What are watercolor paints made from? Production of watercolor paints. Why not use oil paints?

Watercolors are artistic paints based on vegetable glue, soluble in water. It lays down in a thin translucent layer, which is its feature. Watercolors were first created in China in the 2nd century AD. Watercolors are painted on special watercolor paper, which differs from the usual thickness, density and texture; soft brushes are usually used - squirrel or kolinsky. Before applying watercolor to paper, it is diluted with water; after drying, it can be stored for quite a long time.

WHAT IS THE ARTICLE ABOUT?

Composition of different colors

Do you know what watercolor paints are made of? For their production, aniline, mineral and plant components are used. However, the aniline substance is used least often, since it gives a stable, rich color, saturating the paper through and through, without being washed out by water, which eliminates the most important feature of watercolor paints - translucent application.

One of the most common components is mineral. Its advantage is durability and low cost. So, to make watercolors, crushed color pigments mixed with water are combined with a binder and the resulting mass is packaged in tubes, cuvettes or pressed into a cake shape.

Fish or cherry glue, gum arabica, candy sugar, gelatin and others are used as a binder for all components. The highest quality watercolors are made with the addition of gum arabica, sometimes with an admixture of candy sugar (from 20 to 40%), as well as wood glue or dextrin in various proportions.

Different types of minerals correspond to a specific shade of watercolor.

Lead white with a large amount of heavy spar admixture gives a white color. The snow-white shade is obtained from the highest grade lead white - Kremzerweiss.

Yellow color is made from crown yellow - chromium-lead salt, and yellow carmine, ocher, cadmium sulfide, etc. are also used. These paints vary in shades from light yellow and lemon to rich orange and ocher. The peculiarity of yellow paints is the change in shade in sunlight. If the watercolor is made on the basis of crown, it should be taken into account that it cannot be combined with paints that contain sulfur, i.e. with blue shades.

Red shades are made from lead minium - a mineral paint that has a bright red color, the highest grade is Mignorange. The finished shade of watercolor depends on the degree of grinding of the particles: the finer, the brighter the color.

The color red is also obtained from carmine. However, its origin is not mineral, but animal, which gives this paint a specific property - insolubility in water.

Shades of blue are made from artificial ultramarine. Its shades range from sky blue to dark blue. The lighter color comes from the mineral components of the fine fracture.

Also Prussian blue blue is the basis of blue watercolor paints, its color is dark blue.

Indigo is a dark blue color with a copper-red tint, perhaps of mineral or plant origin.

Green shades are obtained by mixing blue and yellow paints or they are made from crown green, verdigris, cinnabar green, chrome green, ultramarine green, etc.

Manufacturing process

How are watercolors made? The process of making watercolors begins with selecting the desired shade of mineral paint. You can choose it from ready-made raw materials or by mixing several colors. If the shade is too saturated, it is weakened by adding white.

The most important point in production is the thorough grinding of mineral raw materials. Since mineral paints often do not dissolve in water, coloring occurs due to the attachment of paint particles to the paper surface.

• Primary mineral raw materials are produced in pieces or coarse powder.
• Next, the mineral paints are crushed in a paint grinder, runners, ball mills or a stone mortar if it is made by hand. The finer the particles obtained, the higher the grade of watercolor paint.
• Then the resulting mass is combined with a binder, for example, gum arabic. So for the red color, made from carmine, only a candy solution is suitable, and a dextrin solution is used for emerald green and chrome color.
• The amount of binder depends on the mineral raw material; white and black colors require it the least, and ocher shades require the most.
• After combining the mineral paint with an aqueous solution of a binder, a clay-like dough is obtained and rolled out to a thickness of 5-8 mm, after which it is left to dry for 12 - 20 hours.
• If the watercolor is subsequently packaged in a tube, then in addition to the binder, non-crystallizing liquid honey or glycerin is added.
• Depending on the release form, liquid watercolor is packaged in a jar, semi-liquid watercolor in a tube, solid watercolor in a cuvette or tile.
• When the watercolor has hardened enough, it is formed into the chosen shape. The finished mass is cut into appropriate pieces and glued to the tiles with wood glue or fish glue.

Second cooking method

Glycerin is poured into the reactor with additional binding elements. Next, a coloring pigment is added to the bowl (special bowl), and the entire resulting mass is mixed for a certain time. Then, in a thin stream, the watercolor blank enters a paint grinding machine designed for a specific color and is ground. Next, the mass enters vats, from which it is poured through special hoses into a packaging machine, where the colors are packed into ready-made containers for sale, and then the watercolor is dried for two days.

An example of making blue paint

Prussian blue mineral paint is finely ground, combined with water and hydrochloric acid, and then brought to a boil. After which the paint settles, the excess liquid is drained. Gum arabic and glue, which is previously dissolved in water, are added to the resulting mass and heated at a measured temperature until a paste of thick consistency is obtained.

Term Watercolor(French aquarelle, English painting in water colors, Italian aquarelle or aqua-tento, German Wasserfarbengemalde, Aquarellmalerei; from Latin aqua - water) has several meanings.
Firstly, it means painting with special water-soluble (i.e., freely soluble in ordinary water) paints. And in this case, it is customary to talk about the watercolor technique (i.e., a certain creative process in the fine arts).
Secondly, it is used, in fact, to directly designate the water-soluble (watercolor) paints themselves. When dissolved in water, they form a transparent aqueous suspension of fine pigment, which is part of the paint base, thanks to which it is possible to create a unique effect of lightness, airiness and subtle color transitions.
And finally, thirdly, this is how the work itself is called, done using this technique with watercolors. Their distinctive features lie mainly in the transparency of the thinnest layer of paint that remains on the paper after the water has dried. In this case, white is not used, since its role is played by the white color of the paper, which shines through the paint layer or is not painted over at all.

In all the variety of existing paints, watercolors are rightfully considered to be one of the most ancient and beloved by artists of various schools and directions.
Scientists know examples of works done in watercolors that are contemporary with Egyptian papyrus and hieroglyphs. In Byzantine art, church liturgical books were decorated with watercolors. Later it was used for coloring drawings and underpainting on boards. Renaissance masters used watercolors to make sketches for their easel and fresco works. Many drawings, shaded in pencil and then painted with watercolors, have survived to this day. Among them are the works of such great artists as Rubens, Raphael, Van Ostade, Lessuer and others.
Due to their relative ease of use and relative availability, watercolor paints have become very widely used in the fine arts.

Composition of watercolor paints.
The basis of the composition of watercolor paints is a finely ground pigment to which a small amount of various glues of plant origin (gum arabic, dextrin, tragacanthum, cherry glue, etc.) is added as a binder. The composition also includes, in certain proportions, honey (or sugar, glycerin), wax, some types of resins (mainly balsam resins), thanks to the addition of which paints acquire hardness, softness, plasticity, as well as other necessary qualities.
As a rule, watercolors can be hard - in the form of tiles, placed in special small containers (cuvettes) or soft - in tubes.

Russian manufacturers of watercolor paints
Of the largest and most famous manufacturers of watercolor paints in Russia currently existing, it is necessary to highlight two. These are Moscow OJSC Gamma and St. Petersburg ZKH Nevskaya Palitra. Both companies produce high-quality paint for both professional artists and amateurs, students, and schoolchildren.
The best quality watercolors among Gamma products can be called the Studio series (available both in cuvettes, 2.5 ml., and in tubes, 9 ml.).
Nevskaya Palitra has undoubtedly the best watercolors in its “White Nights” series (also available in cuvettes, 2.5 ml. and in tubes, 18 ml.). Personally, I prefer to work with these paints (I mainly use cuvettes), but each artist, naturally, has his own tastes and preferences.
In addition to “White Nights,” the Nevskaya Palitra ZKH produces watercolors from the “Sonnet” and “Ladoga” series, but both are noticeably inferior to the first.

As an example, I will give samples of the full palette (painting) of the Moscow “Studio” and St. Petersburg “White Nights”.
Watercolor painting by JSC Gamma (material taken from the Gamma website)

Watercolor painting of the ZKH "Nevskaya Palitra" (material taken from the "Nevskaya Palitra" website)

In addition, ZKH "Nevskaya Palitra" also produces a series of paints "Sonnet". Their quality is slightly worse than the above-mentioned watercolors, and the palette is not as rich, but they are cheaper.

Foreign manufacturers of watercolor paints
Many world-famous foreign companies producing artistic paints produce watercolors. As a rule, each company presents its products in two lines. Usually one of them is expensive, high-quality watercolor paints made from natural pigments for professional artists. This palette contains a large number of colors and shades, and the paints themselves are very durable and lightfast. The other line is intended for students, students, and art lovers. These paints can be made on the basis of synthetic substitutes; their characteristics are close to natural paints, but they are still inferior to them in quality, making them much cheaper and more accessible. They are less durable and lightfast. The palette contains a correspondingly smaller number of colors (shades).

Dutch watercolors
The most famous manufacturer of watercolor paints in Holland is the Old Holland company, which dates back to the mid-17th century. Her watercolors are represented by a rich palette of 160 colors.

Another, no less famous, watercolor manufacturer is the Royal Talens company, founded in 1899. Its products on the modern market are represented by two lines:
"Rembrandt" (80 color palette)

"Van Gogh" (40 color palette)

English watercolors
One of the famous watercolor manufacturers in England is the Winsor & Newton company, founded in 1832 in London. Currently her watercolors are represented by two lines:
"Artists Water Color" (palette of 96 colors)

“Cotman Water Color” (40 color palette)

Another English watercolor manufacturer is Daler-Rowney. Its products are also represented by two lines:
"Artists" Watercolour" (80 color palette)

"Aquafine" (palette of 37 colors)

Italian watercolors
The most famous Italian manufacturer of watercolor paints is the Maimeri company. Currently her watercolors are represented by two lines:
"Maimeri Blu" (palette 72 colors)

"Venezia" (palette of 36 colors)

French watercolors
The famous French manufacturer Pebeo, the company was founded in 1919. Today, its product range includes two lines of watercolor paints:
"Fragonard extra fine watercolour" (palette of 36 colors)

Watercolor (French aquarelle - watery; Italian acquarello) is a painting technique that uses special watercolor paints that, when dissolved in water, form a transparent suspension of fine pigment and thereby allow you to create the effect of lightness, airiness and subtle color transitions. Watercolor paints are usually applied to paper, which is often pre-moistened with water to achieve a special blurred stroke shape.

Watercolor painting came into use later than other types of painting; back in 1829, Montaber mentioned it only in passing, as an art that did not deserve serious attention. However, despite its late appearance, it has made such progress in a short time that it can compete with oil painting. Watercolor only became a strong and effective painting when they began to use transparent paints with retouching of shadows. Painting with water paints, but thick and opaque (painting, gouache) existed much earlier than transparent watercolors.

Watercolor is one of the poetic types of painting. A lyrical, full sketch or short story is often called a watercolor. A musical composition that enchants with gentle, transparent melodies is also compared to it. Watercolors can convey the serene blue of the sky, the lace of clouds, the veil of fog. It allows you to capture short-term natural phenomena.

But watercolors are also available for major works, graphic and pictorial, chamber, monumental, landscapes and still lifes, portraits and complex compositions.

A sheet of white grainy paper, a box of paints, a soft, obedient brush, water in a small vessel - that’s all > a watercolorist. Plus to this - a keen eye, a steady hand, knowledge of materials and mastery of the technique of this type of painting.

You can write on wet or dry paper immediately, in full color. You can work in a multi-layer technique, gradually refining the color state of each detail. You can choose a mixed technique: go from the general to the detail or, conversely, from the detail to the general, whole. But in any case, it is impossible or almost impossible to correct a damaged place: watercolor cannot tolerate the slightest wear and tear, torture, or obscurity. Transparency and shine are given to it by paper, which should be white and clean. As a rule, a watercolorist does not need whitewash.

Back at the end of the 15th century, the outstanding master of the German Renaissance A. Gyor created many magnificent watercolors. These were landscapes, images of animals and plants.

But watercolor became fully established in European countries relatively recently - in the late 17th - early 18th centuries, English painters were among the first to appreciate it; in the 19th century, W. Turner, the singer of London fogs and foamy waves, gloomy rocks and sunlight, became especially famous for his watercolors .

In Russia of the century before last there were many outstanding watercolorists. K. P. Bryullov brought sheets with genre scenes, portraits and landscapes to filigree completion. A. A. Ivanov wrote simply and easily, combining lively, impeccable drawing with clean, rich colors.

P. A. Fedotov, I. N. Kramskoy, N. A. Yaroshenko, V. D. Polenov, I. E. Repin, V. A. Serov, M. A. Vrubel, V. I. Surikov. each of them made a rich contribution to the Russian watercolor school.

Artists often use watercolor in combination with other materials: gouache, tempera, charcoal. But in this case, its main qualities are lost - saturation, transparency, luminosity, i.e. exactly what distinguishes watercolor from any other technique.

Gum arabic (from Latin gummi - gum and arabicus - Arabian) is a viscous transparent liquid secreted by some types of acacias. Belongs to a group of plant substances (colloids) that are highly soluble in water. In terms of its composition, gum arabic is not a chemically pure substance. This is a mixture of complex organic compounds, consisting mostly of glucoside-humic acids (for example, arabic acid and its calcium, magnesium and potassium salts). It is used in the production of watercolor paints as an adhesive. After drying, it forms a transparent, brittle film that is not prone to cracking and is not hygroscopic.

Honey is a mixture of equal amounts of fructose and glucose with an admixture of water (16 - 18%), wax and a small amount of protein substances.

Molasses is a product obtained by saccharification (hydrolysis) of starch (mainly potato and maize) with dilute acids, followed by filtering and boiling the syrup to the desired consistency.

Glycerin is a thick, syrupy liquid that can be mixed with water in any proportion. Glycerin belongs to the group of trihydric alcohols. It is very hygroscopic and is added to the binder of watercolor paints to preserve them in a semi-dry state.

Pigments (from Latin pigmentum - paint), in chemistry - colored chemical compounds used in the form of fine powders for dyeing plastics, rubber, chemical fibers, and making paints. They are divided into organic and inorganic.

Theoretical part.

Composition and properties of paints.

Watercolor paints are prepared using water-soluble binders, mainly glues of vegetable origin, which is why they are called water paints. Paints for watercolor painting must have the following qualities.

Great transparency, because the whole beauty of the colorful tone when applied in a thin layer lies in this property. It works well with a damp brush and washes out easily. The paint layer should be easily washed off with water from the surface of the paper or primer.

Watercolor paint, diluted with water, should lie smoothly on the paper and not form spots or dots. When exposed to direct sunlight, the paint must be lightfast and not change color. After drying, give a durable, non-cracking layer. Do not penetrate the back of the paper.

The main components of watercolor paint are dye and water, but there are other essential components. First of all, substances that bind paint to paper, such as gum arabic or wood glues - substances with increased stickiness. Next, you need viscous substances, they will prevent the paint from spreading over the paper, making it lie in an even layer; Honey, molasses, and glycerin are good for this. And the last addition is an antiseptic and disinfectant. After all, we are dealing with substances of plant origin, and they must be protected from the action of microorganisms (moldy fungi that will definitely want to feed on our paints).

Production of paints.

Watercolor paints are available in porcelain cups and tubes. The production technique for these types of paints is not fundamentally different and mainly goes through the following processing stages:

1) mixing the binder with the pigment;

2) grinding the mixture;

3) drying to a viscous consistency;

4) filling cups or tubes with paint;

5) packaging.

To mix pigments with a binder, mechanical mixers with a tilting body are usually used. For small quantities, batches are most often prepared by hand in metal enamel tanks using wooden spatulas. The binder is loaded into the mixer and the pigment is introduced in small portions in dry form or as an aqueous paste.

When grinding on a paint grinding machine, the pigment is thoroughly mixed with the binder into a homogeneous paint paste.

The ground paint is sent for drying in order to remove excess moisture and obtain a thick paste for packaging in cups or tubes.

The paste is dried in special drying chambers or on granite slabs at a temperature of 35 - 40° C.

After removing part of the water, the thickened paste is rolled out into ribbons 1 cm thick, cut into individual square pieces the size of the cuvette area and placed in a cup.

The paint is placed on top with a piece of cellophane and finally wrapped in foil and paper with a label. When producing watercolor paints in tubes, the tubes are filled with paste automatically by tube filling machines.

Features of watercolor paints.

Watercolor painting is transparent, clean and bright in tone, which is difficult to achieve through glazing with oil paints. In watercolor it is easier to achieve the finest shades and transitions. Watercolor paints are also used as underpainting for oil painting.

The shade of watercolor paints changes when drying - it becomes lighter. This change occurs from the evaporation of water, due to which the spaces between the pigment particles in the paint are filled with air, the paints reflect light much more. The difference in the refractive indices of air and water causes a change in the color of dried and fresh paint.

Strong dilution of paints with water when applied thinly to paper reduces the amount of binder, and the paint loses its tone and becomes less durable. When applying several layers of watercolor paint to one place, the result is oversaturation with the binder, and stains appear.

When covering paintings done with watercolors, it is very important that all paints are more or less evenly and in sufficient quantities saturated with a binder.

If individual parts of the paint layer contain an insufficient amount of glue, then the varnish, penetrating into the paint layer, creates a different environment for the pigment, not optically similar to the glue, and will greatly change its color. When the paints contain a sufficient amount of binder, then when varnished, their intensity and original shine will be restored.

Practical part.

Old books often contain names of exotic dyes: red sandalwood, quercitron, carmine, sepia, logwood. Some of these dyes are still used today, but in very small quantities, mainly for the preparation of artistic paints. After all, natural dyes with such beautiful names are obtained from plants and animals, and this is expensive and difficult. But natural dyes are very bright, durable, and lightfast.

It would be interesting to check. But how? Logwood grows in South America, sandalwood grows in South Asia, sepia comes from cuttlefish, carmine comes from cochineal (tiny insects).

And yet it is quite possible to obtain natural dyes even at home, even in the middle zone of our country! And plants that are familiar to us contain coloring substances, even if they are not as persistent. Our ancestors often used them. We also tried to extract dyes from plants, and then made watercolor paints based on them.

All dyes were prepared in the same way: by grinding plants or any of their parts and obtaining concentrated decoctions by boiling them for a long time in water.

A very important note: for experiments we took only those plants that are allowed to be collected, and in no case did we use plants taken under protection.

Experiment 1. Preparation of red dye.

We got it from the stem of St. John's wort (the decoction was acidified with table vinegar). You can also use alder bark, which must be placed in water for several days, and then prepared as a decoction. Red dye can also be extracted from the roots of horse sorrel, but in this case it is necessary to add a little aluminum alum to the finished decoction - otherwise the color will be dull.

Experiment 2. Obtaining blue dye

This color was obtained from the roots of elecampane (like St. John's wort, it is a medicinal herb). To do this, the roots were first kept (2-3 hours) in ammonia - an aqueous solution of ammonia. Blue dye can also be obtained from larkspur flowers and bird buckwheat roots.

Experiment 3. Obtaining yellow and brown dye

When boiling dry onion skins, a brown dye of different shades was obtained, from almost yellow to dark brown (the result depends on the boiling time). Another source of such dye is dry joster bark.

Experiment 4. Obtaining black dye

The black pigment is obtained from a decoction of berries and roots of the crow. But we got it in another, simpler way: we added iron sulfate to one of the decoctions obtained earlier. Almost all of our decoctions contain tannins such as tannin. And in the presence of ferrous salts they turn black.

After we stocked up on a sufficient amount of thick multi-colored decoctions, we began making watercolor paints. Instead of gum arabic, we used cherry gum as an adhesive, a sap on the trunks that can be collected directly from the trees. True, such glue is difficult to dissolve in water, but to speed up the process we added a little acid.

For paint of each color, 5-7 ml of an adhesive solution of approximately 50% concentration was prepared. Mixed it with an equal amount of honey, added a little glycerin. A 5% solution of phenol (carbolic acid) was used as an antiseptic. You need very little of this substance, literally a few drops.

All components of the future paint were mixed. The paint base is ready, only the most important thing is missing - the dye. We added it last in the form of a thick decoction, taking about the same amount as we got the base for the paint.

That's the whole procedure. The paint we got was not hard, like they sell in stores. However, artists use semi-liquid watercolor paints in tubes that are similar in consistency.

Light, as if airy, color lines, apparent translucency of the composition - this effect is achieved when using the watercolor technique.

To prepare watercolor paints, you can use mineral, aniline and vegetable paints. Aniline dyes are rarely used, since, when absorbed into the paper, they stain it through and through, as a result of which they cannot be washed off the drawing and weaken the tone. They also do not wash off from the brush.

Watercolor paints are available in porcelain cups and tubes. The production technique for these types of paints is not fundamentally different and basically goes through the following processing stages: 1) mixing the binder with the pigment; 2) grinding the mixture; 3) drying to a viscous consistency; 4) filling cups or tubes with paint; 5) packaging.

To mix pigments with a binder, mechanical mixers with a tilting body are usually used. For small quantities, batches are most often prepared by hand in megalic enamel tanks using wooden spatulas. The binder is loaded into the mixer and the pigment is introduced in small portions in dry form or as an aqueous paste. Grinding of watercolor paints is carried out on three-roller paint grinding machines. Due to the sensitivity of some paints to iron, it is recommended to use rollers made of granite or porphyry, and replace the steel skiving knife with a wooden one.

When grinding on a paint grinding machine, the pigment is thoroughly mixed with the binder into a homogeneous paint paste.

The quality and quantity of grinding depends on the wettability of the pigments, the viscosity of the binder, the degree of grinding and hardness of the pigments, the rotation speed of the shafts and the amount of their clamping.

Coarsely dispersed pigment requires additional grinding, which deteriorates the quality of the paint, contaminating it with materials when the rollers are worn and metal dust from the knife. To eliminate this, it is not recommended to grind the paste more than 4-5 times. To grind watercolor paints, you need to have separate paint grinders for a group of pigments that are more or less similar in shade. One machine is for white paints, another machine is for dark brown and black, a third machine grinds yellow, orange and red, and a fourth machine grinds green, blue and violet.

When switching to grinding another paint, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse and clean the machine shafts.

In the production of watercolor pastes, diluted solutions of binders are usually used, since when using thick solutions during grinding, a homogeneous paint paste is not achieved, and the pigment is not sufficiently saturated with the binder.

The ground paint is sent for drying in order to remove excess moisture and obtain a thick paste for packaging in cups or tubes. The paste is dried in special drying chambers or on granite slabs at a temperature of 35-40° C. After removing part of the water, the thickened paste is rolled into ribbons 1 cm thick, cut into separate square pieces the size of the cuvette area and placed in a cup. The paint is placed on top with a sheet of cellophane and finally wrapped in foil and paper with a label. When producing watercolor paints in tubes, the tubes are filled with paste automatically by tube filling machines.

Watercolor paints in cups are convenient to use; they are easy to take on a brush and retain a semi-dry consistency for a long time. The disadvantage of these paints is that they are easily contaminated with a brush when preparing mixtures; in addition, when performing large works, rubbing paints with a brush in a cup provides little paint material and takes a lot of time.

From a technological point of view, the production of watercolors in cups inevitably involves the introduction of a number of additional operations: manual placement in cups, wrapping in foil, drying the paste, etc.

Paints in tubes are much more convenient: they do not get dirty, they are easily mixed with water without prolonged rubbing and provide a large amount of paint material. You can use less concentrated glue solutions, which makes it possible to better clean gum from foreign mechanical impurities. Watercolor with a thinner consistency is more convenient to grind on paint grinding machines and the paste is easier to pack into tubes.

The disadvantages of paints in tubes include: a tendency to thicken due to drying or the action of pigments (especially those poorly purified from water-soluble salts) on binders, transforming them into an insoluble state and making them unfit for use.

Often the emerald green paste hardens, which almost always contains boric acid, which coagulates gum arabic. To eliminate this drawback, emerald green must be well freed from boric acid and rubbed not with gum arabic, but with dextrin.

Strontian yellow, chromium oxide and chromium yellow also gel due to the interaction of chromic acid salts and dichromates with gum. Dextrin must also be added to the binder of these paints.

Gelatinization is also observed in watercolor paints, which contain finely dispersed pigments with high adsorption capacity, mainly of organic origin, for example, krapplak.

Pigments with a high specific gravity and poorly wetted by the binder sometimes separate from the binder, and the ink paste separates. When the metal of the tube and the pigment interact, the shade of the paint may change. Watercolor painting is transparent, clean and bright in tone, which is difficult to achieve through glazing with oil paints. In watercolor it is easier to achieve the finest shades and transitions. Watercolor paints are also used as underpainting for oil painting.

The shade of watercolor paints changes when drying - it becomes lighter. This change occurs from the evaporation of water, due to which the spaces between the pigment particles in the paint are filled with air, the paints reflect light much more. The difference in the refractive indices of air and water causes a change in the color of dried and fresh paint.

Strong dilution of paints with water when applied thinly to paper reduces the amount of binder, and the paint loses its tone and becomes less durable. When applying several layers of watercolor paint to one place, the result is oversaturation with the binder and stains appear. A layer of watercolor paint is applied on top of the drawing on slightly damp paper.

When covering paintings done with watercolors, it is very important that all paints are more or less evenly and in sufficient quantities saturated with a binder.

If individual parts of the paint layer contain an insufficient amount of glue, then the varnish, penetrating into the paint layer, creates a different environment for the pigment, not optically similar to the glue, and will greatly change its color.

When the paints contain a sufficient amount of binder, then when varnished, their intensity and original shine will be restored.

For a uniform and uniform coating, the paper should not be held horizontally, but at a slight angle, so that the paints slowly flow down.

Chapter 14. Pastel, drawing materials and brushes

The word pasta means dough. This is the appearance of the pastel mass before being molded into pencils.

Pastel is a type of drawing done with colored pencils.

At first, mainly sketches for paintings were made with colored pencils, and then at a later time, pastel acquired independent significance and was used by outstanding artists.

Pastel, in contrast to watercolor, does not have transparent paints, since it is prepared with a very small amount of binder in order to form the pigment into rimless pencil sticks for more convenient rubbing of paint and better adhesion of the powder to the surface.

To prepare pastels, use weak solutions of tragacanth adhesives, gum arabic, dextrin, gelatin, sugar, soap, honey, strongly diluted with emulsion tempera, especially wax, milk, malt decoction, oat glue, etc. Gelatin is used in solutions no higher than 3%.

Gum arabic (above 2%) forms a hard crust on the surface of pencils and makes paints brittle.

The flexibility of paints can be increased by adding honey, candy and glycerin.

Skim milk, weak solutions of soap, honey and highly diluted tempera emulsions are used mainly for kaolin and zinc white pencils due to their very weak astringent force. Oatmeal glue and malt decoction are used for pigments that tend to harden, such as krapplak, Paris blue and cadmium red.

To prepare different pencils, depending on the quality of the pigment, different binders are needed.

Some pigments form dense pencils without a binder. Pencils made with gypsum or kaolin require very little binder. Tracanthus is considered one of the best binders for colored pencils.

Gum tragacanth refers to substances released when certain plants are injured.

Tragant gum is colorless or slightly colored, swells very strongly in water and is used as a binder for many purposes.

Colored pencils are made in three grades: hard, semi-hard and soft, which depends on the properties and quality of the binder and on the admixtures of various substances that give them softness.

Let us list the requirements for colored pencils: color according to the standard; the pencil should not crumble or break; have sufficient light resistance and are easy to shade; adheres well to a primed surface; have an intensely pure color and give the design a matte-velvety appearance; It's easy to write on paper without slipping.

Of the pigments used in pastels, only durable and light-resistant ones are used, i.e., those that are included in oil paints, and finely dispersed ones, as for watercolors.

The following are used as white pigments: kaolin, melted chalk, gypsum, light spar, talc, etc.

Due to the easy changeability of gypsum and kaolin when fixed with fixatives, it is recommended to use them in a mixture with zinc white in a ratio of 1: 1 or 2: 1.

Zinc or titanium white as covering pigments are quite suitable.

The binder for colored pencils usually consists of glue and water and is a solution of weak concentration no higher than 3%.

To prepare the solution, weigh 3 g of tragacanthum and pour it into 100 cm3 of warm water and leave it alone for 8-10 hours.

The contents are then heated until a paste forms.

If the pigment requires a smaller bond, for example, ocher, sienna (containing alumina), then a 3% gum solution is diluted with water by half and three times by volume.

The amount of binder for pigments is established in each individual case experimentally based on preliminary tests, since pigments with the same name often have different properties.

Preparing pencils

The pigment powder is washed with water in a mortar into a stiff dough and then a binder solution is added

The paste is dried a little in the air so that it can be molded into pencils. The dough should not be too dehydrated so that it does not crumble or stick.

The slightly dehydrated dough is rolled out in your hands or between two glasses (pressing too hard is not recommended).

You can also obtain pencils by pressing them in sleeves, as well as in metal tubes.

Often the mass is pressed in the form of a thin “sausage” through the matrix of a screw press; For these purposes, you can easily adapt an ordinary small meat grinder.

The tone scale is obtained by diluting with white fillers.

The pigment in the dough is divided into two parts: one part is the original full tone, filler and glue solution are added to the other half, then mixed and again divided into two parts. This operation is repeated up to 10 times, obtaining pencils of many shades containing varying amounts of filler.

Some pastel pencils, such as emerald green, glide across the paper; this deficiency is eliminated by adding talc or calcium stearate to the dough.

Dry pencils should be hygroscopic and easily absorb moisture.

If the pencils turn out to be too hard, then they must be crushed again, mixed with water and the binder removed, and then add a little skim milk or a very diluted solution of soap or oatmeal glue.

Pencils are dried on paper at a low temperature of 20-40° C.

Watercolor and its properties.

Watercolor is painting with transparent water paints on paper.

The French artist E. Delacroix wrote:“What gives the subtlety and brilliance of painting on white paper is, without a doubt, the transparency contained in the essence of white paper. Light penetrating paint applied to a white surface - even in the thickest shadows - creates shine and a special luminosity of watercolor. The beauty of this painting is also in the softness, naturalness of transitions from one color to another, the limitless variety of subtle shades.”. This statement by E. Delacroix is ​​important to understand and remember for all lovers of watercolor painting. Dirt, clouding of color and the appearance of dull spots in watercolor sketches appear primarily when beginners write as thickly as in gouache and oil. Transparency is what should be valued and protected in watercolor.

Watercolor paper should be dense (from 170 to 850 g) - to improve absorption. The surface of watercolor paper is almost always rough, with various textures. This quality allows the paint to “cling” to the surface and adhere better. In addition, the uneven, bumpy surface creates a certain optical effect, because watercolor is a technique that produces transparent, airy images. And textured paper gives them an additional three-dimensional effect.

White paper, reflecting rays of light through transparent layers of watercolor paints, gives a special freshness to the shades. You cannot write on gray or yellow paper. Not all paper takes well to watercolor paint. We need the best types of bleached paper with a grainy texture - Whatman paper, semi-Whatman paper. Drawing paper whose glossy surface runs off paint is not suitable.

The quality of paper for watercolors is determined by test strokes: they should not spread, be absorbed too quickly or curl up, the dried layer of paint should be washed off without damaging the surface of the paper.

This technique also helps in choosing paper for watercolors: pick up the edge of the sheet with your fingernail and pull it back a little, and then release it; If you hear a sharp click, it means the paper is thick and properly glued.

It happens that even on semi-paper paper suitable for watercolors, in some places the paint, like mercury, curls up and does not lay down in an even layer. Such sheets should be washed with warm water, which will remove traces of grease or too much sizing, and the paint will apply evenly.

Once you gain experience in watercolors, you will be able to paint on looser paper, sold in “Artist Folders.”

Paper tends to warp from moisture, which can make it difficult to complete a sketch. To avoid this, paper for watercolor sketches is either glued to a tablet or stretched in erasers.

Let's talk about the global characteristics of watercolor paper. What's the main thing about it?

• The main indicator is, of course, weight. It is defined in grams per square meter. And the higher this indicator, the thicker the paper and the more resistant it is to washing and wet techniques, but at the same time the price of this paper is higher. The most common weight for watercolor paper is 200-300 g/sq.m.
• Paper composition also determines its quality. So, it is believed that the best watercolor paper is 100% cotton. But it is important to note that the more cotton there is in the paper, the more it dims the brightness of the color, but the better the wet techniques turn out.
• Another important detail is texture. There are mainly 3 types of textures:
  HP – Hot Pressed – Satine (french) – smooth paper. Well suited for dry brush techniques and for works with high detail and realism.
  NOT – Cold Pressed – Grain Fin (french) – small texture. It is used in both dry and wet techniques, with different textures.
  Rough – Torchon (french) – with a well-defined texture. More suitable for wet techniques and poor detail. Looks good in large-sized works, giving them volume.

If we talk about brands of watercolor paper, they are currently popular Russian GOSZNAK, FABRIANO (Italy), CANSON and ARCHES (France), INGRES (Germany). I myself now use GOSZNAK and am very pleased, although some complain that it gets soapy.

In general, we can say that the choice of watercolor paper is very individual and depends on the requirements of the artist, his technique and way of working. And what suits you may not always suit others. The main advice in this regard is to try and experiment, and you will be happy.))

Watercolor- These are water paints. But watercolor also refers to both a painting technique and a separate work made with watercolors. The main quality of watercolor is the transparency and softness of the paint layer.
However, the apparent simplicity and ease with which a professional artist creates paintings using this technique is deceptive.

Watercolor painting requires mastery of the brush, the ability to accurately apply paint to the surface - from a wide, bold fill to a clear final stroke. At the same time, you need to know how paints behave on different types of paper, what effect they give when applied to each other, what paints can be used to paint on damp paper using the Alla Prima technique so that they remain juicy and rich. In the fine arts, watercolor occupies a special place because it can be used to create paintings, graphic, and decorative works - depending on the tasks that the artist sets for himself.

For an artist engaged in watercolor painting, both the paints themselves and the ease of their use play an important role. The possibilities of watercolor are wide: the colors are either juicy and ringing, sometimes airy, barely perceptible, sometimes dense and intense. A watercolorist must have a developed sense of color, know the capabilities of different types of paper and the characteristics of watercolor paints.

Now, both in Russia and abroad, there are many companies producing watercolor paints, but not all of them meet the high requirements that artists working in the technique of watercolor painting place on them.

It makes no sense to compare the advantages and disadvantages of professional and semi-professional paints, since their differences are obvious and it is difficult to confuse them. Our task is to test modern professional watercolor paints from various global manufacturers and see what capabilities they have and what techniques they are suitable for.

For testing we took several sets of watercolor paints.

It is almost impossible to determine at a glance what colors are in front of us: black, blue, dark red and brown looked the same - dark spots without any significant color differences, and only yellow, ocher, scarlet and light green had their own color.

The remaining colors had to be determined experimentally, trying each color on the palette. And later, while working on a watercolor sheet, this significantly slowed down the creative process, although working with these paints leaves a pleasant feeling: they mix easily and give subtle color transitions. It is also convenient that the paints are easy to pick up on the brush and lie softly on the paper. When working on damp paper using the Alla Prima technique, after drying the colors become quite lighter, so contrasting painting can only be achieved on dry paper, covering the previously laid strokes with several layers. Then the paints lay down tightly, like gouache.

Venezia (Maimery, Italy)

Soft watercolor in tubes. These paints stand out for their design, impressive 15 ml tubes for watercolors, and the aesthetics of presenting expensive art paints, when everything is thought out and works to ensure that they are chosen when purchasing. But now we are interested in the most important thing - how convenient they are to work with and how much the pigments retain their properties and color characteristics when interacting with watercolor paper. Already the first strokes showed that the paints are worthy of the attention of artists and professionals involved in watercolor painting: a good color palette, rich blues, reds, transparent yellows, ocher gently interact with each other, creating additional color nuances of the watercolor technique. Unfortunately, brown and black pigments, even with repeated strokes, do not gain the desired tonal saturation. Black paint, even with multi-layer painting, looks like sepia. There is a significant inconvenience in working with them. Since watercolor in tubes is soft and is squeezed onto the palette, with rich painting the pigment is not always evenly picked up on the brush and also lies unevenly on the surface of the paper. When glazing, when paints are repeatedly applied to previous dried layers, these shortcomings are not very noticeable, but when working on a damp paper surface using the Alla Prima technique, this greatly interferes, since uneven clumps of the paint layer are formed, which, when dried, destroys the integrity of the applied stroke. Soft watercolors are more suitable for classical painting, although with some experience working with these paints and using the raw technique, a watercolor artist can create magnificent examples.

"Studio" (JSC "GAMMA", Moscow)

Twenty-four colors - the palette is not inferior to the best examples of foreign professional watercolor paints. Four types of blue - from classic ultramarine to turquoise, a good selection, yellow, ocher, sienna, red, together with other paints, create a rich color scheme. When working with glazes on a dry surface, the paint gives a transparent layer, and when repeated overpainting, it picks up tone and color well, without clogging the structure of the watercolor paper. The pigments mix well and lie evenly on the sheet. In the Alla Prima technique, paints give a uniform stroke, softly flowing into each other, creating many subtle watercolor nuances, complementing the already rich color palette. As an artist, I was somewhat surprised to not find in this set emerald green paint, which is present in all professional sets of the world's watercolor paint manufacturers, and that green, which perhaps should have replaced emerald green, “sounds” more dull. Well-mixed paint gives an even covering layer, remaining matte after drying. Thus, watercolor meets all the requirements of professional artists. Otherwise, the paints are superior to many similar world samples.

“White Nights” (Artistic Paints Factory, St. Petersburg)

In front of me lies a box of “White Nights” watercolor art paints, released in 2005. The color is easily picked up into the bristles of the brush and just as easily applied to the sheet. The color is distributed evenly over the surface in both thick and transparent strokes, and after drying it remains matte without losing its saturation. In the Alla Prima technique, paints on a damp sheet of paper create many subtle watercolor transitions, smoothly flowing into each other, but at the same time the thicker painting strokes retain their shape and saturation. The paint layer does not clog the structure of the paper, gives it the opportunity to glow from within, and even with repeated copying it retains its “watercolor” quality. Watercolor meets the requirements of professional artists. The next task is to find out the characteristic features of watercolor paints using common techniques. During painting, while the watercolor is still wet, it can be removed with a hard piece of cardboard, a metal blade or the handle of a brush, leaving thin light lines and small planes.

Aquafine (Daler-Rowney, England)

After the Aquafine paints were applied in strokes to the watercolor sheet, a metal blade was used to remove the color layer from the surface of the paper. The result is light, almost white lines - in its raw form the paint is easily manageable. When the watercolor layer had dried, we tried to wash it off with a sponge. It turned out that it was impossible to wash it white. The color penetrated through the glued surface of the sheet and was absorbed into the fiber of the paper pulp. This means that you need to paint with such paints in one session for sure, without subsequent corrections by washing.

Venezia (Maimery, Italy)

The same test carried out with Venezia paints showed that soft paints, when scratched with a blade, are not completely removed, leaving dull edges and color underpainting, and when the paint layer is completely dry using a sponge, the color is washed off selectively, depending on the density and thickness of the applied strokes .
Watercolor paints from Russian manufacturers "Studio" JSC GAMMA (Moscow) and paints "White Nights", produced by the St. Petersburg Artistic Paints Factory, can be combined into one group, since there are no significant differences between them when using technical techniques in this text.

The semi-wet surface is almost completely removed with a blade, a piece of hard cardboard, or a brush handle, from a thin line to a wider surface, and after drying, you can almost completely wash off the watercolor layer, which, of course, will not be completely white, but close to it. Carmine, kraplak and violet-pink also do not wash off white.