Watercolor painting by
Elizabeth Hall
Elizabeth Hall's watercolor learning experience:
I have very little experience with watercolor painting, though I did use watercolor paint as a child. We had the kind that comes in a row of little circles of color. I remember using flimsy paper that buckled from all the water. I have seen wet on wet watercolor paintings at a Waldorf elementary school where my sister works(this is a technique they teach to the elementary students there). I have also seen other paintings done in watercolor by my family and friends and at museums.
I know that water color paint has a transparent quality to it, unlike oil or acrylic paint which is opaque. I would imagine this would allow you to layer the colors in a different way. When watercolor painting, one would dilute the pigment with water as apposed to using turpentine to dilute the paint or clean the brushes. With watercolor you work from light to dark, as apposed to dark to light. The painter can change the affect in a watercolor painting to be more blurred by wetting the paper first or keep it more defined by leaving the paper dry. it is easy, with watercolor to mix primary colors in order to achieve different shades or secondary colors.
Watercolor is more portable and less messy than oil painting or acrylic. This is because you only need paper, 3 small tubes of paint, one or two brushes, and water.
With watercolor, in order to make a pretty dreamy background without visible brushstrokes you can do a wash. This means to use more water and a wide soft brush to sweep across the page. This technique would be useful when painting a sunset, or simply a backdrop. people don't use much white in watercolor painting. instead one can lighten the color by adding more water. With watercolor paint a very soft brush works the best. I is important to use thick watercolor paper since other paper would wrinkle under all that water. Watercolor block prevents this from happening by keeping the sides of the paper attached until the painting is done.
