Watercolor Painting for Dummies by Colette Pitcher Read Free Book Online
Authors: Colette Pitcher
flat takes some room. You can get flat drawer files that store a lot of paper. That’s the goal, but to get started, just buy a few sheets at a time that you’ll use before they get banged around too much. Store the paper in a
portfolio,
which is a big, flat container, usually zippered with handles, that you use to store or transport artwork. A portfolio keeps paper safe. You can choose from many styles and materials — from leather to plastic with prices to match. You can even get an acid-free cardboard portfolio for cheap storage. Or make your own using a couple of sheets of mat board or foam core board hinged on one side with tape.
Dividing your paper for smaller paintings
When I went to school, we had to paint on full sheets of paper — bigger was better. Personally, I think we wasted a lot of paper. Most of the projects in this book are set on small paper sizes. It lets you get a lot of mileage out of a full sheet, and you don’t have to invest a lot of time either.
To reduce handmade paper, follow these steps (and put gloves on first or otherwise protect the paper from the oils in your hands):
1. Fold the paper in half and crease the edge.
2. Fold it back the other way to weaken the fold.
3. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 a few times.
4. Dip a finger in water and run your damp finger along the fold.
5. Place the paper fold on the edge of a table and gently tear along the fold.
By dividing paper in this manner, you get the deckle edge on your new smaller sizes.
You can divide a half-sheet in half to make a quarter sheet and keep divid- ing for miniature pictures. Do you have to divide the paper evenly in halves? Of course not. You may want a thin vertical painting or a long horizontal painting, or you may want a shape other than a rectangle. Anything goes in art. Many of the exercises in this book look nice on a 1/16-sheet (or 5-x-71/2-inch) size.
Stretching your paper
Water on paper makes the paper buckle. The more water you apply to paper, the more wrinkles and buckles you make. To get rid of wrinkles and buckles, you can stretch the paper flat either before or after you paint on it.
The bigger the sheet of paper, the more important it is to stretch it. A bigger sheet of paper has more room to expand and contract; therefore, it gets more wrinkles when it gets wet. The wrinkles get in the way of watercolor washes being able to flow, so stretching minimizes the wrinkles. As the stretched paper dries, it goes back to flat. The stretching is subtle, so the painting doesn’t get distorted when you stretch paper that’s already been painted on.
Stretching before you paint
If you think wrinkles will bother you while painting, stretch your paper before you paint. You can stretch paper a gazillion ways, but this method is my favorite, and it works great:
1. Thoroughly soak the paper.
You can mist it with your spray bottle or soak it in the tub for five minutes. Just make sure it’s completely wet.
2. Place the paper on a piece of 1/2-inch thick
Gatorfoam board
that’s an inch or two larger than the paper on all four sides.
Gatorfoam board is thicker and sturdier than foam core board, which will bend if you use it to stretch paper. You can use the same Gator board many times on both sides to flatten paper.
Most art supply stores carry Gator board. If your local store doesn’t, ask a frame shop to order some for you. Gator board comes in 4-x-8-foot sheets. I cut it in my frame shop to accommodate full sheets, half sheets, and quarter sheets. Watercolorists love it.
3. Staple the paper to the foam board while the paper is wet.
The staples should be about 1/8 inch from the outside edge.
1.Staple one edge in the middle.
2.Go to the opposite side and staple in the middle near the edge.
Before you staple each side, lift and pull the paper gently to ensure that it’s wrinkle-free. When paper is wet, it’s fragile, so do this with caution.
3.Staple the other sides in the middle at the edge.
4.Staple the
portfolio,
which is a big, flat container, usually zippered with handles, that you use to store or transport artwork. A portfolio keeps paper safe. You can choose from many styles and materials — from leather to plastic with prices to match. You can even get an acid-free cardboard portfolio for cheap storage. Or make your own using a couple of sheets of mat board or foam core board hinged on one side with tape.
Dividing your paper for smaller paintings
When I went to school, we had to paint on full sheets of paper — bigger was better. Personally, I think we wasted a lot of paper. Most of the projects in this book are set on small paper sizes. It lets you get a lot of mileage out of a full sheet, and you don’t have to invest a lot of time either.
To reduce handmade paper, follow these steps (and put gloves on first or otherwise protect the paper from the oils in your hands):
1. Fold the paper in half and crease the edge.
2. Fold it back the other way to weaken the fold.
3. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 a few times.
4. Dip a finger in water and run your damp finger along the fold.
5. Place the paper fold on the edge of a table and gently tear along the fold.
By dividing paper in this manner, you get the deckle edge on your new smaller sizes.
You can divide a half-sheet in half to make a quarter sheet and keep divid- ing for miniature pictures. Do you have to divide the paper evenly in halves? Of course not. You may want a thin vertical painting or a long horizontal painting, or you may want a shape other than a rectangle. Anything goes in art. Many of the exercises in this book look nice on a 1/16-sheet (or 5-x-71/2-inch) size.
Stretching your paper
Water on paper makes the paper buckle. The more water you apply to paper, the more wrinkles and buckles you make. To get rid of wrinkles and buckles, you can stretch the paper flat either before or after you paint on it.
The bigger the sheet of paper, the more important it is to stretch it. A bigger sheet of paper has more room to expand and contract; therefore, it gets more wrinkles when it gets wet. The wrinkles get in the way of watercolor washes being able to flow, so stretching minimizes the wrinkles. As the stretched paper dries, it goes back to flat. The stretching is subtle, so the painting doesn’t get distorted when you stretch paper that’s already been painted on.
Stretching before you paint
If you think wrinkles will bother you while painting, stretch your paper before you paint. You can stretch paper a gazillion ways, but this method is my favorite, and it works great:
1. Thoroughly soak the paper.
You can mist it with your spray bottle or soak it in the tub for five minutes. Just make sure it’s completely wet.
2. Place the paper on a piece of 1/2-inch thick
Gatorfoam board
that’s an inch or two larger than the paper on all four sides.
Gatorfoam board is thicker and sturdier than foam core board, which will bend if you use it to stretch paper. You can use the same Gator board many times on both sides to flatten paper.
Most art supply stores carry Gator board. If your local store doesn’t, ask a frame shop to order some for you. Gator board comes in 4-x-8-foot sheets. I cut it in my frame shop to accommodate full sheets, half sheets, and quarter sheets. Watercolorists love it.
3. Staple the paper to the foam board while the paper is wet.
The staples should be about 1/8 inch from the outside edge.
1.Staple one edge in the middle.
2.Go to the opposite side and staple in the middle near the edge.
Before you staple each side, lift and pull the paper gently to ensure that it’s wrinkle-free. When paper is wet, it’s fragile, so do this with caution.
3.Staple the other sides in the middle at the edge.
4.Staple the
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