-22T01:58:16","date_gmt":"2015-06-21T17:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bauzon.ph\/cynthia\/?p=1133"},"modified":"2018-01-06T21:36:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-06T13:36:36","slug":"watercolor-painting-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bauzon.ph\/cynthia\/watercolor-painting-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"My watercolors, brushes, and other painting tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since I’ve been painting again almost everyday for months\u00a0now, I\u00a0thought I’d share my current favorite watercolors and\u00a0tools\u00a0with you as well as a few notes and photos about\u00a0how I’ve been using them. (See also:\u00a0My watercolors, brushes, and painting tools (Part 2)<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0My favorite watercolor papers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0)<\/p>\n

\"shinhan<\/a><\/p>\n

1) ShinHan Korean Colors<\/a>,<\/strong> which I wrote my first impressions about\u00a0previously<\/a>.\u00a0These paints seem to work best\u00a0for the\u00a0“moody” illustrations<\/a>\u00a0that I like to make. I love how\u00a0vivid the colors are and I think this is mainly due to the binder being refined gelatin\u00a0and not\u00a0gum arabic which is the traditional\u00a0binder\u00a0for Western watercolors. After\u00a0a bit of research and also through experience, \u00a0I learned that\u00a0having\u00a0gelatin for\u00a0a pigment\u00a0binder results\u00a0in\u00a0a finish that’s more opaque than watercolors but\u00a0more translucent than gouache or poster colors. \u00a0I’ve also tried adding a few drops of gum arabic to make them\u00a0more transparent but 99%\u00a0of the time I just use them as they are.<\/p>\n

Best\u00a0for:<\/strong> paintings with scenery\u00a0and\u00a0a lot of detail and background elements. Using more water\u00a0allows me to achieve a watercolory\u00a0effect, and\u00a0layering on the\u00a0colors\u00a0produces a\u00a0painterly look.
\n*Available locally at ArtWhale<\/a> in sets and individual tubes<\/p>\n

\"holbein<\/a><\/p>\n

2) Holbein\u00a0Watercolors<\/a>. <\/strong>I’ve always been curious about this Japanese-made brand\u00a0so I purchased a few tubes last month, taking care to pick cooler colors as my ShinHan tubes were all warm tones. I’ve read that since the paints don’t have ox gall, they are richly pigmented and slow-moving. Like ShinHan, they’re also thicker than traditional Western watercolors but they can be thinned down with water for a transparent, muted finish. They\u00a0are beautiful,\u00a0creamy colors\u00a0although I haven’t used them much in my paintings — maybe due to\u00a0my color choices\u00a0since\u00a0so far I’ve only used them for flowers, save\u00a0for Jaune Brilliant no.2 which I’ve been using as a base for skin tones. I’m planning\u00a0to buy\u00a0warmer hues sometime in the future\u00a0since those are what I use more often anyway.<\/p>\n

Best for: <\/strong>floral art,\u00a0thick color applications, and probably lettering and calligraphy where you’d like to preserve brush strokes because\u00a0the paints are formulated for classical Japanese-style painting\u00a0or Nihonga.
\n* Available locally at ArtWhale<\/a> and Deovir Arts<\/a> in sets and individual tubes<\/p>\n

\"kuretake<\/a><\/p>\n

3) Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-color set<\/a>,<\/strong> which I\u00a0also wrote my first impressions about<\/a> months ago. Having used it a lot more times now, I find that I always reach for this set when adding foliage and background elements to a painting because of the bright, beautiful colors and the vast color range — there’s almost no need to pre-mix specialty colors. I don’t use it as often for portraiture though because it takes me too much time to mix a skin\u00a0tone I’m happy with (2017 UPDATE — I used the set for the portrait demo below). <\/p>\n

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A post shared by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn)<\/a> on