Is anyone good at water colours and can advise??

Greyduster they are superb. Especially the Whitby one.
Well done you.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202012/medium-773008-50e0d2b1-061d-4fb7-a19c-318eed663748.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202012/medium-902214-1fa244f1-8584-499d-80ed-8f288c7eed57.jpeg

I have a couple hanging; the rest are in the deep dark recesses of the loft! The one with two fishing boats is of Dunwich Beach in Suffolk, without the dome of Sizewell Power Station on the headland (artistic license!); the other is a boat yard on a misty River Esk in Whitby. It was probably the only time I heeded the lesson “less is more”. I like boats but I don’t paint them that well. Sorry about the reflections. I can’t paint flowers but admire those who can, Antonia.

Antonia - that rose is brilliant!!!! Just love all the help I am getting on here. I did a small landscape this afternoon, which I am going to frame in a mount intended for 3 photos - it looks quite interesting and I will give it to a friend for Christmas - possibly!!

Any more of you wiling to share a pic of your work? That rose was lovely.

Greyduster

Artist suppliers sell a brown gummed paper tape you have to wet. Frankly it’s awful. Masking tape is better. But don’t use cheap asking tape or it pulls away as the paper dries.

I agree.

Yes, I remember, someone gave me some gummed tape to try and it was awful

Regarding water colour pencils, I would certainly recommend Caran d'ache, they are expensive, but worth it.

Artist suppliers sell a brown gummed paper tape you have to wet. Frankly it’s awful. Masking tape is better. But don’t use cheap asking tape or it pulls away as the paper dries.

I've never heard about not using masking tape. What else would you use?
There is apparently an artists' tape, I'd never heard of it until I just looked online.
Probably not much different from masking tape but more expensive.

I never had a problem with masking tape.

I've never heard about not using masking tape. What else would you use?

I'm pants at getting washes right but usually end up with something interesting. Have you tried cling film over washes? Stretched or scrumpled and left to dry? Then there's salt and candle wax....

Thank you Nadateturbe I posted it to show that anyone can do it by following the course - I'm not good at art, or a natural artist. I've left the course now but may rejoin as I'm running out of things to do. Except for watching Netflix every day.

I learnt a lot on painting holidays with the artist Frank Halliday. He is currently doing demos on Fb.

He taught us to buy the best paint we could afford and leave the ‘student paints’ on the shelf. He never uses ready mixed greens or black.

I have never come across the flaking you describe.

Water colour pencils are also useful for detailing on water colour paintings.

The advice to buy heavy weight paper is good, as is the stretching, although a good quality heavy paper does not need it. I have never heard of masking tape being discouraged. It leaves a lovely border around the paper. It is also useful for long straight lines, like horizons. Don’t leave it too long though.

SAA as mentioned, is useful. Their catalogue is a treasure chest of paints and accessories and the magazine contains a wealth of useful lessons.

I wondered if the paper shredding is to do with the brushes you are using? Just a thought.

Good luck and enjoy. It is a wonderful hobby!

Thats very good Antonia. Perhaps I'll have a look at the course.

I get good results with Fabre-Castell water colour pencils. And never be without Payne’s Grey in your paintbox!

It's worth pointing out that watercolour pencils can vary greatly in how they perform. This very long video but very comprehensive test of 26 brands is definitely worth a look:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y44Dfwj7Lgw

I watch the Jay Lee Painting channel on Youtube. When I first started watching, three years ago, he had his baby son, Charlie, strapped to his chest while he painted. It was lovely to watch. He uses different techniques for watercolours and I've followed along with his tutorials.

What a shame that you had to give up pastels Gwen

This is from Anna Mason's course

I will still have a struggle with watercolours, not much help - I love Acrylics and oils. I had to give up my beloved pastels 5 years ago after I was diagnosed with TB

It all depends how much you wet your paper. If you use 1401b
and over you only need to hold your paper down with some strips of masking tape. However, if you mean to soak the paper then stretching it would be a better idea. I remember Alwyn Crawshaw giving a talk and demonstration years ago and he suggested using some clips.
It is important to use decent paints. Better to use fewer colours and pay more for them than a cheap brand and more of them. I am not sure what you mean by “flaking”as I have never experienced this. Tubes are useful when you first begin as you are forced to pick up each tube and read the name of the colour. This allows you to get to know each actual colour whereas pans are not so identifiable once the wrappers are taken off. You can however make a chart of where they are all placed. Usually it is advocated to have at least two shades of all the primary colours. For example ultramarine blue and cadmium blue, cadmium red and crimson alizarin, cadmium yellow and lemon yellow. Add a burnt umber, yellow ochre and burnt sienna and you should be okay. Of course there are other colours. I love curelium for example. Think I’ve spelt it wrong ! Of course ultramarine and burnt umber make a black if you haven’t got one. However black and yellow make a dark green. Which reminds me that sap green is a really useful green for landscapes although most greens profit from mixing with another colour. A nice big brush with good point is the one to have plus a small one for some details. Sable is a good option. This enables you gather sufficient water and paint.Watercolour of course goes from light to dark so a little planning might be advantageous, Basically it’s all about practise. Also those water colour pencils can be used within a painting or for sketching when out and about. Just a little water and a brush is needed. That’s not saying they can’t be used for larger pieces of art but just check they are colour fast if you intend to sell them or hang them near light. Of course watercolours should not be hung near a direct light source as they can fade.

Iam64 agreed, she's excellent. I tried to post a couple of photos but failed so far - phone memory is low. I'll try again.

Antonia, that's the course I joined. She's a good tutor

I once did a course given by Anna Mason. She's a brilliant water colour artist who paints flowers, birds, animals etc. Her videos give you step by step instructions on mixing your colours, and the order in which to paint. I'm not a natural artist but even I managed to produce half decent watercolours. Once you have learned her technique, you can go on to apply it to your own work. I'll post a couple of photos of my results from her course.

Bockingford paper is a good starter paper as the paint works well on it. Enjoy

One thing that helped me to understand the way watercolour worked was to look at the work of various watercolour artists and notice the way the various techniques - large washes, wet in wet, granulation, dry brush, etc - work for them. When I look at pictures now, I find I’m looking less at the overall picture and more at the techniques used to create it. It enriches the whole. When you can do that, and think “I know how they did that/got that effect” you’ll feel you have “come of age” with watercolour. Just enjoy it for now, though!?

Well done all of you. I can't even imagine trying to paint at all far less in watercolour. I did Art 'O level' but found it very frustrating that I couldn't turn what I saw in my head into a work on paper.
Oldgoat recently showed some of us on zoom some pictures that she'd painted during a zoom class for her WI. I don't know who the teacher had been but it sounded like a great session and the paintings were very good. We were impressed.