ArtBistro

what do you enjoy most about watercolors?

Now that I have found 300 lb paper, I don't feel the finality of my brushstrokes, as it stands up to scrubbing and blending... I enjoy the way the colors blend and can be layered in glazes, and I like it for texture in fur.

I've used watercolor to render my architectural drawings and I feel its an awesome medium that allowed me to create some powerful images. I like the layering effect of watercolor where you can have objects appear transparent like glazing to more solid and dense like concrete.

I love that 400 lb.press cold or hot Fabriano paper and watercolor is so easy with this paper , if I do not like the effect I am getting with the colors I chose then I take it to my sink and wash it off, pat it dry and begin again. How cool is that!!!!

I've been told I work with them like they are blendable-acrylics, all wrong, too tight... oh, well. :) Still like 'em. I use them alot as transparent washes for over my ink work, some people tell me it resembles wood-cuts, I like the look. Can't beat them for portability either.

My favorite thing about watercolor is the wonderful things that grow out of it's unintentional application. I guess you could call them wonderful accidents?

Watercolor is a wonderful medium to work with. I enjoy working with many mediums, such as oil, acrylics, watercolor, pastel, conte and charcoal. I like watercolor the best. I do my best work in watercolors. I understand the limitations of the medium. I like working with the white paper and I use it to my advantage. Look at the wonderful watercolors created by John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer and Joseph Mallord William Turner, these are the masters of the medium.

I used to think watercolors were the hardest to learn, but I don't feel this way after messing with oils in my MFA class this semester. There are pro's and con's to each medium but my heart is in watercolor. I love the illumination of the paint and how the white of the canvas is your highest value. Mixing is wonderful, and layering is another aspect I like. I think it is a medium unrivaled these days and is becoming more and more popular.

It is a medium I first toyed with as a kid and I was pretty proud of the first painting I did out of one of those scholastic 8 pan sets you get for a few dollars. Since then, I've just had a longing to master the medium and explore new techniques with it.

Also the nice thing about watercolor is the way the white of the paper makes the colors glow!

I like watercolor because it's flows well and doesn't smell bad. I love some of the cool effects you can get with it, even if sometimes it's unintentional.

Their sexy nature to just go everywhere if given the chance man.

I love the range you can get - anywhere from almost transparent to opaque. I also love the way you can layer watercolors and the light comes through.

I love the effect that watercolor gives and also the fact  that it is so "unforgiven" :-)

graffittimom says ...

Now that I have found 300 lb paper, I don't feel the finality of my brushstrokes, as it stands up to scrubbing and blending... I enjoy the way the colors blend and can be layered in glazes, and I like it for texture in fur.

        Yes, infact I found a 400Lb. press from Fabriano a long time ago and I still have a few treasured pieces. It is super!!!!

        Quite a few of my childrens pieces were watercolored, more a controlled in a way than loosely done.

If you're serious about watercolor, then study this site deeply: www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html.  The guy has some other fun ruminations to look at, too. MacEvoy (the site's author) tells you everything you need to know regarding the physics and physiology of watercolor. He fed paint samples to a reflectance spectrophotometer, fer cryin out loud. His pigment chart is now a permanent part of my kit. If you think Wilcox is good, you'll find some surprises.