This page is to be used for reference by Academy students.

Illustration II - Watercolour MFA

The Materials you will need. These are the ONLY recommended brands, other brands make a good result much harder - of not impossible - to achieve. These are the materials I used for most of the illustrations seen on this site. Though there are aguments for other brands these, to date have proven themselves the most suitable for students of all levels of ability as they lead to the most predictable, aesthetically pleasing and slower drying painting.

Arches hot pressed/cold pressed watercolor paper/block

Watercolor paper has an invisible layer of gum over its suracface, non-watercolor papers are therefore relatively useless in achieving many of the effects desired.

Sceptre Gold or Winsor and Newton sable watercolor brushes

Watercolor brushes are supple and relatively expensive. Sceptre Gold is the ideal compromise combining synthetic and natural hairs.

Windsor and Newton, Artists' watercolors.

Accept no substitutes. Watercolor painting is all about transparency, other, cheaper brands have a chalkiness that causes unwanted opacity and brushmarks in one's washes.

The Secret to Stretching Paper

Why Stretch?

Paper is a porous material, when it becomes wet the pores fill with water and the fibers expand, like dry bread dropped in milk. If you wet paper unevenly (as is unavoidable while watercolor painting) various areas will expand to varying degrees, depending on the wetness of the paint, causing an annoying ‘buckling’ effect. This makes even washes impossible as pigment runs down the ‘hills’ and gathers in the ‘valleys’ of the paper. As it dries the paper contracts again but never reaches its original size and so we end up with a warped surface to scan, frame or deliver to the publisher.

Paper ‘stretching’ is the act of expanding the paper to its optimum size and holding it in that stretched state until your painting is complete. This means that we experience minimum distortion while working and when dry our paper is perfectly flat.

There are a hundred ways to stretch paper but 99 of them are defective. This is one method that works in all areas. It is easy and fool-proof when the 4 steps are followed to the letter.

You will need: A sheet of paper; a rigid porous board larger than your paper; four lengths of gummed brown tape several inches longer than each edge of your paper; some paper towels; a water filled trough or bath large enough for your paper to lie flat on the surface.

Step 1: Place your paper - good side up - on top of the water and leave. The paper will warp and parts will lose contact with the surface but do not touch it! Eventually the paper will have absorbed all it can and will lie perfectly flat on the water surface. This process takes longer with heavier paper.

Step 2: Once flat lift the paper by two corners and drip-drain for a moment. Lay it flat - good side up - in the middle of your board. Quickly - take a strip of gummed tape and submerge it in the water. Lift out by one end pulling it between two fingers to remove surplus water. Place the tape - gum side down - along the edge of your paper, one half covering the paper and the other on the bare board. Repeat until all edges are covered.

Step 3: Quickly - take a balled paper towel and press it along the tape to absorb as much dampness as possible. This is crucial, to ensure that the tape dries before the paper and holds firm when the paper tries to contract. If the paper dries before the tape it will pull free of its grip. Do not touch the exposed paper. Now leave to dry naturally by an open window. Heavier paper takes longer. If you have to shorten the drying time use a hair drier but aimed at the tape ONLY.

Step 4: Paint your image on the paper while attached to the board. Be careful not to let watches etc. lift the edge of the tape. When you are 100% sure that your painting is finished leave it to dry (for as long as possible, ideally 12 hours) and then, using an exacto knife, cut along the ridge formed by the paper edge beneath the tape and remove your painting.

SO...

Your painting is now completely flat but remember it is still at its premium stretch so any contact with water or extreme dampness will allow it to contract/warp. You can stretch almost any type of paper this way including finished watercolor paintings. Practice first with plain paper to build confidence before attempting to stretch cherished works.

With this method there is no buckling at all as the paper is fully saturated. Using sponges to dampen the paper is less thorough and wears the surface. Submerging the paper has the same effect and removes any previous work done. Pinning or taping the paper when dry achieves nothing except holding the piece in place.

Alternatives

You can now buy watercolor blocks where the a pad of paper is pre stretched, sheet over sheet. This can be very useful but there are several disadvantages: size restrictions; you have to purchase a large quantity when you may only need a single sheet; you cannot have more than one painting in progress unless you invest in more blocks; the glue used to hold the edges can fail so blocks must be treated with kit gloves... and even then it has been known for the edges to pull free.

Watercolor paper mounted on board is also available but there is a limited selection. It is heavy, difficult to transport and can still warp in extreme conditions. It may also be necessary for publishers to ‘strip’ the paper from the board to wrap around the scanning drum which can be a precarious activity.

General Watercolour Tips

As watercolor is a transparent medium you can mix in the palette AND on the paper, by overlapping washes. It is crucial that you plan for the result of 'mixing' the two colors you are using when you lay washes over each other.

Keep a piece of clean paper under your hand at all times to avoid getting grease from your skin on your paper. Grease resists watercolor.

When possible right handed students should work from the top left to avoid smearing their wash.

Keep your washes wet and loaded with enough pigment. - Watercolor appears brighter and darker when wet. Familiarize yourself with this effect and compensate when mixing.

Mix more than enough paint so that you don’t run out mid way.

Choose the appropriate size brush for the area you are painting - large 'round' brushes with good points are great as they hold a lot of paint and still give fine detail where required.

Consider the size of the space you intend to cover before loading your brush with paint. Too much and you will find a pool of excess paint left at the finish of your wash. This will ‘backwash’ (the effect of one area of a wash drying before another causes an unwanted edge between the two areas). To avoid this carefully suck excess paint from the paper with a blotted brush.

Plan your wash. Start at ‘one end’ so that you can 'chase' the wet edge easily across the area

Apply each wash in one go, and resist tinkering with it once it is laid down. Attempting to correct or change an existing wash almost always leads to disaster.

When painting a large area reload your brush and resume from where you left off as quickly as possible - this way you avoid edges drying in the body of your wash.

Never scrub inside your wash once it has been applied, lay it down and leave it. The less your brush touches the wet paper the better.

Don’t let wet washes touch drying ones or you will get the ugly ‘backwash’ effect.

Don’t apply a second wash over the top until the first is COMPLETELY dry.

Don’t apply too many washes to any one area as it can erode the layer of gum on the paper surface and become unworkable. Alternatively the paint layer can become too thick and lift off with later washes.

Start paler, as a rule, and then build to darker values

Remember that each wash softens underlying work (to some degree, depending on the paper you're using). Use this property to smooth out elements where desired leaving crisp details for last.